»
THE IRISH MIND
L–R:Young Scientist of theYearwinnersGeorgeReynolds (1968), Luke Drury (1969) andMaryKelly-Quinn (1976)
‘geo-battery’ effect. “The nearestmin- eral depositwas an ironmine at Clogh- leagh in CoWicklowand I used to cycle there to carry outmy experiments,” says Reynolds. Winning the award helped himget a
place in Trinity CollegeDublin (TCD) where he attained a BSc in geology and anMSc in geophysics in 1974.He also received a bursary fromRoadstone Ltd which helped himthrough college. “For 13 years Iworked inmineral
exploration and discovered a copper- zincmine in Spain through innovative technology,” he says. “I became fluent in Spanish and French and have been running a geophysical consulting busi- ness since 1987, obtaining anMBA degree fromthe Smurfit Business School in 2000. Thanks to the Young Scientist andmy subsequent career path, I ampresently developing a low- cost radiationmonitorwith a huge ex- portmarket potential and a significant jobs contribution ifmanufactured in Ireland.” Wesley College student LukeDrury
was the overallwinner in 1969 for his project, ‘The construction and use of spectro-photometer to investigate com- plex ion formation in a transition metal’. “Normally copper salts are blue, but I
had accidentally dropped copper sul- phate solution on some common salt and noticed that the colour changed to a yellow-green,” he explains. “I investi- gated this further and built an instru- ment to try andmeasure the effect quantitatively. It is actually due to complex ion formationwith variable numbers of halide ions replacing the watermolecules that normally solvate
‘Winning the Irish andEuropean Young Scientist competitions in 1978 as a fifth-year student opened up somany doors that I quickly got the “research” bug and never looked back’
tute forAdvanced Studies. I also hold the honorary position ofAndrew's Professor ofAstronomy in TCDand have been elected as President of the Royal IrishAcademy for
2011-2014.My mainwork has been in the area of parti- cle acceleration theory and the origin of cosmic rays.” Astudent at Our Lady's Secondary
School, Castleblayney,MaryKelly- Quinn’swinning project in 1976 investi- gated the presence of heavymetals in some abandonedmines in CoMon- aghan using geophysical and other techniques. The projectwas also en- tered into the European competition for Young Scientists and Inventors – it was the first time Ireland competed – and took first place. “I had an interest in scientific
the copper ion.” Drury says the award earned hima
lot of respect at school and has been useful since, but believes hewould have followed the same career regardless. “So it probably didn't changemy career path, but it didmake it
easier.My suspi- cion is that this is true formost of the top-prizewinners.” Hewent on to study puremathemat-
ics and experimental physics in TCD and then did a PhDin Cambridge in theoretical astrophysics. “I then worked for nearly seven years in one of theMax-Planck-Institutes inHeidel- berg Germany before returning to Dublin as senior professor in the School of Cosmic Physics in theDublin Insti-
74 INNOVATION IRELAND REVIEW Issue 4 Spring/Summer 2012
research froman early age havingwon the runner-up prize on two occasions [1973 and 1975] beforewinning the over- all prize in 1976.Winning the competi- tion cementedmy interest in science and research and setme on a very exciting career path, aswell as opening up somanymore opportunities over the years.” Kelly-Quinn is nowa senior lecturer
atUCD, a director of the Sciences Graduate School and a director of cam- pus companyAquens
Ltd.At the begin- ning of 2011 shewas appointed chair of theNational BiodiversityData Centre and she has been a judge and chair of the biology and ecological sciences panel in the BT Young Scientist compe- tition since 2000. Her primary research activities focus
on the assessment of land use and other human activities on the chemical and ecological quality of rivers and
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80