Galway work acclaimed at Engineers Ireland awards

A Galway engineer behind a host of the country’s best known modern bridge developments has been acclaimed for his body of work at the annual Engineers Ireland Excellence Awards.

Murt Coleman won the President’s Award, which is presented to an engineer who has shown exceptional leadership skills in the advancement of engineering and society through their contribution to the industry and the profession.

His engineering career has spanned four decades at Irishenco, overseeing major civil engineering projects.

Some of his flagship projects include the award-winning Westlink Bridge, Eastlink Bridge, two of the five bridges over the river Liffey, the Mizen Head Bridge and the University of Limerick Bridge over the Shannon.

And he wasn’t the only Galway connection on the night, because NUIG graduate and army captain Eoghan Carton won the prestigious Chartered Engineer of the Year Award for his work on the changeover of combat engineering, infrastructure and utilities from Finland to Ireland as part of UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon).

Captain Carton currently works as an instructor in the School of Military Engineering where he is responsible for providing training in key skills including bridge construction, explosives, engineer specialist search & clearance (ESSC) and chemical, biological, radiological & nuclear (CBRN) defence.

And NUIG Professor William Gerard Hurley won the Best Presentation Award for his Challenges and Trends in Magnetics for Power Electronics project.  Professor Hurley is Professor of Electrical Engineering at NUIG and a Director of the Power Electronics Research Centre.

There was further recognition for Galway engineering, with the Aran Islands subsea cable repair project, undertaken by ESB International and commissioned by ESB Networks, runner-up in the flagship ‘Engineering Project of the Year’ category.

The redevelopment of Páirc Uí Chaoimh was voted outright national winner in this flagship category.

The regenerated stadium now features a floodlit bowl-shaped venue that can accommodate a capacity of 45,300 and up to 47,000 for games and concerts respectively, including 21,300 seats.

The winners were announced at a special ceremony held in Dublin