Now in its 46th year, this will be the largest exhibition yet, with a record 520 projects selected for display, writes DICK AHLSTROMScience Editor
IT IS that time of year again – if Christmas is past can the annual BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition be far away? The 2010 event at the RDS is less than two weeks away and students up and down the country will be rushing to pull data together and finish their projects in time for the big event.
Now in its 46th year, this will be the largest exhibition yet with a record 520 projects selected for display at the RDS. Standards remain very high, despite the number involved, however, given these were selected from among the 1,588 projects from 329 schools from all 32 counties that were entered for the 2010 event.
Not surprisingly the exhibition has thrown up a collection of interesting projects that will surprise and even amaze the judging panel.
Kevin Bluett of Meánscoil na mBráithre Criostaí, Kilkenny city, has come up with a good one – the creation of “PanSphere”, a virtual supercomputer which will be able to simulate the course of a pandemic – such as swine flu or other human viruses – through the community.
He is building a network of computers which will work together to predict the impact as a pandemic begins to affect the population. He has put together a website (www.pansphere.com) where people can participate and help him assemble his virtual supercomputer.
A project by Liam Hallinan, Ruairí Munnelly and Matthew Hallinan of Jesus and Mary Secondary School, Enniscrone, Co Sligo, also depends on the use of advanced technology. They want to make it easier to use a computer by allowing hand gestures to control access to and through a three-dimensional image. They will make use of “accelerometers”, devices that can track hand motions, as a way for participants to interact with a 3D image. The goal is to allow people to use natural gestures rather than a computer keyboard to interact with computer equipment.
Technology of a different kind has played a role in the development of a “sensory aid” for children with autism, a project put together by Laura Bourke, Nicole Grant and Nicola Magee of St Louis Grammar School, Kilkeel, Co Down.
Children with autism benefit from auditory and visual sensory stimulation, but not every school can afford to have a sensory room, which requires expensive equipment. The three students have put together a portable aid that can be used in any classroom environment. It includes two visual and two audio units that can be used individually and separated from one another to provide the stimulation needed by autistic children.
Challenges of a different kind are part of a project by Diarmuid O’Donovan, Ben Aherne and Eoin Fitzgibbon of Coláiste Choilm, Ballincollig. They have developed a battery of tests to measure the accuracy of eyewitness testimony.
Juries place great store on the testimony of eyewitnesses, but the tests run by the students show that this trust may be seriously misplaced. They believe that we may be better off putting more trust in the forensic sciences that form a central part of the popular television series CSI.
Three students from Holy Faith Secondary School, Clontarf, Dublin, have completed a classic piece of reductive scientific analysis in their project to assess the effects of permanent hair dyes on hair samples.
Many young people trust home-use hair dyes but should they, given the potential to damage otherwise healthy hair, ask Amy Russell, Hannah Craddock and Hannah Moyne.
They set up a series of tests using eight different home-use hair dyes from four brands. Hair samples were examined for physical characteristics and then tested for tensile strength both before and after treatment with the various products. Details of their findings will be presented at the exhibition.
This is BT’s 10th year as organiser and major sponsor of the exhibition. The company is once again making a €50,000 accommodation fund available to schools to help defray the cost of participation for schools distant from Dublin.
The company has also introduced another innovation, the “BT Business of Science and Technology” programme. The judging panel who will select the Young Scientist 2010 has also been asked to look for students with good ideas that could potentially be turned into business opportunities.
Those students selected will then have an opportunity to develop their projects further with the help of mentors, volunteers from some of Ireland’s leading businesses.
“This new initiative will highlight the link between innovation and entrepreneurship and help show how a scientific idea or project can become a commercial success,” says BT chief executive officer Chris Clark.
- The BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition 2010 will take place in the Main Hall, RDS, Dublin, from January 12th to 16th. Doors open to the public from January 14th ( Thursday) through to January 16th (Saturday). For more information on the exhibition visit www.btyoungscientist.com