The BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition is taking place in the RDS this week, running on 9-12 January, with 550 projects battling it out for the top honours. Last year’s event attracted more than 50,000 people over the course of the three days and the organisers confirmed to Irish Country Living that similar numbers are expected this time around.

Agricultural flavour

As so often at the BT Young Scientist event, a strong agricultural presence can be seen throughout. Over 25 of the 550 projects involved in the exhibition this year are agriculture related. The issue of farm safety is predominant, with a number of schools focusing on this issue, including St Ciaran’s Highschool, Tyrone with Sensory alarm system to indicate that a farmworker has been overcome by slurry gas and Ardscoil Uí Urmoltaigh, Cork with Early warning farm safety system.

Environment and biodiversity once again feature heavily, with Coláiste Choilm in Cork and Loreto Secondary School in Dublin entering titles: To create a filter for water troughs on farms to conserve water, gather compostable algae to use as fertiliser and reduce manual labour while removing silt and algae and An investigation into the effect of a farmer’s attitude towards nature on the biodiversity of the soil on their farm respectively.

The topic of Brexit is also analysed by one particular school. Meanscoil Gharman in Wexford looked at the impact that a hard border may have on Ireland in a project aptly titled: Investigating the effects of a hard border on Ireland’s economy, agriculture and future generations.

Last year’s top prize was awarded to Simon Meehan from Coláiste Choilm, Cork, who aimed to discover the antimicrobial effects of both aerial and root parts of selected plants against Staphylococcus aureus.

The exhibition is set to give the next generation a chance to showcase their ideas for the future of farming.