Students are flocking to compete at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition and their participation can only be good for the drive towards a knowledge economy
THE CLOSING date is fast approaching for entries to the 46th BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition. Entries must be in by Monday, October 5th, 2009. The event will run from January 12th-16th, 2010 in the RDS in Dublin.
“We know that thousands of students throughout Ireland have been working on their project during the summer months and we expect the usual rush of entries over the first weekend in October,” says exhibition head Mari Cahalane. “We always put the closing date on a Monday to allow the students and their teachers that little bit of extra time over the weekend to finalise their entries.”
BT has organised and sponsored this event for 10 years, bringing the financial support that allows the exhibition to thrive, as well as providing over 100 employees to work on the competition.
The exhibition has become an integral part of the Irish scientific and educational calendars over the years and during its 45-year history has helped create a millionaire in Patrick Collison, who won in 2005; a published author in 1999 winner Sarah Flannery; and a technology genius in the form of 2003 winner Adnan Osmani. Most recently, two of last year’s runners-up team Rhona Togher and Eimear O’Carroll of Ursuline College in Sligo have set up their own company, Restored Hearing Ltd, to commercialise their breakthrough treatment for the tinnitus hearing disorder.
Last year’s exhibition featured a record 1,616 entries from students throughout the 32 counties of Ireland and Cahalane is confident that this number will be exceeded this year. “Entries for the 2009 exhibition were about 100 up on 2008 and we would expect an increase of about the same level this year,” she notes.
“This is very encouraging as the primary objective of the event is to increase interest in science among second-level students and any increase in entries is evidence of increased interest.”
Apart from a potentially rewarding career in science or technology, students entering also have a chance to win one of 100 awards on offer at the exhibition.
According to Cahalane the exhibition also aims to support Ireland’s long-term goal of becoming a knowledge-based economy. “Ireland, as a nation, has renewed its focus on becoming an innovation island and smart economy,” she explains. “The BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition can play a key role in enhancing our Government’s directive to encourage and facilitate students, the economy’s most natural resource, in the areas of technological and scientific development.”
BT chief executive Chris Clark believes the success of the exhibition is due to its partnership nature. “This exhibition is a brilliant example of what can be achieved when the private and public sectors work together in pursuit of a common purpose – to nurture our young students’ interest in the sciences and technology – the skills that we require to secure a prosperous future.
“We believe there is a strong link between innovation and entrepreneurship, science and business generation, and in these challenging times we want to be at the forefront in supporting that growth.”
Cahalane adds: “Over the past number of years we have seen a decline in the number of schoolchildren taking science subjects for their Leaving Cert and then going on to study science or technology-related subjects in college.”
“We have been attempting to reverse this decline and this year we have seen a major change with a 28 per cent increase in the number of students choosing science through the CAO. This is very encouraging and we want to build on that. If we don’t train the scientists and technologists now we won’t have the skilled people we need in 20 years time and nor will our customers.”
Her optimism for the future is backed up by the results of a recent survey commissioned as part of the build up to the 2010 BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition. The survey found that jobs, the economy and climate change are some of the issues worrying 73 per cent of Irish teenagers. While the survey results show the younger generation is concerned about some of society’s big problems, it’s not all doom and gloom with both small screen influencing teenagers’ ambitions for the future. Popular television shows such as CSI clearly have an influence with 42 per cent of students surveyed choosing forensics as their ideal scientific job.
Irish teenagers were asked about the importance of technology and science in everyday life, as well as the significance of continued technological innovation. A massive 73 per cent agreed that staying connected is vital, saying they can’t live without mobile phones, broadband and computers. One surprising – some might say positive – finding was that only 2 per cent of respondents chose computer games as a must-have technological invention.
“The exhibition is central to driving interest in science and technology”, says Clark. “It attracts young people by making science fun, exciting and accessible. Young people are our greatest resource and if we want to take advantage of the global upturn when it eventually comes we must nurture young minds as they are the future of our economy. A high-value, smart economy where the skills, innovation and creativity of our children will help Ireland become a leading location for business in the future,” Clark says.
BT is also providing support for schools outside of Dublin who incur accommodation and travel expenses due to their participation in the event. Schools located 70km or more from the RDS can apply for a grant of €100 per individual entry or €200 for a group entry, up to a maximum of €1,000 per school.
BT launched the scheme in 2006 to support schools and students who were unable to enter the competition due to financial concerns. To date BT has provided grants to the value of €160,000, with over 440 schools in 31 counties benefiting from the scheme.
To further assist students taking part in this year’s exhibition, BT has revamped the competition website (btyoungscientist.com) which contains all the necessary information. This year BT will also be engaging with students through social networking sites Bebo, Flickr and Twitter, as well as providing an up to date blog for students to follow. Also featured on the website is the popular “ask us” feature that allows students to post any queries or questions they may have to a panel of experts drawn from companies throughout Ireland.
A further initiative coming up is the launch of the BT Business of Science and Technology scheme. “We are finalising the details of this new scheme at the moment and it will be launched at the exhibition,” Cahalane says.
“It is a mentoring scheme aimed at helping winners and entrants to commercialise their projects.”
With the closing date approaching she is anticipating a veritable deluge of entries on October 5th and the days leading up to it. “It is the nature of science projects to be ongoing so students and their teachers work on them right down to the last minute before submitting them,” she says.
“The teachers are really great. Their enthusiasm is fantastic and we see the same teachers coming back here year after year with different projects. The exhibition would not be possible without them.”
The BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition 2010 will take place in the RDS, Dublin 4, on January 12th–16th, 2010. See btyoungscientist.com or call 1800 924 362.
