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7 June 2010

Strathmore Trophy 2010 - Schools invited to take part

Schools from across Tayside and Fife have been invited to put forward teams of tech-savvy pupils to compete for the University of Dundee’s annual Strathmore Trophy challenge.

The event, which takes place at the Dalhousie Building on Tuesday, June 15th from 10am, will see school teams from the S1 and S2 age group compete against each other in a physical computing challenge set by staff at the University's School of Computing.

This year's event is entitled 'Dundee's Got Dragons', with its style borrowing from the popular television programmes Dragons Den and Britain’s Got Talent. After receiving the brief, the teams of four will have 90 minutes to develop a concept for a product before presenting their case to the judges (Dragons) and the watching public.

Two prizes will be awarded - one from the Dragons and one from the audience - with each winning team receiving £250 worth of equipment and the opportunity to develop the idea. The School of Computing will donate the equipment and materials to allow the winners to create a prototype based on the designs they come up with during the competition.

The School of Computing’s Chris Martin, one of the event organisers, said the response to this year’s competition had been good but there were a few places left for any schools who had not yet entered.

'This is a great annual event - one of the highlights of our outreach work,' he said. 'It's a fantastic opportunity for kids to come along and learn about emerging technology and think about how it can be used to make people's lives better.

'The pupils always get a lot out of this event. As well as being a lot of fun, it will help them develop problem solving, communication and design skills. One of the most important aspects is the fact they have to tell the audience and judges about their idea, and doing a presentation like this is great practice for the rest of their time at schools and beyond.'

The Strathmore Trophy competition, now in it’s fourteenth year, is held annually by the School of Computing to get local school pupils thinking about applications of computer technology to help people. DC Thomson’s lead of IT, Stephen Brookes,will present the magnificent trophy on behalf of Mary, Dowager Countess of Strathmore.

NOTES TO EDITORS

The schools currently taking part are:

  • Arbroath Academy
  • Arbroath High School
  • Baldragon Academy
  • Beath High School
  • Blairgowrie High School
  • Dollar Academy
  • Glenwood High School
  • Grove Academy
  • Harris Academy
  • Madras College
  • Perth Grammar School
  • Perth High School
  • Pitlochry High School
  • St John's RC High School

For further information, please contact:
Amrit Bhachu, School of Computing, University of Dundee.
07739 012997
e-mail: abhachu@computing.dundee.ac.uk.

Chris Martin, School of Computing, University of Dundee.
07825 330955
e-mail: cjmartin@computing.dundee.ac.uk.


For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277