Students across the county are putting the finishing touches to their exhibits in preparation for the 2012 BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, which kicks off next week.
Westmeath’s students are once again well represented at this year’s exhibition, which takes place from January 10-14 at the RDS, Dublin.
Some 12 projects undertaken by secondary school students from Westmeath will be on display during the exhibition, including an impressive nine from Our Lady’s Bower, two from Athlone Community College, and one from the Marist College, Athlone. In contrast to previous years, when entries were spread across the county, all of this year’s successful entries come from Athlone schools.
The range of projects from students of Our Lady’s Bower include: ‘Smart seed delivery systems’ by Eileen Reidy;‘Importance of cooling down a horse after exercise’ by Cathy Mc Gettigan;‘A Study of the effectiveness of vibrating platforms in building muscle tone’ by Orla O’Connor, Claire Connor, and Renata Downes; ‘The worm turns’ by Kate Gibney; ‘What happened to our honey?’ by Sinead Reidy and Niamh Brady; ‘Alternative Oxidising Agents for Leaving Cert Chemistry Experiments’ by Sinéad Carroll; ‘Tattoos and body piercings’ by Lauren O’Sullivan, Deon Keighery, and Katie McClean; ‘Giving a more helpful hand: male or female?’ by Robyn Duke, Emma Fagan, and Kayle Crosson; and ‘Predictive input touch system’ Eva Barry and Karen Garvey.
The two projects from Athlone Community College are ‘Senecio Jacobaea (Ragwort ): yellow peril or precious flower?’ by Paul Connaughton, Neil Dermody, and Jamie O’Kane; and ‘Group idea sharing and developing website’ by Matija Milenovic and Shane Gonley.
The Marist entry is ‘The physics of a penny pusher arcade game: An investigation of the factors affecting payout’ by Sean Dulea, Jack Ryan, and Caolan Jameson.
The BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition attracted a record 1,743 entries this year, and the exhibition has been widened to accommodate 550 finalists.
For further details visit www.btyoungscientist.ie
