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ATU students tackle real‑world challenges at ATU Donegal Engineering Student Expo
Atlantic Technological University (ATU) hosted the ATU Engineering Student Expo on 21 May on ATU’s Letterkenny Campus, showcasing innovative project work from Mechanical, Electronic, Biomedical and Electric Vehicle Engineering students from first to fourth year.
The annual event marks the culmination of a year’s learning, with students presenting their work to peers, faculty and industry partners.
Students across all years showcased strong problem‑solving skills and engineering capability. Their work ranged from first‑year problem‑based learning projects to second‑year applied industry solutions and third‑year embedded systems and mechanical design prototypes, progressing into final‑year research focused on sustainability, automation and biomedical innovation.
As part of their brief to develop solutions to real‑world engineering challenges, fourth‑year Electronic Engineering students produced an impressive range of innovative projects, including Underwater Optical Communications, Edge‑AI gesture and voice recognition, IoT‑based oil‑on‑water sensing, AI‑driven fish identification and sorting, and a handheld jaundice‑detection device for newborns.
One of the winning final‑year project was created by mature student Seamus Greene, who won the Electronic & Biomedical Research Project Award for Vector Power Diagnostics. His safe, low‑cost system monitors electricity use of individual circuits in homes, schools and small businesses, helping users better understand and reduce their energy consumption. Seamus also secured the overall Engineering Award at the ATU Student Entrepreneur Awards in Galway earlier this year.
This year’s guest speaker was ATU alumnus Greg Mullan, Director of Planning and Design at Circet Ireland & UK, who leads a team of 150 professionals across telecoms, power, electronics and computing. Greg shared insights from delivering large‑scale infrastructure projects and reflected on how his engineering education at ATU shaped his career.
Charles Young, ATU Engineering Lecturer said: “Each year I’m inspired by the effort that our students put into their project work. It’s a real privilege to watch them grow in confidence and capability as they progress through their programmes.
Seeing earlier‑year groups return four years later with the confidence to guide the next cohort is what makes this event so meaningful.”
Dr Emmett Kerr, Head of Department of Electronic and Mechanical Engineering stated “The Engineering Expo gets better every single year. What excites me most is not just the exceptional standard of the projects, but the way the experience of presenting to our industry partners shapes our students into well-rounded, confident engineers who are truly ready for the world of work. Our relationship with industry is absolutely central to everything we do at ATU.”
Now in its tenth year, the expo continues to attract industry partners from across the northwest and beyond, highlighting the strong collaboration between ATU’s Faculty of Engineering and Computing and regional employers.
Sponsoring companies included Phillips Medisize, Abbott Diabetes Care Donegal, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Zeus, Vertiv and Moyola, who also assisted with adjudication.
2026 Award Winners
Feature photo caption: ATU staff and engineering students at the ATU Engineering Student Expo on the Letterkenny Campus.
For media enquiries, contact:
Aidan Haughey
Communications Manager
Tel: 086 086 6913
E: aidan.haughey@atu.ie
