Award Winning Software Challenge
Applications for this work experience have now been closed. All places have been assigned.
Tech Cornwall, with the support of its members, have been running this work experience activity for students since 2015. It is a week-long structured activity designed to engage the participants in coding, teamwork and gaining an understanding of what it is like working as a software engineer.
The programs invite budding software developers aged 14 to 24 to code the Mars rover robots. The rovers only operate using the code uploaded to them. It is this code that the week revolves around. It is up to the software developers to create this code so that the rovers operate to the specifications supplied to them.
Though we created the Mission to Mars for students quite a large number of adult learners and professional software developers have also had a go. They all found it a useful team building exercise and instructional regarding working together. If you are from a business and are maybe interested in getting your teams collaborating on something different then maybe consider a Mission to Mars.
The Mission to Mars work experience programme is designed to provide a realistic experience of being a software developer. Working in teams, participants are supported in completing a set of incrementally difficult tasks, each built upon the abilities of the robots. Industry professionals join us throughout the week to coach participants, helping to develop problem-solving skills write quality software and to share their work experiences and careers.
During the Mission applicants will:
- Develop solutions using C++ and Raspberry PI for Arduino based hardware.
- Work as part of a close-knit team.
- Create software using an Agile development process.
- Test solutions before deploying onto the rovers.
- Present their product to potential ‘investors’ and VIPs.
Mission to Mars Objective
A key objective of Tech Cornwall is to support young people into careers in software engineering. Our members have been delighted, but overwhelmed, by requests for work experience. Due to the nature of the industry, it is difficult to provide an engaging and hands-on work experience for placement students meaning places are in short supply. To alleviate this problem, companies have decided to collaborate and volunteer their time and developers to help run a work experience week for budding developers.
Mission to Mars is part of Tech Cornwall’s education outreach program, designed to stimulate the computing industry from the ground up. In 2017, Cornwall was ranked in the top three tech clusters for growth, for the third year running but ranked poorly for computing subject uptake in further education. To support future growth, we are investing in learners from a young age, which is hoped to increase the pool of homegrown talent for the wider tech industry within the county in years to come.
This project is part-funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Cornwall Council has been chosen by Government as a Lead Authority for the fund and is responsible for monitoring the progress of projects funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
Credly Digital Badges
As proof of learning and engaging with our industry Tech Cornwall rewards participants of the work experiences with a digital badge. Millions of these badges have been awarded via the Credly system around the world as a way of demonstrating in job interviews and on a CV completion of a piece training. The Mission to Mars badge is awarded to those completing the Mission and participating in the team work necessary.
