Invest NI Proof of Concept Fund: IZAK9 (#6053)

Description

Design at Magee team have assisted local entrepreneur and former maths teacher, Franz Schlindwein, achieve his goal of making Maths education fun. His Derry based company, Qubizm, informed by more than 20 years’ experience researching how people learn, aims to become the leading provider of inclusive, multi-media rich classroom resources. Their first product, Izak9, aimed initially at transitional learners aged between 9 and 14 years, is designed to be trans-curricular without language barrier, therefore increased export potential. Current sales range from UK, Ireland, Scandinavia and Saudi Arabia.

“We believe that too many of today’s children are becoming disengaged from their learning and each other. For them to be able to gain the skills necessary to succeed in these rapidly changing times, we need to give them access to classroom resources that are: immersive; inclusive; unpredictable; agile and FUN”.
Franz Schlindwein (Director, Qubizm).

The design staff (Dr Justin Magee, Terry Quigley, Padraic Lynch and Mark Cullen) have diverse expertise within research and design enterprise including automotive, product, toys, 3D games, animation, film, branding, interaction and e-learning. Izak9 includes product, visual communication, web development, film and 3D character animation solutions.

“We are uniquely placed to approach design problems outside limits of any individual expertise. We explore through trans-disciplinary thinking, confident that our diversely skilled team can deliver the right solution for the right problem”.
Dr Justin Magee (Senior Lecturer: Product Design).

Izak9 is system of learning, to cater for visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learners to actively explore number, algebra, shape and space combining combines the physical and virtual to offer children a unique shared learning experience, levelling the playing field of opportunity by catering for pupils with all different preferred learning styles in equal measure.

The entire solution is Irish-made, following the design, the prototyping of cubes (Laser Prototypes, Belfast), their Manufacture (Crossen Engineering, Lisburn), prototyping/production of carry cases (McIvor Plastics, Derry), promotional stands (Pakflatt, Derry) and product labelling (NuPrint, Derry) all supplied by a highly competitive, top quality local industry. Izak9 was officially launched at Junior CultureTECH in September 2013 and BETT 2014, London.

For more information see www.izak9.com

Period	1 Nov 2012 → 4 Nov 2013