ELEVEN Limerick schools will be competing in the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition (BTYSTE) from January 8 to 11 as one of the largest STEM events of its kind in Europe gears up for its 25th year.
The BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition has been held in Dublin each year since it was founded in 1965, tasked with finding the greatest young scientific minds across Ireland.
26 projects have qualified on Shannonside for this year’s competition from 11 school across the county, comprising of individual and group entries.
The 11 Limerick schools looking to take home the top prize at this year’s competition are Ardscoil Rís, Castletroy College, Coláiste Chiaráin, Coláiste Iósaef, Coláiste Nano Nagle, Desmond College, Glenstal Abbey School, Laurel Hill Secondary School, Mungret Community College, Salesian Secondary College, and Scoil Pól.
These aspiring scientists from across the county will look to follow in the footsteps of Coláiste Chiaráin’s Seán O’Sullivan, who took home the top prize in 2024 for his AI-busting Verify Me project.
Seán was the grand marshal at the 2024 St Patrick’s Day Parade in Limerick City.
The 2025 BTYSTE exhibition will showcase project entries from students in five categories: technology, social and behavioural science, biological and ecological science, chemical, physical, and mathematical science, and health and wellbeing.
250 prizes, across a total prize fund of €50,000, will be awarded across all five categories and all age groups, including the coveted overall BT Young Scientist and Technologist of the Year Award.
The winners will move on to compete in the European Union Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS) in 2025.
On the run up to this year’s expo, gold sponsor of the competition in 2025, Analog Devices, gave a sneak preview of its interactive technology stand to local students across Limerick before it heads up to the RDS for the big event in January.
Children from across the county were invited to view the interactive games and fun at the Analog stand, which features hands-on demonstrations showcasing the same cutting-edge analog, digital, and software technologies the company uses “to drive advancements in digitised factories, mobility, and digital healthcare, combat climate change, and reliably connect humans and the world”.
The stand includes a AI technology, retro arcade games with a hi-tech and educational twist, a ‘Green Table’ showcasing Ireland’s potential as a giant of the renewable energy industry, and more.
