Engineering

Dr William Finnegan

B.Eng.,PhD

Contact Details

Lecturer Above The Bar
ENG-1029 (Fist Floor)
School of Engineering
Alice Perry Engineering Building
University of Galway
E: william.finnegan@universityofgalway.ie

Biography

Dr William Finnegan BE (Civil) PgCert PhD CEng MIEI is a Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering in the School of Engineering at the University of Galway. He is a member of Construct Innovate and a Principle Investigator in the Ryan Institute. His research work focuses on developing advanced engineering solutions for renewable energy systems, while also providing support on project coordination and reporting. Dr Finnegan is Principal Investigator of the H2020 CRIMSON and DTIF-funded MI-DRONE projects, where he also leads on a number of other wind energy projects and activities within MaREI. He has previously worked as Project Manager of the DAFM-funded DairyWater and EASME-funded LEAPWind projects, along with a year as an R&D Research Fellow at ÉireComposites, over his 13 years' R&D experience. Dr Finnegan graduated with a first-class Honours Degree in Civil Engineering in 2009 and a PhD in Civil Engineering in 2013, which examined the wave-structure interaction of offshore wave energy converters. In recent years, Dr Finnegan has contributed to funded research project proposals, either through leading the writing or collaborating, which have amassed total funding in excess of ¿40 million, from both national and European sources. To date, Dr Finnegan has published over 40 peer-reviewed journal papers and is a Chartered Engineer with Engineers Ireland, where he was nominated for Chartered Engineer of the Year 2018. Recently, Dr Finnegan won the MaREI Award 2020 for Research Impact. He is a member of the School of Engineering Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, who recently obtained the Athena SWAN Charter Silver Award.

