ISA Ireland Section
ISA - Setting the Standard for Automation
Honours and Awards 1999
The annual presentation of honours and awards was held in the Common Room of University College, Cork. The awards were presented by the Right Honourable, the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Damien Wallace.
Sponsors from left: Liam Cosgrave, FD-EEL; Chris Granby, CG Services; John Hartnett, O'Shea's Electrical; Tony Corbett, Pegler & Louden; Brian Curtis, President ISA Ireland; David Oliver, Heineken Ltd; Damian Wallace, Lord Mayor of Cork; Terr Miller, Jacobs International; Rudi Wolf, Flomeaco; Billy O'Neill, Project Management; Pat Murphy, Pat Murphy Industrial; Eoin Galvin, Pfizer Pharmaceutical.
A full list of sponsors is at the bottom of this page
On nominating Neville, Robert was high in his praise for both the results and his pleasent, co-operative and conscientious manor.
Neville is working with Flomeaco Co. Ltd., who have previously shown their capability in supporting apprentices with the winner from two years ago Michael Wolf also employed there.
Monkstown, Co. Cork.
Nominator: Dr. Éamon Cashell, Dept of Applied Physics. & Instrumentation., Cork Institute of Technology (CIT).
Tadhg showed outstanding ability by his achievement in gaining a distinction and first place in the National Diploma in Applied Physics and
Instrumentation at Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) in 1999. Tadhg's average mark was 75%, which is exceptionally high for this course. His work placement at local company ProsCon was very successful.
Tadhg is currently pursuing the BSc in Applied Physics and Instrumentation at CIT.
Dromineer, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary.
Nominator: Mr. Patrick Moriarty, Dept. of Physics & Instrumentation., Galway - Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT)
Pádraig achieved an outstanding overall performance in the Diploma in Physics & Instrumentation. He achieved an very high overall mark and in particular his project resulted in a 92% mark.
His project was concerned with the investigation of the performance of a 64 element optical array sensor. Paraic exceed his brief of investigation the array and succeed in implementing a full working system with computer interface. All in all, the project was a remarkable success due entirely to Pádraig's determination and insightful work.
Nominator: Mr. T.P.M. Roe, Dept. of Physics & Instrumentation., Galway - Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT)
Mr. Roe said on his application that Sinéad missed a considerable amount of time with repeated chest infections and her Merit II results would certainly have been exceed if it had not been for this fact. She also has a 50 mile round trip each day to college.
Sinéad is now studying for her Diploma at GMIT.
Ballycoleman, Killeagh, Co. Cork.
Nominator: Dr. Éamon Cashell, Dept of Applied Physics. & Instrumentation., Cork Institute of Technology (CIT).
This nomination is based on John O'Donovan's outstanding achievement with first-class honours in the BSc in Applied Physics and Instrumentation at Cork Institute of Technology for 1999.
The nomination recognises John's high level of scholarship and commitment, exemplified in his achievement of over 80% in the final year project. Based on the development of Infra-Red Absorption Spectroscopy software, this was an excellent example of the quality of his work.
John is currently continuing as a full-time student at CIT, where he is pursuing a Master of Science degree.
Mr. Robert Shine, FÁS, Cork.
Bernard Mannion I.Eng - Lic. Inst. MC and early member of ISA Ireland.
Bob Shine affectionately referred to Bernard as an Instrument Basher turned lecturer.
As one might expect from a person with that many letters after his name, Bernard served as Apprentice with the Air Corps starting in 1951 and by 1958 he had completed his apprenticeship and been promoted to NCO in charge of the Electrical Maintenance Workshop.
He was one of only two technicians sent to England (De-Havillard Aircraft Co.) to learn about the Electric's on Vampire Jets. In 1956 he was also appointed as an instructor in electric's at the apprentice school. Even in these early days his talent for instruction was surfacing.
In 1958 Bernard having completed his apprenticeship had two job offers, one was with a very prestigious company in Heathrow Airport BOAC, the other position was in the Instrument Section of Portarlington Power Station. The reason for choosing Portarlington was the House that accompanied the job and the attraction of a Woman from the wilds of Connemara.
He moved to HQ in Dublin where he was promoted to Technical Assistant in the M&E Division of the Generation Department where he dealt with the Instrumentation aspects of Power Station efficiency and acceptance tests.
He led an nomadic life travelling from power station to power station often both night and day until he was delivered an opportunity to set-up a dedicated Instrument training section for power station staff in the ESB. This was the first dedicated instrumentation training class in the country. These courses were open to anyone from Irish industry and contributed enormously to the success that Ireland enjoys in the Automation and Control sector.
Eoin Ó Riain recalled that "In 1984, the first time the Instrument Pioneer Award was presented, we honoured the first person retained by the ESB with exclusive responsibility for instrumentation, Mr Dermot Ryan.
Some years later we honoured a person who shared in the responsibility for that decision, Mr John Lang, who was at the time President of the Institute of Engineers of Ireland.
Now we are delighted to honour the man who was in charge of the first dedicated instrumentation course in the country appropriately at the ESB's Training Centre.
Bernard A. Mannion, or Tony as we all know him, is a worthy recipient of this award having worked assiduously for his chosen discipline and its recognition down through the years."