School of Engineering
& Architecture

12th Industry & Careers Day Welcomes 200+ Secondary School Students

The School hosted its 12th Industry and Careers Day in Devere Hall, welcoming more than 200 secondary school students from across Munster. The event gave future engineers the opportunity to hear directly from UCC graduates working across a broad range of sectors. Speakers included Dr. Olive Murphy, James Kelleher and Neha Patil from Analog Devices, David Wallace from Malachy Walsh and Partners, Niamh Molloy from MSD Brinny, and Seán McCabe from Lightsource BP. Initiatives like this play a vital role in inspiring the next generation and demonstrating the breadth of what an engineering or architecture education can lead to. A particular thank you to Ralph O'Flaherty and Claudia Cashman for organising the event.

L-R: Dr. Alan Morrison, Seán McCabe, Niamh Molloy, Neha Patil, James Kelleher, and David Wallace at the School of Engineering Industry and Careers Day.

Dr. Paul Deane on Ireland's Energy Crisis: From Newstalk to RTÉ

Dr. Paul Deane, Senior Lecturer in Clean Energy Futures, has been a prominent voice in national media over recent weeks as Ireland's fuel and electricity costs continue to dominate public debate. He spoke to Claire Byrne on Newstalk about electricity prices in Ireland — among the highest in Europe — and to Newstalk's Hard Shoulder on the breakdown of petrol and diesel prices, explaining that at current prices over €1.10 per litre of diesel goes directly in tax, including excise duty, VAT, and carbon tax. He also joined RTÉ's Behind the Story podcast to discuss the fuel crisis in depth, setting out the limited room governments have to reduce costs — constrained by the European Energy Tax Directive — while tracking monthly wholesale electricity prices, which averaged €128/MWh in March. Paul's ability to translate complex energy economics into clear, accessible public commentary is a valuable contribution to Ireland's national conversation on the energy transition.

Prof. Hannah Daly: A Consistent Voice on Climate in the Irish Times

Prof. Hannah Daly, Professor of Sustainable Energy at UCC's Sustainability Institute, continues to reach a wide public audience through her monthly column At A Time Of Climate Crisis in the Irish Times. Her most recent pieces have addressed some of the most urgent energy issues facing Ireland. In her 16 April column — responding directly to the fuel protests that saw tractors and trucks blockade ports and Ireland's oil supply — she argued that when a crisis is caused by oil dependence, cheaper oil is not the answer, and that Ireland still lacks a serious plan to leave the fossil fuel system behind. Her 11 March column examined why geopolitical conflicts — from Russia's invasion of Ukraine to the current Middle East crisis — keep turning into energy crises for Irish households. Her 5 February column focused on electricity bills and the need for a more flexible power system as Ireland transitions to renewables. Prof. Daly's ability to connect global energy policy with the everyday reality of Irish households makes her one of the most widely read voices on climate action in Ireland.

MArch Students Featured on FIAE Podcast; Prof. O'Shaughnessy at Cork Podcast Festival

Four MArch students — Ciara O'Connell, Róisín Hayes, Julia Przado and Kate Crowley — were featured on a podcast for Females in Architectural Education (FIAE), where they discussed their design research on 'techno-fossils' and geological evidence of human impact on earth. Prof. Jason O'Shaughnessy, Director of CCAE, also featured as part of the Cork Podcast Festival 2026 to discuss housing as part of the "Community Matters" series.

MArch students Ciara O'Connell, Róisín Hayes, Julia Przado and Kate Crowley recording the FIAE podcast.

FlowArray Wins John Francis Burke Award for Biomedical Innovation 2026

A team of ME Electrical and Electronic Engineering students at UCC has taken top honours at the John Francis Burke Award for Biomedical Innovation 2026, presenting FlowArray — a continuous tissue perfusion monitoring solution that uses electrical impedance spectroscopy to deliver real-time assessment during surgery.

The device aims to support better clinical decisions in the operating theatre and improve patient outcomes, addressing a genuine gap in intraoperative monitoring. As team lead Klaudia Serafin noted, engineering in clinical medicine demands not just technical skill, but responsibility and a deep understanding of real clinical needs — where patient safety and trust must always come first.

