Katie Kinane and Ali Ryan in second year had great success recently at Scifest in LIT Thurles. They won the Science Foundation of Ireland Best Project Award for their project ‘Mechanics of Pencil Holding in Early Childhood Care and Education children. They investigated how children in pre-schools in Tipperary Town and surrounding areas hold their pencil and whether with intervention pencil holding technique could be improved. The project was originally entered in the BT Young Scientist Competition in January, where they were highly recommended for their work. Ali and Katie will now go on to compete at a national final in November 2016 in Dublin.