Visit to Research Institutes in Galway

Last Wednesday John Power Director General and I travelled to Galway to visit the Research Institutes in NUIG and the Marine Institute in Oranmore.

This was the first of a number of planned visits to Research Institutes around Ireland to experience at first hand Research, Innovation and the Job Creation possibilities emanating from these relatively new Centres of Learning in Third Level Education. We also wanted to concentrate our visits outside of Dublin to show support for balanced regional development.

Both visits turned out to be fascinating and very worthwhile, not only in seeing what Research is happening in Third Level Institutes but also to see the appreciation of the engineers and scientists working there at our efforts to reach out to them.

From the Forfas Research Forum in Dublin the previous day I can see that there is now a 'steady hand on the tiller' nationally coordinating the research efforts to target areas of potential strategic and economic advantage for Ireland. This was one of the recommendations of the Innovation Task Force Report of March 2010 one of whose members was Chris Horn President of Engineers Ireland in 2009-2010.

Both visits were kindly organised by Prof Padraic O'Donoghue of Civil and Environmental Engineering NUIG who is also Chairman of our West Region and member of our Executive Board.

In NUIG the visits were led by Professor Terry Smith Vice President of Research and Professor of Biomedical Engineering Peter McHugh. We also visited Dr Colin Brown Director and Martina Prendergast of the Ryan Institute (Environment, Marine and Energy Research) and Michael Turley CEO and his colleagues Patrick Mulrooney Commercialisation Manager and Dr Brian Wall Operations Manager at Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI). We also met the Vice Dean of Engineering Dr Eddie Jones.

Much of what we saw in NUIG was truly impressive. In terms of Biomedical Science and Engineering there appears to have been a historical collaboration with local industry clusters commencing with Boston Scientific going back many years and more recently with Creganna and Crospon (of which our Vice President John O'Dea is CEO).

There was also a succession of visionary NUIG Presidents, starting with Prof Pat Fortrell, who had the good sense to acquire an enviable land bank along the banks of the Corrib from the Newcastle Road to well beyond the Quincentenary Bridge that enabled the new Engineering Building, the Ryan Institute and DERI. To have all of this research endeavour on a single campus including also the Institute for Business Social Science and Public Policy was also a success factor.

The DERI fascination was with newly developed 'search engine' software that is more powerful than Google!

Stent Engineering

Whatever the combination of factors a truly remarkable Biomedical and Digital capability has been built in NUIG. I found the technical and biochemical aspects of stent engineering especially fascinating where stent material is also therapeutic in addition to its structural capacity.

 

We then travelled to the Marine Institute in Oranmore where we were met by Dr Barbara Fogarty National Coordinator of the Marine Technology Programme and her colleagues Glenn Nolan, Eoin O'Grady and Paul Gaughan, who are Section Managers in Oceanographic Services, IS&D and the SmartBay Project Coordinator respectively. The Marine Institute set up in Galway in 2006 is the national agency for Marine Research, Technology, Development and Innovation. The research carried out here is central to the future development of our Ocean Resources in terms of Shipping, Oil/Gas, Renewables, Sea Fisheries and Marine Leisure/Tourism.

The Institute is made up of 7 Service Areas, inc Strategic Planning, Marine Environment and Marine Food Safety. We toured the Institute's marine laboratories, which are quite extensive.

Afterwards we attended an excellent lecture jointly organised by the West and Thomond Regions in the Marine Institute given by Barbara Fogarty and Eugene McKeown of Biospheric Ltd in Galway on the SmartBay Project in Galway Bay. This is a Research Test and Demonstration Facility for Marine Information and Communications, Technologies, ICT, inc wireless and subsea sensor networks. This monitoring infrastructure was jointly established by the Marine Institute and the EPA in 2008.

SmartBay Project

John and I returned to Dublin that night with a real sense that we had been at the coalface of national engineering innovation across a wide spectrum of specialisations in Galway, both land-based and marine and all endeavours concentrated on just two highly planned and well chosen sites both east and west of Galway city. Our thanks again to Prof Padraic O'Donoghue for organising these most interesting and worthwhile visits.

