SCIFEST EZINE February 2020
Volume 11, Number 3
“The
whole experience of participating in
SciFest has been a hugely positive and enjoyable one for me. Though I found the thoughts of
presenting my project to the judges who were engineers and lecturers quite off putting, their interest in, and enthusiasm for, my work gave me great encouragement and confidence. The whole experience of working on the project, and the satisfaction of overcoming each difficulty that it presented, has convinced me that engineering is the career for me.” Ronan Walsh Coláiste Choilm, Tullamore, Co. Offaly Society for Science and the Public, Community Innovation Award winner, SciFest National Final 2019
SciFest 2020 is Officially Launched! Students with an interest in STEM are called on to enter the largest and most inclusive second-level STEM fair in Ireland Students across the country are called on to put their science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills to the test and enter the 15th annual SciFest@College competition. SciFest is the largest and most inclusive second-level STEM fair initiative on the island of Ireland. Since its foundation in 2006, SciFest has grown from a single STEM fair of 170 students to 99 STEM fairs with 10,000 students participating in 2019. SciFest is funded primarily by Science Foundation Ireland, Boston Scientific, Intel Ireland and Specsavers.
Closing date for entries to SciFest@College 2020: 6 March
In This Issue
Pg
Second SciFest project selected to compete at Regeneron ISEF 2020
2
Some SciFest@College STEM Superstars
3
SciFest @College 2020 Awards
3
Some more SciFest@College STEM Superstars
4
SciFest Resources
4
Three more schools join the SciFest STEM School Award Elite List
5
Science Foundation Ireland continues to support the SciFest Programme
5
SciFest—Major Milestones
6
SciFest@College 2020 Dates
6
Sponsors
6
Contact Details
6
Speaking at the launch of SciFest 2020 at the National Botanic Gardens
in
Dublin,
Sheila
Porter,
SciFest Founder and CEO said: “SciFest has been running since 2006 and 2020 will mark the 15th year of this competition. I am delighted that the competition has become a regular part of the school calendar across the country and more students are entering and showcasing their passion for STEM. The competition has evolved and grown over the last 15 years and I look forward to this continuing long into the future.”
SciFest to Send a Second Project to Compete at Regeneron ISEF 2020 in Anaheim in May Each year the overall winner of the SciFest National Final
SciFest is delighted to announce that with the support of
travels with their teacher to represent Ireland and SciFest
Regeneron that a second SciFest Award winning project
at the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF).
has been selected to compete at Regeneron ISEF 2020.
ISEF is the world’s largest international pre-college science
The second student who will represent Ireland and SciFest in Anaheim in May is Alice Shaughnessy from Calasanctius
competition that annually provides a forum for more than
College, Oranmore, Galway. Alice’s teacher, Christina Ken-
1,800 second-level students from around 80 countries,
ny, will travel with her.
regions and territories to showcase their independent research. These 1,800 students represent the tens of millions of students who participate in ISEF affiliated fairs around the globe each year. In the eight years of participation SciFest ISEF students have excelled, winning a total of twelve major awards. The overall winner of SciFest 2019 was Timothy McGrath, a sixth-year student from Killorglin Community College, and he will travel with his teacher Marieke O’Connor to Anaheim in California to represent Ireland and SciFest at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2020 in May. SciFest usually only sends one project to ISEF but in 2014 Intel who were at that stage the main sponsors of ISEF sponsored a second project from SciFest to compete at ISEF in Los Angeles. Both projects won awards.
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SciFest@College
Some SciFest@College STEM Superstars
2019 AWARDS Second-level
students
participating
in
SciFest@College STEM fairs have the opportunity to compete for a wide range of awards and prizes at each of the 16 regional SciFest@College fairs. The winner of the SciFest 2019 Boston Scientific Medi-
These awards include:
cal Devices Award in the Institute of Technology, Tralee
•
SFI Best Project Award
•
SciFest Runner-up Best Project Award
sented Oisín with his award. Oisín went on to represent
•
Boston Scientific Medical Devices Award
his school and IT Tralee at the SciFest National Final
•
Specsavers Making a Difference Award
last November where he won the SciFest 2019 Bos-
•
Institute of Physics Award
ton Scientific Medical Devices Grand Award.
•
Intel Award (Best Technology Project)
•
SciFest Environmental Award
•
Newstalk Best Communicator Award
•
SciFest Chemistry Award
•
RSC School Chemistry Award (Royal Society of
was Oisín O'Sullivan, Desmond College, Newcastle West, Limerick. Lucie Walsh from Boston Scientific pre-
Chemistry Republic of Ireland Section) •
Discover Space Student Award (ESERO Ireland)
•
Discover Space Teacher Award
•
Maths in Science Award
•
Irish Science Teachers' Association Student Award
Special prizes, category prizes, and/or highly commended prizes are also available at most venues and some also The winner of the inaugural SciFest 2019 Specsavers
present trophies sponsored by the relevant college or
Making a Difference Award in Cork Institute of Technol-
local organisations.
