Twelve South West College students turned real world challenges into working digital solutions during a hands-on Build Sprint session at The Workhouse, Enniskillen, on 10 September.
The session was hosted by Illuminate Labs, part of Young Social Innovators’ Ignite Community Program, and led by Claire Halliday alongside Ava McGurk and Daryl Jones from the Illuminate team.
The students, who are beginning their Foundation Degree in Science in Computing at South West College were joined by lecturer Bronagh McNamee and Deputy Head of Department Heather Ellison.
Following a welcome to The Workhouse and a brief introduction to the history of the building, attention turned to the challenge ahead.
Working in three teams, the students were asked to identify a real issue connected to sustainability goals and consider how technology could help provide a practical solution.
An important part of the process was encouraging the students to think before turning to AI. Teams first considered the problem they wanted to solve and how to formulate effective prompts, before using tools including ChatGPT, Claude and Lovable to help turn their ideas into working builds.
In just 75 minutes, the three teams moved from identifying a challenge to developing a live digital solution and presenting their work to the group.
Their ideas explored three very different areas, energy use and sustainability, fairness and food waste within school catering, and making learning more accessible. Each demonstrated how digital tools could be applied creatively to an everyday challenge.
Kate McGrath, Business Manager at The Workhouse, said:
“It was great to see what the students achieved in such a short space of time. The Workhouse is a place where we want students to explore ideas, try things out and connect with the wider enterprise and innovation community. This was a great first session with Illuminate and we’re looking forward to building on it.”
Claire Halliday, Illuminate Labs, said:
“Our Build Sprints are about giving young people the space and tools to take an idea and turn it into something tangible. The students really engaged with the process — starting with the problem, thinking carefully about their prompts, and then using AI to help develop and test their solutions. Walking out with three working ideas at the end of one session is exactly what we hope for. We are looking forward to seeing how these ideas develop further.”
Heather Ellison, Deputy Head of Department at South West College, said:
“This was a great opportunity for our Foundation Degree in Science in Computing students to apply their skills in a different environment and work together on real challenges. Experiences like this encourage students to think creatively, collaborate and explore how emerging technologies can be used to develop practical solutions.”
Through its wider programme of enterprise, innovation and student activity, The Workhouse is continuing to create opportunities for students to connect with new ideas, skills, people and the wider business and innovation community.