Kilrush student awarded national science medal

KILRUSH student Michael Shannon, who attends Kilrush Community School, received an Intel Excellence in Science medal for his project, which tested the effects of microwaves on PTFE glass-coated fabric at the Celebration of Excellence in Science in the Open Innovation Lab in Intel Ireland, Leixlip, recently.
A total of 1,980 students from 162 schools exhibited 836 projects nationwide in SciFest 2009. This represented an increase of almost 25% in the number of students participating compared with the previous year.
The rapid increase in participation in SciFest is a clear indication of the interest and enthusiasm among students and teachers in the investigative approach to teaching and learning science.
SciFest is a national festival of science organised regionally in collaboration with the Institutes of Technology. It is open to all second-level students.
The aim is to encourage a love of science through project-based learning and to provide more opportunities for students to present and display the results of their scientific investigations.
The SciFest initiative is jointly funded by Intel and Discover Science and Engineering as project partners.