Innovative Waterford students dreaming of booking place at United States international event

Post primary students from County Waterford schools and beyond will be showing off their scientific knowledge at the regional SciFest science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) fair at Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) on May 1. 

SciFest is a regional STEM competition for secondary schools that takes place across Ireland every year. Scifest is an all-inclusive, all-island science initiative which fosters active, collaborative and inquiry-based learning among second-level students.

SciFest is one of the many initiatives run by Calmast, WIT's STEM Outreach centre.

About 90 projects have been entered with more than 200 participants coming from 20 different post-primary schools in counties Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny, Wicklow, Tipperary and Cork. 

There are 26 projects from County Waterford: Ard Scoil na Mara Tramore (6), C.B.S. Mount Sion Waterford (10), Gael Colaiste Waterford (5), Our Lady of Mercy Secondary School Waterford (1), Scoil na mBraithre Dungarvan (3), St Augustine’s College Dungarvan (1).

An example of what Waterford has to offer includes:

• Cervical Check and the HPV vaccine - information, opinion and fake news
• Does the blue light emitted from mobile phones have harmful effects?
• Is out of date make-up harmful?
• Pollinator alternative
• Virtual reality technology and its impact on future learning
• Coffee addiction
• How long does UV light take to react under different kinds of sunscreen? 

The winner of will be announced on May 1 at 2pm at the WIT Arena and will go on to represent WIT at the SciFest national final in November. Awards presented at the national final include the opportunity to represent Ireland at the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), which is held annually in May in the USA.