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Pictured at the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport (CILT) awards recently from left: Mr. Barry O'Grady, Chairman, Eastern Section, Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Ciarán Coughlan, NUI Galway Industrial Engineering student from Ferbane, Co. Offaly; Therese O'Meara, NUI Galway Industrial Engineering student, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary; Mary Dempsey, Lecturer, NUI Galway; and Mr. John Murphy, Assistant Secretary, Department of Transport

Students from the College of Engineering and Informatics at NUI Galway have secured two out of four prestigious awards from The Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport (CILT). The annual CILT awards were announced recently by Mr. John Murphy, Assistant Secretary from the Department of Transport at a special awards ceremony.

The awards are presented to the originators of ideas which judges consider to be the most innovative and which could make the most significant contribution to some aspect of transport in Ireland.

The NUI Galway winners were Industrial Engineering students Therese O’Meara from Toomevara, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, who won the Safety & Environment Category and Ciarán Coughlan of Belmont, Co. Offaly who was the winner in the Rail Category.

Professor Padraic O’Donoghue, Dean of Engineering and Informatics at NUI Galway, said: “This continued success in national level competitions is indicative of the high standards of our degree programmes in Engineering and Informatics. I would like to congratulate Therese and Kieran on their awards and I acknowledge the dedication of their project supervisors in Industrial Engineering.”

Ms Mary Dempsey, Industrial Engineering NUI Galway, said: “The engineering students’ innovations are reflected in their success in winning prestigious awards from CILT. I am extremely proud of Therese and Ciarán and acknowledge their dedication and commitment to the logistics project. Indeed, the safety and environment project has been requested by Mr. Noel Brett, Road Safety Authority as the RSA would like to see such devices utilised by professional drivers.

Name: Therese O’Meara                                                                                                                           

Category: Winner of the Safety & Environment Category

Project Title: Start SMART

The aim of project is to help reduce the amount of accidents on Irish roads that occur due to drink driving offences, to stop drunken drivers from using our roadways and to reduce repeat offences by drunken drivers in the future.

The title of the idea is Start SMART (SMART is an acronym which abbreviates System that Monitors the Alcohol-levels in the Respiratory system and Traces it to the driver). This is similar to an alcoholic breathalyser that is used by An Gardaí Síochána on Irish roads. The device is designed so that it can be installed on the dashboard of any vehicle and anybody can use these because breathalysers are legally accepted in Ireland. Benefits accruing from the introduction of this system could greatly benefit safety on Irish roads and will also be beneficial to the environment and may significantly decrease road accidents. The innovation includes a constraint that if the driver fails to submit a sample or is over the legal limit of the alcohol level (which is currently 35 microgram’s of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath, this is the equivalence of 80 milligram’s of alcohol in 100ml of blood), the vehicle will not start-up because of the internal interlocking ignition device.

Initial research would see SMART included in the current breathalysing system used by An Garda Síochana. Analyse the Road Safety Authority response to the idea and generate different ways the idea considered can be implemented; this included case studies of similar systems currently being introduced around different parts of Europe. Design the Start Smart system, including how to implement it and how recent advances in technology could lead to upgrading this system to its best potential in the future. Lastly, a cost benefit analysis was developed if the system was to be introduced.                                            

Name: Kieran Coughlan

Category: Winner of the Rail Category

Project Title: Wireless Broadband for Rail Services in Ireland

This project is concerned with the idea of placing wireless routers on public train service. This service is provided on the continent for longer journey passengers and could be beneficial in Ireland if implemented. This idea is loosely based on the combination of the current broadband WIFI service that is available in most restaurants, coffee houses etc. and that of mobile broadband available from the larger mobile phone networks such as O2 and Vodafone. The idea is to provide wireless mobile broadband that is currently available from the mobile phone operators, but instead of the individual purchasing a router, the train will be fitted with one which could be logged on to using a key. This key could be purchased on a card from a machine on the train or at the station. The cards would vary in providing access to the network, ranging from lengths of 30 minutes access to 120/180 minutes access. When customers are logged on to the network they would be asked for this unique code to gain access; alternatively, this option could be available to economy class, while first class or business class may have access built into the price of their ticket. 

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