Peer Reviewed Journals

	Year	Publication
	(2023)	'Mechanical performance of 3D-printed continuous fibre Onyx composites for drone applications: An experimental and numerical analysis' Ajitanshu Vedrtnam and Pouyan Ghabezi and Dheeraj Gunwant and Yadong Jiang and Omid Sam-Daliri and Noel Harrison and Jamie Goggins and William Finnegan (2023) 'Mechanical performance of 3D-printed continuous fibre Onyx composites for drone applications: An experimental and numerical analysis'. Composites Part C: Open Access, 12 [DOI] [Details]
	(2023)	'Structural analysis of a fibre-reinforced composite blade for a 1Â MW tidal turbine rotor under degradation of seawater' Jiang, Yadong,Finnegan, William,Wallace, Finlay,Flanagan, Michael,Flanagan, Tomas,Goggins, Jamie (2023) 'Structural analysis of a fibre-reinforced composite blade for a 1Â MW tidal turbine rotor under degradation of seawater'. Journal of Ocean Engineering and Marine Energy, 9 (3):477-494 [Details]
	(2022)	'Tidal stream to mainstream: mechanical testing of composite tidal stream blades to de-risk operational design life' Glennon, Conor,Finnegan, William,Kaufmann, Nicholas,Meier, Patrick,Jiang, Yadong,Starzmann, Ralf,Goggins, Jamie (2022) 'Tidal stream to mainstream: mechanical testing of composite tidal stream blades to de-risk operational design life'. Journal of Ocean Engineering and Marine Energy, 8 (2):163-182 [Details]
	(2022)	'Mechanical and interfacial characterisation of leading-edge protection materials for wind turbine blade applications' Katsivalis, Ioannis and Chanteli, Angeliki and Finnegan, William and Young, Trevor M. (2022) 'Mechanical and interfacial characterisation of leading-edge protection materials for wind turbine blade applications'. Wind Energy, 25 (10):1758-1774 [DOI] [Details]
	(2021)	'Deployment and Optimisation of a Pilot-Scale IASBR System for Treatment of Dairy Processing Wastewater' Leonard, P; Clifford, E; Finnegan, W; Siggins, A; Zhan, X (2021) 'Deployment and Optimisation of a Pilot-Scale IASBR System for Treatment of Dairy Processing Wastewater'. Energies, 14 (21) [DOI] [Details]
	(2021)	'Manufacture of High-Performance Tidal Turbine Blades Using Advanced Composite Manufacturing Technologies' Finnegan, William,Allen, Ronan,Glennon, Conor,Maguire, James,Flanagan, Michael,Flanagan, Tomas (2021) 'Manufacture of High-Performance Tidal Turbine Blades Using Advanced Composite Manufacturing Technologies'. Applied Composite Materials, 28 (6):2061-2086 [Details]
	(2020)	'Operational fatigue loading on tidal turbine blades using computational fluid dynamics' Finnegan, W,Fagan, E,Flanagan, T,Doyle, A,Goggins, J (2020) 'Operational fatigue loading on tidal turbine blades using computational fluid dynamics'. Renewable Energy, 152 :430-440 [DOI] [Details]
	(2018)	'DairyWater: striving for sustainability within the dairy processing industry in the Republic of Ireland' Finnegan, W., Clifford, E., Goggins, J., O'Leary, N., Dobson, A., Rowan, N., Xiao, L.W., Miao, S., Fitzhenry, K., Leonard, P., Tarpey, E., Gil-Pulido, B., Gao, F., Zhan, X.M. (2018) 'DairyWater: striving for sustainability within the dairy processing industry in the Republic of Ireland'. Journal Of Dairy Research, 85 (3):366-374 [DOI] [Details]
	(2019)	'Measuring GHG emissions across the agri-food sector value chain: The development of a bioeconomy input-output model' O’Donoghue, C., Chyzheuskaya, A., Grealis, E., Kilcline, K., Finnegan, W. Goggins, J., Hynes, S. and Ryan, M. (2019) 'Measuring GHG emissions across the agri-food sector value chain: The development of a bioeconomy input-output model'. International Journal on Food System Dynamics, 10 (1):55-85 [Details]
	(2013)	'The wave excitation forces on a truncated vertical cylinder in water of infinite depth' Finnegan, W;Meere, M;Goggins, J (2013) 'The wave excitation forces on a truncated vertical cylinder in water of infinite depth'. Journal Of Fluids And Structures, 40 :201-213 [DOI] [Details]
	(2018)	'Efficient treatment of dairy processing wastewater in a pilot scale Intermittently Aerated Sequencing Batch Reactor (IASBR)' Leonard, P,Finnegan, W,Barrett, M,Zhan, XM (2018) 'Efficient treatment of dairy processing wastewater in a pilot scale Intermittently Aerated Sequencing Batch Reactor (IASBR)'. Journal Of Dairy Research, 85 :384-387 [DOI] [Details]
	(2018)	'Efficient treatment of dairy processing wastewater in a laboratory scale Intermittently Aerated Sequencing Batch Reactor (IASBR)' Leonard, P,Tarpey, E,Finnegan, W,Zhan, XM (2018) 'Efficient treatment of dairy processing wastewater in a laboratory scale Intermittently Aerated Sequencing Batch Reactor (IASBR)'. Journal Of Dairy Research, 85 :379-383 [DOI] [Details]
