🇮🇪 Zack O'Leary

Zack O'Leary comes from Clane in County Kildare and studies at Clongowes Wood College, the Jesuit boarding school whose alumni include James Joyce. His path to the world stage ran through SciFest, the largest and most inclusive all-island STEM fair programme for second-level students in Ireland, supported by Intel Ireland, Boston Scientific, EirGrid, Keenova and the Department of Education and Youth.

In November 2025 Zack won the SciFest National Final, taking the overall title of SciFest STEM Champion 2025 for M.A.N.T.I.S. — 'Muon Analysis for Non-Invasive Tomography and Image Simulation.' The title carried a defined prize: the champion earns the right to represent Ireland at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair the following spring.

The science behind M.A.N.T.I.S. is muon tomography — imaging with the subatomic particles that constantly rain down from cosmic-ray collisions in the atmosphere. Zack's software combines geological and hydrological databases with atmospheric measurements, plus simulation and AI, to detect underground features remotely. Irish Tech News reported that when tested against conventional on-site surveys of mines in the United States and Angola, the system showed a consistent accuracy rate of 97 per cent — a striking result for a method that requires no drilling or physical site access.

At Regeneron ISEF 2026, held in Phoenix, Arizona from May 9–15 with more than 1,700 finalists from over 60 countries competing for more than $7 million in awards, Zack won first place in the Software Design category, sponsored by Microsoft — a $6,000 First Award — plus a Special Award. The Society for Science listed him among its 22 category winners; at 15, he was among the youngest of them, sharing the Software Design podium listing with two 17- and 18-year-olds from Arkansas.

It was a landmark year for Ireland as a whole. For the first time, three SciFest projects travelled to ISEF — Zack alongside Addison Carey of Celbridge Community School, whose project explored post-quantum lattice-based cryptography, and Ronan Lyons of Lanesboro Community College with CAPILL, a medicine dispenser for people managing long-term conditions. All three came home with awards, six in total, which TechCentral called unprecedented success for the programme.

'It has been an amazing experience to represent Ireland at Regeneron ISEF this year,' Zack said afterwards. 'I'm absolutely delighted to have won a First Place Category Award and a Special Award for my project, M.A.N.T.I.S.' SciFest founder and CEO Sheila Porter called the results 'truly remarkable,' saying each student had been 'a wonderful ambassador for Irish science.' His school celebrated the 'Global Science Win for Zack' on its own pages, and Slovak, Irish and American outlets alike recorded his category victory in the official results.