ɫƵ’s Civil Engineering programme has been recognised for its innovative approach to teaching and learning at the Engineering Excellence Awards 2025.
The team of UL engineers were presented with the Excellence in Education award at the annual Awards Gala in the Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire.
The awards recognise and honour outstanding achievements in Irish engineering, from outstanding construction and design to cutting-edge industrial and manufacturing solutions.
The win represents the student-centred approach to teaching embedded in the Bachelor/Master of Engineering in Civil Engineering and UL’s lasting commitment to driving excellence in Ireland's engineering sector.
Speaking about the achievement, Professor David Newport, Head of UL’s School of Engineering said: “This award duly reflects the School of Engineering's long-standing commitment to an outstanding learning experience for our students in civil engineering.”
Professor Newport congratulated the civil engineering programme team and highlighted ‘their continued efforts to enthuse, support and challenge our students using such an authentic design environment’.
“It is wonderful to see our staff being acknowledged and recognised with national awards such as this," added Professor Newport.
UL’s winning submission focused on the programmes’ Integrated Design Project (IDP) in which students worked collaboratively in teams to design a multistorey building in an urban setting.
Among the academic team recognised for their work on the project were Associate Professor Declan Phillips, Dr Ross Higgins, Dr Terence Ryan, Associate Professor Michael Quilligan, and Associate Professor Giovanni Zucco.
Speaking about their approach to teaching, Associate Professor Declan Phillips explained: “Given the dramatic technological changes that have taken place over the past two decades, we believe the transfer of ‘content’ is no longer the key driver in education.
“Instead, content discovered through collaborative, team-based and process-driven challenges develop the kind of skills and aptitudes required of today’s professional engineers. This is where the focus of the civil engineering programme ɫƵ resides,” he added.
The Engineers Ireland-accredited programme was first established in 2008, and it marked the first university level 8 civil engineering course in Ireland since the mid-nineteenth century.
The School of Engineering’s student-centred approach to teaching is incorporated into the IDP, which gives the student engineers a comprehensive overview of how engineering practice works.
The project structure, which is embedded into the third year of the programme, encourages students to work collaboratively in small teams to develop solutions to real-world problems.
The UL team competed against Queen’s University Belfast and Phlow Academy, an Irish edtech initiative, for the top prize in the education category.
The winning submission was decided by an independent panel of recognised and expert judges from academia, business and related sectors who commended the UL submission’s problem-based learning experience.
Commenting on the entry, the judging panel highlighted the commitment to engage students through real-world open-ended problems.
The judges said: “Incorporating deliberative spaces for reflective learning, the project provides an authentic design experience with all its uncertainties, complexities and challenges.”
Earlier this year, the civil engineering team received UL’s Team-Teaching Excellence Award as a representation of innovative teaching and learning for the IDP.