SciFest STEM Champions, Liam Waldron, Rachel Griffin and Luke O’Sullivan, students from Killarney Community College, Co Kerry represented Ireland and SciFest at Regeneron ISEF 2023 which took place in Dallas, Texas, 14 May - 19 May. Regeneron ISEF is the world’s largest international pre-college science competition, involving some 1,600 students from 64 countries, regions and territories competing for a prize fund totalling $9 million
Liam, Rachel and Luke secured their place at the international competition when they were named SciFest STEM Champions 2022 at the SciFest 2022 National Final last November They claimed first prize for their project, A Group Theoretic Approach to Pythagoras’ Theorem The students were accompanied to Dallas by their teacher, Ms Máire Spillane.
Pythagoras’ Theorem is a foundational theorem in geometry, with many far-reaching implications in other fields. There are many proofs of Pythagoras’ theorem, from geometry, trigonometry and even using the exponentiation properties of complex numbers Their project,
approached the Pythagorean Theorem through the framework of group theory, exploring the algebraic structures which can be defined within coordinate systems.
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EZINE SCIFEST Volume14, Number 4 May 2023
RegeneronInternationalScienceandEngineeringFair(ISEF)inDallas,Texas
SciFest2022STEMChampionsRepresentIrelandandSciFestatthe
2 2 6 6 3 2 4 5 4 In this issue: Regeneron ISEF 2023 Alumni News Fineos Special Awards SciFest@School 2022/2023 SciFest@College 2023 SciFest@TCPID 2023
2023 Best Project Award Winners
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Speaking about attending Regeneron ISEF, Liam said:
“Regeneron ISEF has been an incredible experience
It's been fun and exciting. We met so many great people from all around the world and we feel proud to have represented Ireland and SciFest at this event We worked so hard on our project and were delighted to learn from other students and see their projects We are so thankful to our family, friends, teachers, and everyone at SciFest who have supported us on this journey ”
About the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair
The Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (Regeneron ISEF), a program of Society for Science for over 70 years, is the world’s largest global science competition for high school Through a global network of local, regional and national science fairs, millions of students are encouraged to explore their passion for scientific inquiry Each spring, a group of these students is selected as finalists and offered the opportunity to compete for approximately U.S. $9 million in awards and scholarships.
“We are all very proud of Liam, Rachel and Luke on their achievement Participating in Regeneron ISEF is a wonderful opportunity and I know the students have really enjoyed the experience. SciFest is all about encouraging a love of science, technology, engineering and maths among young people Liam, Rachel and Luke have developed a truly innovative project and we are delighted that they have had the opportunity to bring it to an international audience We wish them all every success for the future ”
Alumni News
Congratulations to Diana Hrisovescu (SciFest 2020 Alumna) and Shay McDonnell who have been awarded a $100,000 O'Shaughnessy Fellowship Grant to develop Script, a user-friendly platform which enables individuals to access government support digitally and in their native language Script was founded as a SciFest project in January 2020 when Diana was just 16 years old. This is an exciting and significant achievement and is a testament to how far Diana has come since exhibiting at SciFest
We congratulate Diana and wish her and Shay the best of luck as they embark on this entrepreneurial adventure.
Fineos Special Awards
Congratulations to second-year student Aoife-Kate Trant from Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk, Tralee who was awarded a ‘SciFest 2023 Fineos Inclusion in Education Award’ for her exceptional work in promoting inclusion in education
Congratulations also to Yanko Yanchev, a fifth-year student in Tullamore College, Co Offaly who was awarded a SciFest Fineos Passion for Maths Award Both students were presented with a Dell Latitude 5430 laptop which was one of three donated by Fineos SciFest would like to thank Fineos for their generous donation of the three laptops to be given as special awards at SciFest STEM fairs, and for their support of the SciFest program
Sheila Porter, SciFest Founder and CEO who accompanied the students and their teacher to Dallas commented:
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SciFest@School2022/2023
106 SciFest@School fairs took place over the 2022/2023 academic year, anewrecord!Weareveryexcitedtobuildonthisfornextyearandmany schoolshavealreadystartedtoregisterfor2023/2024 Seethefinallistof SciFest@Schoolfairs2022/2023byclickingonthelink.
To register for a SciFest@School fair please visit the SciFest website www.scifest.ieandselecttheSciFest@Schooltab.
Participating in a SciFest@School STEM fair can foster a lifelong interest in STEM subjects, develop important skills, and open doors to future academic and career opportunities. It also helps students build confidence in their abilities As they work on their projects and present their findings, they gain selfconfidence, develop a sense of accomplishment, and become more comfortable expressing their ideas and findings to others It also raises the profile of STEM in the school
"The best part of this is how every single student can get involved from the kids with reading ages of 6 up to high academic kids, kids from the autism unit and those being aupported by the behavioural support team in the school It covers learning outcomes on the Level 2 Learning Program (L2LP) as well as the key skills of level 3 (Junior Cycle) Our LCA students are going to enter into the SciFest at College There is a place for everyone and all are accepted "
Teacher's Comment SciFest@School 2023
"It is fantastic to see so many young people actively engaging with important issues like climate change and looking at practical, creative and innovative solutions for issues facing society today.”
