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# young sci 2014
Students invent device to prevent mastitis in cows
The three Limerick students looked at how pressure during milking can lead to mastitis.
MASTITIS IS PAINFUL for cows, and in turn can have a knock-on financial effect for farmers.
So a trio of students from Limerick have come up with a new way of preventing the infection – which affects cows’ udders – for the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.
Padraig Dore (16), Shane Lee (16) and Liam Upton (16), from Desmond College in Newcastle West, Limerick, were tasked to come with a solution to mastitis by a local farmer.
That request turned into a full-blown project, which centres on the amount of pressure on the cows’ udders while they are being milked. Their device, a KPA meter, measures pressure and signals to farmers if the pressure is not at the right level.
Lee explained that the financial costs of mastitis are huge for Irish farmers, and said that a survey found that most farmers only check the pressure in the milking machine once a week or once a month.
Here’s more on how the device operates:
(Video TheJournal.ie/YouTube)
Read: Meet Ireland’s bright sparks at the BT Young Scientist & Technology exhibition>>
