Teenagers from two Limerick schools are winners at this year’s BD Stem Stars
THE seeds sown to promote STEM subjects are bearing fruit as Limerick secondary schools receive “top honours” from a world-class research centre.
Desmond College in Newcastle West brought home the top prize at the finals of this year’s awards programme at BD’s Research Centre Ireland in Castletroy, while Coláiste Chiaráin in Croom won the third place.
According to Site Lead for BD’s Research Centre Ireland (RCI), Seán Wall, the seeds sown to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects in the Mid-West over recent years are bearing fruit judging by this year’s awards.
An initiative from BD Research Centre Ireland, BD Stem Stars aims to promote participation in STEM subjects and demonstrate how they can be applied to solving real-life health issues. In its fourth year, the initiative is open to all secondary schools in the Mid-West.
Desmond College students Madison Saracoglu and Emma Greaney teamed up to create a ‘Rehabilitation Nation’ device for rehabilitating shoulder injuries, with which they won the BD STEM Stars trophy for first place, as well as a €10,000 fund that will go towards STEM related facilities at their school.
Coláiste Chiaráin students won the third place as well as a €4,000 prize for their ‘Portanos’ project. Some 15 secondary schools from counties Clare, Limerick and Tipperary were welcomed to the RCI for the finals, creating a chamber of colour, excitement and no shortage of innovation across the day.
Speaking of the initiative, Director of Schools at Limerick and Clare ETB, Donncha Ó Treasaigh, commented: “We are delighted to partner with BD in promoting this awards programme. It goes to the heart of a very important national objective to promote STEM learning in our schools, and this is something that we are very committed to. It’s a superb initiative by BD as it not alone promotes STEM subjects but, by participating, students get an insight into the incredibly exciting career that they can have in STEM, a career in which they can make a real impact on people’s lives and work in cutting-edge environments like BD’s RCI Centre here in Limerick.”
Supported by the Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board (LCETB), the awards programme is the biggest in the region.