The annual Peter Rice medal competition, which takes place in Dundalk Institute of Technology (DKIT), is organised annually by DKIT School of Engineering and is run in conjunction with, and sponsored by, the Engineers Ireland North East region. This year’s winner was Olegs Agafonovs, a civil engineering student whose entry was based on the design of a multi-storey steel framed building. Peter Rice, who was born in Dundalk, worked for Ove Arup on projects such as Centre Pompidou, Lloyd’s of London, the Louvre Pyramid and the Sydney Opera House and is considered to be one of Ireland’s most outstanding engineers. The medal commemorates Rice’s life and work and is awarded to the best Level 7 engineering student project in Dundalk Institute of Technology each year. The event used to showcase project work within the School of Engineering, with student posters and projects on display for attendees. For the competition itself, three candidates from a range of engineering disciplines presented their student projects to an audience of students, staff and a panel of judges from the Engineers Ireland North East Region. The finalists were Waleed Alshammari, electrical and electronic systems, who presented his work on the control of the speed of a train using LabVIEW and MyDAQ,  Olegs Agafonovs, civil engineering, who presented his work on the design of a multi-storey steel framed building, and Fergal McArdle, mechanical engineering, who presented his work on the development of a rainwater harvester filter. Following the presentations, each candidate was interviewed by the judging panel.  The judging panel consisted of Sheila Broderick, senior assistant chief fire officer of Monaghan County Council, David Hatchett, mechanical engineer from Combilift and chairperson of the Engineers Ireland North East region and John Quinn, consultant civil engineer from JV Quinn and Associates.  The panel decided to award this year’s Peter Rice Medal to Olegs Agafonovs for his project on the design of a multi-storey building. Congratulations to Olegs and all of the finalists who took part in the competition.