17-year-old Estela Liobikaitė from Strokestown, Co. Roscommon, will be one of the first makers to enter the category for 3D and animation at Coolest Projects International, the global tech showcase for young people. The event will take place on Bank Holiday Sunday, 5 May, in the RDS, Dublin.
The category was introduced this year for anyone who is making a project involving 3D design or modelling, from amazing models of real or virtual objects to incredible 3D animations.
Estela began coding at school with her teacher, Ms Gilleran, and developed a love for animation. She has built a special 3D modelled ‘fighter’ game, which she presented at Coolest Projects UK and will now present at Coolest Projects International in May.
“I spend one hour and a half practising coding every day. All it takes is one small step forward and having a dream.”
“I like coding because it is very entertaining to play to learn about technology. Coding gives a person many opportunities and possibilities.
“I spend one hour and a half practising coding every day — sometimes, I fix bugs and glitches, other times, I just improve and make changes. All it takes is one small step forward and [having] a dream.”
“I thought it would be amazing to do a video game because video games can be more than educational; they can teach you so much, but they can also be fun and entertaining.
“The reason I decided to do my project in 3D was to test the possibilities of Scratch. You don’t have to be an expert in coding to render frames — all it takes is some hard work and knowledge of Unity. So I rendered models in Unity, and then, I rendered them from 3D to 2D to make them work in Scratch and give the impression of 3D models.”
“I wanted my game to prove girls can be coders and fighters too.”
“The goal of my game is to become the number one fighter.”
Estela wants to encourage other teenage girls to code, and hopes her game will help inspire other young women to take part in Coolest Projects.
“We can code just as well as guys, and I wanted my game to prove girls can be coders and fighters too.”
There is still time to get your free tickets to attend Coolest Projects International, and see the amazing tech that young people have created! Book your free tickets today!