St Josephs College in Borrisoleigh provided 6 of the 20 enteries from Tipperary to the BT Young Scientist exhibition in Dublin’s RDS Main Hall. St Anne’s Secondary school provided 4 enteries, Scoil Ruain provided 2 while the remaining entries comprised of teams from Ardscoil na mBráithre, Borrisokane Community College, CBS Thurles, Colaiste Phobáil Rós Cré, Comeragh College, Our Ladys Secondary School, Presentation Secondary School and the Presentation Secondary School in Thurles.
All projects from the Tipperary students were of a very high caliber and parents and schools should be proud of the students efforts. Coming from an Engineering background, I understand the importance of engaging students with Science at a young age and here at the Tipperary Times we applaud the efforts of all involved.
The success of St Josephs College in having so many projects accepted is testament to the hard work of their students but also the the teachers and staff of the school. Science teacher Mary Gorey, a physics and chemistry graduate has been instrumental in the success of the school. Speaking to Tippeary Times, Ms Gorey praised the dedication of all students who have entered. She went on to state that the quality of projects being submitted by the school shows that St Josephs College in Borrisoleigh is fast becoming a secondary school which is a center for scientific excellence. During her discussion with Tipperary Times, Ms Gorey stated:
“The hard work and great achievements of last years participants (John Ryan, Jack O’Meara and Ciara Ryan) who won the psychology category in last years competition has inspired students across the school to get involved in this years competition.
The BTYSTE has become an integral part of science in Borrisoleigh. The science department works hard on promoting science year round. Coming up to the BTYSE the whole school community gets involved, especially the technology, maths and art departments. All of the staff, both teaching and non teaching play a huge role in support, assisting and encouraging all involved.
The parents council also offer their time and aid us admirably in our preparations. It really is a community event and a lot of hard work and commitment from the students comes to fruition over these few days”
Also speaking to Tipperary Times today was principal of St Josephs College in Borrisoleigh, Mr Kevin McCarthy.
“We are extremely excited about the developments in Science in the school in the last couple of years. To have such a high representation from such a small country school is an exceptional achievement.
This year, we are very pleased to have incorporated the local primary school in our efforts proving the next generation are going to be equally talented”
Mr McCarthy went on to praise the dedication of the students and teachers in the school, and in particular Ms. Gorey, who’s dynamic nature has lead to this progression.
The St Josephs Principal concluded by stating positive enrollment is active the school and they will look forward to new developments.
All projects by students were of an extremely high standard. We don’t wish to highlight any one project for special mention, instead we will highlight all projects in the coming weeks. Below are images and brief descriptions of their enteries. We will also be contacting all the schools involved in this years competition to feature their students efforts on site in the coming weeks.
Title: Equine Colic Detector
Overview: We are going to design a sensor that detects colic in horses and alerts the owner that the horse is in distress
School: St. Josephs College Borrisoleigh
Students: Emily Meagher, Tara Mockler and Eimear Slattery
Title: Dyslexia?
Overview: I hope to evaluate and compare both secondary and primary school teachers knowledge of Dyslexia and link these findings to students experiences
School: Scoil Ruain
Students: Joseph Mee
Title: Can ‘bird-brains’ be more powerful than we think?
Overview: I aim to change the way people think about birds. I will accomplish this by studying possibly the most intelligent type of bird, the crow
School: CBS Carrick on Suir
Students: Declan Duggan
Title: How ammonia effects horses through water
Overview: This project is on Ammonia and how it effects the water in the stable environment. It explores dehydration in horses and ways to reduce it
School: Presentation Secondary School, Tipperary
Students: Megan Fitzgerald
Title: The Sun Burnt Horse
Overview: Our project is in relation to the sun burn horses get. We hope to raise an awareness of this and provide a possible preventative technique
School: St. Josephs College Borrisoleigh
Students: Eimear Darcy, Rachel O’Connell
Title: To investigate if the oldest child has a higher BMI and is the most overweight
Overview: We are going to investigate if the eldest child in the family has a higher Body Mass Index ans is the most obese child according to their ranking in the family
School: Borrisokane Community College
Students: Grainne Molloy, Maeve Hogan
Title: Artism – Art for Autistic Children
Overview: We decided to make an art book pointed towards autistic children. This helps children express themselves and release stress through art therapy
School: St. Josephs College Borrisoleigh
Students:Gillian O’Meara, Niamh O’Brien, Megan Tierney
Title: What type of early education or childcare will allow your child to have the best start in life
Overview: To identify what education and childcare service young children can access and which one would allow each child to achieve the best start in life
School: Our Ladys Secondary School
Students:Amy Reynolds, Aine Moloney
Title: Does your brain work more efficiently when multitasking
Overview: My project aims to find out if multitasking rises the attention level and even give the brain time to relax between challenging tasks
School: Ardscoil na mBráithre
Students: Niall Hoctor, Cathal McKeown
Title: Life after the all clear
Overview: Cancer: warning signs and the fight. Maybe there is more. Our project focuses on life after the all-clear, which can be just as destructive
School: Presentation Secondary School, Thurles
Students: Rebecca Dooley, Aoife Murphy, Muireann Lloyd
Title: Do peoples attitudes to refugees vary with age?
Overview: My project aims to find out what people think about refugees and if people are more open to refugees depending on age
School: Comerage College, Tipperary
Students: Ethan Devereau, Molly Coady, Kyah O’Toole
Title: The Mastitis-Meter
Overview: This project aim is early identification of a mastitis infection in a herd of dairy cows before the milk enters the bulk tank
School: St. Josephs College Borrisoleigh
Students: Jack O’Meara
Title: Water Sterilizing Water
Overview: The project entails the development of a child sterilizer which eliminates contact of the water/apparatus being sterilised and an element
School: Colaiste Phobáil Rós Cré
Students: Jack Kirwan
Title: Rowing Sink or Swim
Overview: Our project is about creating an inflatable life support for rowers. There is currently no buoyancy device that allows full movement of the rowing stroke
School: St Marys Secondary School, Tipperary
Students: Annabelle Buttery, Aoife O’Halloran, Lauren Mulligan
Title: Arrive Alive
Overview: Arrive Alive is an app that give you the safest route to your destination using road accident data, other open datasets combined with machine learning
School: St. Josephs College Borrisoleigh
Students: John Ryan
Title: Safe Watch
Overview: A project that enforces age ratings on films and video games
School: St. Josephs College Borrisoleigh
Students: Anthony Ryan, Nicky Cooney
Title: Farm Safe
Overview: Our project consists of fitting sensors to cover blind spots on sides of a tractor and to try reduce the death rate on Irish Farms
School: CBS Thurles
Students: Eugene Ryan, Conor Dunne and Michael Dillon
Title: An investigation of the effects of glute activation during the warm up on the maximization of straight line speed
Overview: This project aims to investigate the effects of dynamic glute activation exercises in straight over the 100m distance with split times take at 10 and 30 metres
School: St Annes Secondary School Tipperary
Students: Niamh Richardson, Caoimhe Comerford, Ellen Hogan
Title: The Mechanics of pencil holding in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)
Overview: An investigation into the dexterity of ECCE children with regard to pencil grip and its improvements
School: St. Annes Secondary School, Tipperary
Students: Katie Kinane and Ali Ryan
Title: An analysis of once a day milking, less stress more success
Overview: To highlight the benefits of once a day milking (OAD) to the farmer and find out why more farmers are not switching to OAD Milking
School: Scoil Ruain
Students: Lisa Millerick