Monday September 5th was
Conferring Day for UCD College of Engineering and Architecture. Earlier that
day the Engineering Graduates Association (EGA) co-hosted our Gold Medal
Ceremony for Outstanding Graduates in each discipline with the UCD Architecture
Graduates Association.
There was a record attendance this year of 123 including 91 students and their families, 19 sponsors and 11 UCD academics. It was especially the start of a very proud day for the awarded students, their parents and families. It was also the first year where we saw Gold Medals presented exclusively to 5 yr Masters students in accordance with revised requirements by Engineers Ireland for Chartered Engineers in Ireland.
Gold Medals were awarded for
the highest marks in the Masters (ME or MArch) Degree to Roisin McHugh (MArch) for
Architecture, Minjie Lu for Civil Engineering, Caitlin McDonnell for Structural
Engineering with Architecture, Art O'Connor for Chemical Engineering, Muyang
Liu for Electrical Engineering, Gerald Murphy for Electronic Engineering, Robert Brennan for Biomedical Engineering,
Keith O'Donovan for Mechanical Engineering, Michael Murphy for Biosystems
Engineering and Christopher Bohane for Engineering with Business.
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| Gold Medalists Front Row: Muyang Liu (Electrical Engineering), Gerard Murphy (Electronic Engineering), Anna McHugh, mother of Rosin McHugh (Architecture), Caitlin McDonnell (Structural Engineering with Architecture), Michael Murphy (Biosystems Engineering). Back Row: Art O'Connor (Chemical Engineering), Keith O'Donovan (Mechanical Engineering), Minjie Liu (Civil Engineering), Christopher Bohane (Engineering with Business) and Robert Brennan (Biomedical) with EPA President PJ Rudden and Dean of Engineering Professor David FitzPatrick
The companies who sponsored Gold Medals were Arup, RPS, BMS, SSE Electricity, S3, Crospon, CRH, FDT and Abbvie to whom both UCD and the EGA are extremely grateful.
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| Mary Moran Director of Manufacturing Science and Technology at Bristol Myers Squib (BMS) presents EGA Gold Medal in Chemical Engineering to Art O'Connor |
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| Padraic Brennan RPS Regional Director presents EGA Gold Medal in Civil Engineering to Minjie Lu
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| Paul Dillon Republic of Ireland branch of Institution of Mechanical Engineers presents Certificate for Best Student to Benjamin Mangan |
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Karen Moloney presents Cylon Excellence
Award in Electrical Engineering to Michael Heslin
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| Alice Brennan winner of Pat McAdam Scholarship to US Colorado School of Mines with Sponsor Martin McAdam |
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| Alex Sweeney Process Group Manager PM Group with winner of Kevin Kelly Design Award Amy O'Keeffe with parents |
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| Husband and wife winner team in Electrical Engineering Junra Chen (winner James G. Lacy Award sponsored by Liam Madden of Xilinx) and Munyang Liu (Gold Medal) with UCD Professor Emeritus James Lacy and Professor of Electronic Engineering Dr Tom Brazil |
The recipient graduates for these awards were Daniel Keating, Niamh MacPherson, Alice Brennan, Katie Kilcoyne, Amy O'Keeffe, Art O'Connor, Stephen Jones, William Denning, Dylan Nolan, Benjamin Mangan, Joseph Eftamandilos, Stephen Duke, James Farrell, Jordan Pendleton, Michael Heslin and Jenru Chen.
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| Louise Clarke Senior Talent Acquistion Specialist with Abbvie with winner of Abbvie Achievement Award in Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering Practice |
This event was a tremendous celebration of Engineering and Architecture with very talented new graduates emerging into the Irish growth economy where engineers continue to be in great demand.
UCD Engineering is also in greater demand nationally this year where the average Leaving Certificate CAO points for entry was at 560 in addition to Grade C or greater in Leaving Certificate Honours Mathematics.
There is a particular shortage of students opting for Civil Engineering still impacting from the construction recession in Ireland since 2008 and now only slowly growing again. A further real concern is the low gender balance in engineering, though it was up at 27% for last year's UCD entrants.
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| Prizewinners in Civil Engineering Daniel Keating (Roughan O'Donovan Prize, Caitlin McDonnell (EGA Gold Medal in Structural Engineering sponsored by Arup), Minjie Lu (EGA Gold Medal in Civil Engineering sponsored by RPS) and EGA President P.J. Rudden |
