Each year I visit the BT Young Scientist and Technology exhibition and I’m always inspired by our young people and their insightful, cutting edge projects. Not only does the exhibition demonstrate the strong school community spirit right across the country but it is centred around teamwork which is vital to encourage.
As a former teacher myself, nothing beats seeing students work passionately together on innovative solutions. Students will always have a refreshing take on any given topic so it’s an absolute pleasure to browse through the projects at this year’s virtual BT Young Scientist and Technology exhibition.
I’d particularly like to draw attention to some fascinating projects from students in my own community.
Celebrities online
Did you know that the younger you are, the more likely you are to be influenced by celebrities online? Sabastine Pennington from Rosemont School in Sandyford examines how young people’s opinions are influenced by social media. It’s incredibly important for our young people’s wellbeing that we understand this topic better, thank you to Sabastine for the work she has put into this research project.
Wind turbine assisted electric scooter
Sustainable alternatives is a topic I’m particularly passionate about so I was delighted to learn about how a wind turbine might be used to improve the efficiency of an electric scooter. John Gorman notes that in Ireland there’s always a good breeze outside so to charge his wind turbine assisted electric scooter, simply leave it outside at night! John attends Nord Anglia International School in Leopardstown and I wish him the best of luck at BTYSTE 2021.
6,000 lines of code
Piotr Stelmaszek from St. Kilian’s German School on Roebuck Road was fed up with how slow his laptop operated so he created his own operating system. Using over 6,000 lines of code, Piotr’s OS has made his laptop operate four times faster. I really admire Piotr’s ingenuity and I’ve no doubt we’ll hear his name again in the future as he continues to think up solutions to everyday challenges.
Environment on Mars
Space exploration has fascinated us all in 2020 so it’s no surprise that this topic captured the imagination of our students too. Katie Shaw, Ciara McCormick and Dervla O’Flynn from Mount Anville Secondary School went above and beyond to design a subterranean environment on Mars which humans could survive in.
Best of luck to all of the students at BTYSTE 2021 and thank you to the schools and teachers across Ireland who have supported and nurtured the talent and creative thinking within these wonderful students.
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