Norma Foley TD, Minister for Education Launch of SciFest 2023
St Raphaela's Secondary School, Stillorgan, Co. Dublin
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Students from the Presentation Brothers College, Mardyke, Co. Cork with SciFest School Liaison Officer, Sean Foley
SciFest@College2023
Fourteen SciFest@College fairs took place from 25 April - 11 May 2023. The fifteenth, SciFest@NorthWest in St Mary's College in Derry, will take place on 23 June A total of just over 3000 students have participated so far in the SciFest@College fairs With the NorthWest numbers still to come this is almost twice the number who participated last year and compares with the just under 3300 who participated in 2019.
We were delighted to have so many of our partners and sponsors join us at SciFest@College fairs, judging and presenting awards We would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their continued support and we look forward to working with them next year
The Best Project Award winners from each of the regional SciFest@college fairs have all qualified to compete in the SciFest National Final which will take place in Dublin on 24 November, see following page for details and photographs.
SCIFEST@TCPID 2023
The Runner-up Best Project Award winners from each regional SciFest@College fair have been asked to submit their report books to SciFest by 29 September A panel of SciFest judges will then select the projects that will go forward to compete at the National Final
The winners of the Boston Scientific Medical Devices Award and the EirGrid Climate and Cleaner Energy Future Award winners have been asked to submit their report books and short two-minute videos at the end of September These will then be judged by panels of judges from Boston Scientific and EirGrid, respectively, to select the projects that will compete at the National Final.
A full list of SciFest@College 2023 award winners can be viewed here
At the National Final a panel of judges from academia and industry will select the winner of the SciFest STEM Champion/s 2023 Award. This award includes an allexpenses-paid trip to represent Ireland at the 2024 Regeneron ISEF competition in Los Angeles, California from 11 to 17 May 2024
Students are advised to continue to work on their project between now and 29 September.
The annual SciFest fair in the Trinity Centre for People with Intellectual Disabilities (TCPID) in Trinity College will take place on 1 June in Regent House, Trinity College, Dublin on1 June
The students Conor, Jodie, Cliodhna, Oscar, Liam, James and Diarmuid have been working hard on their projects for a number of weeks, supported by some amazing mentors from Abbott
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Best Project Award Winners
ATU Donegal: Ciara Cannon, Abbey Vocational School, Co. Donegal
ATU Galway: Angelina O Neill Presentation College Headford, Co. Galway
ATU Sligo: Sean Jordan, Mark Cranley, Coola Post Primary School, Co. Sligo
DCU: Jack Shannon, Clongowes Wood College, Clane, Co. Kildare
DkIT: Mya Doocey, Mia Galligan, St Joseph's Secondary School, Co. Meath
MTU Cork: Eoin McCarthy, Eoin O'Murchú, Jack Chambers, Clonakilty Community College, Co. Cork
MTU Kerry: Yasmine Odugbesan, Mercy Secondary School, Mounthawk, Tralee, Co. Kerry
SETU Waterford:,Surabhi Gunjur Sathish, Loreto Secondary School, Kilkenny
TU Dublin Tallaght: Nikishi Polgolla, Our Lady's School, Terenure, Dublin 6W
TUS Athlone: Fatima Karimi, Tullamore College, Riverside, Tullamore, Co. Offaly
TUS Limerick: Taha Njie, Aidan Oscar, Coláiste Chiaráin, Croom, Co. Limerick
TUS Thurles: Chen Hong'Yu, Rockwell College, Cashel, Co. Tipperary
TU Dublin Blanchardstown: Amy Roche, St Joseph's Secondary School, Rush, Co. Dublin
TU Dublin Grangegorman: Vedh R Kannan, Sutton Park School, Sutton, Dublin 13
SciFest@College 2023
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Contact Details:
Email: info@scifest.ie
Mobile: 086 379 6143
Website: www.scifest.ie
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING SCIFEST
Have
SciFestisSeekingtoAppointaFull-TimeSchoolLiaisonOfficer
Areyouapost-primaryteacherlookingforachallenge?
AreyoupassionateabouteducationandtheimportanceofSTEMfortoday’syoungpeople?
SciFest has been supporting and promoting STEM education in second-level schools across Ireland for over 17years Ouraimistoensurethateverysecond-levelstudentirrespectiveoftheirability,gender,background orcircumstancehastheopportunitytoparticipateinaSTEMfair TheSciFestprogrammeconsistsofaseries of STEM fairs for second-level students which take place locally in schools and regionally in third-level college, culminating in a national competition from which winning students go on to participate in internationalevents.
With support from the Medtronic Foundation, we are now looking for a highly motivated teacher to take responsibility for implementing a project specifically designed to grow and support engagement in DEIS schools. This is an exciting and challenging opportunity for a fully qualified post-primary teacher to make a significantcontributiontothepromotionofSTEMamongdisadvantagedcommunities.
Thefull-timepositionofSciFestSchoolLiaisonOfficerisofferedinitiallyonaone-yearcontractbasis,subject tothesatisfactorycompletionofathree-monthprobationaryperiod Thesuccessfulcandidatewillbebased inDublinwithopportunitiesforahybridworkingarrangement
Formoreinformationpleaseclickonthislink.
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a lovely summer break and we will see you again in September!
