More than 70 members of Engineers Ireland were conferred with registered professional titles at a ceremony in 22 Clyde Road on Wednesday, May 30. A registered professional title from Engineers Ireland provides peer reviewed and internationally recognised formal recognition of our members’ professional competence and is an accolade associated with the very best of the engineering profession. The conferring of parchments confirmed the successful demonstration of members’ engineering formation and their competence to practice professionally. This competency was assessed by Engineers Ireland’s assessors and interviewers. Three associate engineers and 55 chartered engineers received their professional titles on the evening by outgoing Engineers Ireland president, Dr Kieran Feighan. Nine members also received the title of fellow on the evening, the highest level of membership awarded by the organisation. This title is reserved for engineers who have demonstrated a significant level of experience and professionalism. Dr Feighan also had the privilege of issuing a presidential invitation to become a fellow of Engineers Ireland to John Casey, asset strategy and sustainability manger at Irish Water; Prof Andrew Deeks, president of University College Dublin; Bernard Looney, chief executive of Upstream at BP plc; Zelia Madigan, deputy CEO of Equiendo; and Jacinta Ryan, operations manager with ESB. The president, on foot of approval from Engineers Ireland’s council, also awarded four honorary fellow titles for their contributions to engineering and science to: Patrick Hanratty, senior counsel of the Law Library of Ireland and CEDR accredited mediator; David Hayde, chairman of CEL; Prof Brian MacCraith, president of Dublin City University; and Prof Susan McKenna-Lawlor, founder and managing director of Space Technology Ireland Ltd. In addition to those conferred at the Dublin ceremony, 90 members were also conferred at ceremonies in the North East; Northern; Cork; Midlands; West; South East; Thomond; and Great Britain regions of Engineers Ireland over the last number of months.

John Casey

John Casey is a graduate of University College Dublin, holding both a BE in civil engineering from 1982 and an MEngSc in civil engineering since 1983. Presently, he is asset strategy and sustainability manager at Irish Water - a senior management role - managing a large multidisciplined technical team comprising scientists and engineers responsible for long-term strategy development within the national water utility. This encompasses the areas of innovation and research, long-term planning, sustainability, energy and environmental strategy. In this role, he was a key contributor to the development of the Water Services Strategic Plan and Capital Investment Plan. Casey is a United Kingdom Water Industry Research (UKWIR) board member, representing Irish Water. He has presented at numerous water and environmental industry conferences/events in Ireland and abroad. He is a past chairman of the Republic of Ireland branch of CIWEM and served on that committee for a number of years. He has 30 years of water sector experience in Ireland and overseas in both water and wastewater and spanning research and development, design, project management and asset management. [caption id="attachment_43580" align="alignleft" width="300"] Prof Andrew Deeks, centre, Caroline Spillane, director general of Engineers Ireland, and Dr Kieran Feighan, outgoing president of Engineers Ireland[/caption]

Professor Andrew Deeks

On January 1, 2014, Prof Deeks took up the presidency of University College Dublin, becoming the first Australian to lead an Irish university. He is a graduate of the University of Western Australia (UWA), where he received a first class honours degree in civil engineering in 1984. After completing his master's degree, he worked in industry, briefly, before returning to UWA to pursue his PhD and an academic career in 1988. He became a leading expert in computational mechanics - specifically in the scaled boundary finite element method, which is a semi-analytical approach for solving elastostatic, elastodynamic and allied problems in engineering. He is also highly respected for his research work in structural mechanics, structural dynamics and dynamic soil structure interaction. He has published more than 160 papers in journals and refereed conference proceedings together with a book, and has held a number of significant research grants. His strong commitment to students is acknowledged in the prizes and awards he holds for teaching excellence and innovation in teaching. In 2004, he was promoted to Winthrop Professor, Civil and Resource Engineering, and was head of school from 2004 to 2009. While there, Deeks created a new model for industry involvement in the school, significantly improved the learning experience and doubled student numbers. His successful development of partnerships with industry and government bodies led to his election as a fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Australia. He developed a range of international partnerships and joint programmes, notably with Chinese universities. In 2009, he joined Durham University as pro-vice-chancellor, science, where he led the development of the university's global presence strategy and extensive international partnerships, particularly in China and Brazil. He also championed Durham University’s strategic partnership with IBM and contributed to strategic partnerships with Procter & Gamble and BG Brasil. He  was instrumental in the creation of Durham University’s Institute of Advanced Research Computing, which uses computer-supported modelling and simulation as a third pillar of discovery, alongside theory and experimentation, across all domains of science as well as in social science and the arts and humanities.

