UCD Student Scoops Prestigious European Award

Killian McKenna, a UCD PhD student from Dublin, and member of the UCD Engineering Graduates Association Board, has fought off competition from students from across Europe to win a prestigious European award in Berlin.

Killian, who is representing the all-island electricity sector at a European level, was awarded the 2015 EURELECTRIC Student Award. At the official award ceremony in Berlin, he presented his winning submission to the 400 delegates.

 

Pat O'Doherty, ESB Chief Executive, Killian McKenna, and Hans ten Berge, Secretary General of EURELECTRIC - the European Electricity Association 

Aged 25 and from Glenageary, Killian was chosen as the Electricity Association of Ireland (EAI) entrant for this year’s Award. It followed his success in the national competition sponsored by ESB in which students from Northern Ireland and Ireland participated.

Entrants to the European stage of the competition were invited to submit an essay with the title ‘Dinosaurs of the past or innovators of the future? Designing digital strategies for electricity companies to engage domestic customers.’ An expert panel judged Killian’s entry to be the overall winner from among those entered across Europe.

EAI Chief Executive Owen Wilson said: “We’re delighted to see Killian win this award. It’s a wonderful recognition of the standard of young graduates on the island, on a par with those across Europe. Delivering sustainable energy is critical for the future of all our economies and the environment and it’s wonderful that we have a new generation of people, like Killian, with the knowledge and enthusiasm to help solve some of the many challenges facing the industry.”

Killian, a PhD student at the Electricity Research Centre at University College Dublin (UCD), said: “I’m thrilled to receive this award. It’s a real pleasure to represent my island and our electricity industry in Europe. I’ve found the whole experience extremely thought provoking and enjoyable. I’ll be leaving Berlin with lots of ideas, which I hope to be able to apply to my own research.”

ESB Chief Executive, Pat O’Doherty added: “I would like to congratulate Killian on winning this coveted award. We at ESB are immensely proud to see such talent from Ireland being recognised on the international stage. The 2015 EURELECTRIC Student Award is just the beginning for Killian and we wish him enormous success in his career.”

Introducing the award Hildegarde Mueller, Secretary General of the German electricity industry association said “the finalists today are the future of the industry. They will provide the innovative solutions to the challenges of delivering a sustainable, secure and affordable energy supply”.

EURELECTRIC is the sector association which represents the common interests of the electricity industry at a pan-European level. EAI is the representative body for the electricity sector operating within the Single Electricity Market (SEM) on the island of Ireland. 

Killian’s own research looks at the potential impacts for the distribution network of customers taking greater control over their electricity demand.

UCD Vice President Orla Feely wins 2015 EGA Distinguished Graduate Award

The UCD Vice President Professor Orla Feely was a worthy winner of the 2015 EGA Distinguished Graduate Award presented at our Annual Dinner in The National Concert Hall last week. At the same event the Founder of the EGA Professor John Kelly was presented with an EGA Lifetime Achievement Award.

EGA founder Professor John Kelly, EGA President P.J. Rudden and UCD Vice President Professor Orla Feely, Winner of the 2015 Distinguished Graduate Award

The EGA Distinguished Graduate Award recognises a UCD graduate in active service who is making an outstanding contribution to Irish Society. This contribution can be in the fields of Public Policy Development or in Entrepreneurship, Manufacturing, Information Technology, Research Innovation or Job Creation with a strong public profile who can act as a role model for young members of the profession.

Orla Feely shares her memories of UCD as a student

Professor Orla Feely is UCD Vice President for Research Innovation and Impact and was Chair of the Irish Research Council from 2012 to 2015 set up by Government to support research across a broad range of scholarship in any academic discipline including Engineering, Science, Business, Law, Medicine, Humanities and Social Science. During her three years the IRC supported the work of more than 1,400 researchers and made 4,000 awards, about 3,000 of them in support of PhDs and Masters students.

Since becoming UCD Vice President Orla has supported President Andrew Deeks in the new UCD Strategy 2015 - 2020. Only last week the Taoiseach launched the latest UCD study 'Delivering Impact' showing the huge economic and educational impact of Ireland's largest university. UCD currently has 30,000 students some 13% of them international. It has a total monetary value of some €1.3 billion to the Irish economy generated by UCD and its students.

Orla qualified with an Hons BE Degree in Electronic Engineering in 1986. She then went to Berkeley University California US where she obtained an MS and PhD in electrical engineering.

