Over 200 post-primary school students from 12 schools across Kerry take STEM to the next level at SciFest@MTU (Kerry Campus) 2023

SciFest is an all-island STEM initiative which fosters active, collaborative and inquiry-based learning among second-level students. The programme operates throughout the school year and, being locally and regionally based and free-to-enter, is highly inclusive and accessible. Winners from each regional STEM fair go on to compete at a National Final in November. Winners from the national final compete at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in America and in the Hong Kong Global Youth Science and Technology Bowl (GYSTB), attend the Long Night of Science in Berlin and participate in the Broadcom MASTERS International Programme in America. The SciFest programme is funded primarily by Intel Ireland and Boston Scientific.

Best Project Award:

• Project Title: How effective is the Carotenoid Lycopene in regards to UV protection?
• Student: Yasmine Odugbesan
• Teacher: Ms Fiona O'Connor
• School: Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk

Runner-Up Best Project Award:

• Project Title: Does the Yondr pouch affect students' concentration in school life?
• Student: Orla Buttimer
• Teacher: Ms Roisin Riordan
• School: Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk

Speaking at the opening of the event, Professor Maggie Cusack, President MTU, acknowledged the huge amount of effort by all involved evident from the quality of projects submitted and thanked the teachers for mentoring the projects. “Your work on your project has given you good skills for scientific inquiry and problem solving. But I hope you have also gained other skills from SciFest like confidence in presenting your findings, learning how to work well with others, and maybe starting to think about what you’d like to pursue after the Leaving Certificate or even in your working life”.

She added “MTU was created in 2021 making Tralee a university town and we have a range of STEM courses right here on our Kerry South and Kerry North campuses. I’d be delighted to see you become one of our university students when the time comes. We’re currently building a new STEM building which should be finished by the time you join us and that’s something that will really benefit our students, all the staff at MTU and the whole county of Kerry”.

Commenting on the SciFest@MTU (Kerry Campus) Sheila Porter, SciFest Founder and CEO said, “As we mark the 17th year of SciFest, more than 80,000 students have participated in the programme to date, and we are sure that 2023 will be another stellar year for projects in science, technology, engineering and maths. SciFest gives students an excellent opportunity to develop their interest in STEM and in inquiry-based approaches to learning, while developing their creative and problem-solving skills and learning to work in a team.”

Students were also addressed by guest speaker Monika Dukarska who spoke to students about resilience, determination and perseverance, as she told the students about her journey from Poland to the Olympic Games. “Undertaking this journey, starting with relocating to Ireland to chasing the Olympics, I learned a few valuable lessons. First, to believe in yourself and to convince yourself, your biggest critic, that you can do something, that is the hardest job to do; second, don’t be afraid to ask for help and don’t be ashamed of it, who said we have to do it all by ourselves? Third, to be consistent, a poet Robert Collier once said ‘success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out’ – live by it, stick with the process and lastly, enjoy the journey, there is learning in everything we do so treat it as such, rather than a failure”.