Laboratory Awards celebrate those shaping Ireland’s future

On April 19^th, the Irish Laboratory Awards returned to honour those demonstrating excellence, best practice and innovation in Ireland's laboratories. With 22 different categories to be decided, nominees were hoping to join past winners such as Teagasc, the Bernal Institute, University of Limerick and Nokia Bell Labs.

Laboratories working across a number of sectors were represented on the night and it will be interesting to see how their research impacts the wider spectrum of society in the coming years. One such example is The Dynamical Systems and Risk Laboratory in UCD, who collected two awards on the night, with Dr Michael O'Byrne winning Laboratory Staff Member of the Year and the whole lab awarded Engineering Laboratory of the Year. Lab director, Dr. Vikram Pakrashi spoke about how their research can influence the built infrastructure sector:

“We are very happy with our double success as the Engineering Laboratory of the Year and with Dr. Michael O’Byrne winning the Laboratory Staff of the Year. We intend to continue to impact the built infrastructure sector as a research leader through innovations in sensors, algorithms, analytics, modelling and policy guidelines.”

An independent panel of judges reviewed the submissions for this years awards, Dr. Fiona Blighe, scientific programme manager, Science Foundation Ireland spoke about her involvement;

“As Ireland's national foundation for investment in scientific and engineering research, SFI was delighted to contribute to the success of the 2018 Lab awards. The impressive scope and breath of the applications to this year’s competition are evidence of the thriving research activity happening in Ireland from across the private and public sector”.

Dr Russell McLaughlin works in Trinity College Dublin, carrying out research on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), more commonly referred to as Motor Neurone Disease in Ireland. He took home the Young Leader of the Year Award on the night:

“It is a great honour to receive the Young Leader of the Year Award to acknowledge the outstanding work carried out by my team and the ongoing crucial support of our patients, the public and our various funders.”

As a sponsor of the awards Air Products was taken aback by the great quality of entries. Brendan McCloskey, commercial manager at Air Products said, "It was an exceptional afternoon at the Irish Laboratory Awards 2018 showcasing the talent of the laboratory industry in Ireland. Well done to everyone who took part, it was great to see how research, innovation and new technology is having a positive impact on future products and services. It is exciting to see the passion and commitment of the people who make this happen. Congratulations to all the winners."

It was the sixth year of awards, which has grown from strength-to-strength since launching in 2013.

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The full list of winners is available below.