UCD College of Engineering & Architecture

08/04/2026

If you are a Stage 1 Engineering student and are hoping to study abroad during the 2027/28 academic year, it's time to start preparing, starting with attendance at a UCD Global information session.

🚨Attending or watching these sessions is mandatory. When you submit your application, you confirm that you have reviewed this information. We expect you to complete these sessions and do some research on your options over the summer. We will then host summary refresher sessions in October 2026, right before applications officially open.

Upcoming Sessions
Stage 1 - Engineering students: Thursday, April 9th | 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm | Newman Theatre L

**Feeling lucky!
All attendees will be entered into a prize draw for two college hoodies.

See stories for link to more information

08/04/2026

Here's an opportunity to learn more about the MSc Double between UCD and Northeastern University, where students will spend the 1st year in Northeastern University, USA and their 2nd year in UCD, Ireland.

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

26/02/2026

Professor Kevin McDonnell kicked off his week-long visit to India with a talk to students at Rajalakshmi Engineering College, Chennai.

Professor McDonnell was highlighting the career profiles of recent graduates in UCD MSc Sustainability Energy and Green Technologies, which he coordinates along with other UCD Masters programmes in Food Engineering and Environmental Technology. More details of these and other UCD programmes can be found at https://www.ucd.ie/biosystems/study/graduatetaughtprogrammes/

25/02/2026

We’re hosting a two-day creative hackathon where UCD students will collaborate across disciplines to reimagine the future university experience. You’ll be part of a dynamic and interactive challenge, working in teams to brainstorm, prototype, and pitch solutions to the challenge: “How Might We Design the University of the Future?”

Cash prizes are up for grabs - €100 each for the winning team, €50 each for the second place team, and €25 each for the third place team.

Sign up using that QR code!

25/02/2026

Join UCD Library this Friday for the next UCD Community of Practice presentation and workshop on game-based approaches for citizen participation in research, with Dr. Ítalo de Sena of UCD College of Engineering & Architecture. We are really looking forward to this one and participants will get a chance to play a board game at the end.

📅Friday, 27 February, 10.30am-12.30pm
📍Link 3, James Joyce Library and online (this is a hybrid event) link below

While games are primarily known as drivers of playfulness, they have evolved into powerful tools for serious applications, from education to risk preparedness. In his presentation Ítalo will explore how serious games, in particular , can serve as rigorous methods for Citizen Science.

Drawing on practical examples from projects such as HeritACT, Dundrum By Design and Craft-My-Street (which uses Minecraft to engage the public in urban planning and climate action), Ítalo will demonstrate how game mechanics can be leveraged to enhance data collection and sustain citizen engagement across different age groups.

Attendees will learn how geogames ground the user in real-world geographic data to foster systems thinking, while simultaneously providing researchers with a structured, interactive framework for gathering valid scientific data and societal insights.

Register at the link in our bio. All are welcome to attend, either online or in person! See also the UCD Citizen Science guide for more https://libguides.ucd.ie/Citizen_Science

UCD Citizen Science event: Game-based Approaches for Citizen Participation in Research

19/02/2026

The MSc in Environmental Policy at UCD has been relaunched as the MSc in Environmental Policy, Strategy and Leadership reflecting the changing nature of environmental challenges and the skills now required in Ireland and internationally.

New teaching content in sustainable corporate strategy, governance and leadership has been introduced to strengthen the ability of students to move from analysis to action across government, business and civil society.

Programme Director Dr Tensay Hadush Meles answers questions over on LinkedIn (see link in the comments) and outlines what this refreshed MSc programme offers. Applications for the 2026/27 intake are now open for both part time study one day per week and full time options.

06/02/2026

🌊✋ Is the planning system broken, or is the solution to flooding less engineering and more nature-based? UCD Assistant Professor Fiachra O'Loughlin of UCD School of Civil Engineering joins The Journal’s The Explainer podcast to discuss flood defences and the devastation caused by recent storms.

