New UCD Engineers Newsletter launched by EGA

A new Engineers eNewsletter has been launched by the UCD Engineering Graduates Association to keep Members and potential New Members fully informed on happenings in UCD and in Engineering in general.

The first Summer Edition dated July 2013 is available (here). Its up to date on all the main stories from the New UCD President, our latest Distinguished Graduate Award and of course the upcoming Engineers Picnic BBQ in the Rose Garden later this month. Don't forget to book the Picnic online on the EGA website homepage (here)! There's also a call to join the EGA at reduced cost (here)!



EGA Newsletter

The new Editor of the Engineers Newsletter is Dr. Ciaran McNally of the UCD Civil Structural and Environmental School. Ciaran has put together a superb e-publication in a short space of time. It is hoped to issue the Newsletter quarterly in July, October, January and April of each year. Members of the EGA are invited to contribute Articles, Letters to the Editor and Opinions directly to Editor Ciaran.

Editor Dr. Ciaran McNally

I would like to thank Dr. Liam Madden, Vice President Xilinx Corp in Silicon Valley, California. Also, EGA Board Members, Cormac Mannion for his piece on Energy Efficiency and Angela Treanor for publicising the Picnic also through Facebook. I've mentioned it myself on Twitter (@PJRudden) a number of times. The administration of the Picnic is now in the very capable hands of Karina O'Neill, Marketing Manager for the College of Engineering and Architecture assisted by Robyn Kelly on Entertainment and Tony O'Brien on Sponsorship. Karina, Robyn and Tony are also on the EGA Board.

I hope you enjoy the Engineers Newsletter which will keep up updated on what the EGA are doing. The idea of restarting the Newsletter came to me from a very informative meeting I had earlier in the year with 6 EGA Past Presidents - Tom Hardiman, Des Green, Liam Connellan, Colm Bannon, Tony O'Brien and Michael Loughnane - together with the UCD Dean of Engineering Gerry Byrne.

An Taoiseach to Open UCD EGA Panel Discussion on 'Manufacturing Engineering and Job Creation'

An Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD will open the UCD Engineering Graduates Association (EGA) Autumn Panel Discussion on 'Manufacturing Engineering and Job Creation' on October 22nd 2013. This is in recognition of the importance of the manufacturing sector to our current job creation and export drive.
The Panel Discussion will be addressed by leading national and international engineers in the manufacturing space including some of Ireland's leading entrepreneurs.

The Taoiseach recently opened the 5,250 sq metre NexusUCD Research and Innovation Centre together with the offices of ResMed a leading international company in the sensor technology business. 'By providing innovation in Irish business and education we will make Irish high-value products and services more attractive across the world' the Taoiseach said 'Building closer links between industry and higher education institutions will be essential if Ireland is to be promoted as the 'innovation island.'
 


An Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD at the opening of the NexusUCD

 At the launch, UCD Vice President for Innovation Peter Clinch demonstrated the UCD ambition in this area. He said that 'the university is actively supporting the transition to a sustainable Irish economy based on innovation, education, enterprise and exports'.

ResMed is an Irish company formed out of innovative engineering research in UCD. Both itself and its predecessor company Bianca Med were founded by UCD research engineers Dr. Conor Hanley and Professor Conor Heneghan who studied chemical and electronic engineering respectively. Their initial research was to invent sleep monitoring technology which became a world leader in non contact sleep and breathing. You can imagine how this transformed the remote monitoring of sleep and breathing in the home especially for babies and the older generation.

Pictured at the launch Dr. Conor Hanley of ResMed, An Taoiseach Enda Kenny and UCD Vice President for Innovation Peter Clinch

Dr. Conor Hanley of ResMed was delighted with the new research facilities in NexusUCD. 'We chose to site our new office in NexusUCD because of the excellent facilities available and its proximity to UCD and affiliated hospitals. Together they deliver an ecosystem that is vital to our innovation and growth' he explained.

The EGA Panel Discussion will further illustrate and explore the engineering innovation that is helping to drive our economic recovery. A further example of this in the agricultural engineering area is Dairymaster in Tralee, Co. Kerry, who manufacture automatic milking machines for the export market in China. Dr. Edmond Harty CEO of Dairymaster is a mechanical engineer who has a PhD from UCD in the area of milking performance in dairy farming. Edmond won the Ernst & Young 2012 Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

So please put the date of October 22nd in your diary for the Panel Discussion on 'Manufacturing Engineering and Job Creation' commencing with An Taoiseach at 7pm in the Clinton Auditorium. It will be preceded by the UCD EGA Annual General Meeting at 5.30pm.