Our Annual Awards Dinner was very successful this year
on June 13th last - heightened by the mystery of who the award winners were.
On the night of June 13th in the National Concert Hall
all was revealed - we were awarding the 2016 EGA Distinguished Graduate Award
to EPA Director General Laura Burke one of the youngest UCD graduates
to win this award. In fact Laura was the first EGA Distinguished Graduate to
come from the engineers who qualified in the 90s.
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| Pictured at National Concert Hall is UCD EGA President PJ Rudden, EPA Director General Laura Burke and UCD Principal College of Engineering & Architecture and Dean of Engineering, Professor David FitzPatrick |
Laura qualified as a Chemical Engineer in 1992. She
subsequently worked in industry before joining the EPA in 2004 as one of four
Directors. She firstly was Director for Corporate Affairs and then for Climate
Change and Licensing before becoming Director General in 2011. Copy of the
Press Release announcing her award is shown here. Laura was presented with her award in advance as she was
unavoidably abroad on the week of the Awards.
At the Annual Dinner therefore attention focussed on the
President's Award to Dr Tom Hardiman a mechanical and electrical engineer who
qualified in 1952 from UCD. Tom joined Dept. of Post and Telegraphs and then joined
RTE as Head of Outside Broadcasting in the early 1960s. He then rose quickly to
Director of Engineering before appointment as Director General in 1968.
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| Dr. Tom Hardiman describes some of the challenges he faced and overcame as RTE Director General |
He served in this role for his full term of 7 years during
what must have one of the most challenging periods for Irish Broadcasting. The
Troubles erupted in Northern Ireland in 1968 though Tom tells me they were
brewing from the mid 60s. There was a Government prohibition on allowing
interviews with proscribed organisations in the South. Much tension between
Government and RTE resulted in the RTE Authority being fired but the Director
General survived. We had the Arms Trial, the suspension of Stormont, introduction
of Internment and Ireland joining the EEC as it was called then - all in Tom's
tenure as Director General. The three Ministers he served under were the late
Erskine Childers, Gerry Collins and the late Conor Cruise O'Brien. The
experience he gained in RTE subsequently led to an extraordinary career which
he still carries lightly in his 87th year.
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| EGA President PJ Rudden presents Presidents' Award to Dr.Tom Hardiman (Photos of Tom as RTE Director General in the background) |
When Tom's 7 year term expired he went into the private
sector world of science, industry, commerce, banking and international
relations. He was first Chairman of the National Board of Science and
Technology (pre-runner of Forfas and Science Foundation Ireland). He was
President of Confederation of Irish Industry (now IBEC) and President of Dublin
Chamber of Commence as well as chairing the Government Commission into Higher
Education which directly led to the setting up of DCU and UL the first new
universities in the Irish State. He was subsequently Chancellor of DCU for
three years.
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| Former Dean of Engineering and EGA Founder, Professor John Kelly with EGA First President Dr. Tom Hardiman |
He was conferred with two honorary doctorates by NUI and
by Lynn University Florida. He was admitted to the Royal Irish Academy in 1990
and many other singular awards like the Order of the Rising Son Gold Star from
the Emperor of Japan which he proudly wore on the night.
The main reason he was the first recipient of the EGA
President's Award is because of his extraordinary career spanning over 50 years and that he was chosen as the first EGA President in 1983 when
the UCD Engineering Graduates Association was set up by then Dean of
Engineering Professor John Kelly. We also had John present last Monday night so
I asked him why Tom was chosen. He replied that 'Tom was head and shoulders
over any other candidate at the time' such was the esteem in which he was held
nationally.
We had a large attendance on the night in the National
Concert Hall led by the President of Engineers Ireland Dermot Byrne and many of
his Directors. Thanks to Director General Caroline Spillane for arranging this.
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| Group of Attendees from Engineers Ireland led by President Dermot Byrne and from Coillte led by Strategy Director Padraig O'Donoghue with EGA President PJ Rudden |
We were also most grateful to the organisations who
sponsored tables Coillte, Energia, Engineers Ireland, ESB, RPS and UCD and to
all our Corporate Members who help support our activities.
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| EGA Board Member Cormac Mannion with Group of Energia staff |
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| Úna Fitzgerald, Louise Connolly and Cormac Bradley of RPS Group |
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| UCD College of Engineering Group with EGA President Back L to R: Prof David Timoney, Prof Colm O'Donnell, PJ Rudden, Prof David Fitzpatrick Front L to R: Killian McKenna, Prof Tom Brazil, Clare Ryan, Katie O'Neill and Rebecca Patterson |
We were also delighted to have former UCD Deans of
Engineering present on the night Professor Gerry Byrne, Professor David Timoney and Professor Emeritus John
Kelly former UCD Registrar and EGA Founder.
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| Former Dean Of Engineering Professor Gerry Byrne and Former President of Irish Academy of Engineering Michael Hayden |
The greatest tribute that I can pay to Tom Hardiman is to
remark on the extent of the feedback from the younger generation of attendees
on the night all of whom would not have been born when Tom led RTE. Many of
them remarked to me the personal privilege they felt on meeting him in person
and his great humility despite his stellar career. Tom in turn told me that he
was delighted to meet them and to give them good advice to be courageous in
their careers.
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| Some of the attendance at 2016 EGA Awards Dinner in National Concert Hall |
He was obviously the same icon of engineering and public
service in 2016 as he was in 1968 when chosen as RTE Director General and in
1983 as first EGA President.
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| Professor David Fitzpatrick UCD Dean of Engineering and Principal College of Engineering and Architecture and Rebecca Patterson Marketing and Engagement Manager UCD College of Engineering and Architecture |
