Thirteen mayo students in bt young scientist technology exhibition 2016
THIRTEEN students totalling five entries from four schools in Mayo have been accepted to the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2016.
With the county having achieved two awards earlier this year, the question is: how will the entrants do in January next year?
The Mayo entrants are groups from Davitt College, Castlebar (two), St. Gerald's College, Castlebar, Coláiste Mhuire, Tourmakeady, and Jesus & Mary Secondary School, Crossmolina.
The one Mayo group participating in the senior age category is from Davitt College. Students Benjamin Studnicka and Callan Quinn have developed MediBands, a silicone wrist band containing personal medical information accessible by a smartphone via QR scanner that provides emergency responders with potential lifesaving information.
The Jesus & Mary Secondary School intermediate group team of Aisling Deegan Degui, Emma Loftus and Niamh Gill have prepared a study on the psychophysical impact of different genres of music in an exercise programme. They plan to discover if the genre of music you are listening to while exercising will effect your performance.
Also in the intermediate age category, the group of Maeve Walsh, Clodagh Hegarty and Aoife Parsons from Davitt College ask: If breast is best, why isn't it the norm? They are investigating the reasons why breastfeeding numbers in Ireland are so low, and are trying to promote breastfeeding to mothers and the general public.
Rory Gaffney, Seán Gallagher and Tiernan Walsh of St. Gerald's College, another intermediate group, are developing a device used to increase early detection of testicular cancer. The product uses a bio-chemical test which will detect testicular cancer at an early stage, therefore reducing the treatment process and affects.
The intermediate group from Coláiste Mhuire, Julia Korzeniowska and Sarah McDonnell, concentrate on OCD. They aim to find out how OCD affects the lives of teenagers, to improve awareness of the condition, and to find out ways they can help improve the lives of sufferers.
The Minister for Education and Skills, Jan O’Sullivan, was on hand last week to help BT Ireland announce that a record number of schools in the Republic of Ireland have entered the 2016 BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition. A total of 371 schools in the Republic submitted projects for the January 2016 exhibition, which represents 51% of all secondary schools. This is an increase of 8% of schools since the previous exhibition. The gender split of entrants this year is 62% female and 38% male.
The BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2016 will take place in the RDS, Dublin, from January 6 to 9. There are over 120 student, teachers and school awards to be won, including cash prizes, international trips and the overall title of BT Young Scientist & Technologist(s) of the Year. For more information, log on to www.btyoungscientist.com or follow the exhibition on Twitter @BTYSTE.