Student wins with ‘bottleneck’ solution

A Cork Institute of Technology student has won a prestigious engineering award for preventing bottlenecks in a manufacturing process, while a student from IT Carlow was also recognised for his work to allow straw quality and moisture to be constantly evaluated.

CIT student Patrick Byrne, from Patrickswell, Co Limerick, won first prize in the Engineers’ Ireland Level 8 Innovative Student Engineer of the Year Awards 2013, which are sponsored by Siemens.

Titled ‘Automation of Ultrasonic Cleaning and Blast Processes at Zimmer Orthopaedics’, Mr Byrne’s project analysed the ‘bottleneck’ locations in the existing manufacturing practices to find a solution which will be integrated into Zimmer’s improved manufacturing process.

Meanwhile, Carlow IT student Alistair Chambers won the Level 7 category award.

He designed a device that allows straw moisture and quality to be easily and efficiently assessed at all stages from growth to cutting.

Very impressive presentations at the @EngineerIreland Innovative Student Engineer of the Year Awards today. Congrats to all the finalists.

— Andrew Errity (@aerrity) June 10, 2013

The device has the capacity to be retro-fitted to any tractor-mounted or loader-mounted bale handler.

The judges said it was a simple and cost-effective way of ensuring a quality product for sale in livestock and equine markets, or new emerging markets in Green energy.

Liam Mulligan, Siemens’ sustainability manager, said this year’s entries again showed students’ ability to develop new ways of thinking that could help the everyday workings of society.

“Innovation is all about tackling the world’s toughest questions.

“This year’s entries once again embody original thinking, technical excellence and hard-work. I firmly believe the creative and technical skills all these students involved are now honing will stand to them hugely in their long careers ahead,” Mr Mulligan said.