Loreto's Surabhi leads the way as Kilkenny students take home SciFest prizes

A student from Loreto Secondary School in Kilkenny has won first place in Ireland’s future innovators at SciFest4STEM regional event at South East Technological University

Surabhi Gunjur Sathish’s project focused on an innovative automated waste sorting system, called IRIS: the Intelligent Recycling Sorting system. Her project was exceptional and extremely innovative, especially considering that she had no previous experience in computer programming.

Using an AI model created with Python, Surabhi's IRIS system identifies and classifies rubbish into three categories — organic waste, general waste, and recyclables, using Convolution Neural Networks (CNN) with an accuracy of 96%. Her model was then run on a Raspberry Pi, with a pi camera attached. The item being classified was put up to a camera, where the AI would identify the bin the item goes into.

Based on its output, she wrote a python program where certain servo motors would move, to push the item into the correct bin (the item would either be pushed to the right, left, or downwards). She built a working model with basic materials like cardboard and bamboo sticks, and electronics borrowed from the local coderdojo club, and the computer science department in Loreto.

Surabhi’s project impressed the judges at the regional SciFest event, and she has now qualified for the National Final in November.

Surabhi’s achievement is a testament to her hard work and dedication, and it is truly exceptional what she has accomplished with the resources available to her. She now turns her attention to the national final.

SciFest is an excellent opportunity for second-level students to showcase their scientific investigations and promote STEM education.