Loreto team's ‘Adapt-a-Desk'

Four Loreto College Mullingar students are on their way to Athlone this week to represent them in the Student Enterprise Awards.

The girls, Clíodhna Caffrey, Úna Sullivan, Andrea Buckley and Eithne Coyle are Transition Year students who designed the Adapt-a-Desk, a tool that alters the height of a desk to allow for more comfort and less strain on the back.

“We got the idea from the Junior Cert, when we had to bend over the desk and it hurt our backs,” explained Andrea. Eithne said: “We sent out surveys to Loreto, CBS and St Finian’s and 96pc said they would get sore back at, for example, exam time.

“About 80pc of people will have back problems later in life, and a chiropractor told us that the desk would be helpful.”

The girls sent their designs to local producer John O’Reilly, who made the adaptors to see if it would work, and they played around with a few ideas before deciding on the current design.

“One didn’t work and we had to find a new design,” said Andrea.

Úna described the Adapt-a-Desk: “It comes in two different sizes and it’s suitable for school and office desks,” she said.

The Adapt-a-Desk costs €25 – find them on Facebook (search Adapt-a-Desk).

The regional final of the Student Enterprise Awards is in the Golden Island Shopping Centre in Athlone on Friday March 11.