Engineers conference to focus on challenge of doing business in Ireland

The parallel sessions of the Engineers Ireland Annual Conference, which runs from 15-16 May, will focus on overcoming the challenges of doing business in Ireland and aligning engineering education with the skills needed by industry.

Industry experts are looking to the future of the engineering industry in Ireland at this year’s Engineers Ireland Annual Conference.

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One of the parallel sessions on Day Two of the conference, which runs on Thursday 15 and Friday 16 May in the Sligo Park Hotel, will focus on the challenges of doing business in Ireland such as international compliance and regulations, as well as expanding to encompass international markets. Martin Curley, VP of Intel Corporation, will call for Ireland to properly resource the future of Big Data.

Brendan Hogan (Aerogen) and Conor Murphy (Abbott Ireland Diagnostics) explore the issues from a biomedical perspective, while Eoghan Lynch (ARUP) and Shane Loughlin (SL Controls) outline the challenges facing the construction and manufacturing industries, respectively.

Jerry Grant, head of asset management at Irish Water, will outline how the new State body will work to meet the water needs of large industry in Ireland.

The day’s other parallel session will examine how we can align engineering education with the skills needed by industry. Tommy Fanning, senior vice president of IDA Ireland, will give an overview of the future needs of FDI companies, while industry experts Domhnall Carroll (Siemens Ltd), Jeff Redmond (AbbVie) and Aidan Corcoran (Horizon) will take a closer look at the issue, outlining the engineering skills required for both large businesses and SMEs operating in Ireland. Delegates will also hear how IT Sligo and NUI Galway are working to meet these industry needs.

The overall theme of this year’s Engineers Ireland Annual Conference, in association with Bord Gáis Éireann, is ‘Collaborating to Engineer a Better Society’. Expert speakers will analyse the role of engineers in medical improvements and achieving business goals through engineering partnerships.

French Professor Alain Cribier MD, who broke new ground working with engineers in the treatment of cardiovascular disorders and improved treatments for 80,000 heart patients worldwide, is the keynote speaker at the Annual Conference. Joining him in the line-up is John Parker, the structural engineer responsible for constructing west Europe’s tallest building, Renzo Piano’s ‘Shard’.

The speaker list also features Mark Gelfand, a US electrical engineer whose medical device innovations include renal denervation and George Mullan, a Sligo native who will talk about his company SIS Pitches, which supplies sports surfaces to clubs of the calibre of Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid.

The conference will be opened by the president of Engineers Ireland, Dr John O’Dea, CEO and founder of Crospon, one of Ireland’s leading medical-device companies.

For the full conference schedule, speaker details and to book your place at this year’s event, visit www.engineersirelandconference.ie.