Mayo student claims prestigious prize at Young Scientist exhibition

A Mayo student was among the winners at the 2026 Stripe Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.

Dana Carney from Mount St Michael Secondary School in Claremorris, won first place in the Health and Wellbeing (Intermediate Individual) category for her project titled ‘Secure Hands: Evolving Real-Time ISL Translation for Critical First Responder Communication (A Refined and Extended Study)’.

Mount St. Michael had 14 students competing at the showcase after being shortlisted from thousands of entries, representing the school at the highest level of STEM. St Joseph’s Community College from Charlestown was the only other Mayo school to be represented at the finals of the prestigious competition.

Aoibheann Daly, a 4th year student from Mercy Mounthawk Secondary School in Co Kerry, was announced the overall winner with her project ‘GlioScope: Multi-task Deep Learning and Causal AI for Glioma & Glioblastoma Profiling’.

The Stripe YSTE trophy was presented to Aoibheann by Minister for Education, Hildegarde Naughton, and Stripe co-founder and former YSTE winner Patrick Collison. In addition to receiving the grand prize of €7,500, she will go on to represent Ireland at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists in Germany in September 2026.

The winning project helps doctors improve the treatment of brain cancer. The treatment and prognosis for brain cancer depends on the specific genetic mutations present, but there are currently no good methods for identifying these mutations. Doctors rely on taking samples of brain tissue, which is expensive, slow and carries a high risk of bleeding in the brain.

Glioscope allows a doctor to predict what genetic mutation is likely to be present from a simple MRI brain scan, so they can make quicker treatment decisions and reduce risk for the cancer patient.

Professor Catherine Darker, Head Judge for the Health and Wellbeing category, said: “Brain cancer is a devastating condition for people. GlioScope, developed by a 15-year-old student, is an extraordinary achievement. Aoibheann has brought together scientific areas of medicine with computer science to improve the chances of early intervention for people with brain cancer. She is a worthy winner of the Stripe Young Scientist and Technologist 2026.”

Aoife Fadian and Jessica O’Connor, 5th year students from Ursuline College in Sligo, were named Best Group, with their project ‘Sheep Strength II: Using Sheep Wool to Reinforce Concrete’. Expanding on their work from last year, the pair investigated the most effective, market-friendly form of sheep wool as a strengthening agent for concrete.

Barry Kennedy, Head Judge for the Technology category, said: “This novel use of wool has the potential to enable the manufacture of more sustainable concrete, enable new forms of thermal batteries, and open new business opportunities for sheep farmers in Ireland.”