8 ms·

"Ferrier sat his Leaving Certificate exams last month at Schull Community College and is due to attend university in the Netherlands. The teenager works as a cu

by bb101 7y ago

"Ferrier sat his Leaving Certificate exams last month at Schull Community College and is due to attend university in the Netherlands. The teenager works as a curator at the Schull Planetarium, has won 12 science fair awards, speaks three languages fluently, plays the trumpet at orchestra level, and had a minor planet named after him by the MIT Lincoln Laboratory." Anyone else feeling somewhat inadequate in comparison?

secfirstmd 7y ago
As an Irish person, I feel both proud of his work and saddened by the fact that our own university research system is so lacking he has to move abroad.
- coldtea 7y ago
  Well, don't take it bad. Ireland has like 5 million people? How would it have/support an adequate university research system to support a top-tier talent?
  - notfashion 7y ago
    Ireland's per capita level of funding for research has been lagging badly behind the European average, though. It's really a cultural problem: R&D doesn't happen here, except in rare cases. It's not really down to the size of the population: in the 19th C we had Hamilton and Boole, the world's largest telescope in Birr, Grubb telescope manufacturing in Dublin, and the Titanic was built in Belfast in the early 20th C. But independence, for better or worse, saw the Republic kind of divesting itself of technological stuff—it didn't match the national image, and separating from the UK meant that the communication and exchange of technical knowledge became an exception rather than the norm. So it even has to do with the protestant/catholic divide (science and manufacturing was something "they" did). It's a very painful story, and a lot of Irish tech people have a chip on their shoulder (narcissistic injury) because of our backwardness.
    - secfirstmd 7y ago
      I would also argue that the successful way that Ireland has brought big companies to the country hasn't yet resulted in the spin off of benefits that the presence of such companies has had in other areas.
      - majewsky 7y ago
        Has Ireland really brought big companies to the country? Honest question. I'm only aware of big companies having their accounting department there for taxation purposes.
        ajayh 7y ago
        Google, for example, have over 7,000 staff in Ireland. I know of at least 9 buildings in Dublin it owns/rents.
        OisinMoran 7y ago
        Apple set up their first base outside the US in Limerick, which now also boasts the likes of Analog Devices (Limerick was where the current CEO started out), who actually do a lot of design and manufacturing there. Dell also used to have a massive presence, mainly making keyboards and the likes. Also I think something like nine out of the top eleven pharma companies worldwide have manufacturing facilities in Ireland, mainly in Cork I believe. These are just a few off the top of my head, but the history is really interesting. A good bit of it has to do with Shannon, which actually served as inspiration for Shenzen believe it not! I've been tempted to write up this history for quite a while because it's not really well known, and even despite being in STEM myself was quite surprised when I found out Analog Devices actually do design and manufacturing here and were making chips for Apple and Waymo!
      - purple_ducks 7y ago
        > brought big companies to the country Unfortunately, these companies were brought over by accountants, not engineers.. In so far as, Ireland gave them an opportunity to target EU market (& tax deals) which meant their staff is mostly non engineering (customer service/finance/legal). The big mistake Ireland made (back then) was not ensuring some of their core business functionalities _had_ to be present in Ireland (i.e. engineering) A lot less new tech companies built by accountants and customer support staff compared to engineers.
  - secfirstmd 7y ago
    I read recently a survey about European wide research grants and we came bottom. Well outpaced by similar sized, smaller and/or less wealthy countries like Denmark, Finland, Estonia etc.
  - esotericn 7y ago
    You may be familiar with a certain Linus Torvalds. Finland has a population of 5M. Granted, he moved later, but that's a counterexample for the first ~30 years at least.
  - pvaldes 7y ago
    Size is not all. Ireland, Norway, and Denmark, being small countries of similar population, all somehow managed to have a similar amount of nobel laureates than China or India.
scarejunba 7y ago
Superstars exist, dude. The only actionable view is to improve on the current you. Sometimes there will be things you're not good enough to do or that you don't want enough to practise enough. I can't ollie a board. Such is life.
- odessacubbage 7y ago
  if you actually want to learn how to ollie, it's very achievable. just try to commit some time to it every day. it's a weird motion to get used to at first but once you understand what it feels like to pop the board the right way you never lose it.
  - esotericn 7y ago
    Yep. I learned to ollie at like, 26? It's just scary because as a 15 year old you don't care about falling as much.
barking 7y ago
Sounds like he has parents from different countries, first name is Irish, surname sounds Portuguese(?) so head start there on the language front, perhaps. Schull is a very small community, couple of thousand max but there's been a lot of 'alternative' type immigration there from other first world countries, artists etc from places like England (eg Jeremy irons), Netherlands so its secondary school is pretty progressive afaik. They have a slipway to the bay right next to the school so the school does sailing classes etc. The planetarium in question is a stone's throw from the school. County Cork has a youth orchestra. Overall not the worst place in the world to grow up.
- madez 7y ago
