The young scientists who became old hands at innovation

By Caroline O’DohertyTHE subject matter was more low-tech than hi-spec and the presentation wasn’t half as slick but the thrill of winning the Young Scientist competition was just as strong 40 years ago as it is today.

Dr John Monahan, the first-ever winner in 1965, is now chief executive of one of the leading biotechnology companies in the US but he still counts his Young Scientist award as one of his proudest achievements.

"I was on the Late Late Show with Gay Byrne. That was a big thing," he recalls, remembering how he bowled over the judges with a model demonstrating how proteins and sugars were broken down in the digestive system.