Des Farrell, senior technical officer-Sculpture, at the Limerick School of Art and Design (LSAD), with master's student Laura Roughneen
To mark the golden anniversary of the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, BT Ireland, which has been sponsoring the contest for the past 12 years, is inviting third-level students from around the island of Ireland to create a new trophy for the upcoming 2014 event that will take place in Dublin next January.
Irish painter Graham Knuttel will judge the designs.
There’s a catch, however. BT Ireland has teamed up with Institutes of Technology Ireland (IOTI) and and Northern Ireland regional colleges for the contest. This means only students from such colleges and institutes can submit trophy designs.
Next January will see students from across the island of Ireland converge in the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) in Dublin to show off their science and technology innovations to the public during the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, which will be 50 years in the running in 2014.
There is indeed a reason why BT has decided to revamp the trophy doled out to the annual winner(s) of the Young Scientist contest.
BT has committed to sponsoring the event up to 2016 in order to help students expose their STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) prowess. Now, it seems the telecoms company also wants to reward students with artistic and creative talents, and have them play a role in the Young Scientist contest.
What’s in it for the designer?
The winner of the trophy design competition will win a commemorative trophy of their own and a MacBook laptop.
Meanwhile, their trophy design will be created and presented to the winners of the 2014 Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, which will be open to the public from 9 to 11 January.
Fusing creativity with science and tech
Speaking today in relation to the trophy competition, Knuttel said he believes that the calibre of artistic talent and creativity in Ireland is “undoubtedly” among the best in the world.
“This design competition is a fantastic opportunity for budding artists to see their creative ideas taken from conception through to masterpiece,” he said, adding that he would encourage eligible students to get involved.
He also said he is an avid follower of the Young Scientist competition each year, and watches the winning student(s) being presented with their trophy on RTÉ News.
Knuttel said it’s an important annual event for Irish science and creativity.
BT will be accepting trophy design applications from eligible third-level students once the academic calendar year comes into full swing in September.
35 days to go!
On another note, primary and second-level students have until 2 October to get their proposed entries in to BT in order to be in with a chance of being part of the 2014 exhibition itself.
