Awards for Westmeath students in Young Scientist competition
Ten Westmeath projects – including the two submitted by students from Mullingar – have appeared on the list of prizewinners from this year’s Young Scientist Exhibition.
Loreto College Transition Year student, Arisha Ali from Loreto College won second place in the Intermediate Social and Behavioural category with her project, “Making Memories and Remembering Them”, and from Coláiste Mhuire, “Eyespy”, the project submitted by Jack Hand, Jack Kenny and Sean Murphy, in the Junior Technology category was listed as Highly Commended.
Overall winners
The winners of the 52nd BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition (#BTYSTE) have been announced. Maria Louise Fufezan (aged 16) and Diana Bura (aged 15) have taken home the top prize for their project entitled, ‘An Investigation into the Effects of Enzymes used in Animal Feed Additives on the Lifespan of Caenorhabditis Elegans’. The announcement was made in the BT Arena at Dublin’s RDS this evening by Jan O’Sullivan, TD, Minister for Education and Skills, and Shay Walsh, Managing Director, BT Ireland. The group entered in the intermediate section of the biological & ecological sciences category
Westmeath schools
A first place award, in the Junior Biological and Ecological category, went to Marist College student Daniel Breheny for his project, “Boglands, a changing environment”.
Also awarded a first place prize – and also for a boglands project – were Athlone Community College students Louise Egan, Sarah Denby and Fiona Molloy. Their project, in the Intermediate Biological and Ecological category was “Rewetted and degraded raised bogs: Carbon emissions and botanical composition”.
This project also won a special award from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Highly Commended
- Walking on eggshells – a sustainable method of removing petrol and diesel from water, submitted to the senior Chemical, Physical and Mathematical Sciences category by Aisling Benson, Maeve Bass and Roisin Burke of Our Lady’s Bower.
- The importance of farming habitats in supporting native and migrant birds/wildlife, submitted by Eoin Shortall and Callum Dunne of Moate Community School, in the Intermediate Biological and Ecological category.
- Caonach Cliste, submitted in the Intermediate Technology section by Our Lady’s Bower students Ciara MacCarthy, Claire Lemass and Ellen Finucane.
A special award went to Moate Community School’s Graham Turner for “Is Technology the way forward for education?” in the intermediate technology category.
Also named as winner of a special award
Winners of a second place award in the Intermediate Technology category, and also of a special award, were Ciaran McDermott and Joseph Reidy of Marist College whose project “Wake Up to Driver Fatigue”.
For “Moo Munch”, her entry in the intermediate Technology category, Our Lady’s Bower student Tierna Maguire won a third place award.