Three awards for Offaly schools at Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition

THREE projects entered by students from Offaly schools won awards at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition last week.

'Green Sheets: Sustainable Paper from Grass' by Ryan Plunkett and Cillian Farrell from Tullamore College was Highly Commended by the judges.

It investigated whether grass paper could be a more effective material than traditional paper for packaging.

'Chicken Talk', the project from André Mulcahy Viegas, Alex Loughnane and Alfie McGrath, St Brendan's Community School, Birr, and 'Little Steps: Understanding height and growth differences', by Andrea Mecionyte from Tullamore College both won Display Awards.

The Birr students' project examined the effect of different chicken feeds on hens and their egg output and quality.

Andrea Mecionyte's project investigated the effect height has on a person's wellbeing.

Meanwhile, the project entered by Tullamore College student Emily McDarby was chosen for a special visit by President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina at the event.

Emily was photographed (see below) at her stand in the RDS with President Higgins, Sabina and Shay Walsh, managing director, BT Ireland.

“What an honour. We are thrilled for Emily, well done,” the school said in a post on its Facebook acknowledging the recognition for the student.

Emily's project, 'Perimenopause Uncovered: Empowering women through knowledge' sought to close the gap between women’s lived experiences of perimenopause and society's limited understanding of it.

Another Tullamore College student Fionnán Murray showcased a project which examined the effectiveness of zeolites as a soil amendment to reduce nitrate run-off from fertilisers to increase the bioavailability of the fertiliser and prevent eutrophication.

Students Tess Flynn, Anna Maunsell and Clodagh Hynes, also from Tullamore College, entered 'Liver Lifeline', an experiment to investigate if oxidising agents have the same effect on the liver as recommended supplements.

Two students at Gallen Community School researched the weight loss drug Ozempic for the exhibition.

In the project 'Subcutaneous Semaglutide - The new fashion trend', Grace Fallon and Ava Murray (pictured below) surveyed the experiences of people who have been prescribed a semaglutide (the generic name for the drug) medication. It is commonly prescribed to treat diabetes.

The school gave some details of the project in a social media post: “It is a report on the side effects of Ozempic, and is an investigation on the truth of Ozempic, as the media tend to not report it. The girls conducted in-person interviews and online surveys to gain the most knowledge, in a completely un-biased format.

They interviewed patients who had taken Ozempic, to hear their opinions of the drug and what they have experienced while being on it. And they surveyed students in our school on their knowledge of Ozempic, for them to understand where people are hearing about this medication.”

Grace Fallon and Ava Murray's project was entered in the Health & Wellbeing category.

Students at Cistercian College Roscrea entered three projects. James Hyland's was titled 'It's Spreading Time: Are GPS fertiliser spreaders really more economical and environmentally friendly than their cheaper counterparts?' and compared GPS section control fertiliser spreaders to ordinary spreaders to deduce their relative effectiveness, both financially and environmentally.

The effects of blue light exposure on teenage mental health was the focus of the project undertaken by Jaafar El Kateb and Unai Guibert while Roscrea students Thomas Deegan, Ronan O'Neill and Jack Duggan teamed up for 'Are Slurry Additives the future of farming?', which aimed to determine if slurry additives not only improve soil health, but also maximise grass growth.

In Meán Scoil an Chlochair in Kilbeggan, Clíodhna Kinnarney, Emma Sue Tandy and Emily O'Neill looked into healthy ways to increase serotonin levels in teenagers in their project 'Step up your day, endorphins are on the way!'

Emily O Brien, also from the Kilbeggan school, entered 'Sustainable Pest Control', which investigated if there is an alternative to using harsh chemically based pesticides in treating flies on cows.