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Jack Nagle and Eoghan McKenna with their ‘Dreamy Baby Prop’.
TWO young second year students from Killorglin Community College will take their place at Europe’s largest Maker Faire in Rome, Italy later this month.
Jack Nagle and Eoghan McKenna have qualified, out of a field of thousands, to exhibit their medical device ‘Dreamy Baby Prop’.
The two young men, who are only 14, designed, developed and manufactured this medical device themselves and are hopeful that it will make a considerable impact in Rome in October where there is an expected 600 inventions and more than 100,000 visitors.
‘Dreamy Baby Prop’ is an affordable cot (or adaptation to a cot) that allows a parent to effortlessly raise their baby to the medically recommended 30-degree elevation to help them gain relief from reflux, head colds and sinus irritation.
Parents all over the world can relate to trying to raise cots single headedly, sometimes with a very upset and sick baby in their arms, and often in the early hours of the morning. This device does not solve the reflux problem itself but it does help the baby get some rest so as to make it easier to deal with.
Jack and Eoghan have young siblings and have witnessed the difficulties that ‘reflux’ presents for them and their parents. This is where the idea was initially germinated. From there they set about researching, investigating and developing their idea. Now at prototype stage two they are looking forward to further developing it and possibly bringing it to market.
Mentored by their design and communications teacher, Anthony Griffin, they have utilised traditional and state of the art technologies to bring this project from concept to reality. Having exhibited the project at SciFest in Kerry and at the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition at the RDS the two students have qualified out of thousands of applications from across Europe and are being flown to Rome and accommodated in a hotel for five nights as part of the achievement – all expenses paid.
They will be accompanied by Donal Brosnan, a teacher from Killorglin Community College, and some family members also will travel for this ‘once in a lifetime’ experience.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for Killorglin Community College and the two students. They have worked very hard to achieve this and are ready to make a big impression in Rome. We have evolved oved over the last 10 years and re-invented ourselves as a school. As well as a strong emphasis on academics we continually promote enterprise, innovation and entrepreneurship. The fruits of our work has been displayed at notional level at the Student Enterprise Awards, Sentinus Northern Ireland, SciFest and the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition. This latest susses takes our school to the highest stage in Europe and we are so proud of Jack and Eoghan. This reinforces that what we are doing here at Killorglin Community College and our focus on STEM (Science Engineering Technology & Maths) is improving the educational experience of our students, which is also reflected in the state exams each year.”
Maker Faire Global is the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth – a family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker Movement. It’s a place where people of all ages and backgrounds gather together to show what they are making, and share what they are learning.
