National Volunteer Week (16 – 22 May 2022), Ireland’s largest annual celebration of volunteering, is currently underway.
At Engineers Ireland, we are incredibly proud to participate in this week-long campaign. Our volunteers are the lifeblood of our organisation and play a pivotal role in Engineers Ireland’s community. The scale and reach of our work is only possible through the enormous contribution of member-volunteers who give so much to our organisation through a variety of initiatives, such as supporting our STEPS outreach programme, involvement in our Regional branches, Engineering divisions and Societies, by conducting assessments or by participating on committees and boards.
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As part of the part of the national campaign, Engineers Ireland will recognise and celebrate the work of members whose volunteering efforts have positively contributed to Ireland’s engineering community. Clyde Road staff were encouraged to put forward members to celebrate as part of this campaign and we are proud to share their stories, achievements, and the impact of their volunteering work.
Barry Bowen
Barry Bowen has been a member of Engineers Ireland since he graduated from UCD in 2009 with a Masters in Biosystems Engineering.
He has been a stalwart supporter of the ‘Global Engineers’ series since its inception five years ago. This series supports overseas engineers learning about Ireland and employment opportunities. These in-person and online events cover topics such as interview skills and how to apply for the Critical Skills Visa.
Since joining the Engineering Desk in Morgan McKinley in 2017, Barry has been regularly volunteering his time to support engineers coming from overseas and also recent graduates who are entering the jobs market for the first time. He and his team in Morgan McKinley have helped hundreds of engineers take the first steps in their engineering career. Barry and his colleagues continuously promote Engineers Ireland to the candidates and clients they are working with on a daily basis. Barry also supports the student and graduate members of Engineers Ireland, leading CV workshops with the Young Engineers Societies, and acting as a Judge for the 2021 Innovative Student Engineer competition.
Denis Higgins
Denis Higgins is a long-standing member of Engineers Ireland and has generously volunteered his time on the Ethics & Disciplinary Board and the Board of Examiners.
The Ethics & Disciplinary Board, a standing committee of Council, is responsible for promoting, monitoring and enforcing the Code of Ethics and ensuring members are aware of their responsibilities as Engineers. As Vice-Chair of the Board, Denis is dedicated to enhancing and promoting the standing of the profession and its practitioners. His wealth of experience and expertise has been integral in supporting our members and helping them maintain the highest levels of competence in their respective technical disciplines. Denis has also served as a member of Engineers Ireland’s Board of Examiners, the committee responsible for ensuring that adequate and consistent professional engineering standards are maintained.
Denis was also an active Member of the FCA/RDF Engineer Corps having joined while in UCC and from which he retired in 2008 with the Rank of Commandant.
Georgina Molloy
Georgina Molloy is a Chartered Engineer, with experience in design consultancy in Ireland and Australia. She founded the scaffold design consultancy department within McCrory Access, Scaffold Design Ireland in 2009. She is the only female scaffold design engineer in Ireland. Georgina was one of the original members of the Diversity Group (now Inclusion and Diversity society). She was instrumental in the establishment of the Women in Engineering Group and at its first meeting she was elected Chair. She and the committee are focused on attracting more female students into engineering courses, keeping the women who have already chosen engineering careers in engineering and getting women who have qualified as engineers and left the profession to return. Georgina’s success as Chair of the Group has resulted in five very well attended events aimed at engineers which cover a wide range of topics including: Rethinking Work Culture, Returning to Work after a Career Break, Career Advice Webinar and International Women’s Day- Career Circles Event. Georgina is passionate about tackling the gender balance in engineering and this can be seen through interviews she has given where she promotes diversity within the profession as well as acknowledging the role engineers play in climate action.
Roy O’Connor
Roy O’Connor is a Chartered Engineer and Chair of Engineers Ireland’s Roads and Transportation Society for the past two years. He has over 20 years’ experience working in variety of management roles across the sustainable transport sector. As Senior Engineer with Dublin City Council’s Environment & Transportation Department, he is a mentor and contributor to their Accredited CPD programme.
Roy has played an instrumental role in the planning and development of the annual Roads and Transportation CPD Seminars and monthly online presentations. He has also played a key role in making the Active Travel Series a success last year, a 12-part series to support a knowledge sharing platform on topics of walking and cycling..
Roy’s motivation to volunteer with Engineers is to bring presentations on sustainable mobility related topics for our members and to promote our engineering community in general. Over 1,100 delegates attended these monthly presentations under Roy’s guidance as Chair. An additional 6,000 delegates attending the Active Travel Series, hosted by Engineers Ireland in Collaboration with the National Transport Authority.
Michael O’Sullivan
Chartered Engineer Michael O'Sullivan is a mechanical engineer with extensive interest in energy, the environment and lean digital engineering. Michael joined Engineers Ireland’s panel of interviewers and assessors for the Registered Professional Titles process in early 2021 and has since participated in numerous interviews, both as Chair and panel member. Michael is a staunch supporter of assisting upcoming engineers to achieve their professional titles. In March 2022 he participated and offered feedback from the assessor/interviewer perspective at our seminar - A Mechanical & Manufacturing Perspective on the Chartered Engineer Application Process. He also volunteered to review Engineers Ireland’s guidelines and advice for the Chartered Process. In April 2022, Michael achieved his professional registered title of Fellow - the highest accolade of Engineers Ireland.
Sayed Ahmad Saeed
Sayed Ahmad Saeed is a Transportation Engineer and a Road Safety Auditor at DBFL Consulting Engineers and plays an active role as a STEPS Volunteer. He actively supports the team by promoting engineering and inspiring the next generation of engineers since 2016 and leading DBFL’s STEPS Team for four years.
As part of STEPS Engineers Week 2022, Sayed Ahmad led a team of 18 Engineers, comprising of Civil, Structural and Transportation engineering experts, to deliver an engineering presentation and hands on activities to 9 primary school classes inspiring and educating 220 students at St Evin’s School in Kildare and Carysfort NS in Blackrock, Dublin.
Sayed Ahmad also headed up the DBFL STEPS Engineering Your Future programme team. Over 13 Transition Year Students took part in DBFL’s programme where Sayed Ahmad organised a range of activities, including a mix of interactive hands-on sessions, site visits, in-person and online sessions with DBFL engineers along with fun games and challenges.
Sayed Ahmad is also a volunteer Property Assessor with Engineers Ireland and Irish Red Cross carrying out assessments of properties pledged to house Ukrainian Refugees in Ireland.
Catherine Sheridan
Catherine Sheridan is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of Engineers Ireland.
Catherine is a former member of the Council of Engineers Ireland, a committed STEPS volunteer and has been incredibly supportive of the communications work of Engineers Ireland. She has generously donated her skills, expertise and time for the benefit of our engineering community and been integral in supporting our members and enhancing and promoting the standing of the profession and its practitioners through his involvement as a volunteer member.
Catherine currently chairs the institution’s new Cross Sectoral Working Group on Sustainability and is a member of the Advocacy Standing Committee, where she continuously provides her expertise and time.
Get Involved
Members are encouraged to follow our nominees’ stories on Twitter and LinkedIn throughout National Volunteering Week and to share their own volunteering stories and achievements using the official campaign hashtags #NVW2022 and #CelebrateVolunteers
To find out more about volunteering opportunities with Engineers Ireland, visit: https://www.engineersireland.ie/Professionals/Communities-Groups/Volunteer