	(2018)	'Microbiological characterisation and impact of suspended solids on pathogen removal from wastewaters in dairy processing factories' Fitzhenry, K., Rowan, N., Finnegan, W., Zhan, X.M, Clifford, E. (2018) 'Microbiological characterisation and impact of suspended solids on pathogen removal from wastewaters in dairy processing factories'. Journal Of Dairy Research, 85 :391-395 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
	(2018)	'Influence of incubation temperature and time on the precision of MIC and disc diffusion antimicrobial susceptibility test data' Smith, P., Finnegan, W., Ngo, T., & Kronvall, G. (2018) 'Influence of incubation temperature and time on the precision of MIC and disc diffusion antimicrobial susceptibility test data'. Aquaculture, 490 :19-24 [DOI] [Details]
	(2018)	'Assessing the environmental impact of the dairy processing industry in the Republic of Ireland' Finnegan, W,Goggins, J,Zhan, XM (2018) 'Assessing the environmental impact of the dairy processing industry in the Republic of Ireland'. Journal Of Dairy Research, 85 :396-399 [DOI] [Details]
	(2019)	'The effect of arrays of wave energy converters on the nearshore wave climate' Atan R, Finnegan W, Nash S, Goggins J (2019) 'The effect of arrays of wave energy converters on the nearshore wave climate'. Ocean Engineering, 172 :373-384 [DOI] [Details]
	(2012)	'Numerical simulation of linear water waves and wave-structure interaction' Finnegan, W;Goggins, J (2012) 'Numerical simulation of linear water waves and wave-structure interaction'. Ocean Engineering, 43 :23-31 [DOI] [Details]
	(2019)	'The effect of arrays of wave energy converters on the nearshore wave climate' Atan, R,Finnegan, W,Nash, S,Goggins, J (2019) 'The effect of arrays of wave energy converters on the nearshore wave climate'. Ocean Engineering, 172 :373-384 [DOI] [Details]
	(2017)	'A Novel and Validated Protocol for Performing MIC Tests to Determine the Susceptibility of Piscirickettsia salmonis Isolates to Florfenicol and Oxytetracycline' Contreras-Lynch, S,Smith, P,Olmos, P,Loy, ME,Finnegan, W,Miranda, CD (2017) 'A Novel and Validated Protocol for Performing MIC Tests to Determine the Susceptibility of Piscirickettsia salmonis Isolates to Florfenicol and Oxytetracycline'. Frontiers In Microbiology, 8 [DOI] [Details]
	(2017)	'Global warming potential associated with dairy products in the Republic of Ireland' Finnegan, W., Goggins, J., Clifford, E., Zhan, X.M. (2017) 'Global warming potential associated with dairy products in the Republic of Ireland'. Journal Of Cleaner Production, 163 :262-273 [DOI] [Details]
	(2017)	'Environmental impacts of milk powder and butter manufactured in the Republic of Ireland' Finnegan, W., Goggins, J., Clifford, E., Zhan, X.M. (2017) 'Environmental impacts of milk powder and butter manufactured in the Republic of Ireland'. Science Of The Total Environment, 579 :159-168 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
	(2017)	'Numerical Simulations of Wave-Structure-Soil Interaction of Offshore Monopiles' Sheil, B,Finnegan, W (2017) 'Numerical Simulations of Wave-Structure-Soil Interaction of Offshore Monopiles'. International Journal Of Geomechanics, 17 [DOI] [Details]
	(2016)	'Global warming potential associated with dairy products in the Republic of Ireland' Finnegan, W; Goggins, J; Clifford, E; Zhan X (2016) 'Global warming potential associated with dairy products in the Republic of Ireland'. Journal Of Cleaner Production, [DOI] [Details]
	(2015)	'Linear irregular wave generation in a numerical wave tank' Finnegan, W,Goggins, J (2015) 'Linear irregular wave generation in a numerical wave tank'. Applied Ocean Research, 52 :188-200 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
	(2014)	'Shape optimisation of floating wave energy converters for a specified wave energy spectrum' Goggins, J,Finnegan, W (2014) 'Shape optimisation of floating wave energy converters for a specified wave energy spectrum'. Renewable Energy, 71 :208-220 [DOI] [Details]
	(2013)	'The wave excitation forces on a truncated vertical cylinder in water of infinite depth' Finnegan, W,Meere, M,Goggins, J (2013) 'The wave excitation forces on a truncated vertical cylinder in water of infinite depth'. Journal Of Fluids And Structures, 40 :201-213 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
	(2013)	'Numerical modelling to aid in the structural health monitoring of wave energy converters' Finnegan, W; Goggins, J (2013) 'Numerical modelling to aid in the structural health monitoring of wave energy converters'. Key Engineering Materials, (569-570):595-602 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]
	(2012)	'Numerical simulation of linear water waves and wave-structure interaction' Finnegan, W,Goggins, J (2012) 'Numerical simulation of linear water waves and wave-structure interaction'. Ocean Engineering, 43 :23-31 [DOI] [ARAN Link] [Details]

