It has been a successful and exciting year for the College of Engineering and Architecture. We continue to take pride in showcasing the diverse and inspiring paths our alumni follow. In our Engineering building, 12 new alumni portraits have been hung – each a testament to the variety of careers pursued by our graduates and a source of inspiration for our current students.
I was deeply honoured to receive the Engineers Ireland President’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Engineering Profession. This award is a reflection of the dedication of our faculty and the significant impact of UCD engineering graduates on Ireland’s development.
In March, the UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering, in partnership with the Environmental Sciences Association of Ireland, hosted the 35th Irish Environmental Researchers’ Colloquium (ENVIRON 2025) on campus. This is Ireland’s largest gathering of environmental researchers, and this year’s event featured over 57 posters and 88 oral presentations. It remains an important platform for researchers at all career stages to share findings with academia, industry, government, and the public.
Research excellence continues to define the College. We are proud of our continued success in the prestigious European Research Council (ERC) awards. Associate Professor Junli Xu from the School of Biosystems and Food Engineering received an ERC Starting Grant for her project, which looks at machine learning combined with spectral imaging for inferring the toxicity of micro- and nanoplastics.
In the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, there were two ERC awards: Associate Professor David MacManus received an ERC Starting Grant for his project, which identifies how to bridge the gender gap in traumatic brain injury biomechanics.
Associate Professor Aisling Ní Annaidh was awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant for a project which proposes a patientspecific approach to tissue expansion in breast reduction.
These competitive awards highlight our position as a world-class research institution, and more importantly, demonstrate the real-world impact of our work.
Another exciting development was the launch in March of a new double degree in Sustainability Engineering Leadership, launched by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, UCD President, Professor Orla Feely, and Provost of Northeastern University in Boston, Professor David Madigan. This innovative programme – the first of its kind – is a collaboration between UCD’s School of Biosystems and Food Engineering and Northeastern University’s College of Engineering. The programme welcomes its first cohort in September 2025 and students will spend their first year in Boston and second year in Dublin. Graduates will be equipped with the technical, analytical, and leadership skills to drive sustainability across global industries.
As always, we were delighted to celebrate the achievements of our students. In November, the Engineering Graduates Association (EGA) welcomed 30 recent graduates back to campus to honour their academic excellence through gold medals and awards.
We also recognised an exceptional alumnus with the 2024 EGA Distinguished Graduate Award. Paddy Hayes, CEO of ESB Group, was honoured for his outstanding contributions to the energy sector and leadership in advancing sustainability and innovation.
The School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy concluded the trimester with the annual showcase of students’ work during the Landscape Architecture end-of-year exhibition and the Architecture Summer Show ‘Outside In’, which this year also included a panel discussion.
Congratulations to Assistant Professor Will Dimond and Marcus Donaghy, who won the prestigious RIAI Gold Medal for their award-winning design that transformed the Model School in Inchicore into a sustainable, community-focused space. The RIAI praised the project for its creativity and social impact.
As we look ahead, I remain proud of the College’s continued progress and inspired by the global impact of our alumni and faculty. Thank you for being part of this vibrant community.