Electric atmosphere at Young Scientist Exhibition
The atmosphere crackled with excitement – and one million volts of electricity - during an experiment displayed at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition’s opening ceremony today.
The demonstration at Dublin’s RDS saw a performer step into a metal cage to protect himself from a potentially lethal charge leaping between two giant transformer coils.
“I’m absolutely fine, but don’t try this at home,” Simon Singh joked as he stepped unharmed from the "coffin of doom".
His act was part of the sound and light extravaganza to mark the beginning of the four-day competition at Dublin’s RDS, which was attended by President Mary McAleese and hundreds of young competitors.
The show was kicked off by giant state-of-the-art robot Titan and presented by Ray D’Arcy and Rose of Tralee Aoibhinn Ni Shuilleabhain, a theoretical physicist.
Launching the exhibition, the President said the young scientist competition had received a record-breaking 1,152 project entries this year.
“This is the best place to be today in all of Ireland – the atmosphere is literally electric,” she said.
“It’s a world class demonstration of Ireland’s young, its best brain power.”
Mrs McAleese told the students they were first rate ambassadors for the country, and she was very proud of them all.
“You’re also slightly scary, you’re so good,” she joked.
“To keep Ireland at the forefront of international science, the country needed lots of young people with talent and interest in science and technology.
“This competition set out to find them, and it found them in its hundreds,” she told the audience.
The President said the 42nd annual Young Scientist Exhibition – one of the biggest of its kind in the world – sent out a message that science and technology were fun, fulfilling and things to get passionate about.
After the opening ceremony, Mrs McAleese looked at some of the exhibits created by the youngsters.
Primary students from Kill O’The Grange National School in Deansgrange, Blackrock, had done a project on flight and also built their own computer, which they told Mrs McAleese could do all the things a normal PC could do.
Juliet Cummins, 12, Jessica Breen, 11, Anna May Whelan, 11, Peter Crowley, 12 and Michael Halpin, 11, said they had really enjoyed the project and were keen to carry on with science.
“This was our biggest project so far, and it was really fun,” Anna May said.
“We thought that making a computer would be really hard but it was really easy,” Michael added.
At another of the stands, 16-year-old Maria Ward, from Loreto College, Coleraine, was displaying her groundbreaking work on growing cobalt chloride crystals in a "chemical garden".
“I think chemistry is interesting because there’s so many opportunities - with this project there’s very little known about it, with only two papers I could find published on it.
“The implications could be used in nanotechnology,” the student said.
There are 500 finalists in the competition, with a prize fund of €5,000.
Judging began today and winners will be announced at an award ceremony on Friday night.
More than 35,000 people are expected to visit the RDS during the exhibition, which opens to the public on Thursday.
