Net Results: Young Scientist competition touches all of society and the economy

Never underestimate the power of a science and technology fair. As thousands of young people and adults cram into the RDS for the 50th annual BT Young Scientist competition this week, it might be easy to view this event primarily as an entertaining day out.

During a quiet month, it’s a nice chance to get outside the house, and have a look at projects that intrigue and sometimes, amuse. If you have kids, they’ll have a blast.

Of course, that is in part exactly what the competition is there for. Whether you have just an hour or two, or a whole day, the Young Scientist competition is worth a visit just for the atmosphere, antics, and the feel-good factor (I dare you to leave the RDS without a smile on your face).

You, and anyone you might bring along, will learn new things in fun ways that might inspire a future career, or at the very least, highlight new topics to explore.

But the real value of the competition is its long reach. There is the intrinsic value to individual students, who learn how to select a topic, refine it, and then focus on it in a comprehensive way over many weeks, towards the end goal of the exhibition.

For most students, these projects are likely the first time they have tackled such a long-term assignment, one which brings together many of the skills needed for success in life generally, but are hard to teach in a classroom.

Self-discipline
Working together as a team or as a solo participant requires social skills as well as self-discipline, self focus as well as co-operation. Most students would not be required to work in such a way, or interact over such a period of time, until they reach university.

But the impact is much broader. A science fair ultimately touches all of society and the economy. Out of this youthful challenge come people who discover talents, often inchoate until brought forth in such a focused competition. They find there’s reward for thinking in innovative ways.

A science and technology fair is often the first time bright students find a creative and intellectual home.

Their thinking gets rewired. Now, it’s “why not?” rather than “I cannot.”

And so many go on to do amazing things. They start companies and create jobs. They invent things that benefit society.

Steve Wozniak, the cofounder of Apple Computer, has written about the importance of childhood science fairs, how they enabled him to discover that he was interested not just in science generally, but circuits and, ultimately, computers.

Woz, as he is affectionately known, is recognised as having one of the most creative and inventive minds ever, when it came to designing the insides of a computer. His genius revolutionised computing.

All of which might not have happened without the challenge of science and technology fairs. He talks about this in his autobiography, iWoz.

“Science fair projects in elementary school really solidified my direction. A couple of simple projects, a flashlight apparatus with rubber bands instead of solder, and an electrolysis project were also not determining of my real interest. But I found a journal in a hall closet with descriptions of binary numbering and logic gates and storage devices. When I discovered that a nine-year old could understand this stuff, I knew it would be my passion forever,” he says.

He then went on to do computing projects for the Silicon Valley fairs, including a computer-like device that played Tic Tac Toe. He won the top prize in all but one of the science fairs he entered.

Science fairs remain a vital element in encouraging such talent. That's why some of the biggest corporate names in the computing industry continue to see them as an important for encouraging innovation and inventiveness, Both Intel and Google, for example, run science fairs for students.

Ireland’s Young Scientist competition has been around for an extraordinary five decades. I think it is unique and exemplary in the degree of national interest and support that it generates.

If you can, take the time this week to drop into this national institution. It won’t disappoint.