A fifth year student from Skerries has won the 55th BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition.
17-year-old Adam Kelly, from Skerries Community College, took the top prize for his project "Optimizing The Simulation Of General Quantum Circuits".
The prize was presented to him by Education Minister Joe McHugh and managing director of BT Ireland, Shay Walsh.
His award includes the prize of €7,500 and the BTYSTE trophy.
The Winner of the 2019 BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition is Adam Kelly (17) 5th Year from Skerries Community College @Skerries_CC “Optimizing The Simulation Of General Quantum Circuits“. #btyste #ItStartsHere #Congratulations pic.twitter.com/nY9AvwRHW5
— BT Young Scientist (@BTYSTE) January 11, 2019
He'll also represent Ireland at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists, taking place in Bulgaria in September.
Minister McHugh said: "The atmosphere of excitement, creativity and fun at the RDS this week has been incredible.
"I am particularly pleased to see so many young people tackling some of the most important issues facing us, from climate change to health, to technology, ethics and societal change.
"The students are a credit to their families, schools and teachers and they should rightly be proud of being here. They are a huge inspiration."
Adam's developed a tool to select the optimum algorithm for the simulation of particular quantum circuits, which could inform the development of a practical quantum computer - which is still at an early stage.
This could have implications across many areas, including cybersecurity.
