BT to continue sponsoring Young Scientist Exhibition until 2018

3 Dec 2015

The co-founder of the Young Scientist Exhibition Dr Tony Scott with BT Ireland managing director Shay Walsh

BT Ireland will continue to sponsor the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition for the next three years, the telecoms giant confirmed today (3 December).

BT is now in its 16th year as sponsor of the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition and has provided more than €600,000 in travel and accommodation costs as well as creating university bursaries for senior category winners in collaboration with seven Irish universities.

It also added a Primary Science Fair, a BT business bootcamp and a festival of science to the event that takes place every January.

Stimulating STEM talent

“We’re honoured to extend our partnership with the exhibition, which is a great match for a company like ours,” said Shay Walsh, managing director of BT for the Republic of Ireland.

“We need talent, as do our private and public sector customers, and this exhibition is one of the biggest stimulators of STEM engagement in schools in the world.

“We have formed what we believe is without doubt one of the finest examples of like-minded organisations and individuals working together on the shared goal of driving skills and opportunities in STEM – schools, colleges, businesses, government, academia – all aligned to foster homegrown talent.”

Up to 200 BT employees volunteer every year to help run the show.

“BT has always embraced the YSE Board’s vision to engage as many people as possible in science and technology, and we are excited that we can build on this success for years to come,” said Dr Tony Scott, co-founder of the Exhibition, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year.

The Young Scientist Exhibition is an Irish success story that has grown into one of the world’s leading school science events, and provides a platform for participating young people to shine on both national and international stages.

Strength-to-strength

Close to 80,000 Irish secondary school students have entered science and technology projects into the exhibition since it was established in the 1960s by Dr Tony Scott and the late Fr Tom Burke.

Its alumni have progressed to secure EU and global awards for their ideas and launch commercial enterprises, as well as using the skills to enter careers in the critical subject areas of science and technology.

BT’s sponsorship of the event for a further three years was welcomed by the Minister for Education and Skills Jan O’Sullivan TD.

“The initiative continues to go from strength-to-strength with more students and schools entering each year and the very welcome expansion of the programme into the primary school sector,” O’Sullivan said.

“As Minister for Education and Skills, attending the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition is one of the highlights of the year – the innovation, creativity and great sense of fun around the event is remarkable and I am glad that this successful partnership will continue until 2018.”

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com