New NUIG Engineering Building Opened by Taoiseach

I was invited by Dr Jim Browne President of NUIG (and Past President of Engineers Ireland) to attend the Official Opening of the new NUIG Engineering Building (http://www.nuigalway.ie/new-engineering-building/) by Taoiseach Enda Kenny last Friday. NUIG's Engineering School is the largest in Ireland with 1,100 students and 110 staff, offering nine fully accredited undergraduates programmes in areas as diverse as civil and environmental engineering, computer and electronic engineering and biochemical engineering.

Pictured at the Official Opening of the new Engineering School in NUIG were Professor Padraic O'Donoghue Chairman of West Region Engineers Ireland, P J Rudden President of Engineers Ireland and Dr Jim Browne President of NUIG

Also present from Engineers Ireland (http://www.engineersireland.ie/) at the Opening were Vice President John O'Dea who is based in Galway, Chairman of our Finance Committee Murt Coleman and Executive Board Members Professor Padraic O'Donoghue (Chairman of the West Region) Domhnall Blair and Kieran Feighan together with Engineers Ireland Registar Damien Owens and Director of Communications Fionnuala Kilbane. Past President John Killeen was also present.

Carmel Brennan President of Galway Chamber of Commerce, P J Rudden President of Engineers Ireland, Mayor of Galway Cllr Hildegarde Naughton and Dr Jim Browne President of NUIG

The Opening of the Building was a tremendous credit to President Jim Browne in particular, together with Padraic O'Donoghue Professor of Civil Engineering and Former Dean and the current Dean of Engineering and Informatics Professor Gerry Lyons.

In addition to the Taoiseach, I was also happy to meet the Mayor of Galway Cllr Hildegarde Naughton (http://www.galwaycity.ie/), City Manager Joe O'Neill and President of Galway Chamber of Commerce (http://galwaychamber.com/index.asp) Carmel Brennan at                                                                                            the Opening which was truly a major cause for celebration throughout Galway City. There were in excess of 350 people attending.

The new NUIG Engineering Building is truly an iconic curved structure designed to blend with the gentle curves of the River Corrib on whose banks it sits. The building has been designed to be a 'teaching tool' in itself with exposed construction techniques and an array of green building methods.

NUI Galway offers a degree in energy systems engineering and has a significant focus on research into environmental technologies. The engineering building itself contains a range of green technologies which will add to the 'hands on' experience of students. There is large scale rainwater harvesting, a biomass boiler, low- embodied energy materials, such as zinc, grass roofs for water attenuation, heat exchangers and many other cutting-edge technologies.

The structure is among the first in Ireland to employ the use of voided slab systems. The innovation introduces 'plastic bubbles' into the concrete reducing its weight and quantity of concrete used. Areas of the building such as the plant room will be accessible to showcase to students the industrial biomass boiler and combined heat and power unit at work.

All Irish engineers can be justly proud of this new national learning centre in NUIG, as Learning and Research Institutes are the future of Irish Engineering and the roots of future Job Creation.

That's why I've decided during my year as President of Engineers Ireland to visit a number of Research Institutes around Ireland like Tyndall Institute in Cork (http://www.tyndall.ie/), Marine Institute in Galway (http://www.marine.ie/home/) and many others in addition to also visiting various Infrastructural Projects in the Regions to highlight their role in Job Creation and in balanced regional development.

Cloud Computing at the National Digital Research Centre (NDRC)

Yesterday I visited the Green Digital Ideas Generation Workshop at the National Digital Research Centre beside the Guinness Storehouse.


Pictured at NDRC Workshop Fiona Hyland Marketing Manager, John Geoghegan Senior Commercial Associate, P J Rudden President Engineers Ireland, Dr Teresa Dillon Event Manager and Dr Amy Neale Programme Manager

NDRC (http://www.ndrc.ie/) is an independent not for profit enterprise dedicated to accelerating ICT research 'from idea to income'. It operates with the support of the Dept of Communications Energy and Natural Resources.

The collaborative approach with technology and business innovators drives greater collective success while cultivating attitudes towards invention and investment. Its founding members are DCU (http://www.dcu.ie/), NCAD (http://www.ncad.ie/), IADT (http://www.iadt.ie/en/), TCD (http://www.tcd.ie/) and UCD (http://www.ucd.ie/).

NDRC analyses and assesses new and emerging technologies and market opportunities within the economy's most important sectors. The Workshop consisted of a series of innovative presentations showing how the digital world can add value to smarter Energy Generation and Distribution, Public Transport, Water Supply, Waste Management and Green Buildings.