ogy was Miriam Murphy from Scoil Mhuire gan Smal Blarney, Blarney, Co. Cork. Miriam went on to repre-
Note: An award may not be presented if, in the opinion
sent her school and CIT at the SciFest National Final
of the judges, no project meeting the criteria for the par-
last November where
ticular award is of sufficient standard to merit the award.
she won the SciFest
2019
Specsavers Making a Difference Grand Award. As part of her award Miriam will attend the Big Bang Science Fair in Birmingham in March
The closing date for receipt of entry forms to SciFest@College 2020 is Friday 6 March 2020. Entry guidelines for teachers and students can be accessed here. 3
Some More SciFest@College STEM Superstars
and
Luke Fichtner, Jordan Fitzgerald and
Orna Collins Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh
Willemijn Bosschaert, Loreto Second-
Nicholas Gallagher from St. Joseph's
winner of the ISTA Award at LIT
ary School, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin
Secondary School, Rush, Co. Dublin
and the Broadcom MASTERS Award
won the SFI Best Project Award at
were the winners of the coveted Intel
at the National Final is also heading
TU Dublin Blanchardstown and went
Technology Award at TU Dublin Kevin
to Anaheim, California in May. The
on to win the Berlin Long Night of
Street. They were presented with their
Broadcom
Science Award at the SciFest 2019
award by Sarah Sexton, Intel Ireland.
provides a unique opportunity for
National Final. The girls are looking
It was a very successful day for St.
select middle school students from
forward to visiting Berlin in June with
Joseph’s who won four of the top ten
around the world to observe the
their teacher, Brian Higgins.
awards, including the SFI Best project
International Science and Engineer-
Award. This award was won by Daniel
ing Fair and participate in a number
O'Brien for his project ‘Seal Whiskers -
of exciting STEM Activities.
Eva Connolly, Ella Shanahan
This award is supported by the Department
of
Foreign
Affairs
and
Trade.
MASTERS
programme
Bioinspiration for Oceantech’.
Resources There are lots of downloadable support materials on the SciFest website. Resources include: ☺ A ‘Science by Inquiry’ module suitable for Junior Category projects
☺ Student activities—crosswords, etc.
☺ ‘A Science by Inquiry’ module suitable for Transition Year
☺ Boston Scientific Medical Devices Award presentation
☺ Project Ideas
☺ SciFest@College 2019 entry forms and guidelines
☺ Start small—10 steps to a successful SciFest@School STEM fair
☺ SciFest@School registration form
☺ PowerPoint presentations ☺ Videos
☺ A number of these resources are available as Gaeilge and work on translating the remainder is ongoing
☺ Choosing an idea and getting started ☺ Impressing the judges ☺ Tips for exhibiting at SciFest
The website is also linked to the SciFest YouTube channel, SciFest Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Yudu and Flickr.
☺ Report book and presentation ☺ Sample rubrics ☺ SciFest@College—Teacher and Student Guidelines
The closing date for receipt of entry forms to SciFest@College 2020 is Friday 6 March 2020. Entry guidelines for teachers and students can be accessed here. 4
Three More Schools Join the SciFest STEM School Award Elite List Congratulations to the following schools which have qualified for the SciFest STEM School Award (Term 2 to date)
Castlepollard Community College, Castlepollard, Co. Westmeath St Mary’s Secondary School, Edenderry, Co. Offaly St Mary’s Holy Faith Secondary School, Killester, Dublin 5 St Mary’s Holy Faith Secondary
SFI Continues to Support the SciFest Programme SciFest is delighted to announce that it was successful in its application for funding from the Science Foundation Ireland Discover Programme Call 2019
St Mary’s Secondary Edenderry
Speaking at the launch of SciFest 2020 in the National Botanic Gardens on 3 February Margie McCarthy, Head of Education & Public Engagement, Science Foundation Ireland said:
Castlepollard Community College “ Science Foundation Ireland is proud to continue to support SciFest, a programme that proves our students are interested in showcasing their interest and knowledge in science, technology, engineering and maths. We are delighted that this all-inclusive, accessible programme continues to grow year on year and wish the organisers and the participating students all the best for 2020.” 5
SciFest
Contact Us
•
e: info@scifest.ie
Promotes diversity and inclusion in STEM education •
Operates across the whole island of Ireland •
m: 086 379 6143
Runs throughout the school year •
w: www.scifest.ie
Is free to enter
Please check the website
Dates and venues for SciFest@College 2020 TU Dublin Grangegorman
Limerick IT Thurles
30 April
Cork IT
27 March 3 April
TU Dublin – Tallaght
5 May
SciFest@NorthWest (NI)
3 April
IT Sligo
5 May
Closing date for receipt of entry forms to
Athlone IT
22 April
Dundalk IT
6 May
DCU
28 April
TU Dublin Blancharstown
6 May
Limerick IT Moylish
28 Apr
IT Tralee
6 May
IT Carlow
29 April
WIT
6 May
Galway-Mayo IT
30 April
Letterkenny IT
14 May
SciFest
regularly for updates
SciFest@College 2020 is: Friday 6 March 2020
is supported by
The Institutes of Technology, TU Dublin, City, TU Dublin, Blanchardstown, TU Dublin, Tallaght, DCU, St Mary’s College, Derry
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