  This reads like a figurative kick in the face to those who argue against free education and social programmes "because the market will solve it and those that work hard enough will make it, so it's fair". The world is deeply unjust economically and the vast majority loses from that, and those, that manage the inquality by using the cheap larbor and forced constraints of the disadvantaged to serve the more fortunate ones, win. Even the fortunate ones win from rich neighbours, so there should be a big consensus for universal conditionless free education, social security and health insurance backed by the government. I know this might be interpreted as a flamebait and I see the common "but the government is incompetent/corrupt/inefficient" answers already, but those don't negate what I just wrote in any way upon closer inspection. However, this is genuinely how I feel and I feel stupidified when I see how these programmes aren't yet serious international standards.
  - 52-6F-62 7y ago
    You’re not alone there. Ontario is battling it out over this (once again). It’s regretful that it’s even a question anymore.
    - cheez 7y ago
      A few years ago, we were considering relocating to Toronto. We went to a school and had a meeting with the principal of the local school. This principal said to us in no uncertain terms that if we can afford private school, to not send our children to public school in Toronto. Now, could this be a selfish reason on his part? Sure, but I doubt it. He walked us through why. Toronto is huge. What you see with the teenager in question is a small town with decent enough resources. And that is the decision we took ultimately: to move to a small town with rich residents.
RomanBob 7y ago
>Ferrier sat his Leaving Certificate exams last month at Schull Community College and is due to attend university in the Netherlands. pretty normal to graduate high school and attend university > works as a curator at the Schull Planetarium I don't know what responsibility this holds how he got the job so it's hard to say. >has won 12 science fair awards I don't know the award scheme so hard to say. Even if he won 1st place 12 times, a science fair is hardly difficult to win since you are basically competing against semi-motivated highschoolers. >speaks three languages fluently This depends on the language. Some people get 2 languages for free from home and learn another to fluent level in high school. Not really a mind-blowing accomplishment. >plays the trumpet at orchestra level, This is really the only one that required consistent effort. >had a minor planet named after him by the MIT Lincoln Laboratory." meh Out of all these, the only thing I wish I had is the ability to play the trumpet.
- themarkn 7y ago
  Luckily the young dude has no need to prove himself to you, and hopefully he never reads this comment. Being engaged enough as a teenager to win stuff, have a job, become actually fluent at languages (Irish high school does not make you fluent), do your grades in music, and choose then qualify for a university outside Ireland - none of this is easy or the "default" that is expected of children growing up there. The default is you either stay in the town you grew up in or attend one of several major Irish universities free of charge with a bunch of your friends. After which you get a job in one of the bigger cities, maybe emigrate for employment reasons, or indeed head on back to your home town anyway and look for work there. That's normal. You're doubtful of this kid's accomplishments but you have no context for the surrounding culture or how hard these things might have been for him individually. I grew up there. It's not easy to stick your neck out and try to achieve things or be interested in success as a teenager in a rural school in Ireland.
  - frabbit 7y ago
    attend one of several major Irish universities free of charge Those days are long gone thanks to the neo-liberals. Impressed by this guy's accomplishments. His parents and environment are doing something right.
Tade0 7y ago
Reminds me of my friend who, when asked about this girl he's been dating lately, listed all her accomplishments(she has perfect pitch, good job etc.). I think the author of this piece values these accomplishments more than the guy in question.
- barking 7y ago
  Yes, it's a tabloid style account so it lists the accomplishments that are more readily recognisable to a wider readership.
- falcor84 7y ago
  For what it's worth, I noticed that a similar list of accomplishments appears on the guy's own website: https://www.fionnferreira.com https://www.fionnferreira.com
  - 9nGQluzmnq3M 7y ago
    ...and a photo of him accepting an award from Vint Cerf. inadequacy intensifies
    - barking 7y ago
      He's pretty driven all right. Good luck to him. Actually it says on a youtube video that he is half German and half Portuguese though his parents gave him an Irish forename!
avip 7y ago
Depending on circumstances, speaking 3 langs could be completely normal
- coldtea 7y ago
  Well, in Europe that would be an easy 10-15% of the population...
- pvaldes 7y ago
  Yup, in Europe is not uncommon.
  - kiliantics 7y ago
    In Africa, 3 is pretty much the minimum number anyone can speak
simonebrunozzi 7y ago
> had a minor planet named after him by the MIT Lincoln Laboratory. I could somewhat deal with the rest with a shoulder shrug, but this one is what makes it too hard to swallow :)
- test1235 7y ago
  https://www.fionnferreira.com/2019/04/a-minor-planet-was-naimed-after-me.html https://www.fionnferreira.com/2019/04/a-minor-planet-was-nai... He got that for winning the Google science award in the article. https://www.googlesciencefair.com/projects/2018/2c3f6207b15f46cb4bb66a56095bd6d901ccfa42e7e51600c766df7856590c4e https://www.googlesciencefair.com/projects/2018/2c3f6207b15f...
  - aiddun 7y ago
    Yep. Someone from my high school also got a planet named after him, but I think it was from ISEF.
yowlingcat 7y ago
I don't think inadequacy is the strong emotion I'm feeling. It's probably more relief, or some sense of hope. I wish this sort of youthful experience was more the norm the world over. Outside of the curator and minor planet part (which are very much out of the ordinary for obvious reasons), many of these other characteristics match up pretty closely with high achieving students I saw grow up around me in my own youth. I very much agree with a sibling comment that "This reads like a figurative kick in the face to those who argue against free education and social programmes."
jim_and_derrick 7y ago
nah. grats to this guy but one person's accomplishments does not diminish the value of our own accomplishments. All the time i spent fucking around and getting into trouble as a youth has led me to this lovely place I am now and wouldnt trade it for the world.

