Congratulations to Mícheál O Cróinín MacMathúna and Conall Conroy, Transition Year students from Coláiste an Spioraid Naoimh, Bishopstown who won 1st place in the Chemical, Physical & Mathematical Sciences category (Intermediate age group)

13 Jan 2026

Congratulations to Mícheál O Cróinín MacMathúna and Conall Conroy, Transition Year students from Coláiste an Spioraid Naoimh, Bishopstown who won 1st place in the Chemical, Physical & Mathematical Sciences category (Intermediate age group) at the Stripe Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition, 2026. It was a huge achievement for the lads.

Conall and Mícheál were expertly guided by technical officers Bruce Graham and Paul Conway throughout their project with advice from Professor Guangbo Hao in the School of Engineering and Architecture who helped them to fully realise their investigation.

The winning project investigated the energy absorption of biologically inspired and non-biologically inspired lattice structures for a potential use in mouthguards. They came up with the idea for the project after marvelling at the strength of biological patterns and the mechanical properties that follow. They 3D printed models of their five chosen lattice structures (cubic, triangular, honeycomb, orb web architecture and gyroid) in the UCC Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. They then calculated the energy absorption up to first peak load using a compression test in the UCC Civil Engineering Building Labs with the assistance of Seyedalireza Mohammadirad. They found that the honeycomb lattice had the highest specific energy absorption when tested in a horizontal orientation. The cubic lattice had the highest specific energy absorption when tested in a vertical orientation. They successfully 3D printed one of the first ever mouthguards with an internal lattice and look forward to further investigations in engineering.