A student from Mary Immaculate Secondary School in Lisdoonvarna, County Clare has taken home the second place EirGrid Cleaner Climate Award following their success at the SciFest@College 2025 regional competition at TUS Moylish in Limerick.
Students from schools across Clare, Limerick and neighbouring counties came together with their second-level student peers and teachers to compete in the STEM fair exhibiting projects covering a broad range of topics and disciplines from chemistry and sport science to renewable energy and technology.
Third year student, Liam Hynes impressed judges with his project focused on investigating the effects of different temperatures and light intensity on the bleaching of Corallina officinalis.
His submission was chosen from over 100 projects on show at the college campus event.
SciFest@College is a programme of STEM fairs for second-level students, taking place in 16 regional colleges across Ireland. For two decades SciFest has been a platform for second-level students to showcase their creativity, innovation and research skills in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
As a partner in SciFest, EirGrid, the operator and developer of Ireland electricity system, delivers the Cleaner Climate Award as recognition of the critical role young people play in shaping a sustainable future.
The prize is awarded to the student or team whose project demonstrates both technical excellence and a tangible positive impact to energy and environmental sustainability.
Congratulating the winning entrants on his successful project, Catherine Daly, Sustainability Programme Manager at EirGrid, said: “For twenty years SciFest has been at the heart of inspiring innovation from secondary level students, and we are incredibly proud to continue to support this endeavour. As we work to ensure eighty percent of Ireland’s electricity comes from renewable sources, as per Government targets, we recognise the importance of fostering a future generation of problem solvers and critical thinkers, to transition to a clean, renewable energy grid.
“EirGrid is playing a central role in achieving Ireland’s climate ambitions and the level of engagement from students at TUS Moylish today showed the interest surrounding the environment and renewable energy. Congratulations to Liam on his award.”