Kilkenny school wins big at Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition

Students from Kilkenny have taken home a prize from the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition 2023.

A group of Transition Year students from Presentation Kilkenny, aided by their science teachers, won first place in the Social and Behavioural Sciences Intermediate group category. Their project, titled ‘A Look into Our Minds: When Are We At Our Most Dangerous?’, was highly commended by judges.

Breaking News! ‍
Congratulations to Transition Year students, Morette Aylward & Roisìn McElwee on scooping 1st place in the Social & Behavioural Intermediate Age Group Category at the prestigious @BTYSTE competition tonight in Dublin!!! @CRKC1 @KKPeopleNews @kclr96fm @ceist1 pic.twitter.com/m7RYuBbQXf

— Presentation Secondary, Kilkenny (@PresKilkenny) January 13, 2023

Shane O’Connor and Liam Carew, aged 19 and in sixth year in the Abbey School, Tipperary won the overall prize with their project assessing the impact of second-level education on key aspects of adolescents’ life and development. The coveted  was presented to the winners this evening in the RDS in Dublin by Minister for Education Norma Foley TD, and Managing Director of BT Ireland, Shay Walsh. 

Chair of the Social and Behavioural Sciences Group Judging Panel, Professor Joe Barry said: "What we are looking at here is a very impressive survey conducted in three waves over 24 months with more than 2,000 responses examining how secondary school students perceived school to impact on their social, physical and mental wellbeing.

"One of the key findings coming out of the research was that whilst inequality is prevalent in DEIS[1] schools, exponential improvements in areas of pastoral care and physical health are quickly closing this gap. To quote directly from the students’ research, ‘Secondary school is a vital social outlet for students and this can be seen across our interviews, focus groups and in particular in our survey."

The 2023 BT Young Scientist & Technology winners received the BTYSTE perpetual trophy and the top prize of €7,500. The winners will also represent Ireland at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists, which takes place in Brussels, Belgium in September 2023. They’ll also get to attend the 64th Annual London International Youth Science Forum this summer. 

Ayush Tambde, aged 18 and in sixth year in Stratford College in Dublin won the prize for Best Individual, with his project, Analysis of single-cell proteomic data to understand the mechanisms of oncogenic transformation and how to control them. 

Dr John Monahan, Biological and Ecological Sciences Group Judge said, ‘This project studied the problems of breast cancer. As many know there are two major groups of breast cancer, one of which can be targeted by drugs for treatment (Luminal cell types; Receptor positive) and one of which is more difficult to treat (Basal cell types; Receptor negative). The project has taken new protein biology approaches to relook at an important existing data set and come up with novel insights into potential treatments for these difficult to treat basal cell breast cancers.’ 

Adrian Drogomir, aged 19 and in sixth year in Adamstown Community College in Dublin won the prize for Runner-up Individual, with his project, AL-energy. 

Prof Orla Feely, Chair of Chemical, Physical and Mathematical Sciences Individual Judging Panel said, ‘Aluminium-based batteries could play a role in the provision of sustainable energy. This project demonstrates through very detailed experiments how the design of the electrode impacts the battery performance and points the way to future design. The judges were very impressed by Adrian’s passion for the subject and his detailed implementation of the scientific method.’

Olivia O’Shea, Erica O’Brien Murray and Abigail O’Brien Murray, aged 17 and in fifth year in Loreto College, Balbriggan won the prize for Runners-up Group, with their project, Can we save the common ash? 

Dr Richard O’Hanlon, Biological and Ecological Sciences Group Judge said, ‘Ash dieback is the most serious tree disease to arrive in Ireland in over 50 years. These young scientists have provided robust data to highlight potential treatments which could, in combination with other actions, protect our native ash trees.’