OVER 170,000 people took part in Maths Week Ireland 2013, proving maths really is moving from geek to chic.
Celebrating its eighth year, Maths Week aims to engage people of all ages with maths and numeracy challenges.
Throughout the week thousands of school pupils and the general public took part in a range of activities designed to stimulate their interest and build confidence in maths through games, teasers, trails, challenges and magic shows.
‘Mathemagicians’, mathematical clowns and top experts even entertained shoppers at Victoria Square showing the fun side of figures.
Each year the event is supported by many local partners, including W5 who now manage the STEM Ambassadors Programme for Northern Ireland.
Dr Arlene Connolly, is one of the programme’s newest ambassadors.
The NISRA based statistician is part of a team of ‘maths heroes’ who look at innovative ways of raising the profile of and interest in STEM subjects — science, technology, engineering and maths.
“Maths Week is an excellent vehicle for encouraging young people from all backgrounds to look at maths in a different way and see how it applies to everyday life as well as its relevance to future careers,” said Dr Connolly.
“As a STEM Ambassador I want pupils and students to be aware of the great jobs they can secure by studying STEM subjects and in particular maths.
I loved mathematics but as a school pupil couldn’t identify an interesting career path.
“However, by pursuing studies in maths I now work as a statistician in the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) and number crunch and manage a huge range of official statistics which help inform public policy and debate in the wider NI society.
“Even if a job is not directly related to maths or any other STEM subjects, studying maths will help develop key employer skills including logical thinking, reasoning, numerical ability, analysis, interpretation and problem solving.”
Maths Week 2013 partners include University of Ulster, Queen’s University, Stranmillis University College, W5 and Armagh Planetarium, who all hosted events during the week.
Visit www.mathsweek.ie.