Two Cork students win prestigious EirGrid award with river turbine project

Two students from Scoil Mhuire gan Smál in Blarney have been awarded the prestigious EirGrid Cleaner Climate Award for their project at the SciFest@College 2026 regional competition at Munster Technological University Cork.

Malachy Burns and Conor Walsh’s project, ‘Can we use Machine Learning to Optimise the Design of Hydroelectric Turbines?’ looked at building small-scale hydroelectric turbines for use in rivers. An algorithm determines turbine spec — such as he number of blades, thickness of blade, vertical or horizontal axis placement, and height — to best optimise efficiency and minimise impact on environmental factors.

Their project was selected from 100 entries on show at the campus event.

SciFest@College is a nationwide series of STEM fairs for second-level students, held across 16 regional colleges.

CLEANER CLIMATE

Sponsor EirGrid, Ireland’s electricity system, presents the Cleaner Climate Award to recognise the role that young people play in building a sustainable future.

The award honours technical excellence and a meaningful contribution to energy and environmental sustainability.

Congratulating the winners, Orlaith Diamond, head of sustainability at EirGrid, said: “As we continue to work towards the government target of ensuring 80% of Ireland’s electricity comes from renewable sources, we recognise that nurturing the next generation of problem solvers and innovators is essential to building a clean, resilient energy system. Congratulations to Malachy and Conor on their award.”

Malachy and Conor will now progress to the SciFest national final in November, for a chance to represent Ireland at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in 2027.