Multiple Galway prize winners at Engineers Ireland Excellence Awards

Galway’s engineers shined at the Engineers Ireland Excellence Awards recently, taking home multiple prizes at this prestigious ceremony.

The Engineers Ireland Excellence Awards, supported by the ESB, recognise the exceptional work done by Irish engineers at home and abroad.

Siobhan Kennedy, a graduate of NUI Galway, was named the ESB International Engineer of the Year for her work in disaster zones around the world.

In 2010 Siobhan worked in Haiti to support reconstruction after the earthquake, and is currently serving with the Housing Recovery and Reconstruction Platform in Nepal, where she’s been since the 2015 earthquake which killed almost 9,000 people and destroyed more than 810,000 homes.

Siobhan Kennedy wins the @ESBGroup International Engineer of The Year Award for her work in Nepal supporting the Nepal Engineering Council in the development of a professional title for engineers under the Rural Access Programme – congratulations #ExcellenceAwards pic.twitter.com/hEVpyKw2Hz

— Engineers Ireland (@EngineerIreland) November 9, 2018

The Heritage and Conservation Award went to the Aran Sweater Market on Quay Street by TOBIN Consulting Engineers and Architectural Conservation Professionals.

We are absolutely thrilled to have scooped two @EngineerIreland Awards tonight – the Engineering Project of the Year (combined entry with @nod_engineering, Glan Agua, @IrishWater and @countykerry) and the Heritage & Conservation Award with ACP. #ExcellenceAwards pic.twitter.com/fRsiIDEMGj

— TOBIN Engineers (@tobinengineers) November 10, 2018

The Technical Innovation of the Year award went to NUI Galway and local engineers Ward and Burke Construction Ltd for their Combined Sewer Interceptor Physical Model Test-Bed Project.

Design-Driven Innovation: Combined Sewer Interceptor Physical Model Test-Bed Project by Ward and Burke Construction Ltd and @nuigalway wins the Technical Innovation of the Year Award sponsored by @NSAI_Standards #ExcellenceAwards pic.twitter.com/GzgOI2hldC

— Engineers Ireland (@EngineerIreland) November 9, 2018

Carol Spillane, Director General of Engineers Ireland said, “Engineers are people who create, explore and innovate. Behind every design-led engineering solution are communities and families that benefit.”

“These winning projects are the embodiment of the immense contribution the engineering profession makes as a community of creative professionals to Irish society.”

“They are eloquent testimony to the capabilities of Irish engineers working both at home and abroad,” she added.

The Kerry Central Regional Water Supply Scheme was voted national Engineering Project of the Year for 2018, providing over 50 million litres of drinking water a day.

While the Chartered Engineer of the Year is Aoife Murphy for her work relating to earthquake-damaged residential buildings in New Zealand.

The full list of winners from the ninth annual Engineers Ireland Excellence Awards is:

• Kerry Central Regional Water Supply Scheme by Irish Water, in association with Kerry County Council, Nicholas O’Dwyer, TOBIN Consulting Engineers and Glan Agua

• Aoife Murphy, Chartered Engineer – Project title: Earthquake: The Silver Lining – An Opportunity in a Time of Disaster

• Eoghan Lynch, Chartered Engineer, Chairman of Arup Ireland

• Siobhan Kennedy, Chartered Engineer, Recovery Advisor, Housing Recovery and Reconstruction Platform, Nepal

• Group winners: Kevin Hayes, Muireann Hickey, Cian O’Leary and Jonathan Mullane of Cork Institute of Technology for their mobility enablement device, StrydeTech

• Northern Spire Bridge by Roughan & O’Donovan; Buro Happold; Farrans Construction; Victor Buyck Joint Venture; Quinn Piling; and Fugro-Loadtest

• Liam Coleman, Chartered Engineer, Principal Bridge Engineer at OPUS International Consultancy

• Lough Rinn International Rowing and Canoe Course Project by Leitrim County Council and Jennings O’Donovan & Partners Limited
• River Dargle Flood Defence Scheme by Wicklow County Council

• Design-Driven Innovation: Combined Sewer Interceptor Physical Model Test-Bed Project by Ward and Burke Construction Ltd and the National University of Ireland, Galway

• Aran Sweater Market – Galway by TOBIN Consulting Engineers and Architectural Conservation Professionals

• David Porter, Chartered Engineer, Divisional Roads Manager with the Northern Ireland Department for Infrastructure

• Lufthansa Technik Turbine Shannon