Bernard Looney

Bernard Looney holds a primary degree in electrical engineering from University College Dublin and an MS in management from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. He joined BP in 1991 as a drilling engineer, working in the North Sea, Vietnam and the Gulf of Mexico. In 2001, he moved into the Exploration and Technology Group of BP and worked as its group vice-president. From 2005, he served as senior vice-president at BP Alaska and then head of group CEO’s executive office. He served as managing director of North Sea business at BP from 2009. He subsequently served as chief operating officer of production and executive vice-president of development. Looney has been the chief executive of Upstream at BP plc since February 2016. He is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a council member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and an industry advisory council fellow of the Energy Institute. He was presented with his parchment at a conferring ceremony in London in our GB Region earlier this year. [caption id="attachment_43583" align="alignleft" width="200"] Zelia Madigan with Dr Kieran Feighan[/caption]

Zelia Madigan

Zelia Madigan holds a primary degree in computer and electronic engineering from Trinity College Dublin and additional qualifications in training and management from Boston University Questrom School of Business and the London Business School. She has held a variety of senior ICT leadership roles in technical, commercial and operations areas. She has served as account chief technical officer for Ericcson and has been based in the UK, Portugal, Sweden, North America, India and Ireland. Subsequently, Madigan held the post of managing director for Ericsson Ireland, leading sales, operations and R&D in telecommunications, media and IT with more than 1,200 employees. Most recently, she has joined Equiendo as deputy CEO. She leads a diverse team of engineers, data scientists and business analysts in the development of new software products in mobile network technology, delivering diverse projects to global mobile communication providers. Madigan has served as chair of the technology Ireland board at IBEC and as a non-executive board member of NovaUCD.

Jacinta Ryan

As operations manager with ESB International, Jacinta Ryan is responsible for the effective delivery of ESB’s capital expenditure of more than €500 million per annum on delivering engineering consultancy services across the world. Her primary focus is leading and developing more than 700 staff, 450 of which are engineers, to deliver safe, quality, value-added, cost-effective engineering services and solutions to meet customer needs. She keeps up to date with changing market conditions and takes a risk-based approach to create solutions and options for business success. Ryan aligns this market perspective with her responsibility for ensuring the necessary engineering competencies are in place to meet the strategic requirement of ESB and external customers. She led the development of ESB’s Engineering Competence Framework, which is used to provide assurance around the company’s engineering capability for today and the future. She collaborates across the ESB Group, and externally, to drive innovative thinking and identify new technical, engineering and digital solutions. She drives business performance and leverages a continuous improvement culture to deliver efficient and effective services. Ryan has also been selected to participate as part of a senior management team in the development of ESB’s 2030 strategy. She graduated with a BE in mechanical engineering from University College Dublin. [caption id="attachment_43585" align="alignleft" width="300"] Patrick Hanratty, centre, Caroline Spillane and Dr Kieran Feighan[/caption]

Patrick Hanratty SC

Patrick is a senior counsel of the Law Library of Ireland and a CEDR accredited mediator. He holds degrees in economics and politics from University College Dublin and in law from Trinity College Dublin. He also holds a degree in barrister-at-law from the Kings Inns. He commenced practice as a junior counsel in 1974 and was called to the inner bar as a senior counsel in 1996. He is a member of the Bar of England and Wales since 1988. Under our code of ethics, the council establishes a three-person Ethics Appeal Board to hear appeals against decisions by an investigative and disciplinary panel of the ethics board. The chairman and one other member of the appeal board shall be past presidents of Engineers Ireland and the third member shall be a practising barrister. Membership of the appeal board is an onerous task requiring great skill and judgment. Hanratty has served continuously on the Engineers Ireland Ethics Appeal Board, on a pro bono basis, for the past 18 years. He was also a significant contributor to the transformation of the Code of Ethics in 2003, and was heavily involved in the drafting of the Guidelines for Investigative and Disciplinary Panels established by the ethics board under the Code of Ethics of Engineers Ireland in 2016.  He stepped down from the appeal board earlier this year and has been replaced by Patricia Dillon SC. [caption id="attachment_43586" align="alignleft" width="300"] David Hayde and Dr Kieran Feighan[/caption]