EGA President P.J. Rudden, UCD Vice President Professor Orla Feely and UCD Professor Tom Brazil

She joined UCD as Lecturer in 1992 graduating to Professor of Electronic Engineering in 2010. She became a Fellow of IEEE in 2009, a Fellow of Engineers Ireland by Presidential Invitation in 2012, a Fellow of the Irish Academy of Engineering in 2013 and on the following day to this event she was formally admitted to Membership of the Royal Irish Academy - Ireland's highest academic accolade.

Also at the Annual Dinner we presented the Founder of the UCD Engineering Graduates Association Professor Emeritus John Kelly with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his achievement in setting up the EGA in 1980. He had the vision to see the benefit of closer university cooperation with industry to further research and innovation and thus set up the University Industry Centre (UIC) with funds raised from engineering graduates and firms.

John Kelly remembers his time as Dean of Engineering and the move from Merrion St. to Belfield

The UIC was officially opened by Taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald in May 1985 and this in turn contributed to the establishment of NovaUCD and NexusUCD, which now successfully incubate and nurture emerging new spin out and spin in companies which create value added products and jobs for the Irish economy.

John Kelly was UCD Dean of Engineering from 1979 until 1986 when he became UCD Registrar and was later Professor of Chemical Engineering.

The Annual Dinner in the ambiance of the John Field Room in National Concert Hall was a great success, thanks mainly to the generosity of our many Sponsors - Coillte, CRH, Energia, Engineers Ireland, ESB, RPS and Siemens.

P.J. Rudden welcomes the attendance in National Concert Hall

Also, we were delighted to be joined again by EGA Board Member Sean Murphy and friends and by a full table of the BE Class of 1983 led by former first EGA Secretary Clodagh O'Donnell and colleagues.

The Class of 1983 led by Clodagh O'Donnell (fourth from left)

Jane O'Callaghan, Sarah Lynn and Mary O'Carroll

Gary O'Callaghan and Greg Duggan from Siemens

Apart from our Founder John Kelly, we had the honour of four former EGA Presidents with us - Dr Liam Connellan, Pat Mercer, Tony O'Brien and Michael Loughnane. Indeed two of them Liam and Pat were previous recipients of the EGA Distinguished Graduate Awards.

Past and Current Presidents of EGA: Michael Loughnane, Liam Connellan, P.J. Rudden, Tony O'Brien and Pat Mercer

It was a highly social occasion as the photographs clearly show. We hope to grow this event further next year with further increased Corporate Member involvement. We are also hopeful of having the pleasure again of the lively 1983 class or and any other past BE Class who will use the event to meet old friends and colleagues while recognising an outstanding graduate of national stature.

Sarah McFarlane, Sylvia Kenna and Dee Keogh from Engineers Ireland

Ciara Murphy RPS, Anne Marie McCague EirGrid and Neasa Kane-Fine RPS

I was proud indeed opening last Saturday's Irish Times to find the photograph of our 2015 Distinguished Graduate at her induction to the Royal Irish Academy on Friday. It all seems so right and timely as we look forward to the continued leadership of Vice President Orla Feely supporting President Andrew Deeks in guiding UCD to being truly Ireland's Global University.

Majella Henchion, Ellen Diskin and Derek Hynes from ESB

Engineers Picnic a Great Success

The Engineers Picnic has been judged a great success by the large crowd who attended. The weather was not as 'fantastic' as forecast earlier in the week but it settled into a lovely evening in the Rose Garden after the initial drops of rain at the start.

People enjoying the Picnic!

We are very grateful to our Sponsors Eircom Networks, ESB and Eirgrid for their support and to our superb Picnic Committee of Karina O'Neill, Angela Treanor, Robyn Kelly and Tony O'Brien for their very hard work and dedication to see it through to such an acknowledged success. Thanks to UCD for the use of the fabulous Rose Garden - a little known amenity on the Belfield Campus beside Belfield House now known as the Clinton Institute.



Karina O'Neill & Robyn Kelly



The quality of the BBQ by With Taste Catering was excellent and the music by TradSoc in the Rose Garden and JazzSoc in the Clinton Auditorium played tastefully in the background. We are indebted to the Class of 1988 who came in large numbers including members from both UK and the US.



JazzSoc playing at the picnic



TradSoc playing at the picnic

  

Some friends from the Class of 1988

We are also indebted to the Energy Needs Ireland (ENI) students of Electrical Engineering led by Professor Mark O'Malley who had a superb multifaceted exhibition expertly manned in turn by most of their 21 enthusiastic members.

