ADAPT Centre to Host Family-Friendly Problem-Solving Festival in Dublin This Saturday

The first “Problem-Solving Festival” will take place in Dublin this weekend, hosted by the ADAPT Centre for Digital Content Technology. Taking place on Saturday the 30th of September, from 11 am – 5 pm, the festival will be the culmination of the Problem-Solving Initiative, a two-year nationwide programme funded by Science Foundation Ireland. The interactive festival will take place at the historic Front Square of Trinity College Dublin. Festival-goers can explore the wonders of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) through hands-on, minds-on activities.

This FREE family-friendly festival aims to help raise the Irish public’s awareness of and appreciation for the importance and applicability of problem-solving skills across science, the economy and society and encourages people of all ages to hone their lateral-thinking skills and create enthusiasm within the Irish public for problem-solving.

Participants will delight with activities for people aged 2 to 102 including language games, logic puzzles, large-scale games, interactive workshops and curated lectures. One particular interactive logic game challenges players to coordinate with teammates in a race against the clock to reduce interference in a complex mobile phone network.

Speaking ahead of the festival, Professor Vincent Wade, Director of the ADAPT Centre said:

“The ADAPT Centre is proud to bring together a set of exciting and fun exhibitions, talks and workshops focusing on STEM-related activities. We welcome families to come along to Front Square of Trinity College on Saturday to try out their problem-solving skills with fun games and challenges like tackling logic puzzles, building a propeller-powered car, solving how to make ice cream without a freezer and taking the Brain Health Challenge”

Visitors will have the opportunity to get up-close and personal with many fascinating aspects of Problem-Solving at the Festival, with hands-on activities from a range of exhibitors. Highlights of the event include:

– BEBRAS Computing Challenge – where students will have to solve interactive tasks online
– Little Cells workshop – which introduces young children to the concept of cells
– Designing your own kite and engage with the basics of aerodynamics and physics, allowing you to walk away with your own, self-made toy, which doesn’t even need wind in order to fly.
– Professor of Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin and e-Health Lead at the ADAPT Centre, Sabina Brennan, will speak about Brain Health.

The Problem-Solving Festival has been made possible through funding from Science Foundation Ireland and is run by the ADAPT Centre for Digital Content Technology, based in Trinity College Dublin. For more information on the festival please see ProblemSolving.ie

ADAPT, the Centre for Digital Content Technology, provides a partnership between academia and industry in the field of digital content technology, leading on ground-breaking innovations in areas such as localization, social media analysis, multimodal interaction, intelligent content and media, and informal and formal learning. Funded by Science Foundation Ireland, the centre is led out of Trinity College Dublin and combines the world-class expertise of researchers at Dublin City University, University College Dublin and Dublin Institute of Technology.

ADAPT has significant commercial expertise, having generated 7 spinout companies, multiple licenses and a large number of applied research collaborations. ADAPT’s unique Design & Innovation Lab works with companies to bridge research and technology to enhance commercial success. www.adaptcentre.ie