CO AAMAGh student Jowita rogalska has designed the new perpetual trophy which will be presented to the winner of the 50th BT Young Scientist & Technology exhibition in Dublin next week.
The 19-year-old, who attends the Southern regional College in Lurgan, was overall winner of the competition as her design captured the imagination of a judging panel headed by world-renowned artist Graham Knuttel.
Marking the 50th anniversary of a cornerstone of the Irish educational calendar, BT commissioned a search for a design demonstrating innovation and technology for the new trophy. Students from institutes of technology across Ireland and regional colleges in the north were invited to submit designs.
An original entry of 87 was whittled down to five finalists, who as well as Jowita included Hannah Robinson from North West regional College, Daniel Lawlor from Carlow IT and Kirsten Donaldson and Barry Cunningham both from Southern regional College.
Jowita - who receives a commemorative trophy of her own and a MacBook laptop - said: "I was shocked but thrilled to learn that my design had been selected as the new trophy for the BT Young Scientist & Technology exhibition for the next three years. "I wanted to create a trophy design that demonstrated innovative flair but also a sense of simplicity so I experimented with a number of ideas before arriving at my finished design 'genius is found in simplicity'. "I feel privileged that Graham Knuttel, such an internationally revered artist, selected my design as the overall winner and this is the highlight of my education to date."
The BT Young Scientist & Technology exhibition (www.btyoungscientist. com), which runs from next Wednesday to Saturday, is organised by BT Ireland and is supported by partners including the Department of education NI, University of Ulster and Matrix.