‘Golden brainbox’ Kate (12) wins RTÉ’s ‘What Next’ challenge
Winner of 'What's Next?' Kate Butler from Carlow with YouTuber Adam Beales
A CARLOW girl is officially a ‘golden brainbox’ having been named the winner of RTÉ Kids series
Kate Butler (12) from Barrowville, Kilkenny Road, Carlow was announced as overall winner of the popular show, which brought young innovators from across Ireland to develop solutions to some of the planet’s biggest challenges. It all culminated in an exciting season finale recently, where Kate’s invention ‘Lights Out’ – an app that gamifies energy saving – impressed judges Mark ‘The Science Guy’ Langtry and Fionn Ferreira the most.
The show, created by Irish production company HopSkip Studios, challenged young minds to tackle environmental issues through creativity with a little help from social media star Adam Beales, actress Demi Isaac Oviawe and comedian MC Fitzpatrick.
The winners of each episode went head to head in the final, with Carlow’s Kate emerging tops!
Having secured her title of ‘golden brainbox’ as the winner, Kate then had the chance to meet Rajesh Jaiswal at Technical University Dublin and ultimately pitch her idea to millionaire entrepreneur and investor Norman Crowley of pioneering energy-efficiency company Cool Planet.
Kate’s innovative app shows how technology can empower us to make greener choices in our everyday lives using smart meters, appliances and wearables to turn eco-friendly habits into a game we can all challenge ourselves to win.
“Huge congratulations to every single one of our finalists and, in particular, Kate, who has proven herself to be a worthy winner of the title of Golden Brainbox,” said Aisling Gallagher of HopSkip Studios.
“Throughout the series, our young disruptors and celebrity researchers MC, Adam and Demi came up with such brilliant ideas, giving our excellent episode judge Fionn Ferreira some really tough decisions.
“In the exciting final episode, we had really valuable input from Rajesh Jaiswal, Mark Langtry and Norman Crowley, who kindly shared their time, expertise and insights. We have no doubt that the young people in this season, including our fantastic winner Kate, will go on to achieve big things with their ideas – and we can’t wait to see ‘what’s next’ for them,” she added.
A first-year student at St Leo’s College, Carlow, Kate is the daughter of David and Paula Butler and has an older brother Noel. Recent weeks have been a very exciting and busy time for Kate, who is also a member of Spotlight Stage School and part of the cast for the Olympia Theatre’s Christmas panto , starring alongside ’s Ryan Andrews and Maclean Burke, and comedian Al Porter. Kate is also represented by SRL Talent Management, run by Carlow’s Shauna Ray Lacey.
? is available to watch on RTÉ Player.