Conference Publications

	Year	Publication
	(2021)	*European Solid Mechanics Conference ESMC* Finnegan, W; Flanagan, T; Flanagan, M; Mitchell, S; Goggins. J; Harrison, N (2021) Development of a lightweight airframe to enable drone delivery European Solid Mechanics Conference ESMC [Details]
	(2017)	*International Ultraviolet Association World Congress 2017* Fitzhenry, K., Finnegan, W., Zhan, X., Goggins, J., Rowan, N., Clifford, E. (2017) UV Technologies for Wastewater Disinfection & Reuse in the Irish Dairy Industry International Ultraviolet Association World Congress 2017 Dubrovnik, Croatia, , 17-SEP-17 - 20-SEP-17 [Details]
	(2015)	*XVth International Water Resources Association (IWRA) World Water Congress, Edinburgh, Scotland* Finnegan, W., Goggins, J., Clifford, E., Fitzhenry, K., Zhan, X. (2015) Water consumption and direct energy use in the Irish dairy processing industry XVth International Water Resources Association (IWRA) World Water Congress, Edinburgh, Scotland Edinburgh, Scotland, , 25-MAY-15 - 29-MAY-15 , pp.25-29 [Details]
	(2013)	*DAMAGE ASSESSMENT OF STRUCTURES X, PTS 1 AND 2* Finnegan, W;Goggins, J (2013) Numerical Modeling to Aid in the Structural Health Monitoring of Wave Energy Converters DAMAGE ASSESSMENT OF STRUCTURES X, PTS 1 AND 2 , pp.595-602 [DOI] [Details]
	(2016)	*Civil Engineering Research in Ireland* Fitzhenry, K., Finnegan, W., Zhan, X., Goggins, J., Rowan, N., Clifford, E. (2016) Evaluation of UV disinfection technologies for water reuse and rainwater harvesting in the Irish dairy industry Civil Engineering Research in Ireland [Details]
	(2016)	*International Conference on Pollution Control and Resource Recovery for the Livestock Sector* Finnegan, W., Goggins, J., Clifford, E., Zhan, X., (2016) Global warming potential associated with Irish milk powder production International Conference on Pollution Control and Resource Recovery for the Livestock Sector [Details]
	(2014)	*Civil Engineering Research of Ireland (CERI2014) conference* Finnegan, W; Goggins, J (2014) Numerical simulation of fluid flow around an array of cylinders at low Reynolds number . In: Nanukuttan, S; Goggins, J eds. Civil Engineering Research of Ireland (CERI2014) conference Belfast, Northern Ireland, , 28-AUG-14 - 29-AUG-14 [Details]
	(2011)	*World Renewable Energy Congress* Finnegan W., Meere M., Goggins J., (2011) The Wave Excitation Forces on a Floating Vertical Cylinder in Water of Infinite Depth World Renewable Energy Congress [Details]
	(2012)	*Bridge and Concrete Research in Ireland* Finnegan, W; Goggins, J (2012) Determining the locations of high stresses on a floating concrete structure to aid in the structural health monitoring of wave energy converters . In: Caprani, C. & O'Connor, A eds. Bridge and Concrete Research in Ireland Dublin, Ireland, , 06-SEP-12 - 07-SEP-12 [Details]
	(2013)	*Numerical Modeling to Aid in the Structural Health Monitoring of Wave Energy Converters* Finnegan, W,Goggins, J (2013) DAMAGE ASSESSMENT OF STRUCTURES X, PTS 1 AND 2 Numerical Modeling to Aid in the Structural Health Monitoring of Wave Energy Converters , pp.595-602 [DOI] [Details]
	(2013)	*10th International Conference on Damage Assessment of Structures (DAMAS 2013)* Finnegan, W; Goggins, J (2013) Numerical modelling to aid in the structural health monitoring of wave energy converters . In: Basu, B eds. 10th International Conference on Damage Assessment of Structures (DAMAS 2013) Dublin, Ireland, , 08-JUL-13 - 10-JUL-13 [Details]

