From left: Sophie Creedon, Taha Fareed Farooqi, BT Ireland managing director Shay Walsh, Harry O’Connor, Hannah Walsh and Claudine Mulihano. Image: BT
The winning project investigated sports-related injuries and looked to develop wearable technology that can better measure head impacts.
This week, a group of enterprising school students gathered at University College Dublin (UCD) for the annual BT Young Scientist Business Bootcamp.
Delivered in partnership with NovaUCD, the initiative focuses on giving students the skills they need to develop their BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition (BTYSTE) project ideas into viable business ventures.
A total of 30 students from eight counties took part in the four-day bootcamp this year. All were participants of BTYSTE, which was held virtually in January, including 2022 winners Aditya Joshi and Aditya Kumar.
Five students aged between 15 and 17 received the best group award at the BT Young Scientist Business Bootcamp yesterday (10 March) for their project on sports-related injuries.
Taha Fareed Farooqi, Hannah Walsh, Sophie Creedon, Harry O’Connor and Claudine Mulihano’s project was titled Ahead of the Curve. The team investigated sports injuries to design and develop wearable technology that could better enable the measurement and recording of head impacts. The project was developed by Creedon, who had presented the idea at the virtual 2022 BTYSTE in January.
Meanwhile, 17-year-old Isabelle Linehan received the best individual title at the Business Bootcamp for her project, which looked at new ways to help people with seasonal affective disorder.
BT Ireland managing director Shay Walsh and 17-year-old Isabelle Linehan, who received the best individual award. Image: BT
BT Ireland managing director Shay Wash said: “The BT Business Bootcamp has been an integral part of the BT Young Scientist journey since its inception in 2010 and we were delighted to provide an exciting programme of activities for our participants in person for the first time in two years.”
The winning projects were chosen after each group pitched their ideas to an expert panel, following a four-day programme including workshops on business, marketing and commercialisation.
“Encouraging young people to engage in STEM subjects is at the core of our sustainability agenda, and supporting them along that journey, be it through academia or through entrepreneurship is integral to fostering tomorrow’s digitally skilled workforce,” Walsh added.
“I have no doubt that all this week’s participants will continue onto brilliant things, and I look forward to keeping in touch with their progress.”
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