Explore UCD

UCD Home >

News and Events

MME SpringSummer Newsletter 2024 PDF | 2.7MB

News & Events

Professor Fengzhou Fang was awarded a Prestigious Honorary Doctorate 18Dec
Professor Fengzhou Fang was awarded a Prestigious Honorary Doctorate

On December 17th 2024, UCD Professor Fengzhou Fang, the Founding President of the International Academy of Engineering and Technology (AET), was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. This prestigious honour recognizes his many ground-breaking contributions, particularly the identification and proposal of the Three Paradigms of Manufacturing Advancement in 2012.

Anna M Kelly of Bord Failte 16Dec
Dr Anna M Kelly, Appointed to the Fáilte Ireland Authority

We warmly welcome the appointment of Dr Anna M Kelly to the Failte Ireland Authority. Dr Kelly is Adjunct Associate Professor & Co-Director of the Inclusive Design Research Centre of Ireland at UCD, and coordinates research themes and leaders across disciplines, sectors and universities in that regard, as well as co-supervising PhDs in the areas of Inclusive Learning, Inclusion and Diversity Policy, and Access.

Pictured (l-r) are LaNua Medical co-founders; Dr Sajjad Amiri; Dr Cormac Farrelly, Dr Eoin O'Cearbhaill; Dr Cormac Farrelly, and Tom Fitzmaurice. (Credit: Naoise Culhane). 12Dec
University College Dublin Engineering Spin-out Secures €6 Million to Accelerate Development of Groundbreaking Blood Flow Tech

LaNua Medical, an Irish medtech device start-up and a spin-out of University College Dublin (UCD), today announced it has raised €6 million in seed funding. The company is developing a groundbreaking technology that makes it easy, safe, and cheaper for doctors to treat internal bleeding, vascular malformations and many benign and malignant tumours.
The funding round was co-led by Elkstone and Atlantic Bridge, with participation from Enterprise Ireland and Furthr VC. The funding will be used to accelerate product development and market access.

CDIC Design Studio established 05Dec
CDIC Automotive Design Competition 2024

On Thursday the 28th of November 2024 CDIC organised their Student Automotive Design Competition This semester, nine single-seat four-wheel cars were fabricated from my module MEEN4006W Automotive Design, all of which passed the practical tests.
Associate Professor Aisling Ní Annaidh 03Dec
Aisling Ní Annaidh recognised as a pioneer in her field through an ERC Consolidator Award

Five University College Dublin (UCD) academics have been announced as recipients of prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Awards.
The UCD awardees will each receive €2 million for their projects spanning Law, Philosophy, Biomechanical Engineering and Information and Communication Studies. With a total value of €10 million, this is the highest number of ERC Consolidator Awards granted to an Irish university in any one call. Just one other award was granted in Ireland in this round.
These awards recognise outstanding scientists and scholars as they establish independent research teams and develop their most promising scientific ideas. The UCD recipients are Associate Professor Ruth Boeker, Professor Cathryn Costello, Dr Maebh Harding, Dr Lai Ma and Associate Professor Aisling Ní Annaidh.
Prof Kate Robson Brown, Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact, UCD 05Nov
Scientists’ next-generation space materials blast off for tests on ISS

A new generation of space materials left Earth this morning as they head to the International Space Station (ISS) to undergo testing in the brutal conditions of low Earth orbit. Developed at the University of Bristol, these high-performance materials could be used to build future space stations, spacecraft for interplanetary travel or a new ISS.
They will be placed on the Bartolomeo platform, located on the front of the ISS, where they will orbit Earth up to 9,000 times over the next 12 to 18 months at speeds of 17,000 mph. The carbon fibre reinforced composites will need to survive temperatures between -150ºC and +120ºC, space debris travelling seven times faster than a bullet, severe electromagnetic radiation, high vacuum and atomic oxygen, which erodes even the toughest materials.
Robotically Drilled Subsea Micropile Anchors for Floating Wind Farms, in collaboration with Subsea Micropiles Ltd. 20Jun
SFI Industry RD&I Fellowships announced

Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Patrick O’Donovan TD, has today announced a €1.4 million investment in 15 awards through the SFI Industry RD&I Fellowship Programme.

