An important privilege of being president of Engineers Ireland is the ability to appoint distinguished professionals as Fellows of the Institute, a hugely prestigious title. It’s a part of the job that Edmond Harty takes particularly seriously.
“There are about 28,000 members and normally only a handful of fellowships are appointed each year. This year I probably broke the mould a bit by appointing 16,” he says.
There were three cohorts which he reckoned were particularly deserving of recognition. First were those who he had seen, throughout his career, doing great work, “people I was really impressed with,” he explains.
Next up where those who have dedicated so much of their lives volunteering for Engineers Ireland, “those who have really gotten involved in the organisation and who are its lifeblood”.
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The third cohort was made up of people who are, right now, “actively making a serious impact on Irish engineering” Harty adds.
Having drawn up a list of candidates, the president must forward it to the Engineers Ireland Council, essentially its board. “There are about 40 members on that and all those 16 names I submitted were unanimously approved,” says Harty.
“Being appointed a fellow doesn’t do anything for candidates practically and you can’t lobby or canvas for it. But it is huge recognition, and it is given as part of the national conferring ceremony, which is itself a fabulous event.”
Fellowships were awarded to the following people:
John Cunningham CEng FIEI
A Chartered Engineer since 2004, John holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree and a Master of Engineering Science from NUIG, and a Master of Engineering Management from UCD. He is currently a senior engineer in the Housing Department of Offaly County Council.
Joe English CEng FIEI
Joe studied Electrical and Electronic engineering in University College Cork and joined Intel in 1991. He is F34 factory manager with responsibility for the technology transfer and ramp of Intel 4.
Diarmaid Fleming CEng FIEI
Diarmuid holds a BEng in Civil Engineering from UCD and a master’s in Journalism. He has specialised in writing and broadcasting on engineering topics and bringing greater awareness to the role of engineers and the vital work they do.
John Fleming CEng FIEI
John holds a degree in Engineering Mechanical/Design and a Diploma in Agricultural Engineering from RTC Tralee. He is currently an engineer with Cork County Council.
Dominic Forbes CEng FIEI
Dominic has a degree in Civil Engineering from University of Ulster. He is portfolio director for Strategic Estates at the UK Parliament, overseeing major refurbishment projects ranging in value from £100,000 to over £300 million.
Philip Glover CEng FIEI
Philip is managing director of Lakeland Civil Engineering Ltd, a sustainable civil engineering business. He has 25 years’ experience in the civil engineering industry and is a Chartered Engineer since 2006. He is currently the chair of Engineers Ireland Midland region.
Barry Kennedy CEng FIEI
Barry holds an MSc in Engineering Physics/Applied Physics from Trinity College Dublin and has more than 35 years of industrial engineering and research experience. He is CEO of Irish Manufacturing Research, Ireland’s leading independent research, development, and innovation centre for advanced manufacturing.
Dr Richard Manton CEng FIEI
Richard is a Chartered Engineer and holds a BE in Civil Engineering, MA in Financial Management, and a PhD in Sustainable Transportation. He currently leads the Sustainability Office at the University of Galway as its director of sustainability.
Patrick McCormick CEng FIEI
Patrick holds a master’s degree in Engineering from Trinity College Dublin and is department head for Civil Engineering and Engineering Trades in Dundalk IT. He is currently the chair of the North East region of Engineers Ireland.
Sinead O’Sullivan CEng FIEI
Sinead, an Aerospace Engineer, formerly led strategy at Harvard Business School’s Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness with Prof Michael Porter and is a professor of Aerospace Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology. She was formerly a research fellow at MIT’s College of Computing and MIT Sloan, as well as a Human Spaceflight mission designer for Nasa and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Robert Simpson CEng FIEI
Robert holds a degree in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering from Trinity College Dublin and a master’s in Technology Management from UCD. Recently retired as Head of Product Design at TU Dublin’s School of Mechanical and Design Engineering, he also held roles as Head of School for Mechanical and Transport Engineering and Head of Manufacturing Engineering.
Prof Joe Walsh CEng FIEI
Joe holds a PhD in Electronic Engineering from UL, an MSc in Bio-engineering and is Head of the School of STEM and Head of Intelligent Mechatronics and RFID (IMaR) Research Centre at MTU, Kerry.
Honorary fellowships were awarded to the following people:
John Coleman FIEI (Hon)
John is a former employee of Rusal’s Aughinish Alumina refinery in Co Limerick. He served as chairman of MEETA Asset Management, a sector within Engineers Ireland dedicated to promoting maintenance, and also chaired Engineers Ireland Thomond Region.
Joseph Gibbs FIEI (Hon)
Joe holds a MSc in technology & innovation management from UCD Smurfit Business School and is currently the general manager at Lero, the SFI Research Centre for Software.
Declan Hughes FIEI (Hon)
Declan is the secretary general of the Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment, focusing on promoting high quality and sustainable full employment. He has served on the boards of IDA Ireland, SFI, and Enterprise Ireland, in addition to EU and OECD committees.
Jess Kelly FIEI (Hon)
Jess has been Newstalk’s technology correspondent and host of Tech Talk since 2008. In 2019 she was honoured as Irish Tatler woman of the year in media and is a regular contributor to The Sunday Business Post, Independent.ie and Tatler.