The judging panel included clinical expertise from Dr. Moriarty of Cork University Hospital and Dr. David Cronin of Mater Private Hospital, Cork. The award was organised and presented by Prof. Padraig Cantillon-Murphy of the School of Engineering and Architecture.

The FlowArray team with the John Francis Burke Award for Biomedical Innovation 2026.

Annual PCE Awards Celebrate Outstanding Students

The 2025–26 Process and Chemical Engineering Awards, held on 23rd March, recognised the extraordinary achievements of students across the School — spanning 2nd year undergraduates through to those in the new full-time MEngSc in Engineering in Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical Systems. The awards were made possible by the generous support of Gold Sponsors MSD (Brinny) and Eli Lilly and Company, along with Silver Sponsor AbbVie.

Congratulations to prize winners Clare O'Donnell, Darragh Hayes, Jack O'Brien, Ruth Bowden, Rory Cashman, Aidan Higgins, Stephen Whooley, Kate Donovan, Billy Murphy, Kate O'Donovan, John St Leger and Katelyn Forde.

Congratulations also to runners-up Riad Ahmeti, Seán Cronin, Daniel Ryan, Oscar Nangle, John O'Sullivan, Jack O'Brien, Ronan Crowley, Ruth Bowden and Anna Carroll.

Dr. Alan Morrison, Head of School of Engineering & Architecture, delivering the welcome address at the PCE Awards 2025–26.

RePIC Student Darren O'Connor Receives Annual Puttnam Scholarship

Congratulations to Darren O'Connor, a student on the MSc in Redesigning the Post-Industrial City (RePIC) programme — jointly led by Architecture and Geography at UCC — who has been selected as one of six recipients of the prestigious annual Puttnam Scholarship. The scholarship recognises outstanding students whose work engages with questions of place, community, and the built environment. A wonderful achievement and a testament to the calibre of students on the RePIC programme.

PCE Research Lab Achieves My Green Lab Certification

Congratulations to Dr. Vivek Verma and Sashank Vijayaraghavan on achieving My Green Lab Certification — awarded at Green Level — for the Process and Chemical Engineering research lab at UCC. The certification recognises outstanding work in reducing the environmental impact of their laboratory space and was awarded on 18 March 2026.

This certification was completed as part of the Research Ireland Sustainable Laboratory Certification Pilot Programme, in partnership with Impact Laboratories and My Green Lab — the world's most trusted green lab certification. A fantastic achievement that underscores the School's commitment to sustainable research practices.

Congratulations to Our Graduating BE and ME Students

The School warmly congratulates all of our final year BE and ME students on completing their final semester — a significant milestone representing years of hard work, dedication, and intellectual growth. We wish every student the very best of luck in their final exams, and look forward to seeing the contribution they will make to engineering, architecture, and the wider world in the years ahead.

Pictured: ME Energy students Gerard O'Donovan, Joshua Moore and Daniel O'Reilly after their final year project presentations, with Energy Engineering staff Prof. Gregorio Iglesias, Dr. Frances Judge, Dr. Paul Leahy and Dr. Paul Deane.

13 Years of MaREI: Symposium at the Royal Irish Academy

On 31 March 2026, colleagues, partners, and friends gathered at the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin for a full-day symposium celebrating 13 years of the Research Ireland-funded MaREI Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine, themed "Fueling resilience for a secure, competitive, and sustainable society." Founded in 2013, MaREI has partnered with 109 industries, trained 200 postdoctoral researchers, and developed a cohort of PhD graduates now driving Ireland's innovation economy. MaREI co-directors Prof. Jerry Murphy, Chair of Civil Engineering at UCC, and Prof. Brian Ó Gallachóir opened the event alongside Jennifer Brennan (Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment), Lynn Scarff (Executive Director, RIA), and Diarmuid O'Brien (CEO, Research Ireland).

The day was structured around four panel sessions. Topics discussed included the economy, society, future leaders, and policy — spanning themes such as grid interactive buildings, offshore renewables, hydrogen, the circular economy, marine coastal research, and renewable electricity markets. The sessions were chaired by Danny McCoy (CEO, IBEC), Brendan Tuohy (Chair, EirGrid Group), Prof. Alistair Borthwick (University of Edinburgh), and Oonagh Buckley (Secretary General, DCEE).

