2020 & 2021 Distinguished Graduate Awardees

Every year, the EGA presents Distinguished Graduate Award to a UCD Engineering graduate in recognition of the achievement and outstanding contribution they have made to society. This event has long been of the highlights of the Engineering Graduates Association’s yearly calendar and the practice of awarding an Annual Distinguished Graduate Award commenced in 2002. The 2020 and 2021 Distinguished Graduate Award Ceremonies were postponed as an in-person event due to the Covid pandemic which saw our University move online and so a decision was made to hold both ceremonies until a later date. 

The EGA President, Ms Majella Henchion, is delighted to announce the 2020 and 2021 Distinguished Graduate Awardees in acknowledgement of their commitment and contributions to industry during each of their careers to date. 

Dervilla Mitchell, Joint Deputy Chair for Arup

A civil engineer by training, Dervilla’s career has featured leadership of large, multidisciplinary teams charged with planning and designing high-profile, complex projects. Her project portfolio includes Abu Dhabi International Airport Midfield Terminal, Dublin Airport Terminal 2, Heathrow Terminal 5, the Althetes Village for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and Portcullis House in London. Dervilla is a fellow of the Britain’s Royal Academy of Engineers. She was awarded an honorary doctorate by University College Dublin in 2016 and a CBE for services to engineering in 2014. Her group board role includes responsibility for business ethics.

Arup was founded by (opens in a new window)Ove Arup in 1946. Today, we are 6,000 strong in the UK, working on local, national and international projects. We are a professional services firm with a focus on the built environment and we work closely and collaboratively with our clients to develop the solutions they need today – and tomorrow. We bring deep expertise in strategy, design, planning and engineering, and our project portfolio ranges from the UK Government’s (opens in a new window)heat decarbonisation programme, to the design of (opens in a new window)new cancer treatment centres and playing a central role in engineering a more resilient rail network.

She has been involved in projects including the Action Stations Museum in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, Portcullis House Westminster, and Goodwood Paddock redevelopment. She is perhaps best known for leading the Arup team at Terminal 5 Heathrow and being the Head of Design Management for this £4bn project. Subsequently she worked on Terminal 2 Dublin and then was involved in the London 2012 Athletes Village before returning to work on Aviation projects in London and Abu Dhabi.

A civil engineer by training she has worked as a structural engineer for most of her career, and her roles have developed from engineer to design manager to project leader over the years. Dervilla has been a Trustee of Arup and a member of the UK Middle East and Africa Board and currently leads the Aviation business in the region, as well as coordinating activities across their Transport businesses including Aviation, Highways, Maritime and Rail. She is an occasional guest lecturer at Imperial College London, University of Cambridge and Letterkenny Institute of Technology. She has participated in Womens Day, Speakers for Schools, Big Bang and Arkwright Awards events. She is also involved in her neighbourhood and has been a Trustee and School Governor.

Ciaran Connell & Michael McLaughlin, Decawave Co-Founders

Decawave develops semiconductor solutions, software, modules and reference designs that enable real-time, ultra-accurate, ultra reliable local area micro-location  services. The company was founded in 2007 by Ciaran Connell and Michael McLaughlin and was acquired in 2020 by Qorvo, a leading provider of innovative RF solutions that connect the world.

A pioneer in ultra-wideband (UWB) technology and provider of UWB solutions for mobile, automotive and IoT applications. The Decawave team has become the Ultra-Wideband Business Unit (UWBU) within Qorvo Mobile Products.

Eric Creviston, president of Qorvo Mobile Products said, “We are excited about the growth potential offered by UWB and the opportunity to build upon the pioneering work of the Decawave team. We see tremendous opportunities for Decawave’s technology as UWB expands into new markets in mobile, automotive and industrial and consumer IoT. We look forward to collaborating with customers to develop UWB solutions that greatly increase the accuracy and security of a host of new location and communication services.”

Dublin, Ireland-based-Decawave was founded in 2007 and has deployed more than 8 million chipsets in more than 40 different market verticals – from smartphones to drones. Decawave’s Impulse Radio UWB technology allows for position accuracy of a few centimeters, and with extremely low latency. Decawave CEO Ciaran Connell will lead Qorvo’s UWBU team as its general manager.

Ciaran Connell has over 33 years experience of the communications and semiconductor industry, and has gained Fortune 500 experience in Strategy, Operations, Business Development and Corporate Investments & Acquisitions. Ciaran has extensive experience in identifying, starting, penetrating, building and developing new technology markets in the semiconductor arena. Prior to working as Chief Executive Officer of Decawave, Ciaran headed Strategy and Business Development (EMEA) at Freescale France. Prior to that Ciaran worked at Motorola in France and the US, and Cornel. Ciaran currently works as General Manager Ultrawideband Business Unit at Qorvo.

Michael McLaughlin is a veteran of more than 33 years of the communications and semiconductor industry, and is an acknowledged authority on ultra wideband. Active in IEEE UWB standards development since 2002, Michael proposed and had ratified key parts of the IEEE802.15.4a standard. Michael is the author of Decawave’s patents. Prior to working as Chief Technical Officer at Decawave, Michael worked with Parthus, and was chief technologist at Cornel Electronics and Lake Datacommunications. Michael is now a Senior Fellow at Qorvo.

 The EGA gratefully acknowledges the support of all our Corporate Members.