Dublin student wins European Young Scientists award

Adam Kelly (17) from Skerries has developed a tool that helps to develop super computers

17-year-old Skerries student Adam Kelly, who has developed a series of digital tools for use in the quantum computing, has won top prize at the 55th BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition.

A Skerries teenager who was crowned Ireland's Young Scientist of the Year in January and went on to have an asteroid named in his honour in the US as a result of his scientific achievements has now added a major European title to his list of achievements.

Adam Kelly (17) took home the top prize at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition in January 2019 with a project that developed a tool to select the optimum algorithm for the simulation of particular quantum circuits to help with the development of super computers.

As the overall winner, he was given the opportunity to represent Ireland at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists 2019 in Bulgaria which he has now also won.

He has been honoured alongside students from Denmark, Germany and the US and like all the winning entries will receive €7,000 for his projects.

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The winners were among 155 young scientists aged between 14 to 20 years of age from 39 countries who competed at the contest in Sofia.

Even before the latest triumph it had been a stellar year for Adam. He has also had an asteroid named in his honour after winning an international science and engineering award at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Phoenix, Arizona and won the Science Foundation Ireland Intel ISEF award at SciFest National Final last November.

"I want to congratulate Adam for his success here at the EUCYS," said the head of the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition Mari Cahalane.

“As one of the most highly-regarded international student science competitions, it is a fantastic demonstration of student STEM achievement.

“Ireland has consistently done very well at the competition, and Adam has continued this strong record with his achievement here today.”

The EUCYS is an initiative of the European Commission under the Science and Society program. It showcases the best of European student scientific achievement.

The 100 projects presented at the EUCYS in Sofia this year covered a broad spectrum of scientific areas, including biology, physics, chemistry, computing, social sciences, environment, mathematics, materials, engineering and medicine.

Conor Pope

Conor Pope

Conor Pope is Consumer Affairs Correspondent, Pricewatch Editor