Images competitors success for Killarney Girls’s Shed

Scoil Phobail Sliabh Luachra in Rathmore is celebrating a significant success after college students Eoin Cashman and Alex Thompson have been named total runners-up on the National SciFest finals held in Marino College, Dublin final week.

The pair additionally gained the Regeneron International Science & Engineering Award and can now symbolize Ireland on the world finals in Phoenix, Arizona in 2026.
Their challenge, titled Dust Dynamics: Analysing Planetary Bodies by way of the Ballistic Motion of Lofted Dust Particles, examined how the motion of mud can reveal key details about a planet’s setting, together with atmospheric density and gravity. As a part of their research, they analysed footage of mud thrown up by the Lunar Roving Vehicle in the course of the Apollo 16 mission in 1972. Using on-line software program and physics calculations realized in class, they estimated the moon’s gravitational acceleration to 1.72 m/s², inside 6.7% of the accepted worth.
The nationwide finals featured initiatives assessed by judges from scientific and engineering fields. More than 16,000 college students entered SciFest 2025, making the duo’s achievement a major milestone. Their trainer Kevin McCarthy mentored the challenge, and the varsity says the scholars’ work may very well be utilized to footage from different planetary missions sooner or later.