Phenomenal success for Laois students at Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition

There was great success for Laois students at this year's Stripe Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in the RDS, with one sixth year student presented with the Individual Runner Up Award for his innovative project. 

Four schools in Laois took part in this year's competition which saw over 500 finalists showcase their projects across different categories at the RDS from Wednesday, 7 January to Saturday, 10 January. 

Students from Heywood CS in Ballinakill, Mountrath CS, Dunamase College / Coláiste Dhún Mhásc and St Mary's CBS Portlaoise qualified as finalists with their exciting projects.

Sixth year student from St Mary's CBS Joshua Corbett had major success at this year's competition with his fascinating project entitled, 'There's plenty of room to break through at the bottom.'

Pictured is student Joshua Corbett from St. Mary's CBS with his project, 'There's Plenty of Room To Break Through at the Bottom', at the 2026 Stripe Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.

Joshua's individual senior project was submitted to the Chemical, Physical and Mathematical Sciences category. The study identifies tiny nanocarriers for drug delivery administered through the nose to treat brain cancer.

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The project found that nanocarrier therapies fail in preclinical testing. Joshua developed an AI driven pipeline that can identify failure causes and optimise formulations to enhance brain drug delivery.

Co-founder of Stripe Patrick Collison and Minister for Education and Youth Hildegarde Naughton TD presenting the Individual Runner Up Award to Joshua Corbett from St. Mary's CBS in Portlaoise at The Stripe Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2026 Awards.

The St Mary's CBS student was presented with the The Smurfit Westrock Chemical, Physical and Mathematical Award as well as the Individual Runner Up Award. 

Co-founder of Stripe Patrick Collison and Minister for Education and Youth Hildegarde Naughton TD presented the runner up award to Joshua. 

Representing Heywood CS, second year students Aoibhinn Malone and Síona Lalor were victorious with their insightful project which explored taste familiarity and visual recognition accuracy of fruits and vegetables in children aged 8-12 years old. 

Aoibhinn and Síona were presented with the 1st Junior Group Award in the Social and Behavioural Sciences Category.

Two other studies from Heywood CS had also qualified for this year's competition. 

Zuzana Janockova and Luke Connolly, third year students at the school, showcased their study in the Health and Wellbeing category's intermediate group on the importance of the EU regulation on makeup products.

Pictured are students Ashling Gonzalez and Elle Donovan from Heywood Community School with their project, 'How early is too early? The link between the age joining social media, screen time and beauty influencer exposure'.

Transition Year students Ashling Gonzalez and Elle Donovan also represented Heywood CS with their project which examined the link between the age of joining social media, screen time and beauty influencer exposure. Ashling and Elle investigated whether when young girls get their first social media account, if algorithms increase their exposure to toxic influencers.

Mountrath CS student Andrea Carroll also qualified for the finals exploring the impacts of social media with her project, 'Are potentially harmful parenting practices normalised in kid-influencing industries? A content-and audience-perception study.'

Pictured is student Andrea Carroll from Mountrath Community School with her project, 'Are potentially harmful parenting practices normalised in kid-influencing industries? A content-and audience-perception study'.

Two projects from Dunamase College were also showcased at the exhibition.

Three Transition Year students, Melissa Barcoe, Leo Bennett and Cian Bonnie, presented their project investigating whether the mineral content of mains and well water affects taste to such an extent that families spend between €800 and €3,000 annually on bottled water.

Pictured is student Angela Babikanga from Dunamase College (Colaiste Dhun Masc) with her project, 'One more haul: A study on overconsumption from the mind of a young consumer.'

Finally, fifth-year student Angela Babikanga qualified as a finalist with her project which examined the mentality behind overconsumption among young people.