Agricultural and environmental projects were among the winners and runners-up at the 61st BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition (BTYSTE) 2025.
The winners and runners up across group and individual categories were announced yesterday evening (Friday, January 10), at the event in the RDS in Dublin.
The top prize for this year’s event was won by sisters Ciara Murphy (17), Saoirse Murphy (15), and Laoise Murphy (12), who are in fifth, third, and first year respectively in Presentation Secondary School, Tralee, Co. Kerry.
Their winning project, though not directly related to agriculture, is an important innovation, as it is a medical assistance app designed to support emergency healthcare responses.
Their project is called ‘ACT (Aid Care Treat): App-timising emergency response’, and is designed to tackle challenges in transferring medical data effectively and efficiently to the emergency services.
The app also has the capability to share precise geolocation co-ordinates. Once the data reaches the emergency services, there is the possibility for rapid onward transmission to the dispatch control centres, the attending mobile units, and the hospitals.
In addition to receiving the top prize of €7,500, Ciara, Saoirse and Laoise will represent Ireland at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS) this year in Riga, Latvia. Also, this year for the first time, Ciara, Saoirse and Laoise as the overall BTYSTE winners, together with the Best Individual winner, will be awarded a trip to the World Expo in Osaka, Japan.
Meanwhile, Tomás Markey (18), in sixth year in St. Brogan’s College, Bandon, Co. Cork, won the prize for Best Individual, with his project ‘PM-DAC: A system for removing CO2 from the atmosphere’.
PM-DAC stands for passive and modular-direct air capture. It is designed to reduce the cost of carbon dioxide sequestration.
Luke Blackwell (16), in fourth year in CBS Thurles in Co. Tipperary, won the prize for Individual Runner-Up, with his project, ‘A novel approach to regenerative agriculture through the use of comfrey as a sustainable soil enhancer’.
As part of his project, Luke undertook an investigation into the use of comfrey, a sustainable biological soil enhancer, as an alternative to artificial fertilisers in agriculture.
Dr. Eoin Lettice, a judge for the Biological & Ecological Category, said that this project “represents a very broad and detailed piece of work which has the potential to make a significant contribution to regenerative agriculture and to sustainable food production generally”.
Finally, Aoife Fadian (15) and Jessica O’Connor (16), both in fourth year in Ursuline College in Sligo, won the prize for Runner-Up Group, with their project, ‘Sheep Strength: Using wool to reinforce concrete’.
Their project involved testing the feasibility of mixing sheep wool with concrete as a more sustainable strengthening agent instead of polypropylene.
Barry Kennedy, chair of the Technology Group Judges, said: “The students used extensive and rigorous testing techniques such as compression, tensile, drop, extreme heat, and freeze thaw. Their results have shown very positive potential for the use of wool in concrete.
“They demonstrated great skill, knowledge and hard work in investigating this more sustainable solution which could make valuable use of this renewable resource within Ireland,” he added.
The BTYSTE 2025 concludes today (Saturday, January 11).