Coláiste Mhuire, Ennis has received €1,000 in STEM funding as part of the BD STEM Stars Competition presentation in BD’s Research Centre Ireland (RCI).
The global medical technology company, based in Limerick’s National Technology Park in Castletroy, awarded over €24,000 in STEM funding prizes to seven secondary schools across Limerick and Clare as part of the BD STEM Stars Competition.
The competition invited students to identify a key health problem that affects their community and demonstrate how they could solve or improve this problem through the STEM subjects. The students from Coláiste Mhuire were highly commended for a solution they envisioned to monitor vitamin D in the body.
Thomond Community College was awarded the overall prize of €10,000 for their students’ project that explored the use of blue light to manage stress and anxiety. Runners up, and recipients of €5,000 in STEM funding each, were students from Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh, who designed and created an automated medication dispensing unit, and Desmond College in Newcastle West, who designed and created an enhanced digital stethoscope.
Three other schools in Limerick were also awarded €1,000 in STEM funding each for their highly commended entries including: Villiers School for their study into the effectiveness of the male HPV vaccination Limerick Educate Together, who developed a solution for paramedics and emergency care workers to retrieve critical patient data in case of a medical emergency Salesian, Pallaskenry, for an intervention on infections caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria
At the presentation of the awards, BD RCI’s Site Director Padraig Fitzgerald commented, “We were blown away by the level of creativity, STEM skills and knowledge showcased in the BD STEM Stars competition entries. Thomond Community College’s project took the overall prize for its originality and relevance. There is so much commentary on the negative effects of the blue light emitted from our LED screens, but the students really turned this topic on its head and excellently showcased their research on the beneficial effects that blue light can have on the human body and mind.
“At BD RCI we are passionate about the STEM subjects and really want to help teach students that Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths are no