Congratulations to Tyndall's Melusine Pigeon, Debismita Dutta, Alida Russo, Andrea Federico & Fernando Diaz who participated at the Cork and Galway heat of FameLab which was held virtually last week.
A special congratulations to Fernando Diaz, runner-up, at this year’s Cork Regional heat on June 3rd with his talk ‘The frozen Pandora’s box’. Fernando will continue on to represent Cork at the National Final alongside Jack Daly from APC Microbiome Centre in September.
Tyndall National Institute and CIT.
Runner-up at at this year’s Cork Regional heat
Fernando is studying a PhD in the nanotechnology group between Tyndall and CIT, where he’s working on developing an immunosensor for the detection of plant diseases. His main objective in joining FameLab was to demonstrate how Science topics can be easy to understand when used with humour if we compare it with our day to day activities.
During his talk, he made a comparison between the freezers of our homes and any ground that remains frozen on earth (Permafrost). He explained how after leaving the freezer door open by accident, numerous dangers can appear with the frost as is the case with different amounts of microorganisms and highlighted that this occurs as well in the Permafrost due to the climate change and microorganisms from the past posing a danger to our survival.
Tyndall National Institute and VistaMilk.
Alida Russo also scooped the ‘Audience vote’ on the night for her talk ‘Why milk is white’. Well done to all involved!
If you missed the FameLab 2021 Cork Regional heat - you can watch it back here.
Another special congratulations to Debismita Dutta, a 1st year PhD student in the Materials Science group in Tyndall, who won the Galway heat of Famelab on the 10th of June. Her talk titled ‘Unmixing a box of mixed paint’ explored noise cancelling headphones and how to separate signal from noise. Debismita will represent Galway at the National FameLab final in September.
FameLab is the world's largest science communication competition which is held annually in over 30 countries across the world. This year marks 15 years of FameLab International. This unique event challenges up and coming scientists, engineers and mathematicians to explain a complex idea in a fun, easy and engaging way for the public.
Participants are armed only with their wits and a few props to help them deliver a short three-minute presentation on bizarre and pertinent science concepts, in hopes to become the top newest voices from the world of science and engineering across the globe. Presentations are judged according to FameLab’s "3 Cs": Content, Clarity and Charisma.
The FameLab International Final will be held in November 2021.
FameLab is an initiative of the Cheltenham Science Festival in the UK. The British Council has licence to deliver the competition in over 30 countries internationally. In 2021, FameLab Ireland is funded by Science Foundation Ireland and is supported by Cpl Resources Plc and Henkel Ireland Limited.
FameLab Cork is managed by British Council Ireland in collaboration with Newstalk, University College Cork, APC, CONNECT, Infant, IPIC, MaREI, Tyndall, and VistaMilk.