Tipperary students shine

The future is looking brighter for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) in Tipperary after six teams competed with 10 others from schools across Munster at the 2024 BD STEM Stars competition run by BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), one of the world’s leading med-tech companies.

Students and teachers were excited by this year’s entries at the competition, held at BD Research Centre Ireland (RCI) facility in Castletroy, Limerick.

Tipperary had the biggest cohort of finalists for any one county, with six teams in total drawn from three schools, Borrisokane Community College, St Joseph’s College, Borrisoleigh and Ursuline Secondary School, Thurles.

St Joseph’s Community College’s two entries included one on tackling atrophy, the gradual degeneration of cells in the body, and the other on measurement of potassium levels in blood in a public setting.

Borrisokane Community College’s entries included an app for monitoring and altering on the use of e-cigarettes in school toilets and a second one aimed at helping teenager girls track their menstrual cycle, moods and energy levels.

Ursuline Secondary School developed an ‘at home’ device that tests for Thyroid levels in blood to save people from travelling to hospitals for regular tests, and developed a second portable device that acts as a circulation massager targeting people with blood circulation and related issues.

HIGH STANDARD

BD Enterprise Project Manager and competition organiser, Fionnagh Tsang said: “The standard across Munster this year was extremely high, we were very impressed by the level of innovation coming out of Tipperary and the range of areas covered. Well done to all who took part.”

St Joseph’s Community College, Borrisoleigh, teacher Mary Gorey said: “I’m super proud that we had two teams make it to the finals. The great thing about the competition is that large groups are allowed enter as traditional school science competitions accept only two or three-person teams. The BD STEM Stars competition allowed six to eight students so everyone really felt their skillset was valued.”

The BD 2024 STEM Stars Award, which is supported by the Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board (LCETB), is the biggest such awards programme in Munster. The competition was launched five years ago by BD, one of the world’s largest med-tech companies, to promote and encourage participation in STEM subjects for second level students. The brief given to students was to devise solutions that positively impact on and advance the world of healthcare.

In addition to the competition, students received a tour of the BD high-tech (RCI) facility before the announcement of the winners and presentations were made by Senior Manager, Design Assurance Engineering at BD RCI Dr John Carey and BD RCI Site Lead Seán Wall.

Mr Wall said: “This is a special day for all of us at BD and one we look forward to with great excitement as we get to see the incredible pool of STEM talent that’s coming through in second level schools. We set out with this project five years ago to encourage awareness of the potential of STEM to improve the world of healthcare and to see where we have arrived at, with so many schools and incredible talent taking part, makes it a journey worthwhile.”

Donncha Ó Treasaigh, Director of Schools at Limerick and Clare ETB said: “The promotion of STEM among students is a very important objective of ours at the ETB and having one of the world’s leading med-tech companies weigh in with a competition like this is something that we are very privileged to have in the Munster area. There has been a huge response from the schools, and this is a competition we see going from strength to strength. I also want to complement the BD team on this as the scale and reach of the competition gets bigger and more exciting every year.”

BD RCI is a state-of-the-art facility adjacent to the University of Limerick campus that develops innovative technologies to improve biomedical discovery, clinical diagnosis of disease, and the delivery of care for patients and health care workers. It currently employs 370 experts in software development, software testing, systems engineering, mechanical and electronic engineering, project management, quality and biosciences including immunology.

The diverse, collaborative team brings together people from 43 countries working in multidisciplinary teams to solve problems and advance the world of health.