PJ Rudden, Mark O'Malley and ENI Students

These are highly talented 21 undergraduate students from universities throughout Ireland who are spending the Summer of 2013 working on the technical, business and social aspects of projects that are related to the "Smart Grid". The group will make unbiased findings on their views of the future for these projects.

The group includes mostly electrical/electronic engineering students but also students of theoretical physics, earth sciences, commerce, mechanical engineering, chemistry drawn from UCD, UCC, TCD, UL and QUB. It’s great to see this interdisciplinary approach with engineers not just talking and conferring with themselves but interactive and drawing expertise from other professional disciplines. This is how 'big picture' problems get solved in today's world and ENI is an excellent formative model for the students involved. 

ENI Students examining Energy Policies

A number of people who attended the Picnic were greatly taken by the ENI exhibition and students particularly by the enthusiasm with which they displayed their research, their ability to communicate and their thirst for knowledge and innovation. I too was bowled over by their individual and collective performance. Their practical demonstration as to how a Smart Meter works to save energy in the home is a good example that these students know who their real audience must be - John and Mary Citizen! - and how best to communicate this message.  I regard the ENI Exhibition as the highlight of the 2013 Engineers Picnic.

The ENI project is conducted with the financial support of Science Foundation Ireland and the Electricity Research Centre (ERC) in University College Dublin in collaboration with the Smart Grid Innovation Hub. ENI was set up by the ERC in 2007 and has operated every second year with growing success from an initial handful of students to 21 motivated young people from across Ireland in 2013.

Back to the Picnic itself! There was an excellent cross section of generations and ages there as the photographs clearly show and a lot of 'third generation' families not seen previously at an EGA event or indeed in UCD. 





Mother with future engineer???



'I'm really enjoying this picnic!'

Maria Blair, Gerry Byrne, Anne Morrissey, Seamus McCague, Anne-Marie McCague, PJ Rudden & Domhnall Blair

The event was briefly and dramatically interrupted by the landing of a giant cardinal red Sikorsky helicopter from the Irish Coastguard Search and Rescue Team bringing a man on a stretcher from where he was rescued on a Wicklow mountainside to a waiting ambulance on the UCD athletics track beside the Rose Garden.

When asked what was happening I was tempted to tell people that 'Its Pope Francis coming to the Picnic as he's a Chemical Engineer'! 'Habemus Papem' in our profession as our eminent EGA Founder Emeritus Professor John Kelly recently put it so well in the Engineers Journal!

Everyone who attended got a copy of the new Engineers Newsletter July 2013 to bring home - also a notice on the forthcoming EGA Panel Discussion on 'Engineering Manufacturing and Job Creation in Ireland' which will be opened by Taoiseach Enda Kenny at 6pm on October 22nd next.




Liam Connellan & Friends

  

UCD Engineering Graduates



Mc Carthy's, O'Brien's & PJ Rudden outside the Clinton Institute

Fantastic Weather Forecast for the Engineers Picnic!

Great news today from the Met Office – next Saturday, 24^th, will bring fantastic weather to the East Coast. We are expecting a huge crowd to attend the Engineers Picnic in the UCD Rose Garden kicking off at 4 p.m. with BBQ food, Music Fest and exhibitions.





We Are All Going to the Picnic!



All are welcome including family members and graduates attending don't have to be from UCD Engineering. This is an inclusive Gathering and you can book your tickets here.

Thank you again to our sponsors ESB, Eircom and Eirgrid for their generous sponsorship.

It Really Is Going to Be an Electric Picnic After All!

The UCD Engineers Picnic is fast becoming a real Electric Picnic with the generous sponsorship by ESB, Eircom and Eirgrid - lots of electricity there by the electrical, electronic and communications utilities! Thank you sincerely ESB, Eircom and Eirgrid for relieving our worries after our brave EGA Picnic Committee slashed the ticket prices from €40 to €20 per head to encourage as many young engineering graduates to attend as possible.

There's more exciting Electric news and that's the Engineering Exhibition on Smart Grids and Interconnection to UK and Europe which will be displayed by the Energy Needs Ireland (ENI) students under Professor Mark O'Malley of the UCD Electricity Research Centre (ERC).



Energy Needs Ireland at work



Added to that will be quality BBQ food by highly reputable caterers and a music medley by a combination of TradSoc and Jazzsoc, both of UCD, running from 4pm to 9pm - all in the ambiance of the UCD Rose Garden.

Book your ticket now here and see you in the Rose Garden. All are welcome not just UCD grads!