With BT Ireland MD Shay Walsh, we look back on the successful past and ahead to the bright future of the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition.

BT has been sponsoring Ireland’s annual Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition (BTYSTE) since 2000. At the turn of the millennium, the competition received 600 applications from across Ireland. In 2020, more than 1,800 projects were entered and 550 have been selected for the showcase in the RDS this week.

“I don’t think STEM has ever been more important and we’ve seen that over the 20 years as our past pupils become involved in the event itself, and we see them go from strength to strength,” said Shay Walsh, managing director of BT Ireland.

“I won the competition in 2006 and I haven’t missed a year yet,” said former BTYSTE champion Aisling Judge. “It’s a coming home.”

“So long as we continue to make sure that the students are the protagonists, that they are the hero of the event, then we will continue to produce world-leading scientists and world leaders in general,” said 2001 winner Dr Peter Taylor, who returns this year as a judge for BTYSTE 2020.

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Words by Elaine Burke