Sheila Porter is the founder and CEO of SciFest, an innovative and inclusive programme of STEM fairs that take place at local, regional, and national levels. A science teacher by background, Sheila recognised early on the powerful role that STEM fair participation plays in nurturing students’ curiosity, creativity, and confidence. She saw how taking part in a fair could encourage all students to develop a love of STEM, engage in inquiry-based learning, and cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset.
Her vision was to create a national STEM fair programme that would be inclusive, accessible, free to enter, and open to every second-level student in Ireland. She launched SciFest at the Institute of Technology Tallaght (now TU Dublin) in 2006 and expanded it nationwide in 2008. From that single fair in Tallaght, SciFest has grown to more than 160 fairs annually, with over 16,000 students taking part each year. Since its inception, more than 130,000 students—approximately 60% of them female—have participated at one or more levels of the programme. Each year, the overall winners at the SciFest National Final go on to represent Ireland with distinction at major international competitions.
In recognition of her outstanding contribution to promoting STEM in second-level education, Sheila has received numerous awards, including three Intel Ireland Educator of Excellence Awards, a British Council Science Travel Award, the ISTA PharmaChemical Ireland Science Educator of the Year Award and, most recently, the Women in STEM Mentor of the Year Award in 2023.