THE seeds sown to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects in the Mid-West over recent years are bearing fruit judging by the 2023 BD STEM Stars Awards, Site Lead for BD’s Research Centre Ireland (RCI) in Limerick, Seán Wall, has stated.
Commenting after Desmond College, Newcastle West took the top honours from this year’s awards programme at BD’s world-class Research Centre Ireland in Castletroy, Limerick, Mr. Wall said that the standard of innovation amongst the participating schools was hugely encouraging for STEM related sectors.
The newly appointed site lead also pledged BD’s continued leadership in the region and internationally in the promotion of STEM through the awards programme, and the bursary and scholarship programme run by BD – one of the world’s leading med-tech companies – for students at nearby University of Limerick.
The BD 2023 STEM Stars Award, which is supported by the Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board (LCETB), is the biggest such awards programme in the region.
BD STEM STARS is an initiative from BD Research Centre Ireland that aims to promote participation in STEM subjects and demonstrate how they can be applied to solving real-life health issues. Now in its fourth year, the initiative is open to all secondary schools in the Mid-West.
Some 15 secondary schools from counties Clare, Limerick and Tipperary were welcomed by Mr. Wall and his team to the RCI for the finals, creating a chamber of colour, excitement and no shortage of innovation across the day as they presented their individual projects and were given tours of the state-of-the-art research centre.
Mr. Wall’s comments came after Desmond College students Madison Saracoglu and Emma Greaney teamed up to create their ‘Rehabilitation Nation’ device for rehabilitating shoulder injuries and take the coveted BD STEM Stars trophy for first place, as well as a €10,000 fund that goes towards STEM related facilities at their school. The judging panel, however, had its work cut out with very little separating the winners and runners-up. Second place and a €6,000 cheque went to Mary Immaculate Secondary School in Lisdoonvarna for a project based on exploring if neural networks can aid hearing-impaired people to lipread, while third place and a €4,000 prize went to Coláiste Chiaráin, Limerick for their ‘Portanos’ project.
RCI is a state-of-the-art facility adjacent to the University of Limerick campus that develops innovative technologies to improve biomedical discovery, clinical diagnosis of disease, and the delivery of care for patients and health care workers. It currently employs 370 experts in software development, software testing, systems engineering, mechanical and electronic engineering, project management, quality and biosciences including immunology. The diverse, collaborative team brings together people from 27 countries working in multidisciplinary teams to solve problems and advance the world of health.
The competition was launched in November, with schools submitting their final entries to BD last month.
To find out more about the BD STEM Stars programme and participants, visit https://emea.jobs.bd.com/bd-stem stars.
Desmond College, Newcastle West students Emma and Madison are pictured with Seán Wall, Site Lead for BD’s Research Center Ireland (RCI) in Limerick
