ISA Ireland Section
ISA - Setting the Standard for Automation
Home Page Benefits of Membership Honours and Awards Library Committee Members and Meetings Technical Programme Exhibition & Conference Other Sections and Links Archive
|
Honours and Awards 2003
 The annual presentation of honours and awards was held in the Common Room of University College, Cork on Monday 1st December 2003 at 7.00pm. The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Colm Burke, attended. The section was also honoured by the attendence of ISA President-Elect Lowell McCaw and his wife Barbara. Here are the Criteria for Selection. |
CG Automation
Douglas Electronics
DPS Engineering
Flomeaco Endress +Hauser
Janssen Pharmaceuticals
O'Sheas Electrical
Pat Murphy Industrial
Pegler & Louden Ireland
Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals
Project Management Group
RPS Environmental Engineering
Valve Services
|
- Craft Apprentice Award
Recipient: Mr. Barrie Coughlan - Aherne Electrical.
Nominated by: Mr. Pat McCarthy, FÁS Training Centre, Cork.
- Prior to Barrie beginning his apprenticeship in 1999, he had completed a year in Electronics Engineering at CIT and a year in the construction industry, which laid the foundations for a mature approach and attitude starting his apprenticeship. Barrie began his apprenticeship with Sean Aherne Electrical as an Instrument / Electrical craftsman.
In his first year at the FAS training center, his instructor could see that he was very committed to his work and eager to understand all the various modules being covered. He go involved in building the training skids and was always available to other students in assisting them to understand same.
Barrie always retained information easily and was always keen to take and seek advise. He enrolled at the CIT for additional night class examinations for City and Guilds 275 Instrument Technicians certificate during his apprenticeship. During his apprenticeship he attended Carlow Institute of Technology to complete his Phase 4 and 6 of his apprenticeship. During the course of his apprenticeship Barrie achieved credits in all barr I of his course exams, this in itself is a fantastic achievement and always gives a reference mark for others to try and attain to.
- Technician Award
Recipient: Ms. Louise Cannon, - Co. Galway
Nominated by : Mr. Gareth Roe. Course Coordinator,Certificate GMIT, Galway-
For a student who arrived in the GMIT with no real knowledge of physics and instrumentation and certainly no intention of pursuing a career in this field. Louise has shown remarkable progress and enthusiasm since becoming a "convert." She achieved a distinction in her certificate year topping the class in the process. Her results for her certificate were consistently good and incltide some that
are outstanding. In particular her second year project performance is worth singling out. Louise had taken it upon herself to design and construct an instrument to detect the onset of rain which went beyond the requirements for this project element. The instrument was her own design and was built and finished on her own initiative to a high spccitication. Thus she gained 100% for her cfforts
and she has significantlx raised the bar for years to come.
She is now pursuing the Diploma in Physics and Instrumentation in GMIT where a project is a major element, the college will be keeping a close eye on this as the project is an optical scanning system, once again her own idea.
- Technologist Award
Recipient: Recipient: Mr. Steven Gormley - Co. Gaiway
Nominated by : Mr. Jim McComb, Course Coordinator, B.Sc. GMiT Galway- Steven achieved first place and distinction in the Diploma in Physics & instrumentation class. His performance was particuiarly impressive in theory examinations with three marks in excess of 90% in Electronics, Controi and Mathematics. His project involved an investigation of rolling friction, combining a thorough understanding of the theory with a practical setup to confirm theoretical predictions. Steven is both talented and a diligent worker. He is currently pursuing the B.Sc. in Physics & instrumentation course in GMIT and showing the same high level of commitment to a demanding course of studies as displayed in his diploma year.
- Ger. Dullea Award
Recipient: Mr. Andrew Williams - Co. Cork
Nominated by: Dr. Eamonn Cashell, Head of the Applied Physics and Instrumentation Dept. Cork Institute of Technology-
This nomination is based on the outstanding achievement of Andrew Williams in gaining first-class honours in the BSc in Applied Physics and Instrumentation at Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) in 2003. AndrewÕs average mark of 86.5% was the highest of any CIT degree graduate this year and, as a result, he was the recipient of the DirectorÕs Prize for Outstanding Degree Graduate in CIT. AndrewÕs overall average included a mark of 79% for his final-year project, which he carried out at the world-famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The project required him to use and understand the EPICS system that controls the Bates Particle Linear Accelerator, which gave him a very valuable insight into the Red Hat Linux operating system. It is clear that Andrew was very highly regarded by his MIT supervisor, being retained by them for a number of months since he completed his project. A point also worth noting is that Andrew received the Technologist Award from ISA last year.
As he was at the MIT persuing his studies his sister received the award on his behalf. - Technology Achievement Award
The committee decided, that the nominations submitted did not merit the presentation of this award for 2003. - Instrument Pioneer -
Recipient : Mr. Fred Gilroy - Co Cork
Nominated by: Mr. Peadar Walsh and Mr. Trevor Edwards
Born (in 1925) and educated in Belfast, Fred moved to the United States in 1947 to take up a position with the Atlantic Refining Company in Philadelphia. He spent 8 years here in an Instrumentation and Engineering role and picked up a lot of experience, with a wide range of different systems, that was stand him in good stead in all his future roles.
This helped him land a much sought after position with the Langley Research Centre in Virginia. At the time, Langley were deeply involved with NASA and their Space Program and the US, through NASA, were involved in an ever spiralling race with the Soviets to put the first man in space and subsequently on the moon. While the hours were 24/7, the experience gained of working on leading edge systems; innovating "on your feet", and delivering to impossible deadlines, was an experience that was to stay with Fred for the rest of his working life.
After several years there, Fred then moved to Dow Chemicals in Virginia and then back to Pennsylvania to work with Air Products, where he spent a further 12 years. Air Products were also involved with the NASA program and as a result, Fred spent some considerable time at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, working on leading edge Instrument and Control systems
Fred decided to return to Ireland in 1970 and he saw that with the burgeoning Pharmaceutical industry, there was an opportunity to set up a company specialising in the supply of Industrial Instrumentation and Control equipment. Thus, Gilroy Automation was born. Initially, this was based at FredÕs own house in Douglas, Cork but quickly grew into an office next to the Pfizer Ringaskiddy plant.
Forming alliances with some of the major control players of the time, like Taylor Controls, Fred was successful in delivering the first large scale DCS systems into Pfizer Ringaskiddy and Aughinish Alumina. The DCS side of the business was supplemented by the growth in demand for discrete instrument products as well as the continued investment in new manufacturing sites in Ireland in the Ô70 and Ô80s. During this time, Fred continued to forge new alliances with both established and emerging instrumentation and control suppliers and performed a pioneering role in the adoption of these new technologies in the Irish marketplace.
Since then, the Gilroy Group has gone from strength to strength, to where it now employs more than 70 people with offices in Cork, Dublin, Belfast and Galway. Fred maintains his position of Chairman to this day and continues to have a very active role in the growth of the company.
Fred was amongst the first section of the ISA group in Pennsylvania and has maintained a very active involvement and participation with the ISA Irish Section since his return to Ireland.
