Drogheda student is Young Scientist of Year with study of how cities grow and decline

A study of how cities grow, mature and then decline is the overall winner of the Esat Telecom Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, taking place at the RDS, Dublin.

The top prize was taken by Thomas Gernon (16), a student at Colaiste Ris, Dundalk, Co Louth, with a project entitled "The Geography and Mathematics of Europe's Urban Centres". This is the first time in the 36-year history of the Young Scientist event that a project in the social and behavioural sciences has taken first place. Thomas becomes the Esat Young Scientist of the year.

The award for best group was won by Peter Taylor and Shane Browne, of St Kilian's Community School, Bray, Co Wicklow, for a complex mathematical study of Pascal's Triangle.

The runner-up individual prize went to Anna Madden from Loreto College in Dublin for her analysis of the conflict in Northern Ireland entitled "A Mathematical Solution to Conflict".

The runner-up group prize was won by Belfast students Joseph Henry, Philip Martin and Kevin Cunningham from St Malachy's College for their project, "Supernatural Staring or Scientific Sight", an analysis of an apparent paranormal phenomenon.

The four prizes were presented yesterday evening by the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, who was accompanied by the chairman of Esat Telecom, Mr Denis O'Brien.

Ms O'Rourke described the exhibition as a "great event" and congratulated the students on their efforts and the quality of their work. It had given them an opportunity to show what they were capable of doing, she added.

Thomas Gernon's project examined the size and location of 200 large urban centres across Europe. He was attempting to understand why some cities thrive and grow, even as others decline. He used his conclusions to show how development progressed in different regions and proposed ideas for better urban planning in the future.

The judging panel was impressed with his work which, in the panel's view, would be relevant to "professional planners and policy-makers", and also to those who marvelled at the beauty of Venice or the vitality of Berlin. Thomas received a specially commissioned trophy and a cash prize of £1,000. He will now represent Ireland at the 12th EU contest for young scientists this autumn in Amsterdam.

Peter Taylor and Shane Browne, both 15, tackled a most difficult mathematical subject, an analysis of Pascal's Triangle, devised by the great mathematician in the 17th century. The three-dimensional shape forms a tetrahedron and the object is to devise mathematical expressions by looking at numbered elements in any given slice through the shape.

"This is a wonderful marriage of geometry and arithmetic with algebra," the judges stated in their citation. The students verified many of the facts known about the structure and went on to make a "novel discovery" about the triangle and even more complex mathematical expressions associated with it.

The students receive a trophy and £500; they have also won the Intel Excellence Award in the physics, chemistry and mathematics category. This entitles them to participate in Intel's International Science and Engineering Fair in the United States later this year.

Anna Madden (15) used mathematics to analyse the conflict in Northern Ireland. Her goal was to express in mathematical and probabalistic terminology the degree to which parties in the North were successful in attaining their political aspirations after the Belfast Agreement.

"The project explains how applying the logic of probability to the interactive process can enable parties to change their positions, consequently introducing a new dynamic into the political process," the judges stated. Anna wins a trophy and £300.

Joseph Henry (17), Philip Martin (16) and Kevin Cunningham (16) decided to examine the commonly held belief that a person can somehow "sense" when another is staring at them from behind. Their conclusive findings showed that people were not able to sense this.