Young Scientist 2014 – category winners

Biological and Ecological

Junior Group: 1 Eoin Lane, Oisín McKinley, An investigation into the resource holding potential of the Red Beadlet Anemone, Abbey Christian Brothers School; 2 Ultan O’Fearail, Conor Logue, Mikey Sweeney, Monatóireacht ar éifeachtaí bhithbhailithe de nan-airgead (nAg) i samhail chóras phlanda., Coláiste Ailigh; 3 Eibhlin McCarthy, Alix Buckley, Does the pitch of ones voice effect ones choice for other singing vocals, Loreto Secondary School - Balbriggan.

Individual: 1 Saoirse O’Keeffe, Vitamin D and calcium are key factors in the prevention of osteoporosis in adults, Loreto College - Foxrock; 2 Michael Feely, Effects of avermectins on the life cycle of dung beetles, Scoil Mhuire; 3 Sarah Begley, Does restless legs syndrome really exist?, St Vincent’s Secondary School.

Intermediate Group: 1 Meg Brennan, Meabh McGrath, Catherine Costello, An investigation on the migration of the Ceratits capitata., Our Ladys School - Templeogue; 2 Oisín Lavelle, Darragh Todd, The effect of Wi-Fi radiation on plant growth, St. Macartan’s College; 3 Bill Sheehan, Kieran Ryan, Kevin Barrett, An investigation of protein intake in young hurlers, Meánscoil na mBráithre Criostaí.

Individual: 1 Stephen O’Connell, Grading crab meat - an easier way?, Mary Immaculate Secondary School - Lisdoonvarna; 2 Michaella O Driscoll, An investigation of the impact of SSRI’s on the Drosophilia melanogaster memory, Kinsale Community School; 3 Patrick Sweeney, The connection between the origin of music and birdsong, Carrick-On-Shannon Community School.

Senior Group: 1 Emma Crothers, Kenneth Millar, Health claims and risks pertaining to the biochemical properties of grapefruit, Wellington College; 2 Alice O’ Neill, Clíona Farrell, Irish aquatic plants; A solution for pesticide pollution?, Loreto Secondary School - Balbriggan; 3 Eoin Hurley, Emily McCarthy, Lemna minor; is it an effective method of removing persistent inorganic pollutants from aquatic environments?, Kinsale Community School.

Individual: 1 Anna McEvoy, Aetiology of bleeding canker disease of Horse Chestnut trees, Our Ladys College - Drogheda; 2 James Harte, Waste not - A statistical investigation into the production of fertiliser using the ashes of combusted fuels and further investigation into their effectiveness, Coláiste Choilm; 3 Cliona Mulligan, The demise of our hedgerow trees and shrubs- a consequence of the economic downturn and farm grant aid policy- implications for our environment, Portora Royal School.

Chemical, Physical & Mathematical Sciences

Junior Group: 1 Eóin MacGaoithín, Ronan MacGaoithín, A cheapadh fréamhshamhail do brathadóir oighear tar éis an dorchadas lena n-úsáid ar bhóithre na hÉireann, Coláiste Ailigh; 2 Anna Kellagher, Kaylee Conlin, Investigating the level and nature of radioactive emissions from soil samples, St Fanchea’s College; 3 James Clarke, Ruairi Shields, James Holden, Homemade carbon capture system, St Marys College - C.S.Sp..

Individual: 1 Eadaoin Nash, A comparative study of the antioxidant effects of natural and synthetic food preservatives, St Mary’s College; 2 Patrick Augusta, Numerical and theoretical investigations of a specific class of Diophantine equations, Synge Street CBS; 3 Adriana Conway, A humidity-regulated case for a wooden musical instrument, Sutton Park School.

Intermediate Group: 1 Mustapha Kokumo, Jerome Aguilar, Adrian Wolniak, Engel expansions with predictable patterns, Synge Street CBS; Joint 2 Oisin Doyle, Sean Doyle, Ar thóir inmharthanacht teangan: samhal matamaiticiúl d’iomaíocht teangan idir dhá pobail, Coláiste Pobal Osraí - Kilkenny; Joint 2 Lucy FitzGerald, Nicholas Denman, Using graph theory to optimise the location of cancer treatment facilities, Bandon Grammar School.

Individual: 1 Máirín Ní Choincheanainn, An féidir earra a dhearadh chun an líon clóirín atá san uisce ón sconna a laghdú?, Coláiste Naomh Eoin; 2 Rachael Ni dhonnachadha, An analysis/investigation into the effects of wrist rotation and elbow flair on a punches velocity/acceleration/force in competitive karate, St Vincent’s Secondary School; 3 Jodie McKeever, Liesegang Rings, St Mary’s Limavady.

Senior Group: 1 Sufyan Huma, Haider Hussain, Solar sailing with modulated radial thrust, Synge Street CBS; 2 Seán Ronayne, Sean Mahon, Cathal Weakliam, Combinatorial game theory: strategies for Tic-Tac-Toe-Like games, Templeogue College; 3 Soban Huma, Kiril Nikulin, Solutions of generalised Pell equations, Synge Street CBS.

