T-HT - Hrvatski Telekom dd

06/24/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/24/2021 07:18

Winners announced of Hrvatski Telekom's Generation NOW program worth HRK 700,000

24.6.2021

  • Six teams of finalists presented their projects at the final exhibition
  • The best projects of this year's competition are the 'Friendship Restaurant' of the Tučepi Elementary School, the 'LED PAD' of the Malešnica Elementary School in Zagreb, and the 'Bionica Project' of the Krapina IT Club KRIK.
  • More than 2,200 children and young people have participated in the donation program so far

CEO of HT Kostas Nebis and member of Krapinski informatički klub KRIK

Hrvatski Telekom i Institut za razvoj i inovativnost mladih (IRIM) proglasili su ovogodišnje pobjednike Generacije NOW programa koji sa 700.000 kuna vrijednom godišnjom donacijom promiče razvoj STEM z

Hrvatski Telekom and the Institute for Youth Development and Innovation (IRIM) have announced this year's winners of the Generation NOW program, promoting STEM knowledge and digital skills among young people with an annual donation worth HRK 700,000.

According to the decision of the expert jury, in the category of first to fourth grade of elementary school the best project is called 'Friendship Restaurant' of Tučepi Elementary School, while in the category of fifth to eighth grade the project 'LED PAD' of Zagreb Elementary School Malešnica was declared the best. Finally, the best work in the category of high schools is the 'Project Bionica' of the Krapina IT Club KRIK.

The 'Friendship Restaurant' project presents a restaurant of the future with robotic service that recognizes your nutritional needs with the help of Neuron electronics, solar, and wind power. 'LED PAD' is a fun game that helps in stretching and develops reflexes and is made in the form of a vertical interactive board with 30 buttons and 30 associated LEDs connected to an Arduino microcontroller. 'Project Bionica' is a robotic arm that controls the movements of a human hand in the air. Using a Leap Motion sensor and own software on a computer, we transmit human hand movements to a robotic hand.

'This year's program brought together excellent young teams led by dedicated mentors and resulted in many ingenious projects showing great creativity of participants. With the Generation NOW, we encourage the adoption of STEM knowledge in children from an early age, and we are happy to help them reach their full potential and develop important digital skills,' said Igor Vukasović, Director of Corporate Communications at Hrvatski Telekom and Jury President.

All educational and non-profit institutions that promote STEM could enter the competition. All participants were assisted by experts from the Institute for Youth Development and Innovation (IRIM), the program's partner. Hrvatski Telekom donated the state-of-the-art equipment to all participants, provided free internet access with free data traffic, and supported them financially. The result is innovative projects of future STEM experts.

'This year again, the Institute for Youth Development and Innovation in cooperation with Hrvatski Telekom included 75 new institutions in the Generation NOW donation program and provided support to previously involved institutions in the Internet of Things projects. In total, more than 180 institutions actively participated in the project this school year. All mentors in the institutions are provided with training for Arduino - the world's most famous platform for implementing DIY projects in electronics, automation, robotics, and engineering in general. Educated mentors transfer their knowledge to students who create their own projects while developing STEM competencies and other digital skills needed to work and live in today's digital world,' said Paolo Zenzerović, Business Manager at IRIM.

Since the beginning of the implementation, the Generation NOW donation competition has been successfully completed by more than 2,200 children and young people throughout Croatia. In addition, more than 300 educational institutions have participated in it. To date, HT has invested more than four million kunas in the development of digital skills of students and mentors in Croatia, aiming to provide the most modern form of education to young people to develop their creativity and innovation with the help of the latest technologies.