Westmeath was well represented at the Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition, which took place at the RDS, Dublin, last weekend.
Mullingar Community College students, Aoife Woods and Amy Allard, were representing Mullingar and north Westmeath with their fascinating biology project titled ‘Sphagnum Peat Moss – an alternative to commercial flower foods’.
The duo were eager to speak of their experience of the competition, which comprised 550 projects from 206 schools across the island of Ireland.
“It was a brilliant experience, definitely something we’d like to do again,” said Aoife, who along with her biology parner, Amy, is preparing for the Leaving Cert mock exams in the coming weeks. “The only regret would be that we didn’t enter a few years ago, so we could have another go at it,” she added.
The judges of the competition are understood to have found the project interesting. “We got a lot of positive feedback on the project and spoke with various government agencies. We’ve been recommended to patent it as well!” enthused Amy.
Their biology teacher, Leanne Moore, spoke highly of the young ladies’ project and their ability to present themselves. “Aside from the project, they were both well able to speak to the various judges and present their project professionally. They did the school proud.”
Acting school Principal, Colette Dunning, also spoke highly of Aoife and Amy. “One of the things really coming home to roost is that we’re raising the profile of science in the school and making it a core subject for everyone. It’s a great achievement for Aoife and Amy as well as their teacher.”
Ms. Dunning was eager to share the recent successes of the school, which has improved its third level access significantly in recent years. “In terms of the school itself, it has improved greatly on the number of students entering third level, and was the only one in Westmeath to improve its ranking in 2014. It’s all about teaching and learning, and both Amy and Aoife are a great example of this,” she concluded.
Moate Community School
Moate Community School students were among the category winners at this year’s exhibition, scooping two national prizes for their entries.
Moate students, Colin Doyle, Sean Pettit and Shane Seery took home two prizes for their projects.
The students exhibited two projects, one of which investigated hoof wall separation disease in Ireland’s Connemara pony and a second, entitled ‘Not mush-room for turf anymore’.
Shane Seery and Sean Pettit devised their project on traditional turf cutting and the alternative, organic uses of bogland areas. Their entry won a prestigious first place in the Intermediate category of the Chemical, Physical and Mathematical Sciences section in the Exhibition.
The students explained the concept of their project. “We tried to create a burnable fuel from spent mushroom compost as we are aware of turf resources diminishing in Ireland,” said the winners.
“What our research and project investigated was the efficiency of spent mushroom compost being turned into a reliable fuel source. Our results were compelling,” the students explained.
Colin Doyle was Moate’s other prizewinner whose project studied hoof wall separation disease in the Connemara pony.
“My project sought to identify the key ancestral lines that may carry the responsible faulty recessive gene,” said Colin of his study into the ailment that affects Ireland’s traditional equine breed.
The success of the students brought a great sense of pride to Moate Community School, which has a long and distinguished record in the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.
“Well done to Colin, Sean and Shane who competed in the competition at the weekend. Our students brought home two prizes which we are very proud of,” said Principal Tom Lowry.
Judging in the competition took place on Wednesday of last week, with the exhibition opening to the public from Thursday to Saturday.
One of the largest exhibitions to take place in Ireland, the number of visitors to the RDS for this year’s event exceeded 45,000 over the course of the four days.
This year 550 projects, from schools around Ireland qualified for the 51st annual exhibition.
