Three Offaly projects chosen for 2013 BT Young Scientist exhibition

Three Offaly projects involving six students have been selected from almost 2,000 entries to go forward to the 2013 BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition next January. Offaly will be represented by two group projects in the social and behavioural sciences category, along with one individual project in the technology category. St Rynagh's Community College student Jeremy Rigney will present a project looking at games based learning versus traditional classroom methods to teach a maths concept. Jeremy will compete in the intermediate technology section of the competition. Oaklands Community College students Sinead Hickey, Esther Kenny and Kerrie Quinn meanwhile will look at the effects of piercing and tattoos on the body and in career choice, with a seocial and behavioural sciences entry. They will also compete in the intermediate section of the competition. Finally Gallen Community School students Celine Camon and Emma Phelan will investigate the response of horses when various types of bits are used and how they influence the horse's performance. The duo will also compete in the social and behavioural sciences competition category in the intermediate section. Over 4,000 students applied to take part in the 2013 BT Young Scientist exhibition with a total of 1,879 project ideas. BT announced on Thursday this means all previous entry records have been broken and next year's event is set to be its biggest yet. Education Minister Ruairi Quinn praised the event that's now in its 49th year for continuing to break new records for both the number of projects entered and the number of schools competing. "Research and innovation are critically important to our economy, and I commend everyone involved in the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition for providing a platform to stimulate and showcase Ireland's talent both on a national and international stage," he said. Meanwhile BT chief Colm O'Neill said the increased engagement secondary school students are showing with the competition is remarkable. "This vision of exhibition founders and BT has become a reality - raising awareness of the sciences, unearthing new ideas, giving young people a platform to shine, and showing Ireland's scientific skills at international competitions," he said. "We're looking forward to the show in January, where we get to hear firsthand these young people's solutions for a better future." The BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition will take place in the RDS from January 9-12. More information can be found at www.btyoungscientist.com or by searching for "BTYSTE" on Facebook or Twitter.