A PROJECT to develop a simple method for detecting infection in dairy cows has won top prize in the 2009 BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.
John O'Callaghan and Liam McCarthy, second-year students from Kinsale Community School become Young Scientists of the Year, receiving a cheque for €5,000 and a trip to Paris to participate in the EU's annual science fair.
The Taoiseach presented the top four awards at last night's ceremony. He praised all the students for their work and commitment, saying Ireland's economic future depended on their interest in the sciences and maths.
Mr Cowen also demonstrated his own commitment to his Clara, Co Offaly electoral base. He paid a brief visit to the only Offaly stand, a project from Ard Scoil Chiaráin Naofa in Clara by Shona Stewart and Katie Rabbette on the use of bog moss as a salad crop.
When proffered a sample Mr Cowen gamely munched down the moss, suggesting it needed salt.
Andrei Triffo (17), a fourth-year student at Synge Street CBS, Dublin won the best individual prize for his project on complex mathematical functions. He receives €2,400 and also captured the Intel student travel award which involves a trip to the US.
The runner-up group award went to Ursuline College, Sligo and sixth-year students Rhona Togher, Eimear O'Carroll and Niamh Chapman for their investigation of a possible new treatment for the hearing disorder tinnitus.
Henry Glass, a fifth-year student from Clongowes Wood College, Co Kildare took the runner-upindividual prize for a study of the fresh water limpet.