The countdown to the BT Young Scientist Exhibition is on…………. Here is a brief snapshot of our FIVE entrants
1) Ryan Mortimer (1st year)
A project to study the effectiveness of MVHR (Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recovery) systems in Ireland. They advertise an efficiency of 90% but he is investigating if setting them up in Ireland gives this efficiency.
2) Leah Kelleghan (1st year)
A project to make a kind of remote hinge, aimed at wheelchair users and those with mobility issues. The hinge can be mounted to a cupboard and remotely opened so that a wheelchair user doesn’t have to negotiate opening the cupboard doors against their wheelchair.
3) Olwen Morrissey, Julia Ochman, Grace Reilly (2nd year)
An examination of home-printed insurance discs for cars that tend to fade in the car. The project will focus on coming up with ways to prevent the fading of the inks used.
4) Rory Maguire and Matthew Daly (2nd year)
A study of the travel associated with GAA training and matches and how much CO2 it can produce in the course of a season. They will assess the impact of Annaghdown and Caherlistrane GAA clubs and suggest possible mitigations.
5) Angelina O’Neill (3rd year)
Bioplastics and biomaterials made out of various sustainable materials that are readily available. Essentially, she has created a variety of materials from leather replacements to foam rubber replacements and then made devices and products (e.g. a prototype running shoe) out of them, showing that a circular economy is possible for these kinds of products.
Just so you know, I looked at the data for the past three years and we have been the most highly represented school in Galway at the BT Young Scientist over that period (more projects than any other school over the course of 3 years).
Equally, Angelina will compete in the national final of Scifest at the end of November. Again, I looked at the data and we’ve been the only school in Galway represented at the Scifest National Final over the past 3 years. We even had 2 projects there one year (2021), which is rare.
A huge thank you to Dr John Toner and Mrs Deirdre Halleran who inspire and encourage our budding young scientists!
