The Department of Science & Land Sciences held their industry-sponsored undergraduate student awards at South East Technological University (SETU) Arena in Waterford on Friday, 9 June.
The awards celebrate students’ achievements and acknowledge the support of many partners across Ireland. These awards are also an opportunity to congratulate and acknowledge the support given to students by their families, lecturers, and friends.
According to Head of School of Science and Computing at SETU, Dr Peter McLoughlin the new Strategic Plan for SETU is underpinned by connectivity to industry.
“These awards reflect the breadth of engagement we have with our partners across the agri/food, forestry, horticulture, physics, pharma, and biopharma sectors,” said Dr McLoughlin during his opening address.
Awards this year were sponsored by the Environmental Science Association, Dawn Meats, McDonalds, Sofrimar, Sanofi, Royal Society of Chemistry, Eurofins, Bausch + Lomb, IBEC, Comeragh Veterinary practice, the Ag Science Association, Tirlán, Society of Irish Foresters, Barry’s Tea, Waterford Local Enterprise Office, Dairy Master, Seedtech, and AIB.
“This support demonstrates their commitment to our students and is a vote of confidence in the future of SETU,” Dr McLoughlin added, “On behalf of SETU and staff in the Departments of Science and Land Sciences, I would like to congratulate all the students for their hard work and commitment to excellence in their area of study. I would also like to acknowledge all the staff from across the school, along with academics, admin, and technicians for their support for the students throughout the year.
“I would like to thank our partners for their continued support and commitment to our students. These awards are an important part of our engagement with industry, add enormously to the prestige of our programmes, and are an important acknowledgement of the quality and innovation of our student’s work.”
Awards were presented across a variety of categories:
National awards
The winner of the Environmental Science Association of Ireland Undergraduate of the Year (Level 8) award, kindly sponsored by Environmental Science Association of Ireland was Jessy Fong.
The Great Agri / Food Debate Winners 2023 were South East Technological University. The team consisted of captain – Patrick Shanahan, Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Agricultural Science, Aoife Meagher – Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Food Science & Innovation, Owen Maleady – Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Land Management, Cormac Loughran – Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, Ciara Leonard – Bachelor of Science in Agriculture, and Maud O'Callaghan – Bachelor of Science in Agriculture. A perpetual trophy, kindly sponsored by Dawn Meats & McDonalds, was presented to the winning team by Paul Nolan from Dawn Meats.
Department of Science awards
Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Pharmaceutical Science:
Undergraduate Research Project Literature Review Presentation Awards, kindly sponsored by Sofrimar, were presented to Jennifer Hall and Tze Shyuen Lim.
The Undergraduate Research Project Poster Award, kindly sponsored by Sanofi, went to Tze Shyuen Lim and Arunas Jag.
Best Analytical Student Award, kindly sponsored by the Royal Society of Chemistry Analytical Division – Ireland Region, went to Michael Williams.
Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Molecular Biology with Biopharmaceutical Science:
Best Analytical Student Award, kindly sponsored by the Royal Society of Chemistry Analytical Division – Ireland Region went to Cheryl Loh.
Under the Excellence in Undergraduate Biology Research category, kindly sponsored by Eurofins, first prize went to Caoimhe Rooney, second prize was awarded to Evelina Ziznevska and third prize went to Christine Hennessy. A cert of merit was presented to Shauna Mullowney.
Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Physics for Modern Technology:
The Physics Project Award, kindly sponsored by Bausch + Lomb went to Malgorzata Biernacka.
Bachelor of Science in Laboratory Analyst Apprenticeship:
The Final Year Project Poster award, kindly sponsored by Ibec, was presented to Michael Kelleher.
Department of Land Sciences awards
Bachelor of Science in Agriculture:
The Final Year Project Poster Award, kindly sponsored by Comeragh Veterinary Practice, went to Stephen Carroll and Conor Hickey.
ASA-Irish Farmers Journal and Tirlán Farm Placement Bursary, kindly sponsored by ASA and Tirlán, was awarded to Sean Raftry.
Bachelor of Science in Forestry:
The Augustine Henry Memorial Award, presented by the Society of Irish Foresters, was awarded to Drue Dickenson for 2022 and to Martyn Dunne for 2023.
Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Food Science and Innovation Year 3:
Awards for Best Market Research Analysis, kindly sponsored by Barry`s Tea, went to Oghosa Osarhieme, Carlos Sasaran and Jack Kehoe.
Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Food Science and Innovation Year 4:
The winner of the Food Science and Innovation Award, kindly sponsored by Dawn Meats, was Chloe Hempenstall, while Kate Lenane was named as runner-up.
Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Agricultural Science:
The Best Agricultural Business Innovation award, kindly sponsored by Waterford Local Enterprise Office, went to Sarah Daly.
The Dairymaster student award, kindly sponsored by Dairymaster, went to Molly Behan Cahill and Chloe Egan.
The ASA-Irish Farmers Journal and Seedtech Work Placement Bursary, kindly sponsored by ASA and Seedtech, was awarded to Leah Armitage.
Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Land Management (Agriculture):
First place in the final year project award, kindly sponsored by AIB, went to Sheena Tyrrell, second to Patrick Sheeran and third to Ben Bailey.