Glanua, in collaboration with the Faculty of Engineering at TU Dublin, recently hosted the second annual ‘Water Sustainability Challenge,‘ an event aimed at promoting awareness of the water and wastewater sector and the diverse career opportunities available in engineering and business disciplines.
The challenge tasked first, second-year and third-year mechanical engineering students, with developing a strategy to quantify carbon in the design process of a Water Treatment Plant (WTP). Students were required to utilise Process Flow Diagrams and Site Layout Drawings to propose innovative engineering solutions to remove carbon from the design, build and operational stages of a water treatment plant and contribute to the shift towards net-zero carbon.
Participants were organised into groups to research their challenges and subsequently presented their findings to a panel of judges comprising industry, public sector, and academia experts, including Robert Kearney from Glanua, Hugh Kennedy from Irish Water, and Kevin Gaughan from TU Dublin.
Robert Kearney, Framework Manager at Glanua said, “Water Infrastructure is a vital sector in Ireland and globally and presents both challenges and opportunities for young engineers. The Glanua Water Sustainability Challenge provides a unique platform for students to learn the importance of the water industry and empower them to find sustainable and innovative solutions to the challenges facing our industry. We’d like to congratulate all the participants on the day. It was very rewarding to see the students apply their skills and knowledge to real-life industry issues.”
The winning team, consisting of Conor O’Dalagh, Eoin Scanlon, Tadhg Sheehan and Luke Tynan, received the prestigious first prize of €1000 and a Galway crystal trophy. The first runner-ups, Aaron Clarke, Fiona O’Byrne, Ciaran Kinsella, Conor Devenish received €150 each and the second runner ups, Kerrie Peters, Sarvesh Modi, Glyndwr Leopardas received €100 each.
This year, Glanua brought some of the graduate students enrolled in their 2023/24 Graduate Programme to provide support and mentoring to the teams participating in the Water Sustainability Challenge. The graduate students shared their industry knowledge, and personal experience of working in the water sector, contributing to the overall experience for the teams participating on the day.
Thomas Treacy, Programme Chair at TU Dublin, said: “The Faculty of Engineering and School of Mechanical Engineering are delighted to partner with Glanua for this, now annual, competition. It is great to see students participating in extra-curricular activities which demonstrates their commitment to both future careers and applying themselves to working for sustainable solutions in industry. This multi-stage, inter-programme challenge really helps students develop the transversal skills required for effective problem solving. Many thanks to all Glanua staff on the day and especially their recent graduate intake who acted as consultants for the Teams. This really added value to already great event.”
