| SciFest 2009 |
Co. Tipperary Students Announced as Winners of SciFest 2009 at Tipperary Institute 12th May – Steven Tierney and Darren Hehir from Scoil Ruain School Killenaule in Co. Tipperary were today announced as winners of the Overall Award at Scifest 2009 which took place in Tipperary Institute. SciFest is a one day festival of science, which includes a competition and exhibition of projects, science demonstrations and a prize-giving ceremony. Other prizes on the day included the Abbott Runner Up Best Project Award, won by Conor Cuddihy of Scoil Ruain and the BT Best Communicator Award, which was won by Aine Byrne, Annette Faul and Michelle Collins of the Ursuline Secondary Thurles. Ciaran Lynch of Tipperary Institute congratulated the prize winners and indeed all who took part, as well as their teachers. He acknowledged the hard work that goes into developing and displaying a science project. He also said that he hoped that by participating students might, when the time came, seriously consider enrolling in one of the Institutes degree programmes in Environmental Science, Computer Science or Social Science. Sheila Porter, SciFest National Coordinator, added her congratulations. “Science and technology has been identified as being key to the country’s long term growth and to the development of Ireland’s smart economy. As such, it is incredibly exciting to see the massive scale and breadth of the entries into this year’s SciFest and with greater competition than any year previous, all congratulations are due to this year’s winners. Together, our young scientists point to a very bright future for Ireland’s science and technology sectors.” Up to 2,000 students entered SciFest 2009 which took place in Tipperary Institute as well as in thirteen Institutes of Technology around the country - Athlone, Blanchardstown, Dublin, Dundalk, Carlow, Cork, Galway/Mayo, Letterkenny, Limerick, Sligo, Tallaght, Waterford, and Tralee. Nearly 900 projects were entered in total in 2009, compared to 680 projects in 2008. Sheila Porter continued, “SciFest also creates an important link with Ireland’s Institutes of Technology and industry and provides young students with a valuable opportunity to experience the study of science, engineering and ICT first hand and, by participating in hands-on science activities and experiments, students can dispose of any veil of uncertainty that may surround the study of science beyond secondary school. I would like to congratulate and thank all those who took part in this year’s exhibitions, students, teachers, local coordinators, judges and sponsors alike, and I look forward with real anticipation to another year of science and another year of SciFest.” SciFest was originally created as a result of the enormous success of the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition, and was designed to cater for the excess demand. In addition, SciFest provides another platform for students who wish to exhibit their work and share their findings with other like-minded students in a creative and educational environment. SciFest has the additional advantage that it is locally based which makes it more accessible to students and allows them to view the facilities and courses available in their local Institute of Technology. Last year nine Institutes of Technology hosted SciFest; this year the remaining five Institutes also hosted SciFest in response to local demand. SciFest is jointly funded by Intel and Discover Science and Engineering. It is supported by a number of other partners and the Institutes of Technology. The project thus creates a valuable link between the second and third level education sectors and between education and industry. Other award winners were the Presentation Secondary Clonmel, St Ailbes Tipperary Town, Colaiste Dun Iascaigh Cahir and Presentation Secondary Thurles with projects that included:
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