November 2013 President of NUI Galway, Dr Jim Browne, honoured at the Engineers Ireland Excellence Awards

Dr Jim Browne, President of NUI Galway was honoured with the prestigious Outstanding Contribution to Engineering  Award at the fourth annual Engineers Ireland Excellence Award ceremony in the Four Seasons Hotel in Dublin on Friday, 8^th November.

Dr Browne, a graduate from NUI Galway and a native of County Westmeath, has had an international career that spans both industry and education. He spent a number of years working with Nortel Networks in Canada and Ireland and has also consulted with a wide range of Irish and international corporations, overseas universities as well as public and private bodies.

The twelfth and current President of NUI Galway has published over 200 academic papers and 15 books, including translations into French and Chinese. He was awarded a Doctor of Science by the University of Manchester for published work in 1990 and he is a member of both the Royal Irish Academy, the Irish Academy of Engineering and is a Fellow of Engineers Ireland.

In April this year, the Minister for Health & Children, Dr James Reilly T.D. appointed Dr Browne as the Chair of the Children’s Hospital Group Board to oversee the merger of the three children’s hospitals in advance of the move to the chosen site in Dublin.

Accepting the award Dr Jim Browne said, “I am delighted and humbled to receive this award from Engineers Ireland, and all the more so given the high standing and professionalism of Irish engineers.  I had the great honour to serve as President of Engineers Ireland in 2008 / 2009. During that time I had the opportunity to see, at first hand, the tremendous contribution that engineers make to all sectors of the Irish economy and society. At NUI Galway, we are teaching and inspiring the next generation of engineers, preparing them to make their mark on the future of Irish engineering.”

Commenting on the award, Engineers Ireland Director General and Chartered Engineer, John Power, said, “I am delighted to present the Outstanding Contribution Award to Jim; his leadership role is reflected in the number and variety of his memberships including the editorial boards of a number of international research journals, the Senate of the National University of Ireland and the Review Group on Engineering Research Centres in the UK, to name just a few.

“In addition to the significant contribution he has made to the engineering profession, Jim is well recognised as most approachable, friendly and helpful by all his peers, colleagues and indeed students. He is a shining example of what is wonderful about engineers and the profession and is totally dedicated to Ireland's recovery in both word and deed.” Mr Power added.

The fourth Engineers Ireland Excellence Awards also included awards for:

• Engineering Project of the Year Award, sponsored by the NRA – East West Interconnector, EirGrid Plc
• Chartered Engineer of the Year Award - Kevin Harnett, Chartered Engineer shortlisted for his contribution to the project ‘Development of a Commercial Scale Tidal Stream Turbine’ with OpenHyrdo
• Engineering Education Award – Best in Class 2013, sponsored by CRH Plc - Online Engineering Education – Institute of Sligo
• Technology of the Year Award, sponsored by the NSAI - Enhanced Wind Turbine - Airsynergy
• Environmental Infrastructure Award, sponsored by EPA – Mullingar Water Treatment Scheme, Contractors: Veolia Water Ltd, BAM Civil Ltd, Pierse Contracting Ltd, Consulting engineers: J.B. Barry & Partners Ltd / Byrne Looby Partners, Westmeath County Council
• Leadership Award, sponsored by Shell E&P Limited - John Barry, Chartered Engineer, Programme director for Irish Water 
• Volunteer of the Year Award – Peter Tiernan, Chartered Engineer, Thomand region
• International Engineer Award sponsored by ESB –Niall McDermott, Chartered Engineer, Director of the International Group at J.B. Barry and Partners Limited
• Best Paper / Presentation Award, sponsored by Griffiths & Armour and Beale and Company - ‘Titanic Belfast – Designing an Icon’, presented by: Dr. Michael Shaw, Chartered Engineer, Barry McAllister, Chartered Engineer, Paul McGettigan, Chartered Engineer, RPS Group Belfast
• Innovative Student of the Year Award, sponsored by Siemens - Patrick Byrnes, Cork Institute of Technology, Innovative Student Engineer - Level 8 and Alastair Chambers, Institute of Technology Carlow, Innovative Student Engineer - Level 7
• Continuing Professional Development Employer of the Year Award, sponsored by Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland – joint winners, Abbott Ireland, Sligo and Cavan and Dromone Engineering, Meath

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