The closing session featured reflections from Prof. John Cryan, UCC Vice President for Research and Innovation, and both co-directors on MaREI's role in fuelling resilience. The event also featured a video bringing together the perspectives of MaREI researchers on what it was like to be part of the centre — well worth a watch. Watch the video on YouTube →

Ireland Joins CERN: Dr. Zili Li and UCC's Long-Standing Geotechnical Collaboration

Ireland's official accession as an Associate Member State of CERN in 2025 is a landmark moment for Irish science — and the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering at UCC has played a central role in making it happen. Dr. Zili Li and the UCC Geotechnical Research Group have been collaborating with the CERN tunnel team for over a decade, building one of the most sustained and productive research partnerships in the CERN-Ireland community.

Supported by CERN, Research Ireland, and other funding agencies, the group has integrated more than five researchers into collaborative CERN projects and published over 20 joint papers with CERN, focused on AI, underground infrastructure sustainability, and resilience. The group has also earned international recognition, including the Best Paper Award 2023 in Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology, and the 2023 Bright Spark Lecture Award from the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE). Dr. Li was further recognised as one of the Top 10 Leading Chinese Talents in Science and Technology in Europe in 2024 by the FCPAE. A remarkable body of work that has helped put Ireland on the map at one of the world's foremost scientific institutions.

School of Engineering and Architecture Research Away Day

Staff from across the School recently came together for a Research Away Day — an opportunity to share research highlights, hear about strategic initiatives, and build connections across disciplines. Academics and senior researchers each delivered three-minute flash-presentations on their work, sparking lively discussion across the School's diverse research community. The event reflected the School's ambition to strengthen its collective research identity and translate individual expertise into greater collaborative impact.

CCAE Hosts AIARG Annual Conference: Architecture in the Critical Zone

From 5–7 March, the Cork Centre for Architectural Education (CCAE) hosted the All-Ireland Architectural Research Group (AIARG) Annual Conference, exploring the theme of "Architecture in the Critical Zone" — a title drawn from Bruno Latour and Peter Weibel's seminal exhibition Critical Zones: The Science and Politics of Landing.

The proceedings were a great success, featuring notable keynotes from Amin Taha and Sebastian Marot, as well as a graduate keynote by recent CCAE student Ellie O'Connell, whose undergraduate dissertation — examining the architectural confinement of the Good Shepherd Magdalene Laundry in Limerick — was commended at the RIBA President's Medals 2025. Significantly, the opening keynote by Alexandra Arènes inaugurated a three-year Commemorative Lecture Series dedicated to former colleague Eoin French, who also performed music under the name Talos.

Coastal & Offshore Modelling Symposium at the Aula Max

The Coastal and Offshore Modelling Symposium, organised by Dr. Michael O'Shea, Lecturer in Structural Engineering, brought together past and present UCC engineering students for a day of presentations in the Aula Max. The event showcased the breadth and quality of research in this technically demanding and nationally important field.

Prof. Emanuel Popovici Delivers Inaugural Lecture as Qualcomm Professor in Digital Electronics

Colleagues and friends gathered at the Aula Maxima on 26 February for the inaugural professorial lecture of Professor Emanuel Popovici, who holds the newly established Qualcomm Professorship in Digital Electronics and Embedded Systems. The appointment, made possible through Qualcomm's philanthropic support via Cork University Foundation, strengthens a long-standing collaboration between UCC and one of the world's leading semiconductor companies.

In his new role, Prof. Popovici leads teaching and learning across electrical and electronic engineering, preparing the next generation of engineers for a rapidly evolving digital landscape. Reflecting on the occasion, he invoked the legacy of George Boole — UCC's first Professor of Mathematics and the father of digital logic — as an inspiration for advancing human progress in partnership with industry.

L to R: Mr. Paul Kelleher, VP for Engineering, Qualcomm; Dr. Alan Morrison, Head, School of Engineering; Professor Emanuel Popovici; Professor John O'Halloran, President, UCC; and Ms. Aileen Kelly-O'Sullivan, Staff Engineering Operations Analyst, Qualcomm.

