John Nolan brings a very special combination of career experience to his year in office, A Chartered Engineer who has worked as a labourer, contractor’s engineer, consulting engineer, business owner, property developer and client, John is extremely well placed to challenge consulting engineers on the conundrums of cost versus value.

In doing so, his inaugural address draws on observations from his own business life and offers some practical suggestions and solutions for both engineers and the Institution.

The session will be a unique opportunity for members to meet with the President in an informal setting, to ask questions and exchange views. Members are encouraged to attend what is expected to be a useful and informative meeting.

Making his Inaugural speech as President John said:

Structural engineers offer a great amount to the construction process and it is clear to me that we have a tremendously important role in the area of “cost versus value.

As an Institution we should take the opportunity to raise our profile in this arena, since it impacts on safety; quality; sustainability; project viability and not least, the standing of engineers as part of the modern project team.

John Nolan’s full presentation will be available to view on the webinars page soon.

Date: 2 February 2011
Time: Tea and coffee reception at 18:00. Evening lecture starts at 18:30.
Location: Dublin Institute of Technology, Bolton St., Room 259

The IABSE Irish National Group will host an evening lecture on Thursday 1st December 2011, in Room 259, DIT, Bolton Street (at 7:00 pm). This lecture will focus Sustainable Fire Engineering. Specifically, the speaker will discuss the application of a ‘reliability-based’ & ‘person-centred’ approach in order to achieve a safe and sustainable built environment. This presentation will examine the authentic language and meaning of sustainability and will then track how this impacts on the professional practice of fire engineering. Finally, special mention will be made of Fire-Induced Progressive Collapse.

This event is being staged in co-operation with Engineers Ireland and the Institution of Structural Engineers (Republic of Ireland Branch), and is a CPD approved event.

Click here to download a flyer to publicize the event.

Date: Thursday, 1 December 2011
Location: Room 259, DIT, Bolton Street
Time: 7.00 pm

Please see the event post for further information.

Please see the event post for further information.

On Wednesday, 2 November, The Institution of Structural Engineers (Republic of Ireland Branch) in association with the Department of Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering, Cork Institute of Technology will host a Graduate Evening. Recent graduates undertaking postgraduate research and graduates working across a range of engineering firms will give brief presentations sharing their experiences since graduating.

The aim of the evening is to provide an insight for students and other members of the structural engineering fraternity into what it is like for Graduate Engineers working with Consultants today and show the opportunities that are available for research. It is intended that the evening will be relatively informal and there will be ample time for questions and discussion. The speakers will be:

• Daniel Goulding – Daniel is currently working with Bord Gáis Éireann on the 2010-2012 Graduate Programme. On graduating with a BEng. in Structural Engineering from Cork Institute of Technology in 2008, he began a Research Masters in Environmental Engineering primarily focussing on biogas utilisation in Ireland. Last year, Daniel upgraded his Masters research to a PhD and is conducting this research on a part-time basis in conjunction with Cork Institute of Technology.
• Alan Leen – Alan studied Civil & Environmental Engineering at University College Cork and graduated in 2008. He joined Arup in 2008 and is currently working as a Project Engineer their Cork Office. Alan has experience working on projects such as Mallow Flood Relief Scheme, quay wall remedial works, and a number of flood risk assessments and flood studies.
• David Hodge – David studied civil, structural and environmental engineering at Cork Institute of Technology and graduated in 2009. He is currently a PhD student in CIT studying the response of hollow core floors to applied actions. David won first prize for his paper at last year’s BCRI conference held in Cork.
• James Browne – James studied Civil & Environmental Engineering at University College Cork and graduated in 2009. He worked as a graduating engineer with J Murphy & Sons Tunnelling Division in London before starting a PhD in renewable gas production from waste in the bioenergy and biofuels research group, Environmental Research Institute, UCC.
• Michael Minehane – Michael graduated from Cork Institute of Technology with a BEng (Hons) degree in Structural Engineering in 2010 and a MEng degree in Structural Engineering in 2011. Michael won the 2010 Irish Concrete Society Sean de Courcy Award for his final year project on reinforced concrete corbelled joints. He is a Graduate Engineer with RPS in the Cork office where he is currently working on a number of bridge projects.

Click here to download a flyer to publicize the event.

Venue: Room B190, Cork Institute of Technology (Map)
Date: Wednesday, 2 November 2011
Time: 18:30

On Tuesday, 8 November, the Republic of Ireland Branch will host their annual Graduate Evening, in conjunction with the Irish National Group of IABSE and UCD’s Struct Soc. This event offers engineering students a chance to learn more about the various career paths available to them following graduation and will be of particular benefit to final-year students. On the evening three recent graduates will make presentations detailing their personal experiences, and will answer questions from the audience. This year the speakers will be:

• Niamh Gibbons – Niamh studied civil, structural and environmental engineering at Trinity College Dublin at both bachelors and masters level. Following graduation, she worked for Grontmij (formerly Carl Bro) in their bridge team on highways projects in Ireland and Scotland. Currently Niamh is a PhD student at University College Dublin studying the assessment of masonry arch bridges.
• David Deally – David is a Design Engineer with Arup in the Dublin office. He graduated from Trinity College Dublin with an Honours Degree in Civil Engineering in 2010. David has experience working with the Eurocode and finite element packages, in particular Sofistik, for 3D modelling and long term analysis of flat slabs.
• Julie Harkin – Julie is a graduate engineer from University College Dublin with a MSc in Durability of Structures from Queen’s University Belfast. Currently, Julie is working as a bridge engineer with Roughan & O’Donovan and has gained experience working on cable-stayed bridge analyses, strain monitoring and inspection of bridges. She also has experience in traffic and transport engineering, having undertaken work on network improvement schemes and traffic modelling.

The evening promises to be highly informative and is open to all interested members of the public.

Click here to download a flyer to publicize the event.

Venue: Room F14, Newstead Building, University College Dublin (Map)
Date: Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Time: 18:30

Please see the event post for further information.

This lecture will skim through various aspects of bridge history: using pictures and videos of bridge behaviour to explain what we think we know and the gaps that remain in our knowledge and understanding of these economically vital structures. There will also be brief excursions into aspects
of more modern structures.

This event will hosted by Engineers Ireland – Cork Region, in conjunction with the Institution of Structural Engineers, Republic of Ireland Branch, and is open to the public.

Click here to download a flyer to publicize the event.

Date: Thursday 20 October 2011
Location: Millenium Hall, City Hall, Cork
Time: 7.00 pm (Tea/coffee available from 6.30 pm)