SciFest Ezine, Volume 10, Number 4, May 2019

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SCIFEST EZINE Volume 10 Number 4

May 2019

SciFest Student Achieves Global Success at International Science Fair!

SciFest national champion, Adam Kelly from Skerries Community College, Dublin represented Ireland and SciFest at Intel ISEF 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona last week where he was awarded the Dudley R. Herschbach SIYSS Award, which is considered one of the competition’s top 5 most prestigious accolades. This means he will be one of 25 students who will attend the week-long Stockholm International Youth Science Seminar (SIYSS) and will get the chance to meet Nobel prize winning scientists.

His success did not stop there, he also received a

first prize in his category, Systems Software. Adam earns $3,000 in prize money and will have an asteroid named after him as a result. Adam also achieved a Best in Category Award, earning $5,000 for himself

“I was very excited to have the opportunity to travel to Phoenix and to present my work to some of the top STEM professionals in the world. I really enjoyed meeting young people from all over the world and seeing the different projects that they are working on.

This was a wonderful opportunity to share ideas and to learn, and I am so thankful to my family, friends, teachers and everyone at SciFest who have supported me up to now.”

and $1,000 for his school.

Adam Kelly Skerries Community College

The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) celebrated its 70th year in Phoenix, Ariz., where over 1,800 of the top science and engineering high school students from all over the world competed for an array of awards in every major science and engineering category. ISEF is run by the Society for Science and the Public that also runs the Broadcom Masters competition for middle school students.

In This Issue Page Number

 Adam’s Winning Project  The Broadcom MASTERS Award at SciFest SciFest 2019/2020 4. The Berlin Long Night of Science Award The SciFest 2019 National Final Thank You Contact details

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Adam’s Winning Project ‘Improved Gate Level Simulation of Quantum Circuits’

Science Foundation Ireland supports SciFest in its programme of encouraging and engaging young people in STEM. Speaking about Adam’s award, Dr Ruth Freeman, Director of Science for Society at Science Foundation Ireland said:

“I want to congratulate Adam on his fantastic achievement in finishing first in his category, Systems Software. It is wonderful to see a young Irish innovator competing at a global level. Science Foundation Ireland is delighted to support SciFest, as it is such an effective programme in enabling young people to use science, technology, engineering and maths to create solutions to today’s and tomorrow’s challenges. I congratulate all of the students who take part for the passion and creativity they show, and the work they put into their projects.

Hopefully, we’ll see many of them consider STEM careers in the future.”

Adam’s work is a combination of physics, computing and maths, and has huge potential. Unlike a traditional computer that uses bits represented either by one or zero, a quantum computer works off ‘qubits’, meaning an action can be a one, zero or both at the same time. This means a quantum computer can work at an unprecedented speed on vast calculations with applications in fields such as astronomy and climatology.

Large-scale quantum computers are set to be the next frontier in advanced computing, but they are not yet widely available, which is why Adam developed an open source solution to simulating quantum computing that is up to 15 times faster than conventional simulations. His solution can be used by anyone in their own experiments – the software has direct applications in the verification of quantum devices, quantum algorithm design and investigations of quantum supremacy.

Adam at Intel ISEF, with Sheila Porter, Founder and CEO of SciFest and with his former teacher Louise Sullivan

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The Broadcom MASTERS Award at SciFest Last year’s SciFest also saw the introduction of the Broadcom MASTERS Award. This new award

saw five junior cycle

students, ranging in age from 12 to 14, compete for the opportunity to participate in the Broadcom MASTERS International programme. The aim of the programme is to bring together junior winners from over 24 countries who share a passion for STEM subjects and inspire them to stay with math and science throughout high school and beyond The inaugural award was won by 13-year-old Éabha Kenny, from Scoil Muire gan Smál, Convent of Mercy in Roscommon. Éabha travelled to Phoenix with the SciFest Intel ISEF team and enjoyed a busy week of activities which included a visit to the Heard Museum, the Desert Botanical Gardens, ASU and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

Broadcom MASTERS International Programme EABHA’S JOURNEY

SciFest 2019/2020

It’s Time to Plan for Next Year!

The end of the school year has arrived. In-house exams are taking place. TY students are finishing up and Junior Cycle and Leaving Certificate students are busy revising for the state exams. Staff meetings are taking place and events being planned for next year.

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Visit the SciFest website. The resources include: •

A downloadable TY module ’Science by Inquiry’

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A downloadable Junior Cycle module ’ A Beginner’s Guide to Doing a Science Project’

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An extended experimental investigation prepared for a CBA could, with additional work, be subsequently expanded and developed into a project suitable for exhibiting at a SciFest@School and/or SciFest@College fair

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83 second-level schools hosted SciFest@School STEM fairs this year.

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SciFest@School STEM fairs can be held at any time during the school year.

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Researching, developing and presenting a SciFest project at a SciFest@School and/or a SciFest@College STEM fair can constitute an ideal module for a TY programme

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Download a SciFest@School registration form

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Remember to check for other activities before you book a date

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Contact Us

Berlin Long Night of Science

e: info@scifest.ie m: 086 379 6143 w: www.scifest.ie

Odhran Brady from the Salesian College in Celbridge, Co. Kildare will be travelling to Berlin in June to celebrate ‘The Long Night of Science’. This prize, which is supported by the Irish Embassy in Berlin, was awarded

Please check the website regularly for updates

www.scifest.ie

to Odhran at the SciFest national final last November. His project was entitled ‘Quantifying Whiplash : An IoT Sensoring Approach to Help Reduce Insurance Claims Costs’.

The SciFest 2019 National Final takes place in the Marino Conference Centre, Griffith Avenue, Dublin 9 on 22 November 2019 Students are advised to continue to work on their projects over the summer holidays.

All SFI Best Project Award winners have automatically qualified to compete.

To qualify for participation in the National Final Abbott Runner-up, Boston Scientific and Specsavers Award winners will be asked to submit their report books to SciFest no later than Friday 27 September. A number of projects from those submitted will be selected by panels of judges to be exhibited at the SciFest 2019 National Final

SciFest

is supported by The Institutes of Technology, TU Dublin – City Campus, Kevin Street, TU Dublin – Blanchardstown Campus, TU Dublin -Tallaght Campus, DCU, St Mary’s College, Derry

Thank you As the school year draws to a close we would like to thank all those who have supported SciFest throughout the year: Our partners and sponsors, the regional coordinators, the teachers, the students, the judges, Smart Futures and all who have given generously of their time during the year to help at SciFest events.

HAVE A LOVELY SUMMER AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU IN 2019/2020