Cork Chamber encourages Cork students to take an active interest in Science

9th November 2010

Chairperson of Cork Chamber’s Science, Research and Innovation (SRI) Committee and General Manager of FMC International, Brendan Keane, congratulated students from Nagle Community College, Mahon, on winning the Cork Chamber School Science Award 2010 with their project ‘Home Chemistry’. The project was one of a number of prize-winning entries at this year’s event which was sponsored by Boston Scientific and held at University College Cork (UCC) and was started three years ago with a view to generating interest in science among pre-Junior Certificate students. The competition is one of two education-support initiatives championed by Cork Chamber’s SRI Committee which focus on science and engineering.

Speaking about the event, Mr Keane said, “The Chamber, through the SRI Committee, is keen to promote science and engineering subjects at all levels of education and especially among these junior scientists. The wide range of projects on display, covering all aspects from ‘renewable energy sources’ to ‘sound’ and ‘home chemistry’, demonstrate the keen interest and sense of discovery among students from all over Cork. In supporting the efforts of these students we hope that they will consider a career in science and engineering in the future. This is essential if the country is to address the current imbalance between the supply and demand for science graduates”.

Nagle Community College was awarded first prize by judges from Boston Scientific, ConocoPhillips and UCC. ‘Sound’ by North Presentation Secondary School and ‘Acids, Bases and Fun’ by Terence MacSwiney Community College were awarded with 2nd and 3rd place prizes respectively. Speaking at the event Tom Mangan, Managing Director of Boston Scientific, said, “Boston Scientific is proud to sponsor this competition for the third time. We continue to be impressed by the enthusiasm and creativity shown by all the students who participated today and we hope this competition will encourage these students to consider science subjects in the senior cycle. Cork is fortunate to have a cluster of world-class, science-based industries operating locally, and we feel that it is vital that we collaborate with schemes such as these in order to promote and highlight the importance of science for the Cork region”.

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