Other Journals

	Year	Publication
	(2023)	'Evaluating the sustainability of lightweight drones for delivery: towards a suitable methodology for assessment' Mitchell, S; Steinbach, J; Flanagan, T; Ghabezi, P; Harrison, N; O¿Reilly, S; Killian, S; Finnegan, W (2023) 'Evaluating the sustainability of lightweight drones for delivery: towards a suitable methodology for assessment' Functional Composite Materials, . [DOI] [Details]
	(2014)	'¿1m Study will increase resource efficiency in Irish dairy processing' Finnegan, W., Goggins, J., Clifford, E., Fitzhenry, K., Tarpey, E., and Zhan, X., (2014) '¿1m Study will increase resource efficiency in Irish dairy processing' Engineers Ireland Journal, . [Details]

Conference Contributions

	Year	Publication
	(2018)	28th Irish Environmental Researchers Colloquium, Environ 2018, Cooney, R., Finnegan, W., Clifford, E. (2018) Comparative life cycle assessment of alternative feed in Irish rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) production. [Conference Organising Committee Chairperson], 28th Irish Environmental Researchers Colloquium, Environ 2018, Cork Institute of Technology, Ireland , 27-MAR-18 - 27-MAR-18. [Details]
	(2015)	5th NUI Galway – University of Limerick Alliance Postgraduate Research Day, Finnegan, W., Clifford, E., Dobson, A., Fitzhenry, K., Goggins, J., Miao, S., Rowan, N., Tarpey, E., Xiao, L., Zhang, H., Zhan, X. (2015) DairyWater: Sustainability and resource efficiency for the Irish dairy processing industry. [Poster Presentation], 5th NUI Galway – University of Limerick Alliance Postgraduate Research Day, NUI Galway, Ireland , 21-APR-15. [Details]
	(2016)	26th Irish Environmental Researchers Colloquium, Environ 2016, Tarpey, E., Finnegan, W., Fitzhenry, K., Clifford, E., Zhan, X. (2016) Use of IASBR to treat dairy processing wastewater: A laboratory scale study. [Oral Presentation], 26th Irish Environmental Researchers Colloquium, Environ 2016, University of Limerick, Ireland , 24-MAR-16. [Details]
	(2016)	26th Irish Environmental Researchers Colloquium, Environ 2016, Finnegan, W., Goggins, J., Clifford, E., Zhan, X., (2016) The impact of the Irish dairy processing industry on climate change. [Oral Presentation], 26th Irish Environmental Researchers Colloquium, Environ 2016, University of Limerick, Ireland , 24-MAR-16. [Details]
	(2016)	Civil Engineering Research in Ireland (CERI) 2016, Finnegan, W., Goggins, J., Clifford, E., Zhan, X., (2016) The impact of the Irish dairy processing industry on climate change. [Oral Presentation], Civil Engineering Research in Ireland (CERI) 2016, Galway, Ireland , 29-AUG-16. [Details]
	(2016)	26th Irish Environmental Researchers Colloquium, Environ 2016, Fitzhenry, K., Rowan, N., Finnegan, W., Tarpey, E., Goggins, J., Zhan, X., Clifford, E., (2016) Tertiary treatment technologies for water reuse and rainwater harvesting in the Irish dairy industry. [Oral Presentation], 26th Irish Environmental Researchers Colloquium, Environ 2016, University of Limerick, Ireland , 24-MAR-16. [Details]
	(2015)	Ryan Institute Overview presentations, Fitzhenry, K., Finnegan, W., Zhan, X., Goggins, J., Rowan, N., Clifford, E. (2015) Tertiary Treatment Technologies for Water Reuse and Rainwater Harvesting in the Irish Dairy Industry. [Oral Presentation], Ryan Institute Overview presentations, Ryan Institute, NUI, Galway, Ireland , 13-OCT-15. [Details]
	(2015)	25th Environmental Science Association Ireland Colloquium, Fitzhenry, K., Clifford, E., Rowan, N., Stocca, A., Finnegan, W., Zhan, X. (2015) Tertiary treatment technologies for water reuse and rainwater harvesting in the Irish dairy industry. [Oral Presentation], 25th Environmental Science Association Ireland Colloquium, Sligo Institute of Technology. Ireland , 08-APR-15. [Details]
	(2016)	Ryan Institute Research & Open Day 2016, Fitzhenry, K., Finnegan, W., Zhan, X., Goggins, J., Rowan, N., Clifford, E. (2016) UV Disinfection Technologies for Water Reuse and Rainwater Harvesting in the Irish Dairy Industry. [Poster Presentation], Ryan Institute Research & Open Day 2016, NUI Galway, Ireland , 09-DEC-16. [Details]
	(2016)	Ryan Institute Research & Open Day 2016, Finnegan, W., Goggins, J., Clifford, E., Zhan, X. (2016) Environmental impact associated with the manufacture of Irish dairy products. [Poster Presentation], Ryan Institute Research & Open Day 2016, NUI Galway, Ireland , 09-DEC-16. [Details]
	(2016)	SUSMILK Conference: Solutions for sustainable milk processing, Finnegan, W., Goggins, J., Clifford, E., Zhan, X., (2016) DairyWater: Environmental impact associated with the manufacture of dairy products in Ireland. [Poster Presentation (Refereed)], SUSMILK Conference: Solutions for sustainable milk processing, Santiago de Compostela, Spain , 22-SEP-16. [Details]
	(2015)	Ryan Institute Research Day 2015, Fitzhenry, K., Clifford, E., Rowan, N., Stocca, A., Finnegan, W., Zhan, X. (2015) Tertiary treatment technologies for water reuse and rainwater harvesting in the Irish dairy industry. [Poster Presentation], Ryan Institute Research Day 2015, NUI Galway, Ireland , 25-SEP-15. [Details]

