Young Scientist exhibition:A machine to "launder" our dirty euro currency, a portable chewing gum removal device, and a study into the benefits of assistance dogs for autistic children are among the varied entries into next month's BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition at the RDS in Dublin.
This time round there were almost three times as many entries as there were places for the event, which runs from Wednesday, January 9th, until Saturday, January 12th.
This represents an 11 per cent increase in entries compared with last January, with entries from girls outnumbering those from boys by two to one.
The event will be officially opened by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheál Martin.
A total of 500 projects - out of 1,416 submitted by almost 3,000 students from around the country - have been selected to go forward for the final competition.
The students will compete to be the BT Young Scientist(s) of the year at a ceremony on Friday, January 11th. The winner will receive a Waterford Crystal trophy and a cheque for €5,000.
Among the entrants is a group project from students at Blackwater Community School, Lismore, Co Waterford, which aims to make people aware of how unhygienic money is by testing euro currency and bank cards for bacteria.
They have designed a machine to clean and disinfect currency (See panel below).
Elsewhere, Steven Shannon, a student at Sligo Grammar school, sought to chart the benefits of providing an assistance dog to families of children with autism. He did this by sending out detailed questionnaires to families living in the northwest area who have one of these highly trained dogs.
The questionnaire examined changes in the child's social interaction, behaviour, communication and emotional and physical abilities.
To confirm his findings, healthcare professionals were also asked to rate any improvements in the child in relation to therapy goals.
Overall, he found that the provision of assistance dogs had led to increased safety awareness, communication and independence in the children, while he also noted changes in the stress level of their families.
Entrants will be hoping to emulate this year's overall winner of the BT Young Scientist Award, CBS Synge Street student Abdusalam Abubakar, who developed a complex mathematical project which aimed to demonstrate that secure internet communications might not be as secure as we think.
He went on to win first prize in mathematics at the 19th European Union contest for Young Scientists in Valencia, Spain this year.
Other previous winners include Tipperary native Patrick Collison, who subsequently founded an internet start-up company while still in his teens. This enables businesses to manage their sales on eBay and other auction sites.
Ticket to the exhibition cost €12 for adults and €6 for students or those availing of a concession price, with family tickets priced at €30.
Secondary schools with parties of 20 or more pay €4.50 per student, while primary school parties of 20 or more pay €4 per student. Accompanying teachers are free.
Gumbuster
A group of entrants from Desmond College in Limerick have developed a "Gumbuster" portable chewing gum removal machine in response to what they say is a significant litter problem.
According to Michelle Liston, James Hunt and Thomas Moran, since the development of artificial rather than mastic gum bases in the aftermath of the second World War, chewing gum has become difficult and expensive to remove, in particular from streets and pavements. "Current removal methods involve the use of high-pressure water jets to remove the gum, which is washed down the drains only to solidify again and could block up our sewerage systems. These machines are expensive and only suitable for large open areas," they state.
"Using a magnifier, the user can position the Gumbuster machine over the offending piece of gum, apply a small amount of freezer spray to the gum at the flick of a switch and using a specially designed tool on the device, scrape the gum off the pavement and vacuum it up."
Euro laundry
Three students at Blackwater Community School in Lismore, Co Waterford, are seeking to highlight just how unhygienic the euro can be.
Ivan Lynch, Shane O'Connor, and Dean Coleman say they acquired many different types of euro currency and bank cards and tested each of them for bacteria.
"We have tested every form of the euro currency. We carried out the test for bacteria by swabbing the different types of monies with a sterile swab and we then rubbed the contaminated swab onto agar in a Petri dish," they state.
"We then incubated these Petri dishes at body temperature for five days.
"Once the plates were finished incubating we placed the Petri dishes on graph paper and worked out how much the bacteria covered the plates.
"We then worked out from this which was the dirtiest form of the euro currency and bank cards.
"When it was brought to our attention just how dirty the euro currency is, we decided to design and make a silo machine which will be used to clean and disinfect the different forms of the euro currency."
"We have the design of our silo machine completed and we are currently working on building it. We are very confident that our silo machine will improve the hygiene of the euro currency."
More details of their findings and their machine will be available at this year's event.