Pictured above is Mr David McQuaid (STARTSports & DKIT), Mr David McKenny (STATSports & DKIT), Orla Nutley (Student), Mrs Siobhan Bradley (Vice-principal), Caolan McCann (Student), Kevin Lawless (STATSports & DKIT), Ronan Lynch (STATSports & DKIT) and Mrs Elaine Cahill (Head of Mathematics at St Paul’s).

Mathematics and Computing were the order of the day as staff and students of St Pauls, Bessbrook were entertained and informed by Dundalk Institute of Technology and STATSports as part of our annual Careers Week.

Following on from the success of last year’s event, DkIT and STATSports once again formed a partnership to give a presentation to our Year 12 GSCE Higher Level Maths students about the use and benefit of Mathematics within the world-renowned sports science company.

STATSports provide an all-encompassing sports science and performance analysis service within the elite sporting industry. Currently, the company, with offices in Dundalk, Newry, London and Chicago, boast an array of elite sporting organisations as their clients; from Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal to Juventus, Barcelona and LA Galaxy, from the IRFU, Harlequins, London Irish, and Ulster Rugby to the New Zealand All Blacks, and from the Chicago Bulls to the Carolina Panthers.

STATSports are playing their part in providing high-quality, analytical services to the sporting elite. Established in 2007, the company continues to grow, and has been a huge success story for its co-founders, Bessbrook native, Alan Clarke and Sean O’Connor.

Kevin Lawless, sports science analyst with STATSports, informed students about the technology within the Viper pod, a unit that provides coaches and sports science divisions with an insight into the performances of their players. Throughout Kevin’s presentation, David McQuaid, Computing tutor in DkIT outlined how the basis for the cutting-edge, Viper technologies is mathematically-driven. The data produced from the combination of the Viper pod and STATSports’ bespoke software, is derived from a series of computing logistics and mathematical equations. David also outlined how Computing and Mathematics is at the heart of today’s industry, and encouraged all those in attendance, to consider the field as a future career path.

To find out more about the programmes in the Department of Computing and Mathematics in DkIT, check out https://www.dkit.ie/computing-mathematics