President Mary McAleese joins forces with an eight-foot-tall robot called Titan this afternoon to open the 2006 BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition at the Royal Dublin Society in Dublin.
This year's exhibition is the largest yet, with more students and more projects and a spectacular range of special attractions to keep both students and visitors fully engaged in the proceedings.
Titan is just one of a number of celebrity robots that will be making an appearance during the four-day exhibition. Four years in the making, Titan can walk, talk and move about and will be looking for "victims" during the week.
The RDS Main Hall has been transformed for an annual event that typically attracts up to 35,000 visitors over the three days it is open to the public. Students from Dublin schools taking part in the exhibition were on hand yesterday to set up their projects and get ready for judging, which begins today immediately after the formal opening ceremonies. President McAleese will address the students, as will BT Ireland's chief operations officer Mike Maloney. Titan will also get a few words in as no one is likely to try to stop him.
The opening and the awards ceremony on Friday evening will be hosted by radio DJ Ray Darcy and by the current Rose of Tralee, Aoibheann Ní Shuilleabháin.
The second round of judging takes place tomorrow, with final judging by Friday afternoon. The awards ceremony is set for Friday evening, with the Minister for Education and Science, Mary Hanafin, on hand to congratulate the top group and individual award winners.
There is a prize fund of €5,000 available for the winning projects, and there are also a number of special awards, including travel and the opportunity to take part in the EU's young scientist exhibition next autumn.
There were 1,152 projects first considered for inclusion in the 2006 event, involving the work of more than 2,500 young scientists. The project list was reduced to 500 and these will be on hand from tomorrow for consideration by the judges.
The exhibition opens to the public tomorrow at 10am and remains open to visitors until Saturday at 5.30pm. Tickets cost €5 for students, €10 for adults, €25 for a family ticket that admits two adults and two children, and school parties of 20 or more cost €4 per student. Primary pupils are admitted for €3.50.
