Irish student entrepreneur hopes new maths app will be the next Wordle
A scholarship entrepreneur has devised an app to help make maths more popular.
David Carr is currently studying in Indiana in the US where he has launched the Pi² app, which has reached the top 10 in the educational charts.
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The self-confessed maths "geek" was inspired by the hit Wordle game which has popularised spellings.
The 23 year-old from Ashbourne, Co Meath, created the app alongside fellow computer science student Chris Fakhimi while studying at Notre Dame University after securing a Naughton Foundation Scholarship.
David is studying the 11-month ESTEEM Graduate Programme which is a master's programme at the American university that focuses on engineering, science and technology entrepreneurship and teaches students the skills to launch new businesses.
"I'm a maths geek," he laughed.
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"I used to love when my primary school teachers would give extra maths questions if we finished our work early and then I went on to study Actuary Maths in DCU so I've always been passionate about maths.
"I came up with Pi² idea having tutored for five years so I understood that a lot of people don't love maths because they're afraid of maths or have low confidence in tackling maths.
"I saw that the New York Times Wordle helped people love words so I thought the same concept could work with maths."
The app centres around a one-minute daily quiz with six maths problems, using either division, addition, multiplication and subtraction and has a leader board that people can join, if they so wish.
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There are also other areas in the app for tougher problems around algebra or calculus which could help junior or leaving certificate students and the app can also help cognitive skills in older people.
"When you play the game, your mind will become sharper over time and you'll get quicker at mental maths. The simple problems attract people to the app and then they challenge themselves with more difficult areas as time goes on.
"It's a great app for families to do together and challenge each other, it is suitable for all ages and it is free."
Ashbourne Community School as well as two other US schools helped in testing the app between November and January when over 500 students gave feedback. Since its launch at the end of January, Pi² has reached no. 9 in the educational area of the Google Play Store.
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At present David is preparing to graduate from Notre Dame and with a new job in hand, he is hugely thankful to the Naughton Foundation for affording him the opportunity.
"When I came out of DCU, I probably felt that actuary was great but not for me full-time as I had a passion for entrepreneurship. We all got the email about scholarships so I applied and was so grateful to be accepted for a scholarship.
"I've just been offered a position with Michigan company AEBetancourt as the Director of Strategic Insights and Innovation and the company is at the cutting edge of using AI in recruiting. I'm still so young with so much to learn so I am hugely delighted and looking forward to this new challenge.
"I'll still work on Pi² part-time as a start-up and continue to grow it as an app that will make people love maths."
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