Midlands Science is a not-for-profit organization that works to promote STEM education in the Irish Midlands. It partners with schools, universities, and companies to fund events like a coding workshop where members of the public learned to code a Sphero SPRK robot through the Sphero Edu app. The workshop was sponsored by Abbott Ireland and aimed to introduce coding to people of all ages using an accessible but sophisticated robot.

1. C O D I N G W O R K S H O P
M I D L A N D S S C I E N C E F E S T I V A L

2. MIDLANDS SCIENCE
Midlands Science is a not-for-profit development
company which works to create greater interest in
STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths]
education and skills among students, teachers and
members of the public in the Midlands [Laois, Offaly,
Longford and Westmeath].
It is a not for profit company and it is funded by a
mixture of public and private funding. The objective is
to grow the exposure and teaching of STEM subjects
in schools through relationships with Science
Foundation Ireland, Athlone Institute of Technology
and a number of partners, thereby contributing to the
growth of the midlands region through education.
Photo Credits: Midlands Science

3. Reaching 13,000 people
directly per annum their work
has been independently and
positively evaluated and
found to be impactful,
creative and innovative. They
make a particular effort in all
projects to engage with those
from lower socio-economic
backgrounds, as they are the
least likely to engage with
STEM outreach.
STEM OUTREACH
Photo Credit: Midlands Science

4. is the process of managing the
entire lifecycle of a product
from inception, through
engineering design and
manufacture, to service and
disposal of manufactured
products.
As part of my role as Business
Development Manager at iConnect I
delivered a Coding Workshop to
members of the public at St Mel’s
College, Longford.
Abbott Ireland partnered with
Midlands Science to act as corporate
sponsor for the event.
STUDENTS
Photo: Lucy Payne, iConnect &
Pauline Nally, Midlands Science
with young members of the public
learning how to Code with Sphero

5. The objective of the workshop was to
introduce coding to members of the
public using ....
The Sphero SPRK Robot
Photo: Young Sphero enthusiasts

6. S p h e r o S P R K + i s f a r m o r e t h a n j u s t a r o b o t . P o w e r e d b y t h e
S p h e r o E d u a p p , y o u c a n e a s i l y l e a r n p r o g r a m m i n g , c o m p l e t e
h a n d s - o n a c t i v i t i e s , a n d s h a r e y o u r c r e a t i o n s w i t h t h e S p h e r o
c o m m u n i t y .
S p h e r o E d u w a s b u i l t f o r l e a r n e r p r o g r e s s i o n . I t ’ s a p p r o a c h a b l e
f o r b e g i n n e r s o f a l l a g e s , y e t s o p h i s t i c a t e d e n o u g h f o r t h e
s e a s o n e d p r o g r a m m e r .
( 1 ) h t t p s : / / w w w . s p h e r o . c o m / e d u c a t o r s . P h o t o C r e d i t : S p h e r o . c o m
( 1 )

7. A i s l i n g N o l a n , M e r g o n G r o u p
Photo: Encouraging the problem solvers of tomorrow

8. To learn more
visit:
linkedin.com/in/lucy-payne