An Award ceremony and celebration took place on Friday 10th May for those students who had taken part in SciFest 2024. 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. He thanked the schools' Science and Computer Science departments for the support received by the students.
SciFest is a national fair for schools celebrating and exploring STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Ninteen students travelled to TU Dublin Blanchardstown to present ten 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, Kayleigh, Ciara, Lillie, Ben, Louis, Liam, Stephanie, Leah, Anisha, Vytautas, Maksims, Rory, Faith, Teodora, Hazel, Katie, Ryan, Cody and Liam.
A number of students have brought particular honour to themselves, their families and their school. We take great pride in recognising these achievements.
George Porter CEO SciFest presented Irish Science Teachers’ Association Student Award for best Junior Project toFaith Shoboyejo-Alakija. Faith's project was 'Your Personal Devices Are a Microbial Playground!'
Faith also received a category award in the Junior Life Sciences section.
Liam, Stephanie and Leah received a second place category award in the Physical Sciences Intermediate Section.
Thirty three students travelled to DCU to present sixteen 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. Twenty six 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 Sophie, Sarah.Sophia, Róisín, Tejal, Morgan, Elisa, Jack, Robert, Ryan, Zuzanna, Kamaya, Benjamin, Oskar, Liam, Brianna, Sean, Ernests, Paula, Asha, Aoife, Eva, Sophie, Jane, Keira, Toni, Maedbh, Eve, Tessa-May, Favour, Aisling, and Abbie.
Each year qualifying winners from each of the 16 regional SciFest STEM fairs are invited to compete in the SciFest National Final. Awards at the National Final include the opportunity to represent Ireland at international competitions and events in the United States and Germany.
Zuzanna has won the DCU Best Project Award for her project 'A Measurement of the Variance in Uniformity of Background Radiation Fields' supported by Mr Murray. Sheila Porter, CEO SciFest presented this prestigious award. Zuzanna is justifiably delighted with this achievement.
Zuzanna 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 2024 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 2025 in Columbus, Ohio.
Kamaya Gogna's ' A Continued Study On Using Machine Learning To Identify Radiolucencies on Panoramic Dental Radiographs' Teacher Mr Murray was awarded the Boston Scientific Medical Devices award .
Boston Scientific is dedicated to transforming lives through innovative medical solutions that improve the health of patients around the world. Science no matter how advanced is only as meaningful as the lives it transforms’.
The Boston Scientific Medical Devices award is presented to the project that best demonstrates:
- Understanding of a problem/unanswered question related to science or engineering in the field of medical devices
- Understanding of an area where you have experience or are aware of something to help / improve /change a person’s quality of life who may have a medical need - parent / sister / brother / grandparent / class mate
- Provides a contribution to the medical device field through research/experimentation
As a winner of one of the regional Boston Scientific Medical Devices Award Kamaya's project will be consided by a panel of judges who selects the projects to compete for the Boston Scientific Medical Devices Grand Award at the National Final. Grand Award Trophy and €500.
Sophie won a category award for her project ‘Fine Tuning Talents: Linking Sheet Music and Motor Dexterity’ supported by Mr O'Connell.
We would like to thank 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 .
