History
The BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2006 heralds the 42th anniversary of what has become a State Institution.
The Founders
The Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition was the brainchild of two UCD Physics researchers, a Carmelite Priest, the Rev Dr Burke and Dr Tony Scott. Fr Burke completed a B.Sc. in physics at UCD in 1945. Specialising in atmospheric physics, he completed his M.Sc. in 1947 and PhD in 1949. In 1953 Dr Burke went to Terenure College to teach science and later became the principal there. Tony Scott was one of his pupils in the school. Years later Dr Burke returned to UCD where he found himself on the staff of the physics department in the company of Tony Scott who had also done M. Sc. and PhD research related to condensation in the atmosphere.
The pair worked on a UCD instrument for measuring aerosols. Research at post-doctoral level is enhanced and developed through international interaction. This involves carrying out research at home and presenting the results internationally. The United States were embarking on the Space Race. Atmospheric physics was a related field. In 1963 the pair found themselves in Socorro, at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology where they discovered “Science fairs,” local school science exhibitions and competitions. Local science fairs culminated into State fairs and ultimately a national competition.
Scott finished his work with the US researchers and departed to an atmospheric physics conference at Berkeley. Burke went to the New Mexico State Science Fair in Albuquerque. He had witnessed how US scientists and engineers had the most up to date infrastructure. He now saw this infrastructure was extended into supporting extra curricular science. He was particularly struck by the involvement of the remotest schools in science fairs.
Here was an idea the Irish could replicate! Wouldn’t this be the sort of “hands on” science Irish students could benefit from? “I wanted to see Irish Young Scientists bringing science outside the four walls of the classroom and showing that science was all around us” says Fr Burke. Three elements were necessary – funding, administration to handle publicity and some structure to handle and judge science content.
Young Scientist the idea
Funding necessitated a key sponsor. The sixties were years of Irish industrialisation. The Semi-state Aer Lingus was a developing Airline, a technology dependent business. Aer Lingus covered promotion mainly through circulating information to schools. They also handled administration. The Science element was to be driven by the pair themselves. Their focus was to sort applications into categories based on School science subjects. Judges were picked to match categories.
One difference from the US system was the strong links with third level researchers and access to expensive equipment and technical support. Because we were not as industrially developed as the US, an early decision was made to involve students more than in the US experience. There were cultural differences as well. Because of the availability of support they could rely on, US students behaved in a way which is counter to the image we have of the US entrepreneur today. They had a greater level of technical backup. They sometimes suffered from a surfeit of support, which resulted in participants having great ideas but others actually progressing these ideas.
The pair had identified a need which is still relevant today in Ireland – developing “self starters”. They believed Irish participants should, as much as possible, carry out their research on their own. The plan was to get teachers, projects and participants to a focal event. They might already be doing science but just in the same way that researchers have international conferences this would allow like-minded young scientists to meet their peers. Thus the original Young Scientists was intended as building an enabling support.
The first year (1964)
The first Young Scientists’ competition was held in the Round Room of the Mansion House in Dublin. It had 230 participants. Subjects included Physics Geography Chemistry Biochemistry and Mathematics. The first winner was John Monaghan today the Chief Executive Officer of Avigen, a US Biotech company. The success of the first competition created a demand for a bigger venue. Tony Scott was a member of the RDS science committee, and Young Scientists fitted their historic role in promoting science. In the second year they moved to the RDS and the event has remained there ever since.
The early years
The Early Young Scientists Exhibition involved individual students competing under subjects specifically related to the curriculum. More stringent categorisation emerged in the 1970s with the introduction of new Science Syllabi. Biology in particular had a large uptake. Today it represents the largest Senior Cycle Science Subject.
The surge of interest in biological related competitors and winners prompted a need to put some emphasis back on other subjects. Scientists also wanted to attract the maximal industrial and technological interest and a variety of content. A single field if oversubscribed might from year to year win the overall prize while other subjects might suffer from lack of competitors and be very close to winning but not attain any recognition. To respond to the increasing need to diversify, specific awards were introduced by industrial concerns and professional bodies. Sponsors for separate category prizes attracted more applicants from diverse fields and rewarded quality. Dr Scott approached the Institute of Physics and they became the first “special” awards 1981. They sponsored six prizes. This allowed the Science committee to build up a series of special prize sponsors in various fields.
Group entries are introduced
Teachers began to notice that several students might have had good ideas which required them to work together to produce results. Scott and Burke were aware that in their own field of atmospheric physics they had jointly published papers and that in industry and academia research teams were the norm and the individual scientists the exception. Group entries were introduced. This enabled another element of multi-disciplined,
multi-tasked, managed projects to develop. The introduction of groups involved an administrative overhead and an expansion of the judging panel.
“From early on participants did very well internationally” says Tony Scott. For example, Mary Kelly Quinn (1976) went on to win the European competition.
The new age of science
Today, Intel sponsored winners may go to the USA to participate in the US Exhibition the International Science and Engineering Fair ISEF or to the European Union Young Scientists. However this year’s overall winner will not get to travel very far as, for the first time, Ireland is hosting the European event in Dublin in September.
The arrival of the PC in the seventies preceded extensive developments in the eighties. The eighties also witnessed the culmination of group participation as the first group project to win was from Carrickfergus Grammar School, Co. Antrim in Northern Ireland in 1983 with a Microcomputer Based Robotics project.
