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Lismore team win SciFest 2010 at Waterford Institute of Technology
Posted: Wed, April 21, 2010 |
A team of three students from Blackwater Community School in Lismore, Co Waterford have won SciFest 2010 at Waterford Institute of Technology.
Emma Foley, Amy Feeney and Rebecca Hennebry won the Intel-sponsored best project award for their analysis of Belbin team role theory and how it impacts on performance. The theory originated at Henley Management College in the 1970s and identifies a range of roles typically adopted by different team members.
The runners up and communications award winners also came from Blackwater Community School which provided 28 of the 50 participating students.
Runners-up were Clodagh Walsh, Aoife Cahillane and Ciara Moore for their project on calculating a formula and strategy for winning a game of monopoly. Their award was sponsored by Abbott.
The communications award sponsored by BT went to Michelle Tobin and Kelly Sheehan for their project ‘Can we believe our eyes?’
Joseph Foley, Gary Hurley and Philip Coffey from CBS Dungarvan won the Discover Sensors Award for their project investigating compression and tension in a suspension bridge. Runners-up in this category were Cliona Barrett, Katie Moffett and Aoife Sutton from Our Lady of Lourdes, Rosbercon, New Ross, Co Wexford who completed a project comparing sports drinks.
The junior level award was won jointly by De La Salle College Waterford teams. Their projects were titled ‘Fasten your Seatbelt!’ (Adam Byrne, Aaron Cosulich and Darragh O’Connor) and ‘The usage and efficiency of energy in Waterford and other counties’ (Peter Smith and Ryan Fitzpatrick).
The maths prize was won by Carole McCarthy of Blackwater Community School for her project ‘Is there a correct formula to save a life?’
Aside from the winning projects, others presented covered topics including internet addiction; the effect of coffee on plants; acidity levels in chewing gum and the biofuel potential of seaweed oil.
Speaking after SciFest 2010, Dr Sheila Donegan, Centre for the Advancement of Learning of Mathematics, Science & Technology (CALMAST) at Waterford Institute of Technology said: “The energy and imagination that students put in to the projects presented during SciFest 2010 in Waterford gives great cause for optimism about the future of science, engineering and technology. The diverse topics underlined science’s relevance and the students and their teachers showed great flair in applying science to interesting projects that we could all readily relate to.”
The entrants’ team and individual projects were evaluated by a judging panel including Dr Ciaran Geoghegan, Managing Director, Microchem Lancaster Laboratories; Dr Emma Harte, Analytical Chemist, Genzyme Ireland; Dan Geoghegan, QC Manager, GlaxoSmithKline Ireland; Alan Kelly, Technology Development Manager, Bausch + Lomb Ireland; Ray O’Dwyer, County Manager, Waterford County Council; Dr Liam Lysaght, Director, National Biodiversity Data Centre; Dr Paul Barry, Head of School of Science, WIT; Dr John Wall, Head of School of Education, WIT; Dr Kathleen Grennan, WIT and Dr Orla O’Donovan, WIT.
Jointly funded by Intel and Discover Science & Engineering and supported by a number of other partners, SciFest is a one-day science fair held at 15 higher education institutions. It aims to encourage a love of science through an investigative approach to learning and to provide an opportunity for students to display their scientific discoveries.
• Further information is available at www.wit.ie and www.scifest.ie
