Faculty of Computing and Engineering and the Built Environment Innovation in Placement Awards 2020 – Ulster University

While the COVID-19 has meant that no physical ceremony could take place as in previous years, the achievements of students who have had a significant impact during their time spent out industry were nonetheless recognised.

Eoin Orr, who is currently on placement with Dupont UL Industrial UK, was the Engineering winner, while Ben McCallion, out with Seagate Technologies, was the Computing winner. Jessica Hyndman was the Built Environment winner for her work with Errigle Contracts.

The three winners received a prize of £500 each from the Faculty for their innovative contributions to their respective companies. Furthermore, Ronan Rafferty received a Special Mention for his work with the Southern Trust.

Eoin worked with Operations, Technology, Design contractor, Installation contractor and Vendor teams at Dupont to develop, program and install a signal that massively enhanced the operating efficiency of their Kevlar® winding system. This technology will be rolled out to all machines at the company’s Maydown plant, and potentially at their sites in Japan and USA.

Ben was instrumental in developing the specific technology for a brand-new type of Magnetic Recording called HAMR (Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording). The new head is not yet in production, however the specific model created by Ben will be the first of its kind, mass produced for commercial drives. This model will massively help numerous teams within Seagate, both at the company’s Springtown headquarters and in other Seagate sites.

Jessica in her placement year at Errigal has continuously reinvented the day-to-day design of facades by pushing Building Modelling Information (BIM) to advanced levels within the company. This has greatly improved the communication links between the site team and the design office. A great example of this is on Errigal’s largest façade project to date, Brunel Street Works, where Jessica modelled Block E by herself.

Ronan was on a one-year industrial placement with the BioMed Eng dept., within the Southern Trust, based at Craigavon Area Hospital and worked daily at servicing a range of medical equipment including Infusion Devices, ECG units. The training Ronan received proved to be invaluable in that he was asked to work full time in ICU because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Executive Dean Liam Maguire congratulated all nominees and underlined the importance of Placement for undergraduate students:

“Placement is a really important part of all our courses in the faculty, providing students with the opportunity to further understand and utilise the theory and skills inculcated on campus.  I am delighted that the faculty has continued with these awards to recognise and celebrate the success of our students on placement.

“I also wish to thank again all of our employers for their support particularly those who have hosted these winning students.  I wish every success to all the employers and students who are about to go on placement in these unprecedented times.”