Loreto girls reach SciFest National Finals
Students from Loreto St Michael's School in Navan are among those 60 students nationwide who have qualified for the SciFest National Finals which take place in Dublin on 29th November.
Third Year student Shauna Esmonde won the overall prize for best project at Scifest@College regional finals held at TU Blanchardstown earlier this year and now represents the school in the National Final. She also won the Boston Scientific Medical Devices award and the Junior Life Sciences award for her project "A Study into Biocompatible Patch Designs for ASD Closures in TGA Patients".
Shauna explained the aim of her project was to investigate the different materials that could be used in an Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) Closure and design one which possessed all the ideal characteristics of a biocompatible patch. An ASD is a congentical heart defect where a hole is present in the septal wall dividing the upper two chambers of the heart, which can lead to abnormal blood flow within the heart.
“To correct this a surgeon will perform an ASD Closure. This method often follows the procedure of using a patch to close up the hole which was exactly what I was investigating. I wanted to design a patch material that had the features of biocompatibility: strength, durability, flexibility and bacterial resistance. In the end I created a plastic which performed well under all tests ran,” explained Shauna.
Fourth year students, Niamh Kearns and Isobel Grimes- Merrigan won the prestigious Eirgrid Cleaner Climate Award and a place in the national final following their impressive scientific research on investigating crystals effects for energy production. Eirgrid partnered with SciFest to develop the Eirgrid Cleaner Climate Award which celebrates second level students who research and design projects to address challenges posed by climate or energy focused issues.
Eliza Simhas won the Intel Technology Award for her project ‘Gamifying A Fun Approach to Promote Litter Collection and Recycling’. Another student Naomi Abu won the SciFest Chemistry Student Award for her project entitled ‘Impact of frequency on the activity of Methanogenic bacteria’.
The Loreto students now compete in the national finals for a chance to represent Ireland at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in May 2025 in Columbus, Ohio.
Currently in its 19th year, the SciFest programme is open to second-level students, with the aim of promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) education and providing a platform for students to present and display their scientific projects.
The SciFest National Final 2024 will take place on Friday 29th November at the Marino Conference Centre on Griffith Avenue, Dublin 9.