🎧 https://pod.link/1452246930/episode/Njk4NGUyNzRhNDk4NDMzNjEzNjhkNjYy

04/02/2026

Images of Research

Digital Twin of an Oyster Mushroom Cluster, by Dr Dimitrios Argyropoulos, UCD School of Biosystems and Food

These red instances depict the ‘digital twin’ of a batch of oyster mushrooms being read by a deep learning algorithm, designed to optimize mushroom farming by adapting the environment to become more favourable to growth. The mushrooms are training an image recognition system, which employs computer vision to gather data and interpret these in real time, adjusting humidity, temperature and light conditions to best suit mushroom fruiting.

The Images of Research competition encourages UCD academic and research staff to showcase their work through powerful visual imagery – whether a photograph, drawing, digital creation, or an image directly from their research. These images showcase the diversity of research across UCD and offer accessible, thought-provoking insights into complex research topics.

29/01/2026

28/01/2026

One of the finalists of the UCD 2025 Research Impact Case Study Competition was Dr Ungku Norani Sonet, Dr Ítalo Sousa de Sena, Dr Aura-Luciana Istrate, and Professor Francesco Pilla, UCD School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy for "From play to policy: a new way for children to reimagine traffic safety using Minecraft".

This project developed an innovative methodology that enables children to meaningfully contribute to traffic safety and urban-design decisions using Minecraft. By exploring virtual replicas of their school neighbourhoods, children reflected on real traffic situations, answered spatially anchored questions, and re-designed streets in creative ways. The approach gave young people, who are rarely included in planning processes, a genuine voice in shaping safer and more inclusive streets.

Piloted in two primary schools in Utrecht, Netherlands, the workshops showed high levels of engagement, peer learning, and reflection. The findings are now informing citizen-engagement strategies within the Horizon Europe REALLOCATE project. A re-usable toolkit and facilitator guide support wider adoption across schools and cities in Europe, demonstrating how playful digital tools can inform policy, strengthen civic skills and support inclusive planning.

Research Impact Case Study by Dr Ungku Norani Sonet, Dr Ítalo Sousa de Sena, Dr Aura-Luciana Istrate, and Professor Francesco Pilla, UCD School of Architectu...

28/01/2026

One of the finalists of the UCD 2025 Research Impact Case Study Competition was Associate Professor Daniel McCrum, UCD School of Civil Engineering for "Building homes smarter, faster and greener: Modern Methods of Construction".

As housing demand continues to rise, Ireland faces a critical challenge: conventional construction approaches are slow, labour-intensive and environmentally costly. Productivity in the sector has stagnated for decades, while Ireland’s ageing workforce intensifies pressures on an already strained system.

Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) offer a compelling alternative. By shifting building processes from site-based construction into factory-based manufacturing, MMC enables higher-quality, faster, and more sustainable construction. Yet until recently, Ireland lacked the scientific and technical evidence required to support widespread adoption of these systems.

Dr Daniel McCrum, UCD School of Civil Engineering, is filling this gap. Through comprehensive structural testing, computational modelling, stakeholder engagement and national policy collaboration, his research is providing the foundational knowledge needed to build homes safely and more sustainably using MMC. His work directly informs Housing for All, the government’s housing action plan 2025-2030, as well as the government’s MMC Action Plan and other national efforts to modernise Ireland’s construction sector.

Research Impact Case Study by Associate Professor Daniel McCrum, UCD School of Civil Engineering. Read full case study - https://www.ucd.ie/research/impact/c...

28/01/2026

UCD announced the winners of the 2025 UCD Research Impact Case Study Competition at a Research Impact Awards Ceremony today, hosted by UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact, Professor Kate Robson Brown.

The annual competition celebrates research from all disciplines that has made a demonstrable and positive difference beyond academia, influencing policy, practice, communities, culture, health, and society more broadly.

This year’s awards recognised an overall winner, an engaged research winner, a newly introduced policy impact winner, and nine finalists. The case studies highlight the breadth, depth and societal relevance of research taking place across the university.

New to the ceremony this year was the celebration of the Images of Research Competition, which invited researchers to creatively communicate their work through compelling visual storytelling. The initiative provides researchers with a unique opportunity to engage wider audiences and promote their work in an innovative and visually engaging way.

See link to full artcile and list of winners/finalists in the comments.