Weather forecasting using artificial intelligence sees Kerry student Conor Casey win prize at international science festival

An Irish student has claimed the second prize and €1,600 in a prestigious international science festival for using artificial intelligence (AI) to forecast the weather. Conor Casey (18), from Pobalscoil Inbhear Scéine, Kenmare, Co Kerry represented Ireland at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), where he claimed second place in his category, earth and environmental sciences. The sixth year student gained the accolade for his project'Using AI to Improve Weather Prediction.' "The whole ISEF experience has been absolutely amazing. It was great that the competition got to go ahead virtually, it gave me the opportunity to interact with people from around the world who have done some incredible work across a huge variety of areas," he said. "I really enjoyed presenting my project and hearing from world famous scientists, who have really encouraged me to develop my love of STEM. "I'm immensely grateful to everyone at SciFest for this opportunity, as well as all my family and my teacher Ms Sarah Abbott, without whom none of this would have been possible." Using artificial intelligence, Conor developed a forecast model with a similar level of accuracy to current models but with "greater efficiency." Conor's goal was to make it cheaper to generate weather forecasts by reducing the amount of resources required. The young scientist secured his place at the international competition when he won the runner-up award at the SciFest 2020 National Final last November. The event is the largest, most inclusive STEM fair programme for second level students in Ireland. Get today's news headlines, opinion, sport and more direct to your inbox at 7.30am every morning, and every evening, with our free daily newsletter. Regeneron ISEF is the world's largest international pre-college science competition, involving over 1,800 students from 64 countries, regions and territories competing for a prize fund of over €4million. The competition is usually held in the United States but for the second year running this year's event took place virtually. Sheila Porter, SciFest Founder and CEO, said: "We are all very proud of Conor, he is a great example of the high calibre of entries that SciFest produces.