More than 120 Basque schoolchildren code with ITP Aero and Code.org in ‘The Hour of Code’

Programming is the language of the present. The professional profiles associated with this field are increasingly in demand, which is why developing the digital competencies and skills associated with the language of machines among young people has become a fundamental task. In this context, ITP Aero is once again bringing computational language to the new generations in a new edition of ‘The Hour of Code’. The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao hosted the second edition of this day organised in collaboration with Code.org, in which, under the title “We can all code”, more than a hundred students in the 2nd year of secondary education from three Basque schools learnt all the ins and outs of programming in a fun and entertaining way. Moreover, the Basque Government’s Education Councillor, Jokin Bildarratz, has attended the event, “educational centres, institutions and companies such as ITP Aero are working to take away the fear of technology and programming and bring STEAM training closer to Basque students“.

The 115 students from the Bizkaia schools Artxandape Ikastola and the Somorrostro Training Centre also had the opportunity to discover the many applications offered by programming in the aeronautical sector, through a dynamic session led by ITP Aero. In it, the young people learned first-hand about the personal and professional experiences of Ana Oyarzabal and Alberto Gutierrez, engineers of the company, who encouraged them to share their ideas and curiosities.

In addition, some thirty educational directors from Basque schools have learned about the successful experiences of other schools that have already incorporated computer language into their educational curriculum. Thus, Pat Yongpradit, Chief Academic Officer of Code.Org, Carlos Enguita,  representative of the school CEIP Isabel La Católica de Pinto in Madrid, Dácil González of the school Alameda de Osuna, also in Madrid and Amanda Martínez of the school Bell-Iloc Infantil in Girona have exchanged their thoughts on the need to include this subject in the Basque educational curriculum.

After the good reception of the first edition, ITP Aero and Code.Org are once again embarking on this innovative initiative supported by Innobasque and the Basque Government. The ‘Hour of Code’ is part of ITP Aero’s agreement with Code.org, a non-profit organisation that works to encourage young people to learn coding. To carry out this work, it has the support of social, economic and political leaders, as well as some prominent companies such as Telefónica and Asti Robotics in Spain and Facebook, Amazon, Dropbox and Microsoft in the United States. It is worth noting that ITP Aero was the first industrial company in Spain to join this global movement as part of its commitment to promoting STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) vocations.

Learning with Code.org
Code.org® is dedicated to expanding access to computer science in schools and increasing the participation of young women and students from underrepresented groups. Its vision is that all students, in all schools around the world, should have the opportunity to learn computer science as part of their basic education. More than 55 million students and 2 million teachers have accounts on the Code.org platform, and there have already been more than 1.1 billion hours of coding done worldwide.

About ITP Aero
ITP Aero is a world leading company within its market, currently the ninth largest aircraft engine and components company in the world by revenue. Ranking among the top one hundred companies in the aerospace industry. The company employs 4,300 people at its production centers in Spain, United Kingdom, Mexico, Malta and India.

ITP Aero includes among its activities the design, research and development, manufacturing and casting, assembly and testing of aeronautical modules and engines. It also provides MRO services for a wide range of engines for regional airlines, business aviation, helicopters, industrial and defense applications.

Contact
Louis Trollope
Communications Manager
M: (+34) 610 267 334
louisjon.trollope@itpaero.com
www.itpaero.com