SCIFEST EZINE December 2013
SciFest@SFI Discover Special Edition, Volume 5, Number 2
St Paul’s College Raheny student picks up top prize at SciFest 2013 Winner to represent Ireland at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2014 in Los Angeles “The students exhibiting to-
Raheny student Paul Clarke picked up the top prize at SciFest@SFI Discover 2013, the
day represent the brightest
national final of SciFest 2013, held on 22 November in the Science Gallery, Trinity Col-
young science minds in the
lege, Dublin. Paul’s discovery has taken us a step closer to solving the Travelling Sales-
country; they have excelled at
man Problem, also known as the Hamiltonian Cycle Problem, which has applications in business models including computer routing and networking. Professor Mark Ferguson, Director General of Science Foundation Ireland and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government presented Paul with his prize – the SciFest@SFI Discover Trophy and a trip to Los Angeles where he will represent Ireland at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2014.
their respective SciFest@College events and are already winners in their regions. All students should be extremely proud of themselves for reaching this stage
of SciFest.
Paul adopted a theoretical approach with a focus on theorem-proving techniques to de-
Prof. Mark Ferguson,
velop an algorithm for the Hamiltonian cycle problem. He presented the final algorithm
Director General of Science Foundation Ireland and
using the Python programming language. Paul also reported on the application of his re-
Chief Scientific Adviser to
sults in other areas of computer science and maths. He also investigated a number of
the Government
other problems, including the traveling salesman problem and the problem of counting Hamiltonian cycles in graphs.
In This Issue
SciFest 2013 National Final Award winner Paul Clark with Prof. Mark Ferguson
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SciFest@SFI Discover Finalists
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SciFest@SFI Discover Chemistry Finalists
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SciFest@SFI Discover Award Winners
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SciFest 2014
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Contact us
SciFest@SFI Discover Finalists Venue
School Name
School Address
Student /s
Project Title
CIT
Scoil Mhuire gan Smál
Blarney, Co. Cork
Lisa Higgins
Travel Safe
DIT
Skerries Community College
Skerries, Co. Dublin
Tom Mc Donald
Coastal Erosion in Skerries
DkIT
Coláiste Rís
Chapel St. Dundalk Co. Louth
Conor Begley
Early Warning of Concentrated Hydrogen Sulfide Gas
ITTral
Mercy Mounthawk Secondary School
Tralee
T Darragh Clark, Colin McDaid, Diarmuid O Connor
The Anaesthetic Effect of Natural Plant Oils on Goldfish
LITTipp
Presentation Secondary School
Thurles, Co. Tipperary
Rachel Byrne, Aoife Ryan
Amplitute of Accommodation of Students' Eyes
LIT
Coláiste Chiaráin
Croom, Co. Limerick
Conor Foy
To design and manufacture a device to improve the timing among crew in a rowing boat
GMIT
Dominican College,
Taylor's Hill, Co. Galway
Etornam Glavee, Kíla Vallely, Anna Illyuk
Mussels as an Indicator of Water Quality
ITB
St. Paul's College
Raheny, Dublin 5
Paul Clarke
A Polynomial Time Algorithm for the Undirected Hamiltonian Cycle Problem
AIT
St Mary's Secondary School
Edenderry, Co. Offaly
Robert O'Reilly, Triona Walsh
A Boat ….. Float?
