Form 2 Sci-Fest Thursday 27th February 2012

On 27th February the second annual KH Scifest for Form 2 students took place in A10
Students had to come up with their own ideas, research them, design experiments and then carry out an investigation. The projects then had to be presented on a visual display and in a report booklet. Most of the work was carried out at in the evenings and over several weeks.

KH Scifest 2011 runners up, Form 3 students Michael Jordan, Paul Begley and Stephen Kane gave a presentation to give students ideas and to showcase the standards expected. They discussed how they planned their project, decided their roles and carried out their research. This group of boys later received a Highly Commended award for their project on the investigation into the use of nanofluids to optimise the potential production of geothermal energy in The King's Hospital at the 2012 Young Scientist Exhibition They also got the chance to discuss their findings that the area around The King’s Hospital had enough geothermal energy to power Lucan with local TD Derek Keating and Pat Rabbitte the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.

Judges this year were former star teacher Dave Clarke and a former pupil of his, the current Science Foundation Ireland Researcher of the Year, Trinity College’s Professor of Chemical Physics, Jonathan Coleman. Prof Coleman, who is also the only Irish person on a list of the world’s top materials scientists of the last decade, undertakes cutting edge research into nanotechnology at CRANN in Trinity College.

Professor Coleman who earlier in the day had given an address and discussion of his work with 5th and 6th Year physics and chemistry students, was very impressed with the level of projects submitted for this year’s KH SciFest. He commended the investigation and research carried out stating that it was beyond what pupils have covered in school at this stage and had the potential of many widespread applications for wider society.

Both judges had difficult decisions to make as the standard was high, but after some serious deliberation and lengthy debate a consensus was reached.

Judges this year were former star teacher Dave Clarke and a former pupil of his, the current Science Foundation Ireland Researcher of the Year, Trinity College’s Professor of Chemical Physics, Jonathan Coleman. Prof Coleman, who is also the only Irish person on a list of the world’s top materials scientists of the last decade, undertakes cutting edge research into nanotechnology at CRANN in Trinity College.

Professor Coleman who earlier in the day had given an address and discussion of his work with 5th and 6th Year physics and chemistry students, was very impressed with the level of projects submitted for this year’s KH SciFest. He commended the investigation and research carried out stating that it was beyond what pupils have covered in school at this stage and had the potential of many widespread applications for wider society.

Both judges had difficult decisions to make as the standard was high, but after some serious deliberation and lengthy debate a consensus was reached.

Here are the winning students with their project titles.
First Place:
Tom Doyle, David Sheill and Simon Boland - ‘A self-sustaining house

Tom, David and Simon displayed an incredible depth of knowledge and research on their chosen investigation to design and build an innovative self-sustainable house that uses cutting edge technologies to be totally self-reliant for its heat, water and electricity needs. They also backed this up with a professionally designed visual display and project.

Environmental Prize:
Rebecca Moore and Ayomi Banjoko - ‘Water and Plants’
Rebecca and Ayomi showed a great eagerness when investigating what types of water produced the best results for the growth of their selected plants.

Second Place
Jeff Panama, Sam Charman and Ben Pfeiffer – ‘Fast Electricity’
Jeff, Sam and Ben designed and built a human powered generator that produced enough electricity via kinetic energy to fill the air and feed the judges with toasted marshmallows

Third place:
Kate Heywood and Emma Bagnell – ‘The effect of caffeine on the pulse rate’
Kate and Emma made the startling discovery that not alone does caffeine double the pulse rate, it remains high for well over five minutes following ingestion.

Highly Commended awards
Mark Moore and Rosslyn Hendy – ‘The effectof fertiliser on the environment’
Mark and Rosslyn produced a well researched project into the detrimental effects on the environment.

At the prizegiving there was a moment of significance as Dave Clarke entrusted to Prof. Coleman the original manuscript of an article that the 1933 Nobel Prize winning scientist Erwin Schrödinger wrote for the schools Blue Coat magazine. Schrödinger, who died in 1961, is considered one of the fathers of quantum mechanics.

Thanks must go our two celebrity judges on the day for giving up their time to promote the exploration of the sciences with the next generation of King’s Hospital students.
Thanks must also go to Scifest organiser Sheila Porter and Intel representative Padraic O'Murchu who provided certificates, prizes and support on the day.

Many thanks to all who gave of their time to make the 2012 Form 2 Science Fest such a success !

The King's Hospital, Palmerstown, Dublin 20, Ireland

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