MOREFISH research project: engineering sustainability in Irish aquaculture

Aquaculture is an industry that has enormous potential to grow. It is estimated that Ireland’s annual output for seafood (captured and farmed) will be worth €1.25 billion by 2025, with an additional 250 jobs created and with the largest growth being from aquaculture (1). Farmed fish is an efficient foodsource when compared to traditional protein production (2). There are still areas in the production of freshwater fishes that must be addressed but, with the application of innovative ...

‘Animated Language Learning’ program reaches 300 families with autism

Enda and Valerie Dodd’s innovative software solution, ALL, is named after their company, Animated Language Learning. It is driven by the belief that they can change the world for children with autism and their families. Since its inception in 2016, ALL has been adopted by 300 families and schools in Ireland, Europe and the US and is on track to reach its 301st customer and far beyond that number by the end of 2017. Based at NUI Galway’s Business Innovation Centre, ALL is an effective ...

Why we must invest and innovate to future-proof Ireland's medtech success

For a small country, Ireland punches well above its weight when it comes to the strength of its biomedical sector. It is one of Europe’s largest medtech hotspots and is home to 300+ such companies, employing in excess of 25,000 people. And yet, we cannot afford to sit back, pat ourselves on the back and rest easy in our complacency. Technology moves quickly in the biomedical field, with resulting life-changing developments regularly hitting the headlines. According to Jonathan Kidd, chair ...

UCD spin-in OCE Technology reaches for the stars with satellite technology

The story of UCD spin-in company OCE Technology story begins, unusually, with a young man from a village in China. Jun Yan did well academically and came to do his PhD in Dublin City University (DCU), supported by the Chinese Government and the Eolas scholarship scheme. On completion of his PhD in robotics at DCU’s School of Mechanical Engineering, he worked as a lecturer in the School of Computing and, together with the Head of School, Prof Michael Ryan and Dr James Power, wrote a book ...

Embedded instrumentation as a teaching tool for construction students

Civil engineering and construction-management students from Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) visited the recently constructed Human Biology Building (HBB) in NUI Galway and took part in a load test on a concrete slab with embedded sensors. The HBB is a four-storey building over basement and roof-level plant enclosure with a gross floor area of 8200m2 (Figure 1) and was constructed by BAM Ireland. The HBB is primarily constructed using precast concrete elements, including the ...

Optimisation of a multi-component distillation column in Whitegate Refinery

Naina Thomas is studying chemical and biopharmaceutical engineering in the Cork Institute of Technology. She undertook her work placement in Irving Oil at Whitegate Refinery, Co. Cork. This article describes the final-year research project that she subsequently undertook at the refinery last autumn. Whitegate is the country’s only refinery. It processes light, low-sulfur crude oil, sourced from the North Sea and West Africa. The facility produces transportation and heating fuels such as ...

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