Staff Spotlight: Dr. Vivek Verma, UCC Futures Pharmaceuticals Lecturer in Process and Chemical Engineering

Dr. Vivek Verma is a UCC Futures Pharmaceuticals Lecturer in the Process and Chemical Engineering Department within the School of Engineering and Architecture. An emerging leader in the field of (bio)pharmaceutical nucleation and crystallisation, he was awarded the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship in 2021, funded by the European Union. He is currently supported by Research Ireland through the SFI-IRC Pathways Fellowship, where his research focuses on the templated crystallisation of oligonucleotide therapeutics.

Dr. Verma's research centres on developing platforms for the sustainable purification and separation of (bio)pharmaceuticals, and also encompasses secondary processing strategies for biopharmaceuticals and the investigation of peptide self-assembly for advanced drug delivery applications.

Beyond the lab, Dr. Verma is an active educator, delivering modules in Introduction to Process and Chemical Engineering, Pharmaceutical Engineering, and Food and Bioprocess Engineering, supervising final-year MEng and MEngSc research projects, and serving as Director of the Level 7 Certificate in Process and Chemical Engineering — a programme designed to support the upskilling and reskilling of adult learners and industry professionals.

Dr. Michael O'Shea Awarded Title of Fellow of Engineers Ireland

Dr. Michael O'Shea, Lecturer in Civil Engineering at UCC, has been awarded the title of Fellow of Engineers Ireland (CEng FIEI) — the highest recognition the institution confers. The fellowship comes twenty years on from Dr. O'Shea first graduating from the UCC School of Engineering and Architecture, and thirteen years since attaining chartership while working with Fehily Timoney and Company. Congratulations to Dr. O'Shea on this well-deserved honour, and on an outstanding contribution to education, innovation, and practice in the built environment.

Séan Ó Muirí Named First Call Winner for Best Practices in the New European Bauhaus

Séan Ó Muirí of Fuinneamh Workshop, a staff member of the Cork Centre for Architectural Education (CCAE), has been named a First Call Winner for Best Practices in the New European Bauhaus for the Northern Periphery and Arctic (NPA) Region. His 'den talamh' pavilion — a 40-square-metre community space for concerts and workshops located at Tramore Valley Park, Cork — was awarded under the Circular Buildings category for its innovative use of vernacular materials including rammed earth, hoggin, reed, and timber.

Constructed atop a former landfill, the open-plan structure was built through collaboration with private and public stakeholders and with hands-on involvement from local university students. Designed to withstand weathering for over 50 years and to adapt easily to different functions, the project challenges perceptions of low-carbon materials by demonstrating their compliance with current regulations and their capacity to deliver a positive user experience — positioning it as an inspiring model for sustainable construction across the NPA region.

Statkraft and BrightWind Bring Real-World Expertise to Offshore Wind Class

Students in UCC's Offshore Wind Energy module (NE6010) have benefited from two recent industry guest sessions, both facilitated by Dr. Paul Leahy, Head of Energy Engineering. On separate days, Enda O'Doherty and Robert Corrigan of Statkraft delivered a masterclass on offshore wind site characterisation and grid connections, and Andrew Good, Director of Advisory at BrightWind, and Dan Casey — a UCC Energy Engineering alumnus now working as a Software Engineer at BrightWind — joined students for an informative Q&A session on wind resource analysis, reanalysis datasets, and the BrightHub online data platform. Both sessions exemplify the kind of practitioner-to-student knowledge transfer that gives UCC's energy engineering programmes their distinctive edge.

2nd Year Students Visit BnM Edenderry Power Station

2nd year Energy Engineering students, accompanied by Dr. Paul Deane, visited the BnM Edenderry Power Station for a hands-on insight into the operation and trading of a diverse portfolio of renewable generation assets. The visit gave students direct exposure to the energy sector that many of them will go on to shape — a fitting experience for the next generation of energy leaders.

Process & Chemical Engineering Students Visit MSD and Pfizer

It has been a busy few months for industry visits in Process and Chemical Engineering. In February, second year students visited MSD Ballydine, accompanied by Dr. Joanne MacMahon, gaining valuable first-hand insight into pharmaceutical manufacturing at one of Ireland's leading industry sites. In March, ME Process and Chemical Engineering students and students on the MEngSc in Engineering in Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical Systems visited Pfizer, accompanied by Dr. Vivek Verma — a further opportunity to connect classroom learning with real-world industry practice.

