UCC to fill senior post in bid to smooth over chemical engineering degree dispute

Efforts to regain important status for a chemical engineering degree at University College Cork are continuing after management approval to fill a crucial academic vacancy.

The long-standing absence of a professor or department chair was the main reason for the recent withdrawal of an important accreditation from international body IChemE.

Students in the fourth and final year of process and chemical engineering recently discovered the Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) degree they are due to receive next year will not have the MEng-level accreditation which IChemE had previously awarded it. While academic standards had been met by the programme, the lack of appointment of a professor or department chair meant new accreditation to MEng level could not be granted.