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THE IRISH MIND
participating students protect and growtheir ideas. BTsaid exhibiting students have
shown they understand the benefits of Irish agriculture as a commer- cially viable opportunity. In 2012, over 60 projects focused on the agri- business sector, representing a four- fold increase on the 2007 entries in this sector. Students also appear to appreci-
ate the value of smart technology, with the 2011 and 2012 exhibitions seeing a number of apps developed for the everyday consumer from inception right through to delivery of a commercially viable business venture. There has been a five-fold
increase in the number of projects investigating possible alternative and renewable energy sources. There has also been a five-fold in- crease in the number of projects geared towards conservation of the environment. As regards projects focusing on
socialmedia, students at this year’s exhibitionwere concernedwith its dangers and howto protect them- selves online. This represents a sig- nificant change in attitude from 2007,whenmany entries around socialmedia focused on its benefits and attributes. The number of projects relating to
PROJECTS FOR CHANGING TIMES
AS PARTOFTHERECENT LAUNCHOFTHE2013BTYOUNG SCIENTIST&TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITION,BTreleased research into trends in projects that have qualified over the past six years to understand patterns in howstu- dents are thinking andmaking deci- sions and the sources of their inspiration and subjectmatter. According toBT, the research into
over 3,000 qualified entries from 2007 to 2012 has revealed that par- ticipating students have dramati- cally evolved their ideas to reflect the constantly shifting economic, environmental and social land- scapes in Ireland over this period. In the 2012 exhibition, 15pc of par-
ticipating students demonstrated entrepreneurial flair coupledwith honed business acumen, according to the
research.By contrast, six years ago, just 2pc of projectswere considered commercially
viable.As a result of this trend,BThas called on the PatentsOffice to be present at the exhibition to help
78 INNOVATION IRELAND REVIEW Issue 4 Spring/Summer 2012
mental health issues has dramati- cally increased. In 2007, just two projects referenced the topic, com- paredwith over 20 in the 2012 exhi- bition. “In 2012 the PatentsOffice
received queries fromover 30 en- tries prior to the exhibition,” said Dr FergalBrady, examiner of patents at the PatentsOffice.“We are certainly seeing a trend formore of a product, innovation or invention-led project fromthe applicationswe get. Prior to this, on averagewewould have seen approximately 12 patent appli- cations and traditionally one to two of these are accepted.” TheBTYoung Scientist&Tech-
nology Exhibitionwill take place in theRDS, Dublin from9 to 12 January 2013.
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