by bb101 7y ago

secfirstmd 7y ago

As an Irish person, I feel both proud of his work and saddened by the fact that our own university research system is so lacking he has to move abroad.

coldtea 7y ago
Well, don't take it bad. Ireland has like 5 million people? How would it have/support an adequate university research system to support a top-tier talent?
- notfashion 7y ago
  Ireland's per capita level of funding for research has been lagging badly behind the European average, though. It's really a cultural problem: R&D doesn't happen here, except in rare cases. It's not really down to the size of the population: in the 19th C we had Hamilton and Boole, the world's largest telescope in Birr, Grubb telescope manufacturing in Dublin, and the Titanic was built in Belfast in the early 20th C. But independence, for better or worse, saw the Republic kind of divesting itself of technological stuff—it didn't match the national image, and separating from the UK meant that the communication and exchange of technical knowledge became an exception rather than the norm. So it even has to do with the protestant/catholic divide (science and manufacturing was something "they" did). It's a very painful story, and a lot of Irish tech people have a chip on their shoulder (narcissistic injury) because of our backwardness.
  - secfirstmd 7y ago
    I would also argue that the successful way that Ireland has brought big companies to the country hasn't yet resulted in the spin off of benefits that the presence of such companies has had in other areas.
    - majewsky 7y ago
      Has Ireland really brought big companies to the country? Honest question. I'm only aware of big companies having their accounting department there for taxation purposes.
      - ajayh 7y ago
        Google, for example, have over 7,000 staff in Ireland. I know of at least 9 buildings in Dublin it owns/rents.
      - OisinMoran 7y ago
        Apple set up their first base outside the US in Limerick, which now also boasts the likes of Analog Devices (Limerick was where the current CEO started out), who actually do a lot of design and manufacturing there. Dell also used to have a massive presence, mainly making keyboards and the likes. Also I think something like nine out of the top eleven pharma companies worldwide have manufacturing facilities in Ireland, mainly in Cork I believe. These are just a few off the top of my head, but the history is really interesting. A good bit of it has to do with Shannon, which actually served as inspiration for Shenzen believe it not! I've been tempted to write up this history for quite a while because it's not really well known, and even despite being in STEM myself was quite surprised when I found out Analog Devices actually do design and manufacturing here and were making chips for Apple and Waymo!
    - purple_ducks 7y ago
      > brought big companies to the country Unfortunately, these companies were brought over by accountants, not engineers.. In so far as, Ireland gave them an opportunity to target EU market (& tax deals) which meant their staff is mostly non engineering (customer service/finance/legal). The big mistake Ireland made (back then) was not ensuring some of their core business functionalities _had_ to be present in Ireland (i.e. engineering) A lot less new tech companies built by accountants and customer support staff compared to engineers.
- secfirstmd 7y ago
  I read recently a survey about European wide research grants and we came bottom. Well outpaced by similar sized, smaller and/or less wealthy countries like Denmark, Finland, Estonia etc.
- esotericn 7y ago
  You may be familiar with a certain Linus Torvalds. Finland has a population of 5M. Granted, he moved later, but that's a counterexample for the first ~30 years at least.
- pvaldes 7y ago
  Size is not all. Ireland, Norway, and Denmark, being small countries of similar population, all somehow managed to have a similar amount of nobel laureates than China or India.

