SciFest Ezine, Volume 13 Number 1 September 2021

VOL 13 | NUMBER 1

SEPTEMBER 2021

SCIFEST EZINE WHERE INNOVATION MEETS CREATIVITY

WELCOME BACK We hope you had a wonderful summer and that you are returning to school relaxed, recharged and ready to face any challenges that may lie in the academic year ahead. Starting a new school year can be stressful at the best of times, let alone during a global pandemic but it is also exciting as it is a time to take stock, start afresh and explore new possibilities.

IN THIS ISSUE:

News Roundup................

2

SciFest@GYSTB 2021.... 2 Alumni News.................... 2 SciFest Virtual National Final 2021........................

3

SciFest@School 2021/2022........................ 3 SciFest@College

Work has continued at SciFest over the summer. Project entries for SciFest@College were submitted on 11 May so most of May and June was taken up with getting the projects judged, notifying teachers and students of the results, organising certificates for participating students and trophies and One4all tokens for winners. The certificates, trophies and One4all tokens are all being sent out to the schools this month. With the events taking place online we miss meeting the students in person but we enjoy seeing their photographs celebrating their success on the various school social media channels. Hopefully things will soon return to normal.

We very much look forward to working with you in the coming year. If you have any questions about the SciFest programme please don't hesitate to contact us.

SciFest@School

SciFest@College

New Awards in 2021........ 4 SciFest@College New Awards for 2022......

5

A Back-to-School Puzzle.. 6 Contact details.................

6

PAGE 12 | PLAYTIME

SciFest National Final

SciFest International

Alumni News

NEWS ROUNDUP

Caolann Brady SciFest SFI STEM Champion 2016

Studied Molecular Medicine in TCD and recently graduated with a First Class Honours degree. Is currently on placement as a Research Assistant at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford.

SCIFEST@GYSTB 2021 Five SciFest projects represented Ireland at the virtual Hong Kong Global Youth Science and Technology Bowl (GYSTB) 2021 and claimed a Bronze Grand Award, two second-place category awards and two Honourable Mentions.

The Grand Award was claimed by Erinn Leavy and Sophie McArdle from St Vincent’s Secondary School in Dundalk for their project, An Analysis of

Simon Bluett

Physiological and Running Metrics in 3km Cross Country Running in Comparison to Track and Treadmill. The girls set out to investigate if cross country running was better preparation for marathons than track or treadmill

SciFest 2012 Overall Winner

1st Class Honors (Distinction), Bachelor (BA, BAI) Electronic Engineering, TCD 2018. Masters of Science (MSc) (Distinction), Robotics, University

training.

of Bristol 2019. R&D Mechatronics Engineer, T.E. Laboratories (TelLab), 2020

GYSTB is organised by The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups and was broadcast live globally on 20 June. The competition attracted 133 project entries from 26 countries or regions, all competing for prizes.

Following their performances in last year’s SciFest National Final eight Irish students from five different schools were invited by SciFest to compete at GYSTB 2021. Regeneron ISEF Champion Conor Casey from Pobalscoil Inbhear Scéine, Kenmare, Co. Kerry, went on to win a second-place award at the competition, as did Giulia Baratta from St Andrew’s College in Dublin.

SFI STEM Champion 2020, Caoimhín O'Leary from Ardscoil na Mara, Tramore, Co. Waterford and Dara Newsome, Conor Bradshaw and David Hughes from Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk, Tralee, Co. Kerry, all achieved Honourable Mentions.

Sarah Kate Sweeney SciFest 2015 National Finalist

Congratulations to all the students and to their teachers, John White, Sara Abbott, Hilary Rimbi, Niamh Shannon and Eimear Nolan who supported them.

Currently studying Physics and Astrophysics in UCC.

Intern at the Max Planck Institute for

Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute), Hannover. Recipient of a Classical Piano

Page 2

Scholarship from CIT Cork School of Music

SCIFEST VIRTUAL NATIONAL FINAL 2021 26 -27 November Ireland’s most talented STEM scholars to present their research at a virtual SciFest National Final in November

Get ready for the SciFest 2021 National Final On November 26 and 27, 2021, SciFest regional award winning second-level students from across the country will gather online to compete for a number of prestigious awards including becoming the SciFest STEM Champion 2021.

For a second year running the competition will take place virtually, in order to keep finalists and their families safe during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Whilst nothing can replace the warmth, fun and atmosphere of a real-world STEM fair, an online equivalent of this exciting annual event still offers an opportunity to students to showcase their incredible research, share ideas and bring a fresh perspective to solving real world problems. Other students, teachers, parents and the general public are invited to view the projects online, to vote for their facourite project in the STEM Outreach Award and to connect with this next generation of scientific leaders and innovators.

At the final the Best Project Award winners and a selection of the Runner-up Award winners from the 16 regional SciFest@College 2021 Online STEM fairs will compete for a range of valuable prizes, including the opportunity to represent Ireland at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), the Hong Kong Global Youth Science and Technology Bowl (GYSTB) and attend the Berlin Long Night of Science. The event will also include a special competition for selected winners of the Boston Scientific Medical Devices Award.

The main programme will include a series of exciting STEM-related talks and presentations. The Awards Ceremony will take place on Saturday afternoon. More information about the full programme, which will include a mix of live and pre-recorded sessions, will be shared in the coming days and weeks.

SciFest@School 2021/2022 We are delighted to confirm that participation in the SciFest@School strand of the SciFest programme will continue to be available for the academic year 2021/2022.

For more information visit www.scifest.ie and click on the SciFest@School tab.

