The VWEC Student Challenge Awards Ceremony 2026 was presided over by Marie Vans (founder of the project), along with VWEC Board Chair Elli Pinion and her fellow Board Member Valibrarian Gregg. To start with each participating student was presented with a certificate ‘for achievement in building, problem solving, and team work’ and a medal. Congratulations to all the student participants for completing the module and the Student Challenge. It was great to see everyone receive their awards. Special thanks to Marie Vans, Elli Pinion, and Valibrarian Gregg for organising, managing and supporting this initiative which always plays such an important part in this module.
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Erin Mc Ilwain (avatar name, erniemcs) certificate ‘for achievement in building, problem solving, and team work’.
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This was followed by the presentation of the overall team awards, of which five were won by our teams:
Green Team was awarded First Prize for “Virtual Village Sustainable Development Goals”. Team members: Erin Mc Ilwaine (erniemcs, team leader) and Jessica Finnegan (JessicaAmanita, co-lead) both from TU Dublin; Iuliana Todorean (IulianaMonica) from Cluj-Napoca; Yeşim Toytok (yesimtytk) and Yasemin Damla İnceoğlu (ydmlinceoglu) both from Çağ. Team mentor: John O’Connor (Acuppa Tae) from TU Dublin and Çağ.
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Purple Team was awarded Third Prize for “A Sustainable and Accessible College of Further Education”. Team members: Liliana Trushkevych (Liliana0520, team leader) from TU Dublin; Samia Jailani (samia17, co-lead) from TU Dublin; Atahan Hosta (atahosta); and Ayça Dilara Helvacı (aycadilaraa) both from Çağ. Team mentor Magua Theriac (Murat Gülmez) from Çağ).
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Gold Team received the Award for Best Presentation for “A Sustainable and Accessible College of Further Education”. Team members: Diana Boț (Diana Bot, team leader) from Cluj-Napoca; Goda Majauskaite (GodaMajauskaite, co-lead) from TU Dublin; Catherine Ifa-Uwadiae (Catherine004) from TU Dublin; Ümmühan Bobuş (ummuhann); and Cemre Uysal (cemreuys) both from Çağ. Team mentors: Andrea Pasca (Andreea88) and Raluca Pascaniuc (Raluca1984) from Cluj-Napoca.
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Blue Team received Honorable Mention. Team members: Nisa Karataş (nisakrs, team leader) from Çağ; Mariana Kifa (marianakifa05, co-lead) from Cluj-Napoca; Óskar Rondán (Oskar333) from TU Dublin, and İlayda Lara Bağban (ilayda11) from Çağ. Team mentor Çağla Solak (Merino) from Çağ.
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Red Team received Honorable Mention. Team members: Eliza Iura (iuraeliza, team leader) from Cluj-Napoca; Huilin He (Huilink057, co-lead) from TU Dublin; Uliana Dovhoteles (Uliana) from TU Dublin; Ayfer Güvenç (ayyferr); and Sıla Naz Tepebaşı (Silanazzz) both from Çağ. Team mentor Lia Pop from Cluj-Napoca.
Other awards were made to teams from Sekolah Bintang Mayantara, a virtual world school initiative in Jakarta, Indonesia. The student teams were unable to attend due to their time zone and were represented by their instructor Maria Magdalena (Marcel Mosswood):
Ice BeAm Team Red was awarded Second Prize for “Water in the World”.
IceBeAM Blue Team received the Award for Most Authentic for “Animal Cells”.
IceBeAM Orange received the Award for Most Interactive for “Urban Farming for Sustainability”.
Finally, a Special Acknowledgement:
Global Digital Citizenship Minecraft Club received a Special Acknowledgement with the “Minecraft Innovation Award”. Team members: Ezio, Pomni, and Eve. Team mentors: Lucía Morales (ceriumsolas), Çağla Solak (Merino), and Valerie Hill (Valibrarian Gregg). This team of 9 to 11 years olds entered the contest to build without competing with the university teams.
Recording of the ceremony courtesy of Francisco Koolhoven.
Virtual Environments: Is one life enough? 
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