Student-led hackathon at PorterShed attracts more than 80 participants from across Ireland to develop ideas addressing sustainability, infrastructure, traffic and urban planning.
More than 80 students from across Ireland gathered at PorterShed in Galway last week for FutureHack, a student-led hackathon that challenged young people aged 13 to 19 to develop practical solutions to some of the city’s most pressing challenges.
Founded by student group Innovation Ireland and led by Jonathan McPhiblin and Lukas Lydon, the event was designed to provide students with an opportunity to apply STEM, technology and entrepreneurial skills in a real-world setting.
“Organisers said the initiative demonstrated the capacity of young people to create opportunities for themselves and their peers”
Held at PorterShed, the one-day programme encouraged participants to move beyond traditional classroom learning by identifying local issues, developing solutions with the support of mentors and presenting their ideas to a judging panel.
Students were tasked with exploring challenges facing Galway across areas including sustainability, traffic, security, infrastructure and urban planning. Throughout the day, teams participated in workshops, received mentoring and refined their concepts before delivering final presentations.
Galway’s data-led future
For many attendees, the event coincided with another important milestone, as participants took part while awaiting their Leaving Certificate results.
The winning team presented a project focused on using data to support Galway’s future development. Their concept combined trends, graphs and heat-map style visualisations to identify areas experiencing high levels of activity and highlight where additional infrastructure or investment may be required.
As part of their research, team members engaged directly with local councillors to gather perspectives on the city’s priorities and incorporated those insights into their proposal.
The programme also aimed to equip students with the communication and problem-solving skills needed to develop and present new ideas effectively.
Aisling Burke from University of Galway IdeasLab worked with participants on approaches to problem-solving and innovation, while the PorterShed Programmes Team, including Dushyant Singh and Rosemary Gallagher, supported teams in structuring and preparing their pitches.
FutureHack was supported by principal sponsors Siren, University of Galway IdeasLab and PorterShed, giving participants direct access to entrepreneurs, educators and technology professionals.
Mentors and judges included Patrick Byrne of Annora, Gavin Doyle of Examinite and Alex O’Mahony of Ulysses, among others from Ireland’s technology and startup community.
Beyond the projects developed during the event, organisers said the initiative demonstrated the capacity of young people to create opportunities for themselves and their peers. Rather than participating in a programme designed by others, students took responsibility for organising the event, bringing together participants from around the country and creating links with founders, mentors and industry leaders.
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