Young scientists show off their technical skills

Lower sixth pupils Hollie Wilson and Joanna Mills won second prize in the Chemical, Physical and Mathematical Sciences category at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition 2010.

Hollie and Joanna invented a BallistoCardiogram - a low-cost device for measuring the force with which blood is being pumped out of the heart.

Their impressive piece of work wowed the judges at the RDS in Dublin on January 15, securing second place in their category and earning them a cheque for 235 euro.

Teacher in charge, Dr Paul Wilson, congratulated Hollie and Joanna on their success.

"They worked very hard and very diligently. Even to be selected for the final was a great achievement, but to come second in their category was absolutely outstanding," he said.

South Antrim MLA Trevor Clarke also offered the girls his congratulations.

"I wish to congratulate Ballyclare High School on their award at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition 2010. This is a great achievement for the school. The students and teachers ought to be very proud. I understand that the school faced unprecedented competition with a record number of schools entering this year," the DUP man commented.

"Science and technology are important subjects for the future of Northern Ireland in order to develop and sustain a prosperous and vibrant economy. I therefore wish to commend these young scientists on their achievement," he added.

Meanwhile, on Friday (January 22) a group of inventive pupils from the school competed at the FIRST LEGO League UK finals in Loughborough.

The seven fourth formers, who call their group 'Little Einsteins', designed and built a robot out of Lego and programmed it to complete a series of tasks.

The pupils performed well in all four categories of the competition - Teamwork, Robot Design, Robot Task and Research Project - and won the runner-up prize, a cup made from Lego, in the Research Project section.

Teacher Nikki Craig praised the achievements of the pupils involved - Amy Campbell, Esther McNeill, Meagan Boyd, Stephen Dodds, Simon Hall, Chris Herron and Samuel Butler.

"I'm very proud of them. They all worked really hard and did very well. The competition was very tough," she said.