Meath students 'highly commended' at BT Young Scientist & Technology Expo

A project from Mercy Navan from Transition Year students Mya Doocey and Mia Galligan is entitled ‘P.E.riod’ and investigated the effect of a woman's period or menstrual cycle on PE performance has been Highly Commended by judges at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition.

"By carrying out a number of physical tests on female students over the course of their menstrual cycle (28 days) we have found out that your performance is affected throughout the entire 28 day cycle. Our main findings were that carrying out exercise during your period is of overall benefit in relation to easing pain and improving your mood. Furthermore activities such as running were best during days 1-5 whereas resistance training was lowest at this same time."

The overall winners of the 59th BTYSTE were Shane O’Connor and Liam Carew, aged 19 and in sixth year in the Abbey School, Tipperary who won with their project assessing the impact of second-level education on key aspects of adolescents’ life and development. The coveted prize was presented to the winners yesterday in the RDS in Dublin by Minister for Education Norma Foley TD, and Managing Director of BT Ireland, Shay Walsh.

The 2023 BT Young Scientist & Technology winners received the BTYSTE perpetual trophy and the top prize of €7,500. The winners will also represent Ireland at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists, which takes place in Brussels, Belgium in September 2023. They’ll also get to attend the 64th Annual London International Youth Science Forum this summer.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Minister for Education, Norma Foley TD said “I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to Shane and Liam on winning this truly prestigious trophy and award, in what has been another inspiring year of the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition.

"With the BTYSTE back in person for the first time since before the pandemic, I have had the pleasure to witness first-hand the level of innovation and creativity demonstrated by this year’s entrants, across a range of important and relevant topics. To every participant – you have been an excellent representative of yourself, your family and your school, and you should be incredibly proud of your achievements. The calibre of each entry is a testament to the tenacity and talent of the students behind them, and it is this constant high standard that makes BT Young Scientist one of the longest running, and most successful STEM events in Europe.

"From my time in the classroom, I am aware of the enormous work and support required to participate in competitions like this, and I wish to acknowledge your teachers and school communities who have also generously given their time and expertise to support you on your journey. A special thank you also to the parents and families of students for their constant encouragement and outstanding support.”

Ayush Tambde, aged 18 and in sixth year in Stratford College in Dublin won the prize for Best Individual, with his project, Analysis of single-cell proteomic data to understand the mechanisms of oncogenic transformation and how to control them.

Adrian Drogomir, aged 19 and in sixth year in Adamstown Community College in Dublin won the prize for Runner-up Individual, with his project, AL-energy.

Olivia O’Shea, Erica O’Brien Murray and Abigail O’Brien Murray, aged 17 and in fifth year in Loreto College, Balbriggan won the prize for Runners-up Group, with their project, Can we save the common ash?

Also participating at the BTYSE were another Mercy group: Second year students Grace Gibbs, Manal Fantazi and Joud Abusinn showcased their project entitled ‘Does an apple a day still, keep the doctor away?’ They came up with the idea for the project after realising that some fruit and vegetables of the same varieties tasted better than others.

Two projects from Boyne Community School in Trim were also showcased at the exhibition, both in the Technology category.

Transition year students Amber Ratcliffe, Sophie Rispin, Aaron Kearney, Katie Devine and Tara Redmond from Boyne Community School which had two projects entered.

‘To Dye or Not to Dye’ is the name of the project submitted by Transition Year students Amber Ratciffe and Sophie Rispin. Their project investigated the effect of bleach on the strength of hair and if damaged hair can be repaired with conditioner.

Also in Transition Year, students Aaron Kearney, Katie Devine and Tara Redmond, will exhibit their project entitled 'Any-Time Rain'.

They designed and built an eco-friendly self watering plant pot using the 3D printer in the school. The idea behind the design is to reduce water consumption.

Teachers Maria Byrne and Aoife Fox said: "We are all very proud of these students and commend the hard work they have put into their projects. Students have been working on them since September and are a credit to the school."

Eureka students Muireann Monaghan, Sophie Rogan and Dayna McGoohan entered a project called 'Puff Nation' in the Social and Behavioural Sciences category.

"We have spent the last many months working closely with each other and our wider community, aiming to observe the usage of e-cigarettes among our peer group and whether or not the uptake of e-cigarettes has been influenced by the product and marketing," explained the Transition Year students.

"We chose this idea as it is a very topical subject at the moment, and we wanted to learn more about it. Since 2019, e-cigarettes have further developed into individual use products, which are sold under innocent sounding names such as 'Puff Bars' and 'Elf Bars' in a variety of sweetened flavours. They have become both disposable, and reusable, making them more appealing to young people. These bars are sold at a lower price point than the 2019 e-cigarettes.

"Our project focuses on three main questions. Have vape users in our peer group been regular tobacco smokers prior to using e-cigarettes; Has the uptake of e-cigarettes been influenced by the product and marketing developments? Does the Healthy Ireland 2019 Report match our recent survey?"