Congratulations to Julia Aslambekova (Met Eireann Special Award) and to Aisling McCabe and Eabha Kernan (Highly Commended) on their success at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Awards.

Descriptions of both projects:

IOT Rain Gauge - Julia Aslambekova

"In this project I developed a rain gauge that sends its data to a computer, without the need for WIFI, but using radio waves instead. To make the rain gauge more Eco friendly, I incorporated a solar panel into the device. My rain gauge represents a significant improvement on existing rain gauges used by county councils around Ireland, which must be read manually and do not transmit their data". Julia

Cognitive Classrooms: a novel approach to streaming classes for the new Junior Cycle - Aisling McCabe and Eabha Kernan

"In this project, we hypothesised that if students are grouped into classes based on how they process information (ie. students of similar cognitive functions are grouped together), that student learning in the new Junior Cycle will be improved. Our classes experienced different teaching methods and classroom structures to suit their cognitive function type, and learner outcomes were improved using our methods. This suggests that schools should consider how students are grouped together, when planning for the new Junior Cycle". Aisling and Eabha