Maura Moore-McCune Shines on the World Stage
SciFest STEM Champion Wins Twice at Regeneron ISEF 2025
16 May 2025 – SciFest STEM Champion 2024, Maura Moore-McCune from The King’s Hospital School, Palmerstown in Co. Dublin represented Ireland at Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2025 in Columbus, Ohio and won 4th place in her category, Biomedical Engineering. She also won the Mawhiba Universal Enrichment Program Award. Mawhiba is a non-profit foundation in Saudi Arabia which motivates young people around the world to explore innovative methods in diverse fields of study. This was an amazing achievement as there were over 100 projects in the Biomedical Engineering Category.
Regeneron ISEF, which ran from 10-16 May, is the world’s largest international pre-college science competition, involving some 1,600 students from around 60 countries, regions and territories competing for a prize fund totalling almost $9 million. This year marks ISEF’s 75th anniversary.
Maura secured her place at the international competition when she won the overall award at the SciFest 2024 National Final last November. She claimed first prize for her project ‘A Device for Detecting Fast Moving Objects for Use by the Vision Impaired’. Maura also won the Boston Scientific Medical Devices Award at the National Final.
Maura Moore-McCune, who is vision impaired, developed an app to detect fast-moving objects, so that vision impaired people can live safer and more independent lives. Two design approaches using Machine Learning were developed: a mobile app and smart glasses. The app uses image classification to warn users of fast-moving objects, while the glasses use a YOLOv8 model on OpenCV to estimate object speed.
Speaking about attending ISEF, Maura Moore-McCune said: "I’m incredibly grateful to have had the chance to attend and participate in Regeneron ISEF in Columbus, Ohio. It was an amazing experience to present my work and showcase my creativity on a global platform. After putting so much effort into my project, it was inspiring to connect with other students and see their incredible work. I’m sincerely thankful to my family, friends, teachers, and everyone at SciFest for their unwavering support throughout this journey."
Sheila Porter, SciFest Founder and CEO commented: “We are all very proud of Maura on coming fourth place in The Biomedical Engineering category at Regeneron ISEF 2025 and for being a wonderful ambassador for Irish science on the world stage. Participating in Regeneron ISEF is a wonderful opportunity, and I know Maura has really enjoyed the experience. SciFest is all about encouraging a love of science, technology, engineering and maths among young people. Maura has developed a truly innovative project and we are delighted that she has had the opportunity to bring it to an international audience. We wish her every success for the future.”
Facts about the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2025:
- Regeneron ISEF 2025 was held from May 10 to 16 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio
- The 2025 fair marked the 75th anniversary of the ISEF
- Finalists were selected from nearly 400 affiliated science fairs worldwide
- 1,657 finalists
- 60+ countries, regions, and territories
- Approximately 800 Grand Award Judges in 22 categories
- Special Award Judges from 45 organizations
- Over $9 million presented in awards, prizes, and scholarships