Moate Community School students Emma Keane and Fionn Campbell won a 1st place award in the junior group (technology) section at the BT Young Scientist Exhibition for their project "Coding the Solution to Ireland's Scam Call Issue". (Photo: Fennell Photography)

Sixteen Westmeath projects win prizes at Young Scientist exhibition

The winners of the 58th BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition were announced today, with sixteen projects created by students from Westmeath among the prize-winners.

Projects by students in the county which tackled issues ranging from scam calls and cosmic radiation to the use of 'Americanisms' by local students and parents were among those singled out for commendation in the various categories.

Due to the pandemic, the annual exhibition took place online for the second year running.

The overall winners were Aditya Joshi (15) and Aditya Kumar (16), from Synge Street, Dublin, for their project entitled, 'A New Method of Solving the Bernoulli Quadrisection Problem'.

This Westmeath entrants did not leave empty-handed, however, with sixteen projects named among the awards in eighteen categories.

Moate Community School was particularly successful, and had nine winning projects this year.

Colaiste Mhuire in Mullingar and Our Lady's Bower in Athlone had two winning projects each, while other entries from the Marist College, St Finian's College and Meán Scoil An Chlochair in Kilbeggan also received recognition.

Emma Keane and Fionn Campbell of Moate Community School received the first place award in the Technology junior group section for their interesting project, "Coding the Solution to Ireland's Scam Call Issue".

Also receiving a first place category prize in the Social and Behavioural intermediate group section were Moate CS students Grace O'Flaherty, Claire O'Donohoe and Eabha Greville who conducted, "A Statistical Analysis of the Use of Americanisms by Local Schoolchildren and Parents".

Two projects received recognition in more than one of the award categories. These were "A-Ok, an autism communication wristband" by Colaiste Mhuire students Robert Brennan, Peter Kennedy and Hugh Murtagh and "The Light-Belt: A Life-saving Belt" by Moate students Diya Govindaraju and Sean Farrelly.

Here are the winning projects from Westmeath listed in full. (NOTE: The details are taken from the BT Young Scientist website. With some of the group projects, only one student was listed but other students were part of the project and were not listed on the site).

Special Awards

* The National Disability Association Award was won by Colaiste Mhuire's Robert Brennan, Peter Kennedy and Hugh Murtagh for "A-Ok, an autism communication wristband".

Category Awards

* Chemical, Physical and Mathematical category. Intermediate Individual (3rd place): "Rib Guard" by Micheál Geoghegan, Colaiste Mhuire.

* Chemical, Physical & Mathematical category. Senior individual (3rd place): "Cosmic Radiation Protection Simulation" by Clare Reidy, Our Lady's Bower.

* Chemical, Physical and Mathematical category. Junior group (3rd place): "A Quantitative Analysis of Students' Exposure to PM 2.5 Particles on Various Modes of Transit to School" by Sarah Higgins and Donagh Carey, St Finian's College.

* Technology. Junior Group (2nd place): "The Light-Belt: A Life-saving Belt" by Diya Govindaraju and Sean Farrelly, Moate Community School.

* Technology. Junior Group (1st place): "Coding the Solution to Ireland's Scam Call Issue" by Fionn Campbell and Emma Keane, Moate Community School.

* Technology. Intermediate Group (2nd place): "A-Ok, an autism communication wristband" by Robert Brennan, Peter Kennedy and Hugh Murtagh, Colaiste Mhuire.

* Biological and Ecological. Junior Group (2nd place): "Fruit Fresh: An Eco-Friendly Alternative to Chemical Cleaners" by Katie Creggy, Aoife Ross and Hannah Higgins, Moate Community School.

* Biological and Ecological. Intermediate Group (3rd place): "Investigating the Potential Use of Native Irish Plants in Green Fire Breaks" by Alex Roche and Eimear Keenan, Moate Community School.

* Social and Behavioural. Intermediate Group (1st place): "A Statistical Analysis of the Use of Americanisms by Local Schoolchildren and Parents" by Grace O'Flaherty, Claire O'Donohoe and Eabha Greville, Moate Community School.

Highly Commended

* Biological and Ecological: "Nature's Solution to Foot Rot" by Jack Nally and Leah Connell, Moate Community School.

* Biological and Ecological: "Developing modified Buffer Strips to Increase Biodiversity and Water Quality in Grassland" by Dean Burns and Dara Shortall, Moate Community School.

* Biological and Ecological: "Does Makeup Damage The Skin?" by Isabell Hayden, Meán Scoil an Chlochair.

* Biological and Ecological: "High Frequency To Save Food" by Sive Brady, Moate Community School.

* Technology: "I'll Play It My Way - A Machine Learning Algorithm to Individualize Sensory Play Room Stimulation" by Ciara Fallon, Amy Mc Govern and Martha McSharry, Our Lady's Bower.

* Technology: "An Investigation Into The Feasibility of Locating and Reporting Road Damages Using Technology" by Donal McDermott, Marist College.

* Biological and Ecological: "Seeing Sweetness" by Grainne Kelly, Moate Community School.

Display Awards

* Technology "The Light-Belt: A Life-saving Belt" by Diya Govindaraju and Sean Farrelly, Moate Community School.