Students from five Sligo schools are in Young Scientist
STUDENTS from five schools in Sligo are among over 1,000 students from across the island of Ireland taking part in the first ever virtual BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition.
The 57th exhibition, which was launched online yesterday, Wednesday morning, was streamed live from the Mansion House in Dublin, the location of the first ever national Young Scientist exhibition in 1965.
The event, which was offically opened by President Michael D. Higgins, bring together some of the country’s brightest young minds as they compete to take home the coveted title of the BT Young Scientist & Technologist(s) of the Year 2021.
The 15 prospects from the five Sligo schools who have made the final exhibition were selected from a total of over 1,300 entries from across the island.
Of the Sligo qualified projects, Ursuline College in Sligo has the highest number with six, while Sligo Grammar School has three projects, Summerhill College, Sligo, has two, while Mercy College, Sligo, and Jesus and Mary
Secondary School, Enniscrone, have one each. The Sligo projects are detailed below.
Ursuline College, Sligo: The anti-vaxxer virus; The medicate project; Examining the bio-availability of medicinal drugs and vitamins from transdermal patches; Fire, or fire drill? An alarm that clears up confusion; It only takes 15 seconds; and Glossophobia: Finding your Audience.
Sligo Grammar School: An investigation into the juxtaposition of society’s clashing views on the mental health of the youth; Tap tech; and Haus.
Jesus and Mary Secondary School, Enniscrone: An experiment to investigate the effects of different temperatures on magnets in an eddy current
Mercy College, Sligo: Fruit fly repellant
Summerhill College, Sligo: An analysis of fire service statistics since 2005; and Exercising in a lockdown – how the digital age can assist teenagers to exercise during a pandemic lockdown
The exhibition organisers say that the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been a driving force behind a large number of entries this year with a quarter of all qualified projects delving into topics on health and the impact of Covid-19.
Projects vary from topics which explore the effects lockdown may have had on different socio-economic groups, to investigations into the effectiveness of different types of facemasks and the impact of hand sanitizer on our skin.
The prevalence of social media and technology in our everyday lives also features strongly in this year’s project trends, alongside a growing trend of safety, including personal safety and the safety of others.
This year’s winner(s) will be announced online at 1pm tomorrow, Friday, January 8, and will be presented with a cheque for €7,500 and the newly designed Young Scientist perpetual trophy. In all, there are over 200 prizes for individuals, groups, and teachers.
During the three-day exhibition, people can enjoy some very special interviews, discussions and shows including: Professor Luke O’Neill on making vaccines in a global pandemic; The Climate Emergency; How to Become an Astronaut; and ‘Our Amazing Universe: A journey of discovery’.
In addition, teachers will have access to a myriad of workshops at a new dedicated teachers’ area. At the heart of the exhibition are over 1,000 students representing over 200 schools from across the island of Ireland. This year’s projects cover a wide variety of topics, from Covid-19, the prevalence of social media and technology in our daily lives, ethnicity, gender studies, sports science, climate change, agricultural science, nutrition, solar power and biological diversity.
BT will host a number of fringe events including the Connecting Women in Technology TechStarter event where attendees can hear from a panel of change makers in the field of innovation and technology.
BT Nextipedia, the business innovation symposium, will feature Aron Ralston, whose harrowing experience trapped in a southeast Utah canyon was made into the 2010 movie ‘127 Hours’, a true-life story of innovating during a crisis.
For more information visit www.btyoungscientist.com, or follow @BTYSTE on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube or Snapchat (username BTYSTE).