Maths initiative launched in Shannon

The entrepreneurs of today met with the entrepreneurs of tomorrow at a technology jamboree at Shannon airport yesterday.

Six-hundred secondary-school students gathered as part of the Irish Technology Leadership Group’s 2014 Young Innovators’ Event.

At the event, Cisco senior vice president and investor from RTÉ's Dragon Den Sean O'Sullivan told students: "I have lost hundreds of millions from my mistakes, but it has all worked out and it is fine".

Mr O’Sullivan provided details of the MATHletes Challenge that is aimed at boosting maths performance in primary and secondary schools.

From February 1st, students from fifth and sixth class and from first to third year will compete online against their peers, with a chance to win more than €10,000 in prizes.

Castletroy students
At the event, secondary school students from Castletroy in Limerick celebrated winning the day's main prize with their project on a hybrid shower, winning a trip to Silicon Valley.

Earlier, another RTÉ dragon, Gavin Duffy, told the students: "If you are entrepreneurial, you will get irritated by things not working . . . Don't feel despondent if you are not a happy camper and if you hate as many things as you love – that it what separates entrepreneurs from everyone else."