Atlantic Conference 2010
Advance Notice
In February 2010, the Irish Midlands will host a conference which will explore a variety of issues surrounding the development and promotion of science, technology, engineering and maths education. With a variety of speakers including Dr John Mighton, JUMP Maths, Dr Chris Horn, President of Engineers Ireland, Jeff Evans of Georgia Tech Research Institute and Michael John Gorman of the Science Gallery, the conference promises to be an informative and enlivening event.
A range of key speakers from Ireland, Northern Ireland, UK, the USA and Canada will develop a lively and stimulating forum for debate. The key theme to be addressed is – how can educators inspire students to engage with science, technology, engineering and maths ? Whether you are involved in education, science, technology, engineering or business, the conference offers a range of sponsorship, exhibition and advertising opportunities which will heighten your profile amongst a target audience of conference delegates which will include key players in economic development, science, business, engineering, technology and education.
The conference is a project of Atlantic Corridor, a Department of Foreign Affairs funded initiative which seeks to develop links for the Irish Midlands for education and business projects with partner regions in Northern Ireland, the USA and Canada.
The conference is been developed and managed by a dedicated Steering Group – Dr Barry Dolan, Georgia Tech Ireland, Kevin McCarthy, IDA Ireland, Lord Rosse, Birr Castle Demense & Ireland’s Historic Science Centre, Dr Pat Mulhern, Athlone Institute of Technology, Paul O’Kelly, O Kelly Sutton Management Consulting, Denis Magner, Tullamore College and Brian Garvan & Jackie Gorman, Atlantic Corridor.
This is the second such event run by Atlantic Corridor, the first conference on science education promotion in late 2008 was a huge success and we look forward to working with partners in 2010 to build an even bigger success. The 2008 conference enjoyed the wide support of the business, development and science education community. A comprehensive evaluation process undertaken after the conference showed that there was a real appetite among those involved in the cross-cutting issue of science, technology and business to have a regular opportunity to share best practice and learn from international experience. This is the rationale behind the upcoming conference; providing a unique forum with a wide range of international speakers who will explore the issues surrounding stem education and its promotion, in a dynamic, meaningful and challenging way. Creating greater interest in science, technology and engineering raises challenges as encouraging a greater number of people to study science means, among other things, that students must broaden their skills in mathematics and related science as much as possible. It should be noted that early success in problem solving clearly enhances the self-esteem of young people and encourages them to engage in ever more complex reasoning, a valuable trait in any profession or field of study. We are pleased therefore to have confirmed at this early stage a speaker of international note, Canadian Mathematician and Author John Mighton, the founder of JUMP [Junior Undiscovered Math Prodigies]. JUMP is a charitable organisation that works to educate students in Mathematics. He is the author of The Myth of Ability [2003] and The End of Ignorance [2007]/ He has a Doctorate in Mathematics and is also a playwright, whose works include Possible Worlds, The Little Years, Body & Soul, Scientific Americans, A Short History of Night and Half Life. He also advised Gus Van Sant, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck on the script for Good Will Hunting. He was originally contacted to check the maths/script but Van Sant liked him so much he gave him a small part as the professor’s assistant. The movie tells the story of a South Boston whiz kid elects to clean the halls of learning rather than enter them, working his way through life as a janitor at MIT. But his natural ability to unravel complex equations attracts the attention of a professor who won't let him quit. John Mighton’s one major line is a reference to his main idea in The Myth of Ability; “Most people never get to see how brilliant they can be. They don’t find teachers who believe in them. They get convinced they’re stupid.” Dr Mighton is based at the world-renowned Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences at the University of Toronto.