Irish student wins Google Science Fair Grand Prize

Google has announced the winners of its Science Fair, with the Grand Prize being awarded to Fionn Ferreira for a solution for extracting harmful microplastics from waste water.

Google welcomed 24 finalists from 14 countries to its headquarters for the awards, which also saw issues tackled across sustainability, healthcare, and accessibility.

The method for removing microplastics involves using oil added to a suspension containing a known concentration of microplastics, before magnetite powder is added, and the resulting microplastic containing ferro-fluid is removed using strong magnets.

Mariette DiChristina, Editor in Chief of Scientific American and the chief judge for the competition, said: “We praise Fionn for his tenacity and dedication to solving an important environmental problem, which embodies the spirit of exploration.”