An Award ceremony and celebration took place on Monday 15th May for those students who had taken part in SciFest 2023. Students had much to be proud of. The Principal Mr Nealon congratulated those present on their achievements ,echoing their teachers' pride in their continued involvement and success at SciFest. The wide variety of projects displayed in the Hall is a testiment to the students and the on-going support of the Science and Coding Departments. Mr Nealon encourged students to stay involved and to support and encourage others to take part.
SciFest is a national fair for schools celebrating and exploring STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Transistion Year students travelled to TU Dublin Blanchardstown to present tweleve Projects across the Technology, Physical Sciences and Biological Sciences. Students were congratulated for the impressive research, presentation and communication skills they displayed.
Well done to those students who were awarded Certificates from TU Dublin Blanchardstown, Odhran , Luke, Rory,Toni, Noah, Jasper, Kate, Vlada, Keeva, Olivia, Erin May, Patrick, Katie, Amy, Dominic, Lucas, Ollie,James, Adrian, Matthew and Theo.
A number of students have brought particular honour to themselves, their families and their school. We take great pride in recognising these achievements
Best Project Award :Amy Roche.
Amy's project 'An Investigation Which Aims to Modify Ship Propeller Design to Reduce Noise Pollution, Lessening the Impact on Harbour Porpoises (Phocoena Phocoena)' Teacher Mr Delahunty , was a truely novel project combining Physics, Technology,and Zoology . Amy will represent St Josephs at the SciFest National Final in November we know she takes great pride in this wonderful opportunity and wish her well as she continues to work on this Project. Participants in the National Final will compete for the SciFest STEM Champion 2023 Award. This award consists of a trophy and an all-expenses-paid trip for the winning student(s) and their mentor to represent Ireland at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in May 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
The Business Excellence Institute Award wwnt to Dominic Kelly, Lucas Price, Ollie Murtagh Wilde for their project 'Visual Voices: A Closed Caption Extension for Hearing Impaired Individuals' Teacher Mr Dunne . This award is presented to the project with the greatest potential to impact organisations and/or industries.
TYs also won some category awards
In the Intermediate Physical Sciences Category First place went to Matthew Thompson, Theo Mathews Teacher Ms Ryan. Their project asked 'Do Car Windows or Windshields Block Significant Amounts of UV Rays?' and used a Pasco light sensor to measure UV radiation.
In the Intermediate Technology Category Second Place went to Patrick Groapa, Katie McBride Teacher Ms Ryan. Their project 'Study & I: Can an App be Used to Improve the Effectiveness of your Study?' coded an Application and investigated students opinions of it.
First, Second & Third Year students travelled to DCU to present tweleve Projects across the Technology, Physical Sciences and Biological Sciences. They received great feedback from the Judges as they explained their hypothesis , described their experiment design, displayed data and analysed results. Sixteen of these students were competing in their first SciFest. It was a steep learning curve for these students who learnt the importance of following the steps of a scientific method.
Well done to those students who were awarded Certificates from DCU Adam, Jarad, Eliza, Chidinma, Chizoba, Allison, Liam, Leah, Stephanie, Kayleigh , Ciara, Jonathan, George, Katelyn, Emma , Kamaya, Emma, Saoirse, Ava , Eilíse, Eva, Chloe, Lalya, Eabha, Conor, Harry
A number of students have brought particular honour to themselves, their families and their school. We take great pride in recognising these achievements
Best Project Runner Up Award : Kamaya Gogna Teacher Mr Dunne
Kamaya's project 'Using Machine Learning To identify Radiolucencies on Panoramic Dental Radiographs' is an impressive investigation which used classification algorithims to speed up diagnosis for dental practitioners and patients .The best of the runners-up from the regional events will also participate in the National Final and compete for the SciFest STEM Champion 2023 Award . This award consists of a trophy and an all-expenses-paid trip for the winning student(s) and their mentor to represent Ireland at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in May 2024 in Los Angeles, California. We wish Kamaya the very best of luck.
Regeneron Life Sciences Award : This award is presented to the project that best demonstrates a passion for using science for good, an exceptional understanding of life sciences concepts, perseverance and flexibility. Regeneron Life Sciences Award was presented to Stephanie Cherish Dan, Leah Mullen for their project 'An Investigation which Compares the Effectiveness of Fermented Foods against E.Coli (K-12) Compared to Lactic Acid Bacteria' teacher Ms Teehan
SciFest Chemistry Student Award was presented to Eliza Bielak for her project 'Investigating How People Generate Their Own Oxidation Field and Change the Indoor Chemistry Around Them'
The European Space Education Resource Office Ireland (ESERO Ireland) is a project co-funded by Science Foundation Ireland and the European Space Agency. The aim of the project is to use space as a theme to support the teaching of science and maths through the provision of resources, inspirational materials and training for teachers. ESERO Ireland Discover Space Award was awarded to Éabha McBride, Layla Nolan ' Using machine learning and classification algorithms to determine degeneration in vegetation'
Mr Dunne was awarded the ESERO Ireland Discover Space Teacher Award
We would like to thanks SciFest their Partners and Sponsors for this opportunity for our students to develop their skills. The Scifest competition encourages them to solve problems , work with others, communicate their findings . We thank the academics at TUD Blanchardstown and DCU for their time and expertise .