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SEPTEMBER 2021

VOLUME 13, NUMBER 1

SCIFEST@COLLEGE - NEW AWARDS IN 2021 ACCENTURE MATHS IN SCIENCE AWARD Traditionally a Maths in Science Award has been presented annually

at

each of the 16 regional

SciFest@College STEM fairs. SciFest was delighted therefore when Accenture joined SciFest’s growing sponsor community as a Gold Sponsor and agreed to sponsor

the Maths Award at each of the 16 regional

SciFest@College 2021 STEM fairs.

FENERGO COMMUNICATION AWARD SciFest was also delighted to announce in May that Dublin based and indigenous fintech company, Fenergo had also joined SciFest’s growing sponsor community as a Gold Sponsor. As a result a Fenergo Communication Award was presented at each of the 16 SciFest@College 2021 STEM fairs.

Dublin-headquartered Fenergo provides software for global financial

institutions

to

help

them

streamline

client

onboarding and entity data management processes while satisfying anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) regulatory obligations and enhancing customer experience. Founded in 2008, Fenergo has grown rapidly and now employs over 400 people in Dublin and has a total of 850 employees around the world.

BUSINESS EXCELLENCE INSTITUTE AWARD The Business Excellence Institute (BEX) is a membership body, headquartered in Dublin, with members on 6 continents.

We would also like to welcome a number of new Bronze sponsors.

These include: Grifols,

a world leader in plasma-derived

and well-being of patients around the world. one of Europe’s leading

food companies with 10 sites in Ireland and employing more than 7000 people in 12 countries.

SciFest@School

is

dedicated

to

promoting

business

management,

and

the

stakeholders.

To

learn

pursuit more

of

results

about

for

BEX

all visit:

BusinessExcellence.org.

medicines whose mission is to improve the health

Dawn Meats,

It

excellence as a multi-disciplinary profession, excellence in

SciFest@College

BEX has been supporting SciFest for 7 years and this year became official Gold Sponsors sponsoring a Business Excellence Institute Award at each of the 16 regional SciFest@College venues. The award was presented to projects with the greatest potential to positively impact organizations and industries.

SciFest National Final Page 4

SciFest International

SCIFEST@COLLEGE - NEW AWARDS FOR 2022 THE SMURFIT KAPPA SUSTAINABILITY AWARD SciFest is excited to welcome Smurfit Kappa on board as new Gold Sponsors for SciFest 2022. Smurfit Kappa will sponsor a Sustainability Award at each of the 16 regional SciFest@College 2022 venues.

To help reduce the use of plastic Smurfit Kappa would like students to challenge existing plastic designs and use their imagination and creativity, combined with science and engineering, to rethink a new paper-based alternative solution.

Award Criteria The Smurfit Kappa Sustainability Award will be presented to the project that best demonstrates the following: Design of a creative, innovative paper-based alternative for an unsustainable plastic product Science and engineering Research into the plastic pollution problem Information and education on the benefits and value of using sustainable paper-based products

KarTent and Smurfit Kappa Eco-Friendly Cardboard Tents

Check out the Project Ideas book downloadable from the SciFest website, www.scifest.ie (Resources tab) for sample projects suitable for the Smurfit Kappa Sustainability Award.

NATPRO - THE TRINITY CENTRE FOR NATURAL PRODUCTS RESEARCH - AWARDS

MaNatPro, the Trinity Centre for Natural Products Research, is based at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Trinity College Dublin.

The project “Unlocking Nature’s Pharmacy from Bogland Species” is focused on identifying the potential therapeutic and commercial uses of native Irish bog plants, distinctive bog waters and the microbiome of unique bogland species.

A Nature’s Pharmacy NatPro Award will be available at: Irish peat bog landscape

Athlone Institute of Technology Carlow Institute of Technology Limerick Institute of Technology, Thurles Campus Award Criteria The NatPro Award will be presented to the project that best exhibits: Use of scientific thought and imagination to find a positive and innovative solution to a challenge or an unanswered question related to, but not limited to, subjects of agricultural science, physics, biology, chemistry and scientific literacy in relation to Irish boglands or plants or medicinal cures Creativity and technical skills to form experimentation or research data to answer a clear hypothesis or research question A clear understanding of the project undertaken

Check out the NatPro Award presentation downloadable from the SciFest website, www.scifest.ie (Resources tab).

SciFest@School

SciFest@College

SciFest National Final Page 5

SciFest International

Register to host a SciFest@School TODAY

Contact Details Email: info@scifest.ie

Mobile: 086 379 6143

Website: www.scifest.ie

Instagram: @SciFest4STEM

Twitter: @SciFest4STEM

Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/sp13/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/scifest.ie

YouTube: www.youtube.com/scifest

SciFest is free-to-enter at all levels

A Back to School Puzzle NAME THE SCIENTIST Answer the following questions

1. The process by which molecules of a solvent tend to pass through a semipermeable membrane from a less concentrated solution into a more concentrated one 2. Sedimentary rock composed primarily of calcium carbonate (CaCO ) 3

3. Neutral subatomic particle 4. An object in space that orbits a bigger object 5. Measured in ohms 6. A logarithmic unit used to measure sound level Decibel 7. A non-metallic element belonging to the halogens 8. Small, rocky objects that orbit the sun 9. The resistance to motion of one object moving relative to another 10. The energy that an object possesses due to its motion

Each number 1 to 10 in the grid below represents the first letter of the answer to the questions 1 to 10 above. Insert the relevant letter which corresponds to the question number into the grid below to spell out the name of a famous scientist.

Number 6 has already been completed.

5

1

4

SciFest@School

8

2

7

3

6 D

SciFest@College

9

5

8

3

SciFest National Final Page 6

10 2

7

3

SciFest International