Andrei Florian, one of our Fifth Years, enjoyed a most remarkable success recently. He represented Ireland at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) this year after having been the runner-up in the national BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.
Andrei talks about his passion for electoral innovation, highlighting that elections are fundamental to democracy: “in a functional democracy, it is essential for everyone to have access to the voting instrument and trust its integrity”.
Andrei designed and developed a novel internet voting system for Ireland’s PR-STV mechanism called ‘ethlect’. He says that “the application uses revolutionary cryptographic techniques to allow for complete transparency and the ability to quantifiably prove an election’s correctness without compromising voter anonymity”.
Andrei applied to Ireland’s BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition (BTYS) in September 2021 with the project. He saw it as a marvellous opportunity and a launchpad for his conception. Andrei was awarded runner-up in the competition and the chance to represent Ireland at ISEF.
Andrei further improved his project leading up to the competition in Atlanta which he attended virtually. ISEF is the largest international science fair with over 75 countries competing for a $8 million prize pool. Andrei had the chance to present his project to a panel of leading researchers and Nobel Laureates in the competition and took home two awards from the fair. He won first place in the software category and a special award from Oracle Academy totalling $10,000.
Andrei is elated with these results and plans to further develop his project: “I’m planning to continue working on electoral reform and innovation and further develop ‘ethlect’. “I am very grateful for my amazing parents, friends, and teachers for all their support and BTYSTE for giving me the opportunity to partake in ISEF”.