Three North Tipperary school groups make finals of STEM Stars Competition

Three North Tipperary school groups have made it to the finals of a competition being ran by a leading global medical technology company, BD.

The company had a record number of entries for its ‘BD’s STEM Stars held last week in Limerick.

Some 60 plus projects were entered this year for the competition, with 23 making the finals, including three from North Tipp schools, two from Borrisokane Community School and one from St. Joseph’s College, Borrisoleigh.

The biggest such event for schools across Munster, the 2025 BD STEM Stars overall title was claimed by Mungret Community College, Co. Limerick, who received a prize of €10,000 for STEM facilities in their school for their project ‘Independent Me’ - a home-healthcare device to support people in the early stages of Alzheimer's in remembering key daily tasks.

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BD STEM Stars organizer Fionnagh Tsang, from Tipperary, said, “The STEM policy commenced in 2017 talks about children being natural innovators and that’s exactly what we are seeing as year on year we’ve been blown away by the standard of entries.”

The BD STEM Stars competition was launched six years ago by BD to promote and encourage participation in STEM subjects for second level students. The brief given to students was to devise solutions that positively impact and advance the world of healthcare. The program aligns with Ireland’s government programme launched in 2017 to promote STEM education.

Minister of State for Older People at the Department of Health and Housing, Kieran O’Donnell TD, was on hand to witness what he described as a “festival of innovation” and commended BD Research Centre Ireland (RCI) for its great initiative in hosting the competition.

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“This competition is an exemplar of how advocating for STEM in Ireland and BD RCI are helping to create STEM careers of the future,” said Minister O’Donnell. “These projects reflected both the ingenuity of the students and their desire to have a meaningful impact on the world of healthcare. The competition is a brilliant mix that gives huge confidence as to what the world of healthcare can be in the years ahead. I congratulate BD on this very important contribution to promoting STEM. They’re a very significant employer in the Limerick region and really leading by example with BD STEM Stars.”