Kildare student off to LA to compete in global science fair with 'Hum your way to better health!'

Leaving Cert student Caolann Brady is primed for global success at an international science fair in Los Angeles (LA) later this week.  SciFest national winner 2016 Caolann will participate in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in California. Caolann is sitting her Leaving Certificate this year at St Wolstan’s Community School in Celbridge, Co Kildare and is looking forward to the international event, having won top honours at the ISEF event last November.

Born with Asthma, her project focussed on the natural treatment of asthma through humming and breathing techniques. Caolann herself was born with asthma and suffered many asthma attacks which were treated by nebulisers. This sparked her interest in the area and led to her award-winning project ‘Hum your way to better health’.

Research has shown that the ventilation of the paranasal sinuses (inhaling and exhaling) increases greatly when a person practised specifically defined humming techniques. Caolann set about exploring whether this was true or not by conducting a series of experiments with 175 participants. Her results indicated that the prescribed humming technique improves lung function across a range of ages, genders and breathing capabilities by an average of 10%.

Speaking about her award, Caolann said: “I am very excited to travel to California and to present my work to some of the top STEM professionals in the world. I am also looking forward to meeting young people from all over the world and seeing the different projects that they are working on. This is a wonderful opportunity and I am so thankful to my family, friends, teachers and everyone at SciFest who have supported me up to now.”

Sheila Porter, CEO, SciFest commented: “We are all very proud of Caolann and the work she has done. Participating in ISEF is a great opportunity and I am sure she will enjoy it hugely. SciFest is all about encouraging a love of science, technology, engineering and maths among young people and Caolann really embodies all of this. I look forward to seeing what she will achieve in the coming weeks, months and years.”

Intel ISEF is the world’s largest international pre-college science competition, involving some 1,700 students from over 75 countries competing for a prize fund totalling $4million. The SciFest programme is funded primarily by Science Foundation Ireland, Boston Scientific and Intel Ireland.

Out very best wishes to Caolann in her endeavours!