scarejunba 7y ago

Superstars exist, dude. The only actionable view is to improve on the current you. Sometimes there will be things you're not good enough to do or that you don't want enough to practise enough. I can't ollie a board. Such is life.

odessacubbage 7y ago
if you actually want to learn how to ollie, it's very achievable. just try to commit some time to it every day. it's a weird motion to get used to at first but once you understand what it feels like to pop the board the right way you never lose it.
- esotericn 7y ago
  Yep. I learned to ollie at like, 26? It's just scary because as a 15 year old you don't care about falling as much.

barking 7y ago

Sounds like he has parents from different countries, first name is Irish, surname sounds Portuguese(?) so head start there on the language front, perhaps. Schull is a very small community, couple of thousand max but there's been a lot of 'alternative' type immigration there from other first world countries, artists etc from places like England (eg Jeremy irons), Netherlands so its secondary school is pretty progressive afaik. They have a slipway to the bay right next to the school so the school does sailing classes etc. The planetarium in question is a stone's throw from the school. County Cork has a youth orchestra. Overall not the worst place in the world to grow up.

madez 7y ago
This reads like a figurative kick in the face to those who argue against free education and social programmes "because the market will solve it and those that work hard enough will make it, so it's fair". The world is deeply unjust economically and the vast majority loses from that, and those, that manage the inquality by using the cheap larbor and forced constraints of the disadvantaged to serve the more fortunate ones, win. Even the fortunate ones win from rich neighbours, so there should be a big consensus for universal conditionless free education, social security and health insurance backed by the government. I know this might be interpreted as a flamebait and I see the common "but the government is incompetent/corrupt/inefficient" answers already, but those don't negate what I just wrote in any way upon closer inspection. However, this is genuinely how I feel and I feel stupidified when I see how these programmes aren't yet serious international standards.
- 52-6F-62 7y ago
  You’re not alone there. Ontario is battling it out over this (once again). It’s regretful that it’s even a question anymore.
  - cheez 7y ago
    A few years ago, we were considering relocating to Toronto. We went to a school and had a meeting with the principal of the local school. This principal said to us in no uncertain terms that if we can afford private school, to not send our children to public school in Toronto. Now, could this be a selfish reason on his part? Sure, but I doubt it. He walked us through why. Toronto is huge. What you see with the teenager in question is a small town with decent enough resources. And that is the decision we took ultimately: to move to a small town with rich residents.