ITC
Avondale Community College
Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow
David Fleming Conor Windsor
The Calving Alarm
ITS
Jesus & Mary Secondary School
Enniscrone, Co. Sligo
Eamonn Sweeney
The Effects of a Metronome on Quality of CPR Delivered by Untrained Bystanders
ITT
Sutton Park School
St Fintan's Road, Sutton, Dublin 13
LyIT
Coláiste Cholmcille
Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal
WIT
Blackwater Community School
Lismore, Waterford
Elaine Looby
Biofuel Production from lignocellulosic compounds- The Irish Story
Derry
Lumen Christi College
Bishop Street Derry, BT48 6UJ
Donna Harkin Sinead Harkin
Supercool Physics
David Joyce Cherie O'Keeffe Wuraola Arisekola Dallaire Daily Sara Ward Brenna Daily
Using Lenz's Law to Improve Mountain Road Safety How Music Affects Your Physical Performance
SciFest@SFI Discover Chemistry Finalists Venue
School
Address
Student/s
Project Title
AIT
Tullamore College
Riverside, Tullamore, Co. Offaly
Daragh Fogarty
To P or not to P - An Investigation into Phosphorus and Renal Dialysis Patients
GMIT
Dominican College
Taylor's Hill, Co. Galway
Derry
Lumen Christi College
Bishop Street Derry, BT48 6UJ
Ailish Breathnach, Michaela Van der Walt Rebecca Doherty, Emmanuella Akhionbar, Aisling Mc Corkell
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Trihalomethanes in Irish Drinking Waters Our Acidifying Oceans
SciFest@SFI Discover Award Winners •
Intel ISEF Award
Student: Paul Clarke School: St Paul's College, Sybil Hill, Raheny, Dublin 5 Title of Project: A Polynomial Time Algorithm for the Undirected Hamiltonian Cycle Problem Teacher Mentoring Project: Dr Brian Smyth
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Dallaire Daily, Sara Ward and Brenna Daily
Berlin Long Night of Science Award
Student: Conor Foy School: Coláiste Chiaráin, Croom, Co. Limerick Title of Project: To Design and Manufacture a Device to Improve the Timing among Crew in a Rowing Boat Teacher Mentoring Project: Edel Farrell
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Irish Science Teachers’ Association STEM Award
Daragh Fogarty
Student: Conor Begley School: Coláiste Rís, Chapel Street, Dundalk, Co. Louth Title of Project: E.W.O.C.H2S – Early Warning of Concentrated Hydrogen Sulfide Teacher Mentoring Project: Evan Markey
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Special Chemistry Student Award
Students: Michaela van der Walt, Ailish Breathnach School: Dominican College, Taylor's Hill, Galway Title of Project: Trihalomethanes in Irish Drinking Water Teacher Mentoring Project: Dee King
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Rachel Byrne and Aoife Ryan
Special Chemistry School Award
School: Dominican College, Taylor's Hill, Galway Teacher: Dee King
Cherie O'Keeffe, David Joyce and Wuraola Arisekola
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SciFest 2013 SciFest@School 2322 students: 941 projects
SciFest@College 3490 students: 1519 Projects
SciFest@SFI Discover Finalists
27 students: 15 Projects Special Chemistry Award 6 students: 3 projects A celebration of Excellence in STEM—SciFest@SFI Discover 2013
SciFest 2014 Science Fairs will be held in the 14 Institutes of Technology and the University of Ulster Closing date for receipt of entries is 7 March 2014 Dates available so far: DIT: 28 March, CIT: 4 April, AIT: 30 April, WIT, 30 April (prov.), LIT Tipp.: 1 May, LIT: 2 May, ITB: 6 May, DkIT: 7 May, ITTralee: 8 May, ITT: 13 May Additional dates will be posted on the website as soon as they become available
REMEMBER TO CHECK THE WEBSITE REGULARLY FOR UPDATES: www.scifest.ie As 2013 draws to a close SciFest would like to extend a word of thanks to its
Contact us
sponsors and to all who helped make SciFest 2013 a resounding success.
SciFest T:
(+353) 1 298 8312
M: (+353) 86 379 6143
The Institutes of Technology and the University of Ulster
E:
sheila.porter@scifest.ie george.porter@scfest.ie
Roche Ireland, Environmental Protection Agency, Institute of Physics, Irish Science Teachers’ Association (ISTA), Cornmarket Group Financial Services Ltd., Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI), Beckman Coulter (LIT), Cook Medical Ireland (LIT), Limerick County Council Environmental Section (LIT), Janssen Pharmaceuticals (CIT), Student Services Co. Ltd (CIT)
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W: www.scifest.ie