Cambridge students win work experience at Arm through FXP Extended Challenge
Cambridge students win work experience at Arm through FXP Extended Challenge
Two students from North Cambridge Academy (NCA) and one student from Chesterton Community College (CCC) have been announced as the winners of this year’s FXP Extended Challenge, organised by FXP Festival in collaboration with Arm, the Cambridge-headquartered global technology leader. Vanessa, Gino (NCA) and Luca (CCC) have all secured a week’s work experience at Arm this summer.
To complete the challenge, students worked independently, from 21 January to 25 March 2019, to design a mobile app that gamifies a solution to one of three global problems linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Zero Hunger, Good Health & Wellbeing and Climate Action. App ideas were judged by representatives from Arm and FXP, who evaluated the most innovative, appealing and practical apps.
FXP Festival is a local education initiative which uses computer games to increase interest and uptake of STEM subjects, build young people’s digital skills and provide an insight into what careers in the technology, creative digital and related industries might offer. The competition comprises three key strands – computer games concept design, computer games development and, new for 2019, creative writing and illustration. Arm supports the initiative every year financially and with the provision of industry mentors to help guide the students over the festival weekend.
Simon Humphrey, senior manager, sustainability at Arm, commented: “At Arm, we want to encourage young people to explore the exciting opportunities a career in technology can offer, and this competition uncovered several diverse and creative ideas. The three winners really stood out for the way in which they used technology to solve real-world problems in simple and intuitive ways.”
Alison Taylor, founder of FXP and managing director at Conscious Communications, commented: “FXP Festival is all about providing exciting learning opportunities for the young people in our region. Each year, the competition takes place over a weekend in July at Cambridge Regional College and, while many students spend months preparing to compete in the competition, it has been fantastic to run the Extended Challenge as an additional activity during the quieter months too. One of our key motivations for organising FXP is to help drive social mobility in the region, so enabling three students to secure work experience placements at Arm is another step towards this goal.”
FXP 2019 will take place from 6– 8 July, at the Rizing Games studios at Cambridge Regional College and is open to schools, colleges, home school groups and out-of-school clubs across East Anglia. Teams can register their interest by emailing joanna.colley@consciouscomms.com.