The programme will support the temporary placement of academic researchers in 12 companies, to conduct research across a variety of areas including energy efficient communications networks, electrochemical sensors for rapid medical diagnostics, seaweed extract for use in cosmetics and health products, moorings for offshore wind platforms, and reducing cement’s carbon footprint using new generation low clinker cement technology.
Graphic for the XR Training workshop 10Jun
Inclusive XR 1.5 days Training Workshop: 17-18 June 2024

In this training workshop (short programme), we will present and discuss a number of education technology and extended reality (XR) projects and use cases, primarily focused on multidisciplinary research in simulation learning in the contexts of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) and HASS (Humanities and Social Sciences) educational domains. Artist led innovation and inclusive design inform our approach to these examples.
ISRP symposium 15May
The International Systems Realization Partnership (ISRP) Symposium

Design is the process of creating products and/or services that bring about value. However, contemporary design often involves incomprehensible numbers of criteria, that are appreciated differently by stakeholders, and evolve over time. The purpose of this symposium is to identify centralizing questions at the interphase of systems, the availability of progressively powerful digital tools, and evolving societal interests. Answers to these questions will enable the realization of systematic decision-making methods to advance human well-being, societal cohesion, and sustainability. The International Systems Realization Partnership (ISRP) is organizing a two-and-a-half-day international symposium to explore fundamental questions of what design means in a global society inundated with data.
Dr David McKeown 27Nov
UCD-led space project receives over €7.9m from Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund

A UCD-led space project has secured just over €7.9 million in funding, the largest single amount awarded to a project under the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF) this round.
The project, National Space Subsystems and Payloads Initiative (NSSPI), will support the development of an economically sustainable and expanding space industry in three initial clusters: optical communications for space, autonomous smart satellites and spacecraft and payload modelling, simulation, assembly, integration and test research support.
UCD Researchers awarded over €4m in ERC grants for Biomedical Engineering projects 23Nov
UCD Researchers awarded over €4m in ERC grants for Biomedical Engineering and Political Economy projects

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded over €4 million to two researchers at University College Dublin (UCD) to pursue ground breaking research in areas of Biomedical Engineering and Political Economy.
Professor Niamh Nowlan, UCD School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Dr Aidan Regan, UCD School of Politics and International Relations were among 308 researchers across Europe to receive the prestigious ERC Consolidator grants for 2023. These grants - totalling €627 million - support excellent scientists and scholars at the career stage where they may still be consolidating their own independent research teams to pursue their most promising scientific ideas.

Ireland's first-ever satellite EIRSAT-1 begins final preparations ahead of November launch 07Nov
Ireland's first-ever satellite EIRSAT-1 begins final preparations ahead of November launch

Ireland's first-ever satellite EIRSAT-1 has left Irish shores for the last time as preparations begin ahead of a planned November launch in North America.
The satellite, designed, built, and tested at University College Dublin, in the framework of the ESA Academy educational programme for university-level students by the European Space Agency (ESA), is heading to the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California where it will be sent into orbit on 29th November.
Sir Bernard Crossland, engineer and public servant. 15Sep
Congratulations to Xinhui Wang win the first prizes at the 26th Sir Bernard Crossland Symposium in all-Ireland (Republic of Ireland + Northern Ireland)

The Sir Bernard Crossland Symposium is a renowned annual mechanical manufacturing event in Ireland, established in 1997 under the joint auspices of Engineers Ireland and the Council of Professors of Mechanical Engineering in Irish Universities, and the symposium brings together academics, industrialists and PhD students. This event pays homage to Sir Bernard Crossland's profound commitment to advancing education and research in Mechanical Engineering, specifically focusing on the pivotal role of design and manufacturing in engineering practice.
ERC Starting Grants Awarded to UCD Researchers in Humanities and Engineering 05Sep
ERC Starting Grants Awarded to UCD Researchers in Humanities and Engineering

The European Research Council (ERC) has announced the 2023 Starting Grants, providing €628 million, under the Horizon Europe programme, to 400 researchers across Europe. Two University College Dublin (UCD) academics have been selected to receive these prestigious awards.
ERC President Professor Maria Leptin said: “It is part of our mission to give early-career talent the independence to pursue ambitious curiosity-driven research that can shape our future. In this latest round of Starting Grants, we saw one of the highest shares of female grantees to date, which I hope will continue to rise. Congratulations to all winners and good luck on your path to discovery.”
Professor Dimitrios Zevgolis 27Jul
ERC Proof of Concept Grant for UCD Researcher exploring macromolecular crowding in cell culture systems

University College Dublin (UCD) researcher, Professor Dimitrios Zeugolis, is among 66 recipients of European Research Council (ERC) Proof of Concept grants announced today. These coveted awards - worth €150,000 each - help grantees to explore the commercial or societal potential of their research findings. The funding is part of the EU's research and innovation programme, Horizon Europe.

UCD School of Mechanical & Materials Engineering

UCD Engineering & Materials Science Centre, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
T: +353 1 716 1884 | E: mme@ucd.ie | Location Map(opens in a new window)