Alexia Blogs

Walking past hoards of fair-weather, killer-heeled Leinster fans on their way to the RDS arena took some of the wind out of my sails. I knew my trip to the BT Young Scientist Exhibition (YSE) 2008 would involve a touch of zoology, but I was quite unprepared for the exotic creatures with colourful plumage and Li-Lo bangs along the way. Thankfully, a handful of seconds after entering the YSE, I was refreshed, nay, enthused.

The first thing that hits you when you enter the YSE hall, is the vast array of projects on show. Some five hundred projects were on show last Saturday. More than double that figure and you’ll get the number of entries for the 2008 finals. Amazing. The projects were grouped by category, meaning that projects were clustered together within Biology, Technology etc. Another interesting fact, is that girls out ranked boys this year to the tune of a ratio 2:1. It’s an interesting figure. Especially, since some fields of science and technology are crying out for female participants. On the ground, it’s the same old story. Girls dominate the life sciences, boys the technology.

Since my area of interest is technology, I spent most of my time walking this section of the floor. Two particular projects jumped out and I was lucky enough to video interview their presenters. First up was ‘Web Browser for the Colour Blind’ by Conor Scully and Adam Keilthy from Sutton Park School. I like this project as it highlighted how changing the approach to interpreting web content can benefit those who have problems using the web. Improving the accessibility of the web and computer interaction for those that suffer comprehension problems with vanilla browser offerings is a noble goal. And the fact that Conor and Adam executed on their research with informed designs implemented in C#, shows expertise and knowledge beyond their years.

Next up came, Ben McRedmond and Patrick O’Doherty from Gonzaga College with ‘HiPPstr: Social Network Redefined’. Social networks have really been the hot Web 2.0 topic over the past 18 months or so. I was impressed that the guys recognised this readily and decided they wanted a cut of it, by developing HiPPstr. They have interesting ideas re: where they see social networking going. More impressive was the fact that they are planning to push it live in the next couple months. I’d like to get a Beta invite and play with it. I also loved their passion, readiness to engage on hot social networking issues and drive.

These four guys will go far. Keep an eye out for them. And this is just a small piece of puzzle. All of the participants in the YSE represent the future of Ireland’s science, engineering and technology sector. In the past, the mythical post-doctoral, fourth-level of education has been touted as the main breeding ground for Ireland’s indigenous IP. An engine to power the future of Ireland’s technology industry. The fourth-level, and third-level for that matter, will starve without sufficent, sustained funding in resources that support the teaching of science and technology in the first and second levels. Am I the only person who sees this? I doubt it.

Video: BT Young Scientist Exhibition: Walkabout

The BT World of Science and Technology room was a treasure trove of gadgets and demonstrations: An Garda Síochana, RTÉ, Intel, Analog Devices and BT - just to name a few. If kids ever needed to be convinced that science, engineering and technology were fun, the proof was in this room. Robots, light-up pianos like in ‘Big’, computer games, dedicated Youtube areas where they could access videos, skulls of long-dead animals and much, much more.

Oh, I kept on seeing Eddie Hobbs there. Weirdness. No, not imagining him. The real Eddie Hobbs was in the house. Being nerdy. I was star struck.For all of the nerdy goodness that the YSE serve on a platter to me, I was reminded twice that kids will be kids. And that’s a good thing. A vanguard of young teenage girls hogged mirror space in the ladies bathroom, all crusading to apply that last little bit of eyeliner. The second alarm call was a proud mum that sat respendent by her son’s project. I engaged in a quick to-and-fro with her. After the niceties, I said I thought it was a great idea that kids get involved in science and technology so young, as it opened a world of possibilities for them. Yes, she agreed, and with a twinkle in her eye she quipped, “and there’s lots of girls here too.” Scientists are teenagers too, it seems.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 at 8:43 am and is filed under Blogging, Geekery, Irish. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.