Published: Wednesday, 28th October, 2009 5:30pm
Marist students awarded science medals for sandbag project
by Deirdre Verney
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Local students Sebastian Ryan, David Byrne and Conor Flynn from Marist College, Athlone being presented with Intel Excellence in Science medals by Minister Conor Lenihan TD recently in Kildare.
Pic:Marc O'Sullivan
A science project exploring what materials work best in sandbags for blocking flood waters landed three Marist College students with Intel Excellence in Science medals recently.
The trio of Sebastian Ryan, David Byrne and Conor Flynn received their accolades from Minister Conor Lenihan at the launch of SciFest 2010 with a Celebration of Excellence in Science in the Open Innovation Lab in Intel Ireland, Leixlip, Co Kildare.
In all, 33 second-level students were awarded Intel Excellence in Science medals in recognition of their achievement in SciFest 2009. Each of the thirty-three students had been either individual or group winners of the 'Best Project' awards at SciFest 2009.
SciFest, jointly funded by Intel and Discover Science and Engineering as project partners, is a national festival of science organised regionally in collaboration with the Institutes of Technology. It is open to all second level students. The aim is to encourage a love of science through project-based learning and to provide more opportunities for students to present and display the results of their scientific investigations. The SciFest initiative is jointly funded by Intel and Discover Science and Engineering as project partners.
"SciFest is an excellent example of cooperation between industry, education and government in the promotion of science education. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Intel for its generous support of science in both schools and colleges over many years and, of course, specifically for its support of the SciFest project. I know that SciFest also receives support from a range of other industries such as BT and Abbott and institutions, both nationally and locally, and I'm glad of this opportunity to acknowledge their contribution to science education," Minister Lenihan said at the launch.
