"We are just in utter shock," say Moate winners of Best Overall Group at BT Young Scientist

A group of Transition Year students in Moate have won the award for Best Overall Group at the 2021 BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.

Abby Mullins, Chloe Murphy and Megan Carroll won the award for their project ‘Wool – Savior of Our Sea’ which sought an innovative solution to the problem of oil spills on Irish waters.

The aim of the project was to develop a blanket made from sheep wool which allows for the timely and thorough removal of oil slicks following oil spills.

Speaking to the Westmeath Independent shortly after their win, Abby said that they are absolutely thrilled with their success.

“We are just in utter shock. There were so many unbelievable projects that we just didn’t think we could win anything. I was just on the phone to Chloe and Megan, and everyone is texting us to congratulate us. We’re so so grateful.”

As the exhibition and awards ceremony took place virtually this year, the girls had to watch separately from their homes.

“We were all sitting at our desk watching it. To be honest we weren’t paying too much attention and then we heard our names! We were asking ‘what the hell just happened?’ It was so surreal.”

Explaining how they came up with the idea for the project, Abby says that they noticed so many oil spills in Ireland and they wanted to come up with something that could help with the problem.

“There’s an oil in wool called lanolin, and since oil attracts oil, the oil on the water would be attracted to the lanolin and soak it up. In past similar experiments human hair was used, but that’s really not sustainable. So we came up with the idea of using sheep’s wool.”

Explaining how the judging process went, Abby said they were only supposed to have three rounds of judging.

“Then we got an email for a fourth round. We told our teacher and she was confused because nobody else in the school had gotten a fourth round. We just didn’t know why we were getting it. And that fourth-round judge was really trying to catch us out, but we didn’t let her!” Abby laughed.

“We have about thirteen different farmers to thank for lending us the sheep wool! And we have to thank the school for supplying us with the equipment to go ahead with the project, and we also have to thank BT. This must have been a huge stress on them trying to get 500 projects online and three different rounds of judging organised. Their work really was unbelievable.”

Not only did the girls win the best Overall Group award, but they also won the Perrigo Best Biological and Ecological project award, and their teacher Ms Mairead Cusack won the Perrigo Educator of Excellence Award for the same category. Moate Community School also won best Overall School in the Republic of Ireland.

“Despite the fact that it was a tough year, this was our best year ever,” Abby said. “It would have been great to have been in the RDS, but it’s different this year. It’s still a fantastic achievement.”

The school also took home several other awards and commendations.

In the Junior Biological and Ecological category Moate students Reuben Guinan and Kian Brady’s winning project focused on superfoods and their effects on diabetes, while Laruen Finan, Shana Brady and Aine Broderick took second place for their investigation on the impact of diet on the prevalence on laminitis among Connemara ponies.

The school also took the top spot in the Intermediate Biological and Ecological category, with the project ‘Stop milk spoilage; start seeing changes’ by Áine Maxwell, Joyce Conway and Laura Conlon.

In the Intermediate Technology category, Conall Mandal and Daragh Lowry took first place for developing an app to help co-ordinate users’ awareness and knowledge of their locality.

The following projects from local students were also highly commended:

Biological and Ecological Junior Group, Moate Community School: The Future Is Bright: Turning Organic Waste Into Biofuel: Annie Duffy, Leah Hallissy and Ava Hallissy.

Biological and Ecological Intermediate Individual, Our Lady's Bower: ‘The Last Straw! The impact of microplastics on our inland lakes’ by Hannah Duffy.

Biological and Ecological Junior Individual, Our Lady's Bower: ‘Blooming Good Algae’ by Michelle Hughes.

Social and Behavioural Sciences Intermediate Individual, Athlone Community College: 'I Hear Everything' - An investigation into the lack of knowledge and inclusion of Sensory Processing Disorder in society’ by Sarah Fitzpatrick.

Social and Behavioural Sciences Intermediate Group, Athlone Community College: ‘What Are We Recycling?’ by Clodagh O'Brien, Nikka Campbell and Alisha Collins.