The designer of an entirely new type of web browser that combines very high speed, a talking cartoon character and the ability to translate foreign language web sites instantly has taken first prize in the Esat BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition 2003.
The 16-year-old winner is Adnan Osmani, a sixth year student at St Finian's College, Mullingar, Co Westmeath. He spent almost two years writing 1.5 million lines of computer code to produce his browser "XWEBS", which can download web information two to five times faster than a conventional browser.
A browser is the piece of Internet software which allows a user to surf the Internet and find and retrieve information. Adnan's browser comes complete with 50 separate search engines, all commonly available music playback software packages, and also supports a DVD player. With XWEBS you can watch your favourite movie while searching the Internet or making an online airline booking.
A number of companies have already approached Adnan about his browser. "Basically a company would want this because it can provide users with the ultimate Internet experience," he said yesterday.
The judges said they were impressed with the browser's "comprehensive range of features". They also commented on the animated on-screen character Phoebe, who helps the user by reading out web pages. "In the opinion of the judges his achievement and depth of knowledge is far in advance of his years," said the chair of the judging panel, Ms Angela Keegan.
The Minister for Education and Science, Mr Dempsey, and Mr Tom Byrne, chief financial officer of Esat BT, presented Adnan with a cheque for €3,000 and a Waterford Crystal trophy at yesterday's awards ceremony at the RDS, Dublin. Adnan also wins the opportunity to represent Ireland at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists which takes place in Budapest, Hungary in September this year.
Three students from St Patrick's Co-Ed Comprehensive College in Maghera, Co Derry won the best group prize with their project entitled "An investigation into the effects of music tempo on reaction times". Cathal Mullin (16), Eimear Smith (17), and Liam O'Kane (16), built a testing device and designed procedures to see whether the tempo of music played to subjects had an influence on how quickly they could react to a stimulus. It was known that rats traversed a maze more quickly when quick tempo Mozart was played to them and the students found something similar occurred in the 55 subjects they tested. "As the tempo increased the reaction times got better," said Liam.
There was a clear trend when compared to results where no music was played, he said. They found that reaction times increased significantly, up to 8 per cent, at tempos in excess of 120 beats a minute. They realised, however, that the test results were not definitive enough to make claims about their meaning. "We are not quite there," said Eimear yesterday, but they believe further testing would prove the effect. The trio received a cheque for €1,500 and an Esat BT perpetual trophy.
The runner-up individual prizewinner was Mairéad McCloskey, a 17-year-old sixth year student from Loreto College, Coleraine, Co Derry. Her project was an investigation of the "Taylor-Couette flow", a study of the chaotic but stable pattern of waves that could be created in a purpose-built, liquid-filled test device.
She used a high-resolution camera and computer software to study the waves. Such studies helped our understanding of liquid movement through pumps or air over an aircraft wing, she said.
The judges were impressed with her study because she had identified inconsistencies in earlier work done on Taylor-Couette flows. While she hadn't resolved them, pinpointing them had advanced our understanding of this complex subject. She received €750 and an Esat BT perpetual trophy.
The runner-up group prize went to Lisa Naughton and Rebecca Quinn, both 15 and transition year students at Jesus and Mary Secondary School, Enniscrone, Co Sligo. They studied levels of the radioactive gas, radon, in water supplies around the Sligo/Mayo region. Most studies involved gaseous radon in homes and schools, said Lisa. They decided to look at radon dissolved into water recovered from 21 locations including well and tap drinking water, and from lakes and rivers.
They found that tap and raw surface water had fairly low radon levels but all well water sampled had levels typically 33 per cent higher. Levels remained well below radon limits set by EU directives, they said. They would like to continue their research for the next Young Scientist exhibition. They received €750 and an Esat BT perpetual trophy.