Sligo student's climate award for clean water project
Sligo Champion
A student from Ursuline College in Sligo has taken home the prestigious EirGrid Cleaner Climate Award following their success at the SciFest@College 2025 regional competition at Atlantic Technological University, Sligo recently.
Over 150 students from schools across Sligo and neighbouring counties came together with their second-level student peers and teachers to compete in the STEM fair exhibiting projects covering a broad range of topics and disciplines from health and physics to renewable energy and AI.
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Irish Independent
18-05-2025
- Irish Independent
Ramsgrange students excel at SciFest competition
The group entered their project under its new name Cries 'til it's Chronic which investigates the potential gender bias in the treatment of chronic pain. SciFest is a nationwide programme for secondary school students which intends to promote science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education by providing a platform for second-level students to present and display their scientific investigations. Currently in its 19th year, the competition attracts over 16,000 students to compete and present their scientific investigations. Regionally, 16 different SciFest@College events take place at a variety of different third-level institutions across the country, with the Ramsgrange students competing in the SETU Carlow event and as well as presenting their research, they also had the opportunity to view the facilities on offer at SETU Calow as well as obtaining information on the various STEM courses available. Within the regional competition, the Ramsgrange students won Best Project Award and will now compete against the 15 other regional winners at the SciFest national finals where the projects will be evaluated by an expert panel of judges from academia, enterprise and government. Should the Ramsgrange students be the winners of the national finals, there will then be an opportunity for them to progress further and to represent Ireland at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in the USA and attend the Berlin Long Night of Science. Not only did the girls come away with the Overall Best Project Award, but the judges were so highly impressed that that they were invited to present at the SETU Evolve Research Symposium – an incredible milestone and achievement, as they were the first post-primary students ever to be invited to this prestigious event. The symposium is part of the 12th Festival of Ideas to Inspire Human Potential and featured talks from leading experts from five institutions across four countries, including: Dr. Irene Davis who is the founder of the Running Centre at Harvard Medical School, now a Professor at the University of South Florida in Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science, Prof. Mark Johnson, a Professor of Pain at Leeds, Beckett University, known for his work on the nature and perception of pain, Dr. Ciaran Cosgrave who is the Director of UPMC Sports Medicine and the Institute for Health, former team doctor for the Irish Rugby Team, British and Irish Lions, Liverpool FC, and Leinster Rugby, Prof. Steffen Willwacher who is a Professor at Offenburg University, Germany, specializing in the risk of injury and overuse in sports and finally, Dr. Colin Griffin, Two-time Olympian, Olympic coach, and sport scientist with PhD research in lower limb injuries. Representing the Cries 'Til It's Chronic group, Katie and Colleen, despite being the only post-primary school students present amongst the PhD and Post Graduate students and researchers in the field of sports science and pain, held their own and earned high praise for their contributions and making lots of connections to help further and continue their research.
Irish Independent
16-05-2025
- Irish Independent
Celebrating success at Kerry school awards
Deputy Principal, Ms. Maureen Foley-Hayes, compered the event where close to 90 students received awards. Top students in the 25 subjects taught in the school were first up and this was followed by an address Leaving Certificate student and President of the Student Council Niamh Twomey, where she congratulated all the students on winning awards. Then there were awards for the year heads, best attendance and best Junior Certificate results. The huge success the school has had in science competitions this year was noted with wins at BT Young Scientist Exhibition, Scifest and Cansat as well as winning the AIB Bright Sparks Environmental Award with a €2000 prize for the school recently and winning the senior category at the Young Environmentalists Award recently for their Plant to Plate project. "It is great to see students taking action on environmental and social issues and we hope that they will continue in the future, there is plenty to do,' commented Ms Foley Hayes. Awards for music, debating, penmanship and library patrons were given as well as 'Gradam Scéine', special awards to 11 students who had stood out from the crowd for their personal qualities. The Dan Cahill Award went to Ciara Stauch who excels at History and English and the Helen Quinn Award went to Seán O'Sullivan for his outstanding empathy and kindness to others. The schools focus on sustainability was represented by awards for Green School, Environmentalist and Gardener of the Year. The final section was for sport with a whole range of awards for individuals who had excelled in the past year. A new award, the Tom O'Connor Perpetual Shield was given to the winner of the Senior Boys Football, Donncha O'Sullivan, for his outstanding contribution to school football over his time in school ADVERTISEMENT Mr Dermot Healy closed by congratulating all the students on their awards and announcing that Student of the Year 2025 was Laura Scanlon, LCA1. Laura had been a strong presence in the school community over six years, embracing opportunities inside and outside the classroom, leading by example and making a lasting impression an all around her.
Irish Independent
16-05-2025
- Irish Independent
Three Kerry students honoured with awards for innovative climate-focused projects
Arush Satyavolu from Christian Brothers Secondary School Tralee took home the prestigious EirGrid Cleaner Climate Award for his project titled 'Highway Wind Turbines'. Arush's winning project examined how turbines can harness the power of passing cars. The student will now progress to the SciFest National Final in November, for a chance to represent Ireland at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in May 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. Moira Butler and Aisling Dillon of Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk claimed the runner-up EirGrid prize for their project on engineering sustainable artificial coral reefs. The Tralee students' projects were recognised for their demonstrations of technical excellence and tangible positive impact to energy and environmental sustainability. The winning submissions were chosen from over 100 projects on show at the college campus event. Over 200 students from 16 schools across Kerry and neighbouring counties came together with their second-level student peers and teachers to compete in the STEM fair, where they exhibited projects covering a broad range of topics from health and chemistry to renewable energy and sports science. SciFest@College is a programme of STEM fairs for second-level students, taking place in 16 regional colleges across Ireland. It has been a platform for second-level students to showcase their creativity, innovation and research skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Congratulating the winning entrants on their successful project, Catherine Daly, sustainability programme manager at EirGrid, said SciFest has been at the heart of inspiring innovation from secondary level students for 20 years. 'We are incredibly proud to continue to support this endeavour. As we work to ensure 80pc of Ireland's electricity comes from renewable sources, as per Government targets, we recognise the importance of fostering a future generation of problem solvers and critical thinkers, to transition to a clean, renewable energy grid,' Ms Daly said. 'EirGrid is playing a central role in achieving Ireland's climate ambitions and the level of engagement from students at MTU Kerry today showed the interest surrounding the environment and renewable energy. Congratulations to Arush, Moira and Aisling on their awards.'
