Tipperary students invited to compete for EirGrid climate award

Secondary school students in Tipperary are being encouraged to enter a STEM focused competition, with the chance of winning the EirGrid Climate and Delivering a Cleaner Energy Future award.

With a number of students from Cistercian College, Roscrea scooping the award earlier this year, EirGrid and SciFest are urging Tipperary students to get creative again this academic year.

Earlier this year, Cistercian College students Dylan Cafferty, Dan O’Brien and James Miller won the award for their project, ‘Solar and wind power working together to charge my phone’, while Sam Walsh, Macdara Fitzpatrick and Barnwell Mulholland claimed the accolade with their project, ‘Steps towards Energy Efficiency at CCR (Cistercian College Roscrea)’.

Also impressing judges and claiming the honour with their project, ‘Investigating the viability of hydroelectricity in our school as a renewable source of energy’, were Robert Dunne and Harry Madden.

EirGrid, the operator and developer of Ireland’s electricity grid has partnered with SciFest to create the climate and energy focused award which will be presented to students who design a creative, innovative approach to utilising energy from clean resources.

SciFest@School is a second-level programme promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) education by providing a forum for students to present and display their scientific investigations.

Speaking about EirGrid’s involvement in the programme, Errol Close, Head of Strategy and Sustainability with EirGrid said: “Leading on sustainability and decarbonisation is central to our strategy. Achieving this requires the development of innovative solutions to enable electricity to play a key role in decarbonising our daily lives. That is why EirGrid is proud to partner with SciFest on this award, to give secondary school students a chance to showcase their ambitious, solution-driven ideas to addressing climate change.”

He added, “EirGrid is working to securely transition Ireland’s power system to one that is built around low-carbon renewable energy, to create a better future for all. We look forward to developing this partnership and continuing to support young people in participating in STEM subjects and creating those critical skills that will be required to support the transition to a cleaner energy future.”

Welcoming the renewed partnership, CEO of SciFest, Sheila Porter commented: “The EirGrid Climate and Delivering a Cleaner Energy Future Award serves to raise awareness of the need for climate action in our young people and will encourage them to become ambassadors for change regarding the most important issue facing the world today. We are grateful to EirGrid for their continued support and look forward to working with them again in the new academic year.”

For further information about EirGrid’s role in delivering a cleaner energy future visit eirgrid.ie or for more about SciFest Fairs visit scifest.ie