David Hayde

David Hayde joined the ESB on an apprenticeship scheme in 1970. In 1975, he joined Process Automation and Control Engineering, specialising in motor controls and their application.  In 1977, he joined Warner Lambert/Pfizer as a maintenance technician. He introduced PLCs to Warner Lambert, designing the programmes using LADDER Logic to replace potentially problematic mechanical/electrical systems. Recognising the potential in the wider market, Hayde took the bold step to establish Control Equipment Limited (CEL) in 1980. It designs, builds and supplies switchgear and motor control centres for year-round operations across all the big industries in Ireland and overseas. His company is the only independent manufacturer of the ABB switchgear system worldwide.  It has successfully completed projects in Qatar, Jordan, Iraq, Chile and all across Europe. CEL, and particularly Hayde, are used by most engineering consultants for design advice, taking calls from Jacobs, PM, DPS, Arup, and others for advice on switchgear and motor control for the design stage of their projects. He is the chairman of CEL, which employs 160 people, and has annual revenues of €19 million. Throughout the 37-year history of CEL, in excess of 2,000 people have passed through the company. At present, it has 13 staff members participating in postgraduate and degree courses in electrical and mechanical engineering and business - all funded by the company.

Professor Brian MacCraith

Prof MacCraith was inaugurated as president of Dublin City University (DCU) in July 2010, and will hold this position for 10 years. During his time as president, DCU has developed significantly in terms of scale, footprint, and reputation. He received his BSc in physics from NUI, Galway, where he also completed an MSc and a PhD in optical spectroscopy of laser materials. In 1986, he joined the staff of DCU, where he has played an active role in the teaching of physics and research in the areas of optical chemical sensors and biosensors, biomedical diagnostics, and nanobiophotonics. He has a substantial track record of publications and intellectual property in these areas. He was founding director of the National Centre for Sensor Research, established in 1999 at DCU. In 2005, he led the proposal to establish the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute, a Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre, at DCU and was appointed as its first director. Prof MacCraith has chaired the Review of STEM Education in the Irish School System (published in November 2016). He is a member of the Royal Irish Academy, a fellow of the Institute of Physics, and a fellow of the Irish Academy of Engineering. [caption id="attachment_43588" align="alignleft" width="228"] Professor Susan McKenna-Lawlor with Dr Kieran Feighan[/caption]

Professor Susan McKenna-Lawlor

Prof McKenna-Lawlor was educated at University College Dublin (UCD), the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies and the University of Michigan.  She holds a PhD in space physics from the National University of Ireland. She was a member of the Seanad (NUI panel) from 1997 to 2002. She is an emeritus professor at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. She is the founder and managing director of Space Technology Ireland Ltd which, since its foundation in 1985, has designed, constructed and tested hardware and embedded software, successfully flown to a variety of targets by six leading space agencies, NASA, the European Space Agency, and space agencies in China, India, Japan and Russia. In the capacity of principal investigator, Prof McKenna-Lawlor carried full scientific, technical and administrative responsibility for Ireland’s EPONA experiment on the European Space Agency’s Giotto mission. Her group built mission-critical hardware for the Philae Lander on ESA’s Rosetta mission. She participated in NASA’s Skylab, Solar Maximum, WIND and Gravity Probe B (Relativity) missions, and also with the Russian Space Agency in respect of the Phobos Mission to Mars and its Moons (an experiment on both spacecraft) and the Mars 96 mission (four experiments). She received an Irish Person of the Year Award in 1986; and was further awarded associate membership of the Royal Astronomical Society in London. In 1988, she received the Russian Tsiokovsky Gold Medal for 'Outstanding Contributions to Cosmonautics'. In 2004, she received an award from ESA in recognition of ‘outstanding contributions to the ROSETTA Mission'. She is the author/co-author of more than 250 publications on scientific and technical subjects. She is also a fellow of the Institute of Physics in London.