Southside students win big at Young Scientist exhibition

STUDENTS from several Southside schools made the grade at the recent BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition awards ceremony in the RDS.

Sandford Park School, Gonzaga College, St Marys College, St Conleth’s College, Loreto High School, Coláiste Chilliain, St Andrew’s College, Templeogue College and the Institute of Education Dublin, were all awarded in various categories of this year’s competition.

Cormac Harris and Alan O’Sullivan Coláiste Choilm, Cork, were announced as overall winners of BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition but a total number of 89 projects represented Dublin this year. 

 Shay Walsh, Managing Director, BT Ireland said: “Congratulations to all of our participants, and particularly to all our winners. For more than five decades, the exhibition has shown the ingenuity of Ireland’s youth, and this year’s Exhibition is no exception.

“The students at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition have sought creative and innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing issues, and that spirit and drive is to be commended.

“We say ‘Create Today, Shape Tomorrow’ at the exhibition and it really is only the beginning.

“From the young students involved in The Primary Science Fair to secondary students at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition, it is vitally important that every student’s voyage of discovery does not end here.”

The award for Individual winner went to Oscar Despard (17) a fifth-year student from Sandford Park, Dublin, for his project entitled ‘Applying Data-Driven Experimental Analysis to the Irish Longitudinal Study on Aging’.

The student was in the Biological and Ecological Sciences Category at Senior level. 

 Oscar’s project used data from a large database of Irish individuals to analyse a number of blood proteins to see if there was a correlation between blood levels and atrial fibrillation (AF).

Levels of a protein called LDL showed an unexpected relationship with AF. The research, somewhat unexpectedly, suggested a possible beneficial effect of LDL in reducing the risk of AF.

The work went on to show that a protein in white blood cells in the heart played a pivotal role in the process. This exceptional young researcher took a new perspective on a global problem and has brought new insights.

Claire Crowley and Athena Wu from Loreto High School Rathfarnham Dublin were awarded for their project ‘Mitigating the physical harms associated with field hockey for outfield players’.

Ruth Murphy, Legal Director, BT presented the Technology Junior Group second place award to Joe O’Grady, Justin Ikwu and Toby Burns of Gonzaga College Dublin for their project ‘The Ultimate Smart Bike Lock’. The team also took home the COMREG award at the ceremony.