'You are going to accomplish incredible things in the years to come,' Stripe co-founder tells young scientists

"I was sitting in the audience here not that long ago, now 21 years ago. I've been spending some time in the hall and the standard of your projects is extremely impressive and you are going to accomplish incredible things in the years to come."

"The mylar [plastic film] acts as the reflective lens, which reflects the image onto our webcam, which in turn, puts it onto the computer for us so we can see clear images,"

"that's at the heart of it"

Patrick Collison won the competition 21 years ago and now runs a $100bn technology company with his brother John. He visited the RDS to meet students whose work is displayed at the Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition, now sponsored by Stripe. He spoke with students at roughly 550 project stands and participated in a Q&A, praising project standards and encouraging students to focus on what compels them. Collison engaged across five exhibition categories, including international winners from Kenya and Jordan. Student projects included a low-cost Newtonian telescope using mylar as a reflective lens and returning teams with enhanced projects.

Read at Irish Independent