There was much comment on how Cloud Computing can help to service and grow Ireland's economy. Cloud computing is at an early stage of development. It is essentially a model that delivers on-demand access to a pool of computing resources. These can include all aspects of an IT infrastructure such as networks, servers, storage, applications and services. There are several advantages to the use of Cloud Computing not least an overall cost saving from efficiency and increased security.

There is no doubt that NDRC provides  an essential research and early start up service to many SMEs and new entrants to the digital world. This was amply demonstrated yesterday and our thanks to John Geoghegan, Teresa Dillon, Amy Neale and Fiona Hyland all of NDRC for hosting a most interesting and rewarding day.

STEM Conference in Cork

I was delighted to attend my first meeting outside of Dublin since becoming President and to be in Cork on Thursday last for the STEM Conference. STEM stands for Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics - all essential subjects required at some point to be a successful engineer. The conference was a great success jointly organised between Engineers Ireland and Discover Science and Engineering programme within Forfas (http://www.forfas.ie/). There was even an unannounced impromptu visit by our new Minister for Innovation, Sean Sherlock, also a Cork TD. He was very upbeat, informed and supportive of the conference in his remarks.

Margie McCarthy Membership Director Engineers Ireland, Dr Jim Robinson Cork Region Chair Engineers Ireland, P J Rudden President Engineers Ireland, Peter Brabazon Director Discover Science and Engineering and Katharine Jansen CSR Manager Abbott Ireland

The presentations and debate rightly focused on the challenge to engage with and to inspire young Second Level students towards the STEM careers in Science and Engineering.

I was met at the event in River Lee Hotel by the Cork Region Chairman Dr Jim Robinson, our Director of Membership Margie McCarthy, Peter Brabazon Director of Discover Science and Engineering, Paul Sheridan our Education Officer and Caitriona Geraghty STEPS Manager (http://www.steps.ie/) and who was Conference Organiser.

What impressed me most about the conference was the tremendous collaborative approach between Industry and Education in the Cork Region particularly at Third Level with the Tyndall Institute, UCC, CIT supported by Cork City Council's Lifetime Lab and Blackrock Castle Observatory and many others.

Chris Enright R&D Manager with Hewlett Packard (http://www8.hp.com/ie/en/home.html) pointed out that the speed of technological development is such that we are now teaching and training skills for technologies which havnt yet been invented for future careers which currently don't exist!

Andre Van Aperen of Shell (http://www.shell.com/) outlined many interesting features of the Dutch Jet-Net system for attraction of students towards the STEM like a National Teachers Day and National Girls Day to raise awareness with selected cohorts of people.

Katharine Jensen of Abbott (http://www.abbott.ie/) showed how a proactive Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) approach at industry level can greatly inspire students towards careers in Science and Engineering.

Michelle Starr of the UL National Centre for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and Learning (http://ul.ie/) told the conference the startling facts that Science was not a compulsory subject at Junior Certificate. She also described the innovative Mallow Schools Project in maths and science funded by local businesses.

Bernard Kirk of Galway Education Centre told us the incredible fact that the syllabus for the subject Engineering at Leaving Cert level had not been revised in 30 years! Really my mind boggles at this! How the world and our engineering world has changed in the past 30 years!

Aoife O'Donoghue outlined the fascinating work at the Tyndall Institute (http://www.tyndall.ie/) where the National Microelectronics Research Institute is hosted and recently visited by Queen Elizabeth. She also described the impressive extent of her Outreach Programme within Science and Engineering education.

It was a tremendously interesting visit to Cork thanks to the organising skills of Caitriona and Kate in Engineers Ireland greatly supported by Peter and his team in Discover Science and Engineering.

Innovative Student Engineer Awards

Biomedical engineering is one of the growth areas of our profession in Ireland and indeed a major sector now driving national recovery and job creation. The National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Science (NCBES) at NUIG (http://www.nuigalway.ie/) has an international reputation developing innovative diagnostic and therapeutic solutions to the healthcare challenges of our day.

I was pleased to present the Innovative Student Engineers Awards last Monday together with our sponsors SIEMENS (http://www.siemens.ie/index.asp). Fiona Griffin a native of Listowel Co Kerry studying at NUIG Biomedical Engineering School won the Innovative Student Engineer Award for level 8 students and the level 7 award went to Danny Allen, Patrick Byrnes and Richard Childs of Cork IT (http://www.cit.ie/) also for a biomedical project.