RomanBob 7y ago

>Ferrier sat his Leaving Certificate exams last month at Schull Community College and is due to attend university in the Netherlands. pretty normal to graduate high school and attend university > works as a curator at the Schull Planetarium I don't know what responsibility this holds how he got the job so it's hard to say. >has won 12 science fair awards I don't know the award scheme so hard to say. Even if he won 1st place 12 times, a science fair is hardly difficult to win since you are basically competing against semi-motivated highschoolers. >speaks three languages fluently This depends on the language. Some people get 2 languages for free from home and learn another to fluent level in high school. Not really a mind-blowing accomplishment. >plays the trumpet at orchestra level, This is really the only one that required consistent effort. >had a minor planet named after him by the MIT Lincoln Laboratory." meh Out of all these, the only thing I wish I had is the ability to play the trumpet.

themarkn 7y ago
Luckily the young dude has no need to prove himself to you, and hopefully he never reads this comment. Being engaged enough as a teenager to win stuff, have a job, become actually fluent at languages (Irish high school does not make you fluent), do your grades in music, and choose then qualify for a university outside Ireland - none of this is easy or the "default" that is expected of children growing up there. The default is you either stay in the town you grew up in or attend one of several major Irish universities free of charge with a bunch of your friends. After which you get a job in one of the bigger cities, maybe emigrate for employment reasons, or indeed head on back to your home town anyway and look for work there. That's normal. You're doubtful of this kid's accomplishments but you have no context for the surrounding culture or how hard these things might have been for him individually. I grew up there. It's not easy to stick your neck out and try to achieve things or be interested in success as a teenager in a rural school in Ireland.
- frabbit 7y ago
  attend one of several major Irish universities free of charge Those days are long gone thanks to the neo-liberals. Impressed by this guy's accomplishments. His parents and environment are doing something right.

Tade0 7y ago

Reminds me of my friend who, when asked about this girl he's been dating lately, listed all her accomplishments(she has perfect pitch, good job etc.). I think the author of this piece values these accomplishments more than the guy in question.

barking 7y ago
Yes, it's a tabloid style account so it lists the accomplishments that are more readily recognisable to a wider readership.
falcor84 7y ago
For what it's worth, I noticed that a similar list of accomplishments appears on the guy's own website: https://www.fionnferreira.com https://www.fionnferreira.com
- 9nGQluzmnq3M 7y ago
  ...and a photo of him accepting an award from Vint Cerf. inadequacy intensifies
  - barking 7y ago
    He's pretty driven all right. Good luck to him. Actually it says on a youtube video that he is half German and half Portuguese though his parents gave him an Irish forename!

avip 7y ago

Depending on circumstances, speaking 3 langs could be completely normal

coldtea 7y ago
Well, in Europe that would be an easy 10-15% of the population...
pvaldes 7y ago
Yup, in Europe is not uncommon.
- kiliantics 7y ago
  In Africa, 3 is pretty much the minimum number anyone can speak

simonebrunozzi 7y ago

> had a minor planet named after him by the MIT Lincoln Laboratory. I could somewhat deal with the rest with a shoulder shrug, but this one is what makes it too hard to swallow :)

test1235 7y ago
https://www.fionnferreira.com/2019/04/a-minor-planet-was-naimed-after-me.html https://www.fionnferreira.com/2019/04/a-minor-planet-was-nai... He got that for winning the Google science award in the article. https://www.googlesciencefair.com/projects/2018/2c3f6207b15f46cb4bb66a56095bd6d901ccfa42e7e51600c766df7856590c4e https://www.googlesciencefair.com/projects/2018/2c3f6207b15f...
- aiddun 7y ago
  Yep. Someone from my high school also got a planet named after him, but I think it was from ISEF.

yowlingcat 7y ago

I don't think inadequacy is the strong emotion I'm feeling. It's probably more relief, or some sense of hope. I wish this sort of youthful experience was more the norm the world over. Outside of the curator and minor planet part (which are very much out of the ordinary for obvious reasons), many of these other characteristics match up pretty closely with high achieving students I saw grow up around me in my own youth. I very much agree with a sibling comment that "This reads like a figurative kick in the face to those who argue against free education and social programmes."

jim_and_derrick 7y ago

nah. grats to this guy but one person's accomplishments does not diminish the value of our own accomplishments. All the time i spent fucking around and getting into trouble as a youth has led me to this lovely place I am now and wouldnt trade it for the world.