IT Sligo SciFest will be held on the 6th May in the Multi Purpose Centre, at IT Sligo from 10am onwards SciFest is a regional one-day science fair held nationally in third level colleges and open to all second level students.
Over two hundred second level students from Schools all over the North Western region have researched projects in Science, IT and Technology and prepared displays. Projects are divided into different age categories and judged accordingly.
Projects and technology demonstration
SciFest aims to encourage a love of science through an investigative approach to learning and provide a platform for students to display their scientific discoveries.
As well as the competition and exhibition of projects, there will be a selection of science and technology demonstrations and a prize-giving ceremony.
There will also be opportunities to visit Science, Engineering and IT facilities at IT SLigo.
The inaugural SciFest was held in the Institute of Technology, Tallaght, Dublin, in 2006. Following a second successful SciFest in Tallaght in 2007 the project was launched nationwide. In May 2008 a total of nine Institutes of Technology hosted SciFest science fairs including IT Sligo.
Creating valuable link with industry and encouraging a real interest
Margaret Mulrooney, co-ordinator of the SciFest at IT Sligo says ‘SciFest encourages a real interest in science and technology by offering students a chance to show off their projects to their peers and local community, whilst competing for national awards. The competition also creates a valuable link between the Institute and industry, offering participating students the chance to experience what studying science, engineering or IT courses is like and to see what employment opportunities are available.’
Project Winner 2008
Winner of best overall project entitled ‘ Investigation into the effectiveness of double glazing vs. single glazing’
L-R: Fergal Roue, Sean Walsh, Thomas Quinn- Bailie: St Gerald’s College Castlebar. Teacher; Brendan McHugh
Scifest is jointly funded by Intel and Discover Science and Engineering and is supported by a number of other partners. The project thus creates a valuable link between the second and third level education sectors and between education and industry.
Further information can be obtained from:
Dr Jeremy Bird,
School of Science,
IT Sligo
Phone: 071-9155101
Email: bird.jerry@nullitsligo.ie