By Claire Corrigan
Two projects by Second Year students at Coláiste Mhuire, Mullingar have been selected to take part at the 2017 BT Young Scientist and Technology exhibition in January.
The first project which was chosen is the work of Jack Kenny, Conor Farrell and Sean Murphy called ‘Alert a Buoy’.
Jack said the boys came up with idea last January after being saddened by the news that many people were being drowned as they desperately fled worn-torn Syria. “We were inspired by the migrant crisis and we saw on the news how people were falling off vessels due to overcrowding and traveling in unseaworthy vessels. Just yesterday three people were killed after the LÉ Samuel Beckett.” Jack told Topic after the boat sank.
In January, the trio decided to try to design something to help with the current crisis. “For our project we’re modifying a navigational buoy which are already present in the Mediterranean Ocean and creating a device to fit onto it that will allow a migrant who has fallen off a boat to press a button and alert the coastguard that they need help.”
The boys discovered that a mini-computer, supplied to them by Intel, powered by solar panels could be attached to the buoy and transmit its GPS location. The boys said they estimate that there are around 700 buoys afloat in the sea and that the system would cost €50 per buoy.
The boys are in the Coláiste Coding club and are part of Mullingar Coder Dojo at the school so have gained much experience in the area of computer coding during their time at the school, which they say has been a huge benefit to advancing their skills.
DOGS BE GONE
The second project that was selected is called ‘Dogs be Gone’ by Rory Fagan and Joesph Boyan which was designed for cyclists who encounter nuisance dogs on their route. “It’s an emitter that is built into the handle bars of the bikes. If a cyclist is being pursued or attacked by a dog, they can press a button that sends out a high frequency so that the dogs will run away.”
Rory said the project was inspired by his father who is an avid cyclist and has come across problem canines while on his bike. “He does Duathlons so he would be doing a lot of extreme events and cycling a couple of hundred kilometers at a time. He’s been attacked by dogs a couple of times on the canal and if he had something like this it would make sure he wouldn’t’ fall off the bike and hurt himself.”
Science Teacher Eva Acton said that she is extremely proud of her students. “We are so excited to have two groups in this year and it’s massive for us.”
Both Jack and Sean participated in the competition last year where their project was highly recommended. “They have worked really hard and a lot of the work has been done during lunchtime or after school, so they are very dedicated. We’ve had fantastic support from all the teachers and management and there is a real interest in science and technology growing within the school on the back of their success of last year.”
