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Student scientist up for award

28 September 2015

Michael Walmsley
PhD student Michael Walmsley is a finalist in this year's Kudos Awards.

A University of Waikato student who developed a website to teach computer programming (coding) has been named as a finalist in this year's Kudos Awards.

During his PhD research on Computer Assisted Foreign Language Learning, Michael Walmsley uncovered 12 key principles for an optimal online learning experience.

By applying these principles, he developed an interactive learning website for teaching the languages of coding that makes the difficult task of learning to code as fun and effective as possible.

Walmsley launched Code Avengers in 2012 and since then more than 1 million people have used it to teach themselves how to code and it is used by thousands of teachers worldwide.

Walmsley taught himself coding as a 12-year-old and wanted to create a resource that enabled teens to learn to code effectively, even if they weren't at a school that taught coding.

He has hosted Code Camps - where groups of young people work in teams to learn from experts and build technology - in New Zealand and around the world and hopes the camps will inspire more young people to consider careers involving coding.

He says coding is an important and highly valuable skill and the number of opportunities to use coding will only increase in the future.

"Not only is there high demand for good coders in the IT industry, but these skills are becoming increasingly valuable in a variety of industries, from business to engineering," he says.

"There are a whole range of individuals who have coding skills and that gives them a lot of extra value."

Walmsley is a finalist in the Innovator/Entrepreneur Award category at the Kudos Awards, which honour the region's best scientists. The Kudos Awards will be presented at a black tie event on Wednesday, 14 October.

For more information on the Kudos Awards, visit http://thekudos.org.nz/


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