A Cork teenager has won the 2019 Google Science Fair - the prestigious young scientist exhibition for the world's brightest kids.
Fionn Ferreira has only just completed his Leaving Cert at Schull Community College in West Cork.
Shortly after finishing his final paper, the 18-year-old was flown to Google international headquarters in Mountain View, California to present his science project, which could present a way to clean up our oceans, Cork Beo reports.
Fionn's project - “An investigation into the removal of microplastics from water using ferrofluids” - sets out a revolutionary way to filter microplastics from water by using magnets.
The international judging panel praised his work for offering an innovative and practical way to "start cleaning our oceans, one filter at a time".
The idea was good enough to have been chosen as one of 20 global finalists picked from a shortlist of 100 regional entries, competing for the top prize of a €45,000 bursary, with category winners each receiving €10,000 grants and exclusive STEM-related educational opportunities.
Fionn's educational bursary of €45,000 is less than the prize awarded to another young Munster man this week - Love Island winner Greg O'Shea who shares €55,000 with fellow reality show contestant Amber Gill.
It's a prize that should propel him to a fascinating career at the top of the research industry and open many doors for him.
Fionn had been planning to study further in the Netherlands this autumn but he may now find the top US colleges competing for his talents.
Not content with an already busy schedule, Fionn also works as a curator at the Schull Planetarium, has won 12 science fair awards, speaks three languages fluently, plays the trumpet at orchestra level, and has even had a minor planet named after him by the MIT Lincoln Laboratory.
Fionn describes his trip to California as "an incredible honour".
"My project came about as I was constantly hearing about plastic pollution on the news, and as I live by the sea in West Cork I was also seeing the real effects on our beaches every day.
"I discovered to my dismay that at present no screening or filtering for microplastics takes place in any European wastewater treatment centres, so I started looking around for a solution.
"Seeing that there was none I decided to investigate further, eventually finding a way to use ferrofluid, a magnetic liquid which sticks to the plastic allowing it to be removed using magnets."