Innovative Student Engineer of the Year 2011 Fiona Griffin from NUI Galway pictured with Michael O'Connor from Siemens and P J Rudden, President of Engineers Ireland

This was the 15th year of the awards which have been generously sponsored by SIEMENS for the last 13 years and represented by Michael O'Connor Head of Corporate Communications and Marketing.

The shortlisted entries in both level catagories were all fascinating and thus I didn't envy the task of the three Judges all of whom were Chartered Engineers led by Wilf Higgins formerly of the Health Services Executive assisted by Dermot O'Dwyer Lecturer in TCD Engineering School and Niall English MD of Futura Design.

Fiona's project which was really amazing was the development of a transcatheter valve as a stent into the mitral value which regulates blood flow from the auricle to the ventricle of the heart. The catheter is inserted into the artery through an incision in the upper leg and threaded through the artery to the heart.

This procedure which takes about 1 week recovery period in hospital replaces an open heart surgery procedure with greatly increased risk of infection, the temporary cutting of the rib cage and some 4 to 6 months recovery period.
The Cork Institute of Technology project was similarly in the biomedical area on the subject of the 'Automation of Prosthetic Shoulder Stem Blasting' which they pioneered with biomedical firm Croom Precision Medical.

Other shortlisted projects included evaluation of a 6 stroke engine, office building energy consumption, design of post tensioned beams, pyrites in concrete and microgeneration - all of which are very topical submitted by Cork IT, DIT, Athlone IT, NUIG and Sligo IT.

Speaking at the presentation of the awards, I emphasised the importance of the modern engineer having a combination of creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communications skills. I encouraged the students to further look at the commercial viability of their projects.

All in all a very exciting day for the students, their parents and teachers all of whom deserve great credit. Also deserving of great praise is Margie McCarthy Director of Membership together with Shirley McDonald and Julie Goggins who conducted the day with great assurance and maximum comfort to the students.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Last night I felt very honoured to be elected President of Engineers Ireland which is the authentic voice of Engineering in Ireland. Last year we celebrated our 175th anniversary so I have 'big shoes to fill'. In terms of my predecessors I'm reminded of what Martin Luther King Jnr said 'If I can see farther than others, it’s because I'm standing on the shoulders of giants'.

In my inaugural speech I tried to capture the sense of Hope we must have as we help to Engineer our way out of the current severe recession particularly in the construction industry. As Engineers, there is much we can contribute to the world of Design, Creativity and Innovation in diverse areas like energy, ICT, biopharma and biomedical engineering. These sectors of engineering in Ireland are not impacted by the recession and are currently mainly responsible for the success of our export led growth.

Speaking of Design I was privileged to be present yesterday morning for the launch of the Dublin bid to become World Design Capital 2014. The bid was branded as 'Pivot Dublin'. The breakfast event was hosted by Lord Mayor Gerry Breen and the guest speaker was Minister for Enterprise and Jobs Richard Bruton. Both lend support to the ambitious bid which is supported by design professionals including Engineers Ireland.

Yesterday morning I was happy to attend the Engineers Ireland conference on Offshore Wind Energy where leading companies in the market shared their experience and ambition to build a viable subsea export network of renewables including Wind Wave and Tidal resources. I very much support this ambition for a low carbon energy infrastructure.

Just before our Annual General Meeting last evening the outgoing President Martin Lowery launched the State of Ireland Infrastructure Report. This excellent report was completed by our members on the recommendation of our Cork Region and assisted by our Civil Division. It is hoped to issue this Infrastructure Progress Report on an annual basis with respect to Energy, Transport, Water, Waste and Communications.

We also welcomed our new Junior Vice President Dr John O'Dea Managing Director of Crospon a leading biomedical manufacturing company based in Galway. John is one of 4 people shortlisted this week as Entrepreneur of the Year. Our Senior Vice President this year is Michael Phillips, the Dublin City Engineer and Director of Traffic, who takes over as President from me in a year's time. I am also grateful that Martin Lowery as Immediate Past President will remain on the Officer/Presidential Team for another year.

Finally I want to sincerely thank the outgoing past President Dr. Chris Horn for his selfless service over four years on the Presidential Team. It was Chris (ex-CEO of Iona Technologies) who inaugurated the first President’s Blog, whose format I am now following.


My inaugural speech in progress