A Quin student has entered the history books after helping a University of Limerick team to top honours at an international engineering and commerce competition in Montreal.
David Monaghan and his three University of Limerick (UL) team members – Limerick duo David, Patrick Lu and Eoin Hann and Darren Feehily from Tipperary – became the first team outside of Canada to claim the top award at the International Engineering and Commerce Case Competition (ECCC).
David and his team were flying the flag for Europe, with the other 11 teams hailing from North America and the Middle East. As well as winning the overall title, the UL team won Best Engineering Solution and Best Sustainable Solution honours.
The team had to create innovative solutions in three different tasks. These included creating a data centre design and strategy, designing a solution for a tunnel based on hyperloop technology and developing a strategy for the autonomous vehicle market.
Hosted by the renowned Université Concordia, the inter-disciplinary competition is the only test of its type in the world and is rated as one of the top case challenges in North America. The aim of the competition is to find solutions to real-world challenges that modern industries face. Each team comprised students from engineering and business disciplines.
The UL team was selected to represent Ireland following their win in the ESB Inter Colleges Challenge last November. This annual competition comprises teams from all universities in Ireland. During that task, the team researched and designed a complex engineering and financial energy challenge in just seven hours
During the event in Montreal, ESB announced its continued support of Irish universities competing in the ECCC competition.
Commenting on the team’s success, Pat O’Doherty, Chief Executive of ESB, said: “We heartily congratulate the University of Limerick team and their mentors on this wonderful win. To create such innovative and real-life solutions in such a highly competitive environment and against world class competition is testament to the dedication and capability of this team, their mentors and lecturers in UL. We look forward to supporting and developing the team further when they start their placements with ESB in the summer.”
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.