Birr Engineering Festival

The Birr STEA²M Engineering Festival will take place from Thursday, 16 - Saturday 19 October and will provide an opportunity for engineering heritage enthusiasts to gather at one of the most interesting scientific locations on the island of Ireland.

Please note, signed certificates of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) will be issued to attendees for up to 8 hours of discovery and learning in Birr's science and engineering heritage centre of excellence.

Full Three Day Agenda

Opening at 7.30 pm on Thursday, 16 October, the three day event is sure to be a fabulous weekend networking, enjoying the Birr Castle Gardens

Thursday 16 October

Commencement of Engineering Festival - The First Trans-Atlantic Cable and the Heros Involved

19:30 Registration - Birr Theatre

20:00 Circuits under the Sea - setting the context - Lord Kelvin, Cyrus Field - Birr Theatre

20:15 Documentary Movie, eg. The Cable that changed the World - Birr Theatre

21:45 Q&A for 15 minutes - retiring to Kellys Pub for discussion - Birr Theatre

Friday 17 October

Tomorrow's Technology for Today - The Electricity Network in Transition

09:00 Registration - Birr Theatre

09:30 Opening address - Prof. Peter Gallagher - Head of Astrophysics at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies - Birr Theatre

09:45 Shaping our electricity future - Birr Theatre

10:15 Electricity grid stability technologies - Birr Theatre

10:45 Long Duration Energy Storage - from hours to days - Birr Theatre

11:15 Accelerating and scaling up end-use electrification in France - Birr Theatre

11:45 Q&A - Birr Theatre

12:00 Lunch / Tours of Birr Castle Demesne & Science Centre - Birr Castle Demesne

15:00 Chairpersons introductions - Birr Theatre

15:15 Siemens Energy – 100 years of pioneering renewable and energy infrastructure in Ireland - Birr Theatre

15:45 Technology innovation to enable electrification / decarbonisation - Birr Theatre

16:15 Renewable energy technologies and their future in Ireland - Birr Theatre

16:45 Q&A - Birr Theatre

17:15 Careers fair - opportunities within the STEAM fields - John's Hall, Birr

19:30 Networking dinner - Dooly's Hotel, Birr

Saturday 18 October

09:30 Registration and book signing by Jackie Uí Chíonna - Birr Theatre

10:00 Opening address - Virginia Teehan - Chief Executive of The Heritage Council - Birr Theatre

10:15 The importance of Valentia & Knightstown to the world - Birr Theatre

10:45 Queen of Codes: The secret life of Emily Anderson, the Irishwoman who was Britain's greatest female codebreaker, and a world class musicologist - Birr Theatre

11:15 Origin, present day nature and future of genetic decoding - Birr Theatre

11:45 Q&A - Birr Theatre

12:00 Lunch / Tours of Birr Castle Demesne & Science Centre - Birr Castle Demesne

15:00 Chairpersons introductions - Birr Theatre

15:15 Victorian telescope makers - the Grubb family and the Grubb Parsons Telescope Company - Birr Theatre

15:45 John Holland, submarines and influence on the Grubb telescope company - Birr Theatre

16:10 Grubb Parsons and the Sinden Optical Company - Birr Theatre

16:45 Q&A - Birr Theatre

17:15 Exhibition of reading materials from the Archives - John's Hall, Birr

19:30 Networking dinner - Dooly's Hotel, Birr

Purchase tickets

General tickets:

Individual lecture session - €30
Friday morning and afternoon lectures - €60
Saturday morning and afternoon lectures - €60
Movie on Thursday night €7 payable at the door on the night and not part of the registration costs.
All lectures including free admission to movie on Thursday night. - €100

Dinner:

Dinner in Doolys Hotel on Friday night - €45 pp
Dinner in Doolys Hotel on Saturday night - €45 pp

Other:

Entrance and tour fees (€20 for each of 2 tour options which will run at the mid-day break) are directly from the Birr Castle Demesne

Discount:

Students and unwaged €20 per lecture session. No other discount.

Tickets will be available for purchase shortly.

Accommodation

Accommodation will be available at the following locations on a first come, first served basis. Please quote the code BirrEngineeringFestival when booking for preferential rates.

Should there be a shortage in rooms at these locations, please email Martina McDonnell at martina.mcdonnell@arup.com for assistance. Please book early when planning your trip to avoid travelling from other towns in the region for each day.

Should people wish to camp, please contact Alicia Clements at alicia@birrtrust.ie.

Dooly’s Hotel

Tel.: +353 57 9120032

Email: reservations@doolyshotel.com

County Arms Hotel

Tel.: +353 57 9120791

Email: michelledigan@countyarmshotel.com

Townsend House

Tel.: +353 57 9121276

Email: townsendhouseguesthouse@gmail.com

Image Copyright

GM Horseman, Siemens Energy and Tyne & Wear Archive.

Acknowledgement

The organisers would like to thank the people of Birr, the Birr Castle Demesne, the Birr Theatre and Arts Centre, Engineers Ireland, Eirgrid and the Arup Charitable Trust of Ireland for their support for this event. Such was the level of positive feedback received, this event will be repeated at a similar time in coming years.