Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board schools shone brightly at the recent BD Stem Stars 2023 awards with Desmond College, Newcastle West taking home first prize at this year’s awards programme at BD’s world-class Research Centre Ireland in Castletroy, Limerick. Mary Immaculate Secondary School in Lisdoonvarna took home second place, while another proud Limerick and Clare ETB community college, Coláiste Chiaráin, Croom came in third place.
Now in its fourth year, the BD STEM Stars Award, which is supported by Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board, is the biggest such awards programme in the region and is open to all secondary schools in the Mid-West.
The awards are an initiative from BD Research Centre Ireland that aims to promote participation in STEM subjects and demonstrate how they can be applied to solving real-life health issues.
The competition was launched in November, with schools submitting their final entries to BD last month.
Desmond College, Newcastle West students Emma Greaney and Madison Saracoglu who won first place in the BD STEM Star Awards 2023 and a €10,000 prize for their school with their ‘Rehabilitation Nation’ device pictured with Donncha Ó Treasaigh, Director of Schools at Limerick and Clare ETB, Site Lead for BD’s Research Center Ireland in Limerick Seán Wall and Donal Enright from Desmond College.
Speaking about the awards, Donncha Ó Treasaigh, ETB Director of Schools said: “We are delighted to partner with BD in promoting this awards programme. It goes to the heart of a very important national objective to promote STEM learning in our schools and this is something that we are very committed to. It’s a superb initiative by BD as it not alone promotes STEM subjects but, by participating, students get an insight into the incredibly exciting career that they can have in STEM, a career in which they can make a real impact on people’s lives and work in cutting-edge environments like BD’s RCI Centre here in Limerick.”
15 secondary schools from Clare, Limerick and Tipperary were welcomed to the Research Centre by Senior R&D Director and site lead Seán Wall and his team. The finals brought plenty of colour and excitement to the research centre and there was no shortage of innovation across the day as the competing schools presented their individual projects and were given tours of the state-of-the-art research centre. Speaking at the event, Mr Wall said that the standard of innovation amongst the participating schools was hugely encouraging for STEM related sectors.
“The seeds sown to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects in the Mid-West over recent years are bearing fruit judging by the 2023 BD STEM Stars Awards,” he said. “The awards are a source of great pride across the BD network here in Ireland and beyond and the first-hand experience I got today confirmed for me why that is. First and foremost, it’s a wonderful initiative and effort by the team here at RCI to stage this competition in partnership with Limerick and Clare ETB as there’s no small amount of work involved in coordinating a programme like this with schools across the region. What was equally noticeable was the spirit of collaboration between our team and the schools, which was so positive to see.” He continued: “But above all, it was the passion, the excitement, and the innovation that the students and their teachers brought to the event that stood out and it reaffirms why it has become such an important event, not just for BD but for STEM in our region.”
Mr Wall’s comments came after Desmond College students Madison Saracoglu and Emma Greaney teamed up to create their ‘Rehabilitation Nation’ device for rehabilitating shoulder injuries earning them the coveted BD STEM Stars trophy for first place, as well as a €10,000 fund that goes towards STEM-related facilities at their school.
The judging panel, however, had its work cut out with very little separating the winners and runners-up. Second place and a €6,000 cheque went to Mary Immaculate Secondary School in Lisdoonvarna for a project based on exploring if neural networks can aid hearing-impaired people to lipread, while third place and a €4,000 prize went to Coláiste Chiaráin, Croom for their ‘Portanos’ project.
Coláiste Chiaráin, Croom students Seán O Sullivan and Taha Nije claimed third place and a €4,000 cheque for their school in the BD STEM Star Awards 2023. They are photographed here with Site Lead for BD’s Research Center Ireland in Limerick Seán Wall.
Mr Wall also pledged BD’s continued leadership in the region and internationally in the promotion of STEM through the awards programme, and the bursary and scholarship programme run by BD, one of the world’s leading med-tech companies for students at the nearby University of Limerick.
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 healthcare 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 27 countries working in multidisciplinary teams to solve problems and advance the world of health.
To learn more about the BD STEM Stars programme and participants, visit https://emea.jobs.bd.com/bd-stem stars.
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