Coláiste Mhuire scientists ‘over the moon’ with Unge Forskere win

A team of students from Coláiste Mhuire in Mullingar are “over the moon” after placing first in an international young scientist competition last week.

It was the culmination of months of work for Sean Murphy, Ethan Tanudra and Max Buinenko, who have developed an app called Anchor, which provides assistance and support to early school leavers.

The project won them an RTÉ Gold Medal at the BT Young Scientist competition at the RDS in January, which qualified them for the international competition, Unge Forskere, in Copenhagen on April 22-24.

They triumphed over strong projects from Brazil and Luxembourg and were joined on the trip by teachers Ms Acton and Mr O’Brien.

“We’re all still a bit shell-shocked after the win,” Ms Acton told the Westmeath Examiner.

“The other projects were very strong so the boys weren’t expecting to win, but they deserve it; they are three powerhouses who collaborate effectively and take on board anything that’s said to them.

“They have taken on board critiques, changed things here and there, and have really driven this project forward over the last few months.”

Ms Acton said the app was an inspired creation by the TY and fifth-year students involved. “The app is to support early school leavers and it has all the information and all the supports you could possibly need if you were to leave school early,” she said.

“It looks for key phrases and words like ‘no qualifications’ or ‘no Leaving Cert’, and will automatically screen the internet for jobs based on that, as it’s connected to Google API, which constantly updates.

“It also has a section to help with CV writing, it has tutorials, an AI assistant, and basically it’s a fantastic comprehensive tool for school leavers that they’re hoping to develop even further.”

For their reward at Unge Forskere, the young scientists received a cash prize before they were treated to dinner and a trip to Copenhagen’s famous theme park Tivoli Gardens.

Ms Acton said their victory was a credit to progress made in the area of STEM at Coláiste Mhuire over the last decade.

“We’ve always been a proud sporting school and have had huge successes there over the years but STEM is really growing here now,” she said.

“It started off with a small coding club where we dabbled in projects but it’s grown from there and we have a lovely balance between STEM and sports now.

“It gives a lovely dynamic to our extra-curricular activities, so no matter what you’re interested in, Coláiste Mhuire has something for you.”

Ms Acton said the older STEM students are great at mentoring the young ones to ensure the success continues into the future.

“It’s very much like a little family where we all get together and have think-ins to come up with project ideas,” she said.

“We had a first-year group of students going down to Sci-Fest in Athlone last week and they were joined by senior students for a bit of help and support.

“The senior students have been through all this already and they’re great at mentoring our next crop of students coming through, so hopefully we’ll have much more success in the future.”