Individual: 1 Naveen Sheemar, Brouncker, Euler, Lagrange, Gauss and Ramanujan - An almost forgotten link, Synge Street CBS; 2 Michael Keyes, An investigation into and visualisation of atomic structure using gaming software, Hazelwood College; 3 Shauna O’Neill, An extended investigation into the effect of static magnetic fields on the molecular properties of water and its consequences for water in protein cavities, Scoil Mhuire gan Smál - Roscommon.

Social and Behavioural Sciences

Junior Group: 1 Sorcha Doyle, Saoirse Hill, A statistical analysis of people’s awareness, knowledge and attitudes- regarding dementia, Kinsale Community School; 2 Aisling Harte, Niamh Horan, Does taste matter?, Portumna Community School; 3 Maeve Walsh, Emma Collins, The effects of social media on teenagers, Malahide Community School.

Individual: 1 Esha Healy-Thow, An analysis of advertising sound levels in the media to statistically determine whether they are aligned with public perceptions, Kinsale Community School; 2 Megan Addie Douglas, Do wind turbines affect people, animals or the environment?, Oaklands Community College; 3 Denis O’ Sullivan, A statistical analysis of brand awareness amongst teenagers with urban backgrounds versus rural backgrounds in Cork, Scoil Mhuire gan Smál - Blarney.

Intermediate Group: 1 Claire Cullen, Laura Bruen, Michelle Fox, A statistical analysis of parental awareness of the food content in primary school children’s lunches, Loreto Secondary School - Wexford; 2 Aoife Mc Carthy, Chloe Condren, Lara Butler, A statistical study into dialects in the Irish language and their regional variations and the impact it can have on a Junior Cert level student, Kinsale Community School; 3 Eoin Forde, Joe O’Boyle, The placebo effect and its potential use in sport, Castleknock College.

Individual: 1 Jack O Callaghan, Learn to juggle, juggle to learn, Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh; 2 Mark Caffrey, Are teenagers more liberal than their parents?, Ratoath College; 3 Luke Fehily, Teachers - The good, the bad and the ugly, Coláiste Muire - Crosshaven.

Senior Group: 1 Odhran O’Callaghan, Tim Hulshof, Niall Bradley, To evaluate the relationship between student personality type, teacher personality type and subject choice using MBTI (Myers Briggs) and statistical data, Christian Brothers College; 2 Rhianna McMahon, Keelan McMahon, The changing geography of the young scientist competition, Mary Immaculate Secondary School - Lisdoonvarna; 3 Lucy Dockery, Lauren O Connell, An anthropometric investigation of mouth shape and accents, Dominican College - Galway.

Individual: 1 Cut Aina Hannisa, Me and my travel: Raising awareness of travel choice externalities as a tool for behavioural change, Regina Mundi College; 2 Odhrán Mac Fhionnghaile, Staidéar a dhéanamh ar an dearcadh atá ag múintir na hÉireann i dtreo téamh domhanda., Coláiste Ailigh.

Technology
Junior Group: 1 Mathew Gibbons, Maeve Hamilton, Ally Hobbs, iUS- sociable computing, Maynooth Post Primary School; 2 Daragh Jordan, Conor Finnerty, Séan Mitchell, Kill Tech - A design to reduce controversy in Handball refereeing, Coláiste Bhaile Chláir; 3 Abby Horgan, Ciara Murphy, Ciara Donoghue, The development and evaluation of a vehicular proximity warning device for bicycles, Scoil Mhuire.

Individual: 1 Jordan Casey, Teachware, De La Salle College; 2 Kalin Foy, Buzz alarm for the hearing impaired, Coláiste Chiaráin; 3 Athene Storey Cosgrave, App to identify Irish wildflowers, Coláiste Chiaráin.

Intermediate Group: 1 Adrian Kelly, Robert Corby, Pulse oximeter, Salesian Secondary College; 2 Emily Lecky, Zoe Cheshire, Solar powered water sanitation, Ballyclare High School; 3 Lochlann O’Reagan, Paul Rushe, Eryk Zaplata, Can non-proprietary/open source software be used to emulate large scale proprietary text to speech systems?, St Aloysius College.

Individual: 1 Caelen Feller, Citation needed: An article based news aggregator, Coláiste Choilm; 2 Jeremy Rigney, Investigating the use of wireless sensor data to enhance martial arts performance, Banagher College Coláiste na Sionna; 3 Conor Walsh, Gearduino, Colaiste Choilm.

Senior Group: 1 Rory Hughes, Daniel Mulcahy, Automatic explanation of computer programs in the user’s native language, Gonzaga College; 2 Séamus Cummins, James Kelly, Owen Shepherd, Peizo electric shoes, Skerries Community College; 3 Conchúr Breathnach, Antóin Ó Dúllaing, Craig Ó Conghaile, Kayleigh’s key to speech, Gaelcholáiste Mhuire.

Individual: 1 Richard Tynan, Advanced modelling and infilling algorithms for 3D printing, Cistercian College; 2 Alex Gallagher Lynch, Addressing the issue of unnoticed road signs, St Nathy’s College; 3 Eoin McMahon, Hephaestus - A single body sensor for whole body gesture recognition, Gonzaga College.