Five Chartered Engineers have been shortlisted for the highly coveted Chartered Engineer of the Year Award, supported by Arup.
Aishwarya Ashok, Enda Geraghty, Eoin Kavanagh, Jonathan Ruddy, and Laura Fernández Vila have been selected for their pioneering achievements across a range of engineering projects.
Chartered Engineer is considered a gold standard of quality within the engineering industry. It is a significant career milestone for any engineer and is highly valued by employers. Engineers Ireland has sole statutory authority to award the title, which is granted to professional engineers following a rigorous review process that assesses their abilities to apply professional competence in the workplace.
The Chartered Engineer of the Year Award celebrates excellence amongst those who have attained the title of Chartered Engineer during the past year. Our finalists will showcase their projects, which will be followed by networking, along with canapés and drinks in Café Clyde. This event is open to all members to attend, with limited availability. You can register for this complimentary evening here.
Áine Myler, Director General of Engineers Ireland, commented: “What an exciting glimpse of the future of engineering in Ireland these five finalists represent. Each is making an extraordinary contribution in their chosen field, demonstrating not just technical excellence, but the creativity, ambition and determination to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing our society. Being shortlisted for Chartered Engineer of the Year is a tremendous achievement and a recognition of the impact they are already making, with so much more to come. I warmly congratulate all five finalists and thank Arup for their continued support of this prestigious award and the exceptional engineering talent it celebrates.”
Meet the finalists below:
Aishwarya Ashok, Energy and Systems Engineer, Transport Infrastructure Ireland
Project title: Remote Axle Counter Reset System: Enhancing Railway Safety, Reliability and Operational Resilience
Aishwarya Ashok has extensive experience across both the heavy and light rail sectors. Throughout her career, she has played a key role in delivering major railway re-signalling and infrastructure upgrade projects. Driven by a commitment to a greener Ireland, she helps deliver energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives. Her work has resulted in improved operational performance, greater network resilience, and sustainable transport solutions.
Beyond her technical work, Aishwarya is a strong advocate for inclusion in engineering. She led the introduction of properly fitted personal protective equipment (PPE) and enhanced hygiene facilities for women, directly improving safety, comfort, and productivity across operational sites.
In collaboration with the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers (IRSE), Aishwarya organised and delivered the ‘Back to Basics’ Railway Seminar, promoting knowledge sharing and professional development within the rail industry.
Enda Geraghty, Senior Electrical Engineer, ESB Networks
Project title: Rural Electrification 2.0
Enda works in automation, design, consultancy and offshore wind projects in locations spanning Strabane to St Lucia. Enda believes in lifelong learning and continual development and subscribes to a servant leadership style, ensuring success through people is of utmost importance. He has a keen interest in people development, particularly in educational settings like the STEPS programme.
Eoin Kavanagh, Senior Mechanical Engineer, Malone Group
Project title: SPADE Shared Kitchen – Fuelling Food Entrepreneurs in the heart of Dublin
Eoin has over 14 years of experience delivering building services projects across the pharmaceutical, food and drink, commercial, education and retail sectors. Holding a Bachelor of Engineering in Building Services from DIT, he has developed a career focused on technical excellence, project leadership and sustainable design.
Since joining Malone Group, Eoin has led multidisciplinary teams in the delivery of complex projects from concept through to detail design, procurement, construction and handover. His expertise spans HVAC systems, energy compliance and sustainable building services design. He is particularly passionate about identifying practical engineering solutions that improve building performance while balancing operational, regulatory and commercial objectives.
Eoin mentors graduate engineers, promotes continuous professional development to help shape the next generation. He is committed to advancing engineering excellence and sustainability across the built environment, helping customers deliver efficient, resilient and future-ready facilities.
Jonathan Ruddy, Commissioning Manager, EirGrid
Project title: Connecting Ireland to Europe and GB: Commissioning major HVDC Interconnectors
Jonathan Ruddy is an experienced engineering manager, technical project manager & HVDC specialist with a PhD in Offshore wind connected by HVDC, specialising in grid integration, HVDC interconnectors and power systems.
Jonathan is currently Commissioning Manager with EirGrid on the Celtic Interconnector, the HVDC link between Ireland and France. He is responsible for the commissioning of the Irish converter station, and overall commissioning of the HVDC control system. His role involves coordinating multidisciplinary teams and managing the technical integration of complex HVDC systems with the Irish electricity grid.
Previously, Jonathan was Technology Manager of the Greenlink Interconnector between Ireland and Wales, overseeing the technical aspects of two HVDC Converter Stations, DC and AC cables and a 220kV substation from design through to grid integration and commissioning. He holds a PhD in Offshore Wind Integration and has worked in R&D with EPRI prior to joining Greenlink.
Laura Fernández Vila, Structural engineer, Roughan & O’Donovan
Project title: Digital Engineering in Structural Design: From Models to Better Decisions
Laura is a chartered structural engineer with 11 years’ experience in the building industry. She began her career in Denmark while completing her master’s studies at the Technical University of Denmark, specialising in structural engineering.
Since joining Roughan & O’Donovan (ROD), Laura has gained experience across a range of sectors, including healthcare, education and community developments. She has successfully led the design of structural engineering projects across all stages, demonstrating an awareness of the complexities involved in delivering integrated building solutions and the importance of collaboration within multidisciplinary teams.
Laura’s structural engineering expertise and specialist knowledge of digital engineering informs her innovative, coordinated and efficient approach to project delivery. Her ability to combine engineering and digital practice has enhanced the quality and efficiency of ROD’s structural design procedures and contributed to the development and implementation of its information management processes and standards.