Moate Community School students were to the fore when the 58th BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition award winners were announced on Friday afternoon last.
The students’ innovation was duly rewarded as the progressive co-ed secondary school received numerous accolades in numerous categories.
In total, 13 projects from students in South Westmeath secondary schools received worthy reward when the Exhibition accolades were announced - here is a flavour of a number of the winning entries.
Fruit Fresh: An Eco-Friendly Alternative to Chemical Cleaners
This innovative project aims to develop a fermented fruit cleaner than can be used to kill bacteria and clean surfaces. Students, Hannah Higgins, Katie Creggy, and Aoife Ross have offered a clever, eco-friendly alternative to chemical cleaners. For this project, these students from Moate Community School were awarded 2nd place in the Junior Group in the Biological and Ecological Sciences category.
Investigating the Potential Use of Native Irish Plants in Green Firebreaks
This project undertaken by Alex Roche and Eimear Keenan earned third place in the Intermediate group in the Biological and Ecological Sciences. These students have designed a green fire-break from native Irish species that aims to suppress and decrease the spread of wildfires, while contributing to biodiversity.
The Light Belt – a Life Saving Belt
Diya Govindaraju and Sean Farrelly’s project theorises the construction of a detachable light-belt that can be fitted on to schoolbags. The purpose of this is to increase students visibility to drivers and alerts them to passing traffic as they make their journey to school.
This innovative light-belt can be of great advantage to students who wish to either cycle or walk to school, making their trip significantly safer. Diya and Sean achieved second place in the Technology Junior Group for their project.
Developing Modified Buffer Strips to Increase Biodiversity and Water Quality in Grassland
This project undertaken by Dara Shortall, Dean Burns, and Eoin Murphy was Highly Commended in the Biological and Ecological category. The aim of this scientific project is to develop plant buffer strips that can absorb nutrient run-off in an efficient manner, while also supporting the biodiversity of the locality.
Coding – the Solution to Ireland’s Scam Call Problem
Emma Keane and Fionn Campbell won 1st place in the Technology Junior Group in this competition. Through this technological project, these students aim to design a mobile phone app that will identify phone numbers that are connected to scams. Additionally, this app will warn users in the event of a scam call from an unreliable phone number.