Second year Process and Chemical Engineering students at MSD Ballydine with Dr. Joanne MacMahon.

Industry Leaders Bring Digitalisation to Life for 2nd Year Civil Engineering Students

Leading engineers from Sisk, Ward and Burke Construction and Clandillon Consulting Engineers delivered a series of guest talks to 2nd year Civil Engineering students this year on the ever-evolving role of digitisation in Civil Engineering. The talks formed part of the CE2009 module and covered a range of cutting-edge applications in industry.

Topics included the use of innovative instrumented tunnelling equipment on a challenging wastewater project in Arklow, and the deployment of drone surveying technology for a large-scale heritage building development in Limerick — vivid examples of how digital tools are transforming engineering practice on the ground. Many thanks to our industry speakers Ger Loughrey (Sisk), Ailish Power and Tom Meagher (Clandillon), and Ronan Royston (Ward and Burke) for sharing their expertise and experience with our students.

UCC Leads €15M Verti-Go Floating Wind Project

SeaTwirl vertical-axis turbine concept.

UCC's Offshore Renewable Energy Research Group has secured a major role in the €15 million Verti-Go project, funded under the EU's Horizon Europe programme. Dr. Fiona Devoy McAuliffe of the MaREI Centre and Prof. Jimmy Murphy of the School of Engineering and Architecture are central to the project, with UCC serving as project coordinator — a significant recognition of the School's leadership in floating offshore wind research.

The Verti-Go project will deliver a full-scale demonstration of a 2 MW floating vertical-axis wind turbine, developed by Swedish company SeaTwirl, covering design, fabrication, installation and operation. Launched in October 2025, the design phase is expected to conclude by end of 2026, with construction and operational activities running through to 2029. The project brings together a consortium of 11 industry partners and academic institutions from across Europe, under the EU's Demonstrations of innovative floating wind concepts funding call.

Dr. Paraic Ryan Secures €600k to Build Ireland's Climate Resilience

Dr. Paraic Ryan and Dr. Jenny Harmon O'Driscoll of the Department of Civil Engineering have been awarded €599,981 under Met Éireann's Weather and Climate Research Programme 2024 for their project Building Resilience and Adaptation Capacity for future extreme Events (BRACE). UCC led three of the six national projects funded under the call — the largest number of awards Met Éireann has made in a single competitive research call.

The BRACE project will translate complex climate data into practical tools for civil engineering infrastructure planning and policymaking, addressing uncertainties and vulnerabilities through case studies on events such as Storm Ophelia, in collaboration with stakeholders including Transport Infrastructure Ireland. The project will deliver advanced projections, impact analyses, and risk models to support risk-based decision-making and reinforce Ireland's leadership in climate adaptation.

Decarbonising Ireland's Island Ferries: The Al-Ferry Project

Prof. Jerry Murphy and colleagues have secured funding from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) under the Research, Development & Demonstration Funding Programme 2025 for a new project exploring how to decarbonise the ferry services connecting Ireland's 25 offshore islands. The project, titled Alternative Indigenous Fuels Produced in Circular Economy Systems for Use in Island Ferry Services in Ireland (Al-Ferry), addresses a genuinely complex challenge: island ferries require batteries of up to 4 MWh — equivalent to the daily electricity use of 400 homes — meaning a hybrid fuel system is almost certainly needed.

The research will examine a range of options for that hybrid fuel, including hydrogen generated on the island from excess renewable electricity, biomethane produced from local wastes and residues, and imported hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO). The team will also investigate a battery-swap model, where one battery remains on the island charging while another powers the ferry, with a crane on the jetty to handle the exchange. Resilience of the island electricity grid — highlighted by events like Storm Éowyn, which caused outages for 768,000 homes — is a central concern, with wind turbines and solar PV also being sized and modelled as part of the solution. Co-applicants on the project include Nathan Gray, Barry Hayes, David Wall, Richard O'Shea and Xue Ning.