BT Young Scientist winners use technology ‘for the good’
Students from Coláiste Mhuire and Castlepollard Community College won at this year’s BT Young Scientist and Technology exhibition, offering technology to enhance everyday lives.
Coláiste Mhuire student Ruairi Fagan took second in the senior individual Technology category for ‘CommunicAID’, while Patrick D’Arcy of Castlepollard Community College took third in the senior individual category in Technology for ‘The Wide Awake’.
Also, two second year students from Coláiste Mhuire, Killian McGrath and Evan McGreal, took home a Highly Commended award for Technology in the junior category for P.A.S.S.T. – a Pedestrian Alert Safety System for Trams.
CommunicAID
Focusing on the medical sector, 18-year-old Ruairi from Crookedwood designed a mobile app to enhance doctor patient communication, and a number of other practical tools for patients. It was a case of third time lucky for the Leaving Cert student, who had entered the competition in 2017 and 2018.
“CommunicAID is a mobile app I wrote aimed primarily at communication between patients and their doctors,” Ruairi told the Westmeath Examiner.
“It aims to create a sense of community for patients and provides them with tools to simplify their day-to-day lives,” he said, adding that he used his own experience as inspiration .
“I was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2015, so that was a driving factor in designing the app. My experience with waiting lists, and a lack of communication between my specialist and me drove me to create something to help others.
“Looking at more recent times, with Covid and the demands on the health sector, I think CommunicAID is even more relevant.”
Ruairi hopes to study Computer Science at Trinity or UCD, and to further develop CommunicAID.
He is part of the STEM team at Coláiste Mhuire: “I’d just like to thank the school for the support they give the STEM team, it’s been excellent over the years. My teacher, Ms Acton, has worked hard to build up a STEM team in the school and there’s a great sense of community within that team.”
Eva Acton, who teaches computer science, Junior Cert coding and science at Coláiste Mhuire, praised Ruairi’s dedication to the project. “I am thrilled for Ruairi because he is an outstanding student. The commitment Ruairi has put into this project over the years is inspirational.
“He started when he was in second year and entered this project a couple of years ago – it would have been a rudimentary project at that stage, but he kept working away and developed the app into what it is today. I think he’s an inspiration to others and we’re all proud of him.”
Killian McGrath and Evan McGreal “are two more students who are extremely determined and going places”, said Ms Acton.
“They had a similar story to Ruairi. They entered BT Young Scientist last year with a similar project to this year’s, and from the experience they garnered, the networking, they gained support from TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland) and were able to go to TU Dublin, where they got support for their app development. They continued to work on it over the year and it resulted in a Highly Commended this year. For two second year students that’s outstanding, especially in the current climate,” says Ms Acton.
She said the STEM team usually meet regularly in the run-up to the BT Young Scientist competition. “With Covid, it was different of course. Everything had to be done online. It’s a massive achievement for the school and for all the teachers working behind the scenes on the STEM team. We’re delighted for the students, and thankful to the support we get from the school. To be able to achieve this is amazing.
“Our mantra in the STEM team is to use technology for good, and to try and seek practical uses for it. And I think each of the students has achieved that.”
The Wide Awake
Patrick D’Arcy designed an alarm to wake children and prompt swift escape from a building in case of an emergency. Watching the awards online from home in Fore, Patrick was delighted to see the judges select his project. “Over the last week I was interviewed by the judges, and they asked about the project and the research I did for it,” he said.
“It started out as an enterprise project in Transition Year, and the feedback I received was that I should consider entering it in the BT Young Scientist expo.
“It’s a brilliant result and I’m delighted. I’d like to say thanks so much to everyone who took part in the survey I did, and who helped me along the way. Especially my teacher Mr Melody and my enterprise teachers Mr Gilsenan and Mr Murphy, Mr McGrath our vice-principal, who took me to the Enterprise competition, and Catherine Darby in the Local Enterprise Office, who gave me great advice.
“I also hope that one of the outcomes of this project is that I raised awareness of the need for families to consider home evacuation plans and test their fire alarms regularly.”
Overall Best Group
Moate Community School won Overall Best Group for ‘Wool – Saviour of Our Sea’, entered in the intermediate age group Biological and Ecological category by Abby Mullins, Chloe Murphy, and Megan Carroll. The school also took first and second in the Biological and Ecological Junior Group category. It was also first in the intermediate group category for Technology with an app that helps co-ordinate awareness and knowledge of a locality, designed by Conall Mandal and Daragh Lowry.
The Moate school also won the NAPD Best Overall School in the Republic, while teacher Mairead Cusack took home the Perrigo Educator of Excellence Award in the Biological and Ecological Sciences. Athlone Community College and Our Lady’s Bower also won prizes.
First place went to a project on Superfoods and their effects on Diabetes by Rueban Guinan, and Kian Brady; while second place went to Lauren Finan, Shana Brady and Aine Broderick for their investigation on the impact of diet on the prevalence of Laminitis among Connemara Ponies.
Once again Moate Community School came first in the intermediate group category for Technology with an app that helps coordinate awareness and knowledge of a locality. It was designed by Conall Mandal and Daragh Lowry.
The Moate school got the NAPD Best Overall School in the Republic, while teacher Mairead Cusack took home the Perrigo Educator of Excellence Award in the Biological and Ecological Sciences
Highly Commended
A number of Highly Commended awards also went to Westmeath for projects pertaining to the Social and Behavioural Sciences, including Athlone Community College for ‘I hear everything’ – an investigation into the lack of knowledge and inclusions of sensory processing disorder in society by Sarah Fitzpatrick.
Clodagh O’Brien, Nikka Campbell and Alisha Collins, students of Athlone Community College, took a highly commended gong for their project ‘What Are We Recycling?’.
Moate Community School got a highly commended in the Biological and Ecological category for their project ‘The Future is Bright: Turning Organic Waste into Biofuel’, a group project by Annie Duffy, Leah Hallissy, and Ava Hallissy.
Our Lady’s Bower also took home a Highly Commended for ‘The Last Straw’, for which Hannah Duffy investigated the impact of microplastics on inland lakes, as did fellow student Michelle Hughes for her project ‘Blooming Good Algae’.