Huawei Ireland Awards €250,000 to Fifty Irish STEM Students

Huawei Ireland today awarded €250,000 in academic scholarships to fifty third-level STEM students through its 2021 ‘Seeds for the Future’ ICT talent nurturing initiative.

One of the largest scholarship programmes for STEM students in Ireland, €5,000 bursaries were awarded to fifty students from TU Dublin, UCD, Trinity College Dublin, DCU, UCC, UL, NUIG, Maynooth University, and Griffith College.

The successful students were selected based on their performance during this year’s initiative which took place online in October. Now in its seventh year, the 2021 Seeds for the Future programme was Huawei’s most successful yet, achieving a 333% increase in applications from STEM students in Ireland. Over a third of participants were female STEM students, the highest number to date.

A global Huawei initiative, Seeds for the Future aims to develop skilled, local ICT talent and bridge communication between countries and cultures. Participating students from Ireland engaged in lessons on subjects from AI to cloud computing, as well as visiting Huawei’s campuses online and taking part other cultural experiences.

This year also saw the introduction of a new ‘Tech4Good’ project to the programme where students sought to determine how technology could be used to tackle key social issues. A team from Ireland won the ‘Best Team’ award for developing a project to detect spoiled food to help reduce food waste.

Speaking during an online awards ceremony, Minister for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Robert Troy TD said: “Over the past two years, we have seen a seismic shift to the online world and with it the growing need to ensure society and our enterprise economy are equipped with the skills to navigate the digital landscape.

This is recognised across Government and it is very welcome that industry leaders, such as Huawei, are supporting and complementing Government initiatives to build these critical skills. The ICT industry is one of the most important sectors to Ireland’s economy and today’s awards are a clear example of the talent and potential in Ireland. Congratulations to all of the successful students – the future of Ireland’s ICT industry looks very bright.”

Awarding the students with the bursaries, Tony Yangxu, CEO, Huawei Ireland, said: “The standard of application for this year’s programme was outstanding and representative of the high-quality ICT professionals Ireland’s universities help produce. Huawei is delighted to award Irish STEM students with a €5,000 scholarship to help them continue to develop their skills and knowledge. We are committed to investing in Ireland’s ICT future, including its future talent.”