Information technology and biological technologies witnessed an explosion brought about by the inexpensive availability of technologies which manipulated, replicated, and communicated data. The ongoing belief by the public in and about pseudo-sciences such as astrology, quack medicine and extra sensory perception also got more exposure. The links between science technology and everyday life and entertainment became less definite. Traditional curricular sciences remained as a constant pillar but science could be fun as well. By 1990 the three established categories were Chemical, Physical and Mathematical; Social and Behavioral; and Biological and Ecological.
Esat takes over the sponsorship
When Aer Lingus ended the sponsorship a new Key Sponsor was needed. The Young Scientists’ Exhibition represented the lifestyles and thoughts of young people. Dennis O’Brien became aware of the pending Aer Lingus departure. The Celtic Tiger economy rapidly produced new enterprises, which had to dynamically grow and adapt to their environment. The Young Scientists’ Exhibition represented the lifestyles and thoughts of young people. That sense the dynamism of youth, something not manufactured by technology, matched the idealism of O Brien’s new communications technology enterprise, ESAT Telecom who has sponsored the competition since 1998.
Technology category introduced
Technology was introduced as an additional category. This reflected not only ESAT’s involvement in technology but also the vast economic explosion in applied sciences in the nineties. The event was re-named the ESAT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.
ESAT extended the administration and revitalised publicity. The look and feel of the exhibition has changed to reflect the image of the new sponsor. A separate exhibition space variously called “Future Zone” or “World of Science and Technology” made hands on interactive science available. ESAT identified that teachers’ involvement drives participation. ESAT planned to make teachers feel more central and introduced a prize draw for teachers with trips to science fairs and science museums in the US on offer. The introduction of a mobile “Computer Gym,” also enabled teachers, among others, to upskill, concurrent with the government Schools IT 2000 programme.
Aer Lingus involved heavy engineering. Dr Scott had suggested they display their wares. Interiors, air frames and engines even flight simulators became a regular feature, which proved popular. ESAT extended this idea and brought in more industrial exhibitors and enhanced the presence of institutional, professional, and popular science organisations. . Specific space for teachers, media, and science bodies were supplied. As a new kid on the block ESAT made visible much of Ireland’s industries that depend on dynamic young Scientists including technological exhibits like Formula One cars.
Youth Science is not just about creating tomorrow’s scientists. Many skills learned in contributing are transferable to the media and to business. Indeed today’s “Big Science” is managed, multi-skilled and long term. ESAT introduced more cultural interaction for students email and Web availability throughout the exhibition and a “Media Zone” and Radio Station with students reporting and writing about their own issues.
Lastly ESAT imbued the Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition with a sense of fun. This contributes both to the personal confidence and social interaction necessary for team building. Like playing football one does not always have to score goals to do something worthwhile for the team.
2002 a new look
In 2002 under the company’s revised branding, ESAT BT the look and feel of the exhibition was further enhanced. New stands were designed and giant archways built to designate the four categories in which the students now competed. Extra exhibition halls were added such as the “World of Robots,” plus the 1800 seat Esat BT Arena was built for the Awards Ceremony and a spectacular opening ceremony created. The objective was to suggest a scale and stature for the event that gave the students and sense of achievement and pride just to be there. To eradicate the myth that science is for ‘anoraks’ and that it can be both interesting and fun, television advertising was devised to increase both the number of projects entered and the number of visitors to the event.
As a result visitor numbers soared to an all time high in 2003 as did projects entered at 910. According to Esat BT’s Project Director Peter Broad this unique event is one of the most satisfying projects he has ever worked on. “We witness the students transform from quiet unassuming individuals at the beginning of the week to well rounded citizens with a new confidence and maturity that the Young Scientist has given to them. An experience that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.”
Science as enterprise invisibly extends into culture. Most businesses would collapse without the personal support of those close to the owners. As Fr Burke says “While teachers might have inspired, those who won awards also had support and encouragement from their families.” This is a model not just for developing science but for developing enterprise and community. And it is true that many winners have become achievers not just in science but also in industry. Small schools produced many great writers and statesmen. But the contribution of small schools in remote areas to our science base is seldom recognised. Teachers from these regions year after year inspire students to contribute.
Science advances through individuals and teams developing new knowledge and novel applications of it. Social changes also take place which influence science and sometimes are caused by it. Interesting new subject areas emerge along with the redefinition of old ones. The Esat BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition encompasses all these things and more. The public understanding of science and the link between research science, technology, innovation and economic development is an ongoing process, continually revised. So too is the subject categorisation and organisation of the Exhibition. How will it fare over the next forty years?
“I can only say today it is more successful than I could have imagined,” said co-founder Dr. Tony Scott. “But that success is not down to myself and Fr Burke alone. Continued success will be fired by the imagination and hard work of future generations of young people and the continued commitment of community, business and state institutions to what has become not just a key event, but a social focus on part of Ireland’s science culture.”.
2005 and beyond
The final evolution of the BT brand in Ireland was completed in April 2005 the project going forward will be know as the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition. A new look and feel for the project as well as a new logo has been developed and the project will grow in stature and importance not only in Ireland but across Europe.
Already in 2005 Dr Tony Scott was awarded a fellowship of the Institute of Physics in London. Also the overall winning group for 2005 for Numerical Solutions of Hamilton’s Equations entered by Michael Mulhall and Francis Wasser from the Christian Brothers School, Synge Street won best in group at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona USA in May 2005. In September 2005 our Esat BT Young Scientist 2005- Partrick Collinson from Castletroy will represent Ireland at the 17th European Union Contest for Young Scientists in September in Moscow with this project CROMA a new dialect for LISP.