Galway students are celebrating considerable success at last week’s BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2023 – with local projects claiming nine awards.

There was particular success for Galway students in the Chemical, Physical & Mathematical Sciences category, with Coláiste Naomh Eoin, Inis Meáin, students Chloe Ní Chonghaile, Mairtin Ó Conghaile, Amy Ní Chlèirigh taking both the Geological Survey of Ireland prize and second place in the Junior Group, and Angelina O’Neill from Presentation College, Headford, runner-up in the Junior Individual section.

The Coláiste Naomh Eoin project was entitled the Power of Waves on Inis Meáin – Can an Unstoppable Force Move an Immovable Object?, while Angelina’s project involved making plastic out of fish scales.

Coláiste Iognáid student Diarmuid Hayes took third place in the Senior Individual section of the Technology category with his project entitled Mathematics Can Keep Us Honest, while St Brigid’s College, Loughrea, student Ava Conerney was also third at Intermediate Individual in the Social & Behavioural Sciences section with her project entitled GET together – Girls in Engineering and Technology. That also earned Ava the Department of Education Sustainable Development Award.

Two Galway city projects were highly commended – Liam Murphy and Cathal O’Grady-Corcoran from Coláiste Muire Máthair with their project entitled How we could have saved the Pirates! An analysis of the best cooking methods to save Vitamin C, and Ranya Kaushik from Taylor’s Hill Dominican College who asked Is the Irish educational system inadvertently favouring morning larks?

And the Galway successes were completed by Riain Kennedy, Reuben Florisson, Andrew Gordon from Coláiste Iognáid who took a Display Award for their project entitled DRS – Drive to Recycle.

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