Student Alan O’Regan, who had the highest maths result in Leaving Cert 2011, has been presented with the inaugural Accenture Maths Award at a ceremony in his old school, Christian Brothers College, Cork.
O’Regan, who is now studying mathematical sciences at UCC, was presented with a trophy and an award of €500 by Richard Southern of the Accenture Analytics Innovation Centre this past weekend.
After presenting the award, Southern spoke about how analytics is becoming increasingly central to the success of organisations.
“Our Analytics Innovation Centre is employing people with skills in analytics, statistics, maths and quants. I congratulate Alan and look forward to talking to him in a few years’ time when he completes his studies. He is exactly the type of person we want to work with,” added Southern.
It’s a welcome piece of news since Ireland has been in the spotlight of late for Leaving Cert performances in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects, with some educators calling for a reform of the Leaving Cert curriculum around maths and science, in particular.
Managed by Forfás, Discover Science and Engineering is Ireland’s science promotion programme that’s aiming to increase interest in STEM subjects among students, teachers and members of the public.