Reviews

	Year	Publication
	(2018)	A review of environmental life cycle assessment studies examining cheese production. Finnegan, W;Yan, MJ;Holden, NM;Goggins, J (2018) A review of environmental life cycle assessment studies examining cheese production. HEIDELBERG: SPRINGER HEIDELBERG Reviews [DOI] [Details]

Thesis

	Year	Publication
	(2013)	Wave-structure interaction of offshore wave energy converters. William Finnegan (2013) Wave-structure interaction of offshore wave energy converters. Thesis [ARAN Link] [Details]

Honours and Awards

	Year	Title	Awarding Body
	2020	MaREI Award 2020 for Research Impact	SFI MaREI Research Centre
	2017	Chartered Engineer	Institute of Engineers Ireland

Current Postgraduate Students (Research)

Student	Degree Type	Type
Ayaz Ahmad	Doctorate - PhD(Eng)	Co-supervisor (1)
Tenis Ranjan Munaweera Thanthirige	Doctorate - Structured Ph.D (Engineering)	Co-supervisor (1)
Kai Xu	Doctorate - Structured Ph.D (Engineering)	Co-supervisor (1)
Peter Leonard	Doctorate - PhD(Eng)	Co-supervisor (2)

Modules Taught

Term/Year	Module Title	Module Code
2022-23; 2023-24	Community Engaged Building Project	CE2012
2023-24	Integrated Civil Design Project	CE6117
2021-22; 2022-23; 2023-24	Structural Analysis	CE472
2022-23; 2023-24	Mechanics of Solids	CE3120