Mark Kelly and Eric Doyle, after winning the 2012 BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition competition for their project on planetary motion
Ireland’s brightest young minds will be converging in Dublin this week as the annual BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition starts on Wednesday, with this year’s contest having attracted the highest number of entries yet.
The exhibition, which will be open to the public from Thursday at the RDS, will run until Saturday, 12 January. Last year’s exhibition attracted more than 34,000 visitors and this year’s event is expected to draw in some 45,000 visitors.
More than 550 projects from students will be on show, covering four categories: biological and ecological sciences; chemical, physical and mathematical sciences; Social and behavioural sciences; and technology.
According to BT, there was a 24pc increase in entries in the technology category from students since the 2012 contest.
Fans of robotics might be pleased to learn that there will be a World of Robots show at the event, featuring 100kg robots. London’s The Science Museum will also be presenting a show on food and digestion.
In addition, the European Commission’s Representation in Ireland will also have a stand at the BT Young Scientist event whereby Irish scientists who are working on EU-funded research projects will be available to talk to students and the public about their research.
The EU stand will also have an interactive fishing game called ‘Eco Ocean’ for people to learn about sustainable fishing.
The 2012 Young Scientist contest was won by Mark Kelly and Eric Doyle for their project, which looked at planetary motion and how satellites can stay on the right flight path when in space.
