Education innovators coming to Warrnambool

Eddie Woo, Australia's 2018 Local Hero and named one of the top 10 teachers in the world, and Mat Bowtell, Victorian 2018 Local Hero engineer and prosthetic limb innovator, will be in Warrnambool on May 21 and 22 during Education Week.

South West TAFE CEO Mark Fidge said this would be a great opportunity for students, teachers and the community to hear firsthand from two amazing educators and innovators.

“At South West TAFE we aim to change people’s lives, and that’s exactly what Eddie and Mat do, so it’s exciting to host them in Warrnambool during Education Week to share their remarkable insights.”

Mr Woo and Mr Bowtell will make presentations at the Lighthouse Theatre for students, teachers, TAFE staff and the general community.

Mr Woo featured this week on ABC TV’s Australian Story. He came to prominence with his YouTube channel Wootube with fun and easy explanations to difficult maths problems. He was named one of the top 10 teachers in the world in the Varkey Foundation's Global Teacher Prize. He started his online videos to help a student who was sick with cancer and missing a lot of school and the videos have attracted more than eight million views.

Mr Bowtell volunteers his spare time and funds to design and make prosthetic devices for people who cannot afford them. Using a 3D printer, scanner and software, he began making open-source prosthetic hands for people around the world. While traditional prosthetics can cost up to $6,000, his revolutionary ‘kinetic finger’ can be made for under $1 and are made freely available online.