The BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition (Irish: Taispeántas na nEolaí Óga agus Teicneoilíochta), commonly called "the Young Scientist", is an annual competition that has been held in Dublin, Ireland every January since 1965[1] for encouraging interest in science in secondary and primary schools, currently sponsored by BT Ireland. There were 1,616 entries for the 2009 contest [1], five hundred of which were selected for the Exhibition at the Royal Dublin Society. In each and Technology Exhibition advance to participate in international events such as the European Union Contest for Young Scientists and the Stockholm International Youth Science Seminar.
There are four categories in which projects are awarded to: biology, physics, social and behavioral sciences and technology. There are three levels of entry accepted.[1]
One of the founders of the Exhibition, Father Tom Burke, died in March 2008.[2] An award at the event was named after him in his memory.[2]
Aer Lingus sponsored the competition for the first 33 years.[1] 2010 was the tenth year in which the Exhibition was sponsored by BT.[3] It has produced at least one author (Sarah Flannery) and one millionaire (Patrick Collison).[3] Many of the past winners have gone on to establish international companies on the technology they developed. One of the most notable was Baltimore Technologies.
Contents |
| Year | Winner | Age | School | Project Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1954(?)–1996 | N/A | — | — | N/A | |
| 1997 | Michael Flynn | 17 | Christian Brothers College, Cork | A COMPLEX study of chaotic behaviour in Irish weather | Data retrieved from Irish Times archive.[4] Additional later life data unavailable. |
| 1998[5] | Raphael Hurley | — | — | The Mathematics of Monopoly | Gained a BSc (Hons) Joint Honours in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics from University College Cork in 2005[6] Was named UCC Graduate of the Year in February 2006 |
| 1999 | Sarah Flannery | 16 | Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal, Blarney | Cryptography - A new algorithm versus the RSA | Wrote a book on her algorithm and number theory in general, In Code: A Mathematical Journey (ISBN 0-7611-2384-9) First place — 11th European Union Contest for Young Scientists Gained a BA in Computer Science from the University of Cambridge in 2003, worked for Wolfram Research for a period and in 2006 was working with the EA Software Company in California, United States |
| 2000 | Thomas Gernon | 16 | Coláiste Rís, Dundalk, County Louth | The Geography and Mathematics of Europe's Urban Centres | First time in the competition's 36-year history that a Social & Behavioural Sciences project won the top award[7] Graduated with First Class Honours in Geology from University College Dublin in 2004, going on to complete a Ph.D. at the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol His research on the dynamics of volcanic eruptions has taken him from diamond mines in Botswana and Arctic Canada, to many active volcanoes around the world, including those of Iceland, Italy, Greece and Far Eastern Siberia Currently lecturer of geology at Trinity College, Dublin |
| 2001[8] | Peter Taylor, Shane Browne and Michael O'Toole | — | — | Investigating symmetrical shapes formed by polygons | |
| 2002[9] | David Michael O'Doherty | — | Gonzaga College, Ranelagh, Dublin | The Distribution of the Primes and the Underlying Order to Chaos. | Mathematics undergraduate at Cambridge |
| 2003[10] | Adnan Osmani | 16 | St Finnian's College, Mullingar, County Westmeath | The graphical technological and user-friendly advancement of the Internet browser: XWebs | Osmani filed for a patent for his networking socket and web browser in 2003. |
| 2004[11] | Ronan Larkin | 16 | Synge Street CBS, Dublin | Generalised Continued Fractions | |
| 2005 | Patrick Collison | 16 | Castletroy College, Limerick | Croma: a new dialect of Lisp | Became an overnight millionaire at the age of 19 when he, alongside his 17-year-old brother John, sold their software company Auctomatic to a Canadian firm for more than €3 million[12] |
| 2006 | Aisling Judge | 14 | Kinsale Community School, County Cork | The development and evaluation of a biological food spoilage indicator | Third place — 18th European Union Contest for Young Scientists; First Junior Category Winner[13] |
| 2007 | Abdusalam Abubakar | 17 | Synge Street CBS, Dublin | An Extension of Wiener's Attack on RSA | First place — 19th European Union Contest for Young Scientists[14] Originally from Somalia, had not used a computer before arriving in Ireland twenty months earlier[15] |
| 2008 | Emer Jones | 13 | Presentation Secondary School, Tralee, County Kerry | Research and Development of Emergency Sandbag Shelters | Youngest ever winner[16] First winner from County Kerry[17] First time her school had entered[17] |
| 2009 | Liam McCarthy and John D. O'Callaghan | 13/14 | Kinsale Community School, County Cork | The Development of a Convenient Test Method for Somatic Cell Count and Its Importance In Milk Production | Kinsale Community School became the first to hold two separate national award winners after Aisling Judge's 2006 win.[18] First place — 21st European Union Contest for Young Scientists[19] |
| 2010 | Richard O'Shea | 18 | Scoil Mhuire Gan Smál, Blarney, County Cork | A biomass fired cooking stove for developing countries | |
| 2011[20] | Alexander Amini | 15 | Castleknock College, Dublin | Tennis sensor data analysis |
| Age | Winner | School | Project Title | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13[16] | Emer Jones | Presentation Secondary School, Tralee, County Kerry | Research and Development of Emergency Sandbag Shelters | 2008 |
| 13/14 | Liam McCarthy and John D. O'Callaghan | Kinsale Community School, County Cork | The Development of a Convenient Test Method for Somatic Cell Count and Its Importance In Milk Production | 2009 |
| 14[21] | Aisling Judge | Kinsale Community School, County Cork | The development and evaluation of a biological food spoilage indicator | 2006 |
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