Eoin wins a place at the IT Olympics
A momentous day for IT in Sligo as Eoin Davey, a Summerhill College student, has earned the honour of representing Ireland at the International Olympiad in Informatics which will be held in Russia in August.
The IOI is one of the most prestigious computer science competitions in the world, and Eoin, 18, will be one of 4 young men flying the Irish flag in Russia. The main goal of the IOI is to stimulate interest in computer science and Information Technology. Competitors write computer programs to solve mathematical and logical problems using complex algorithms and data structures. It’s also a chance for some exceptionally talented pupils ( such as Eoin) from various countries to share scientific and cultural experiences.
Eoin started computer and mobile app programming through his own initiative, using online resources such as codeacademy. com and also as a student and mentor in CoderDojo in IT Sligo. His first experience of competitive programming came two years ago when he achieved 3rd place in Googles “Call To Code” competition in 2014.
Eoin achieved joint 1st in the National finals of the All Ireland Programming Olympiad ( AIPO) earlier this year, and as a result, qualified to attend a competitive boot camp in Dublin City University, which took place last week. The top 4 students would be selected to represent Ireland, and after 3 days of intensive and close competition, Eoin was thrilled to be selected for team Ireland after performing greatly throughout. In preparation for the Olympiad in Russia, Eoin and team Ireland will attend a final training week in DCU before spending a week in Moscow.
Then they are off to Kazan, where they will be competing against over 300 competitors f. rom all over the world, and will hopefully return with a medal.