Barry Kennedy, right, receiving his award from Dr Edmond Harty, president of Engineers Ireland.

IMR chief honoured by Engineers Ireland

The CEO of Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) was among a group of leading Irish broadcasters, entrepreneurs, and academics recently honoured by Engineers Ireland.

Barry Kennedy, CEO of IMR, the research and technology organisation which has a lab in Mullingar, was one of 16 people to be awarded the title of Fellow by Presidential Invitation at a ceremony in Dublin on May 16.

The awarding of the title of Fellow by Presidential Invitation is a unique honour, in recognition of an individual's contribution and ability in shaping, influencing and inspiring engineers and the future of the engineering industry.

IMR is Ireland's leading independent research, development, and innovation centre for advanced manufacturing. In this capacity, Mr Kennedy spearheads the centre's strategic direction, focusing on delivering innovative and sustainable technologies for industry, particularly in advanced automation and robotics, digitisation of manufacturing, and design for manufacturing. Prior to this, Mr. Kennedy spent 19 years at Intel in engineering and leadership positions.

Mr Kennedy told the Westmeath Examiner that while he is “personally delighted to have been honoured by Engineers Ireland with this award, the highest for engineers in this country, it is more than an acknowledgement to me but also to the entire IMR team, who daily live and drive engineering to the next level, helping industries cope and make sense of the technical challenges they face to transform their businesses in this new digital era".

“The IMR team have tirelessly focused on delivering solutions to industry across the areas of robotics and automation, digitisation and AI, design for manufacturing, precision machining, industrial additive manufacturing, sustainability and the circular economy.

“Engineers Ireland is an important institution and has guided and set the standards for excellence in engineering across multiple disciplines, traditional and emerging, since its inauguration in 1835.

“They are at the forefront of continuous professional development for engineers ensuring that engineers continue to grow, learn, and maintain high standards. This is a vital role as technology changes the face of all disciplines of engineering. Never before has Engineers Ireland had such a pivotal role to play in Irish society.

I would like to thank the president of Engineers Ireland and the panel for this recognition, and I look forward to supporting the institution with its work into the future.”

Engineers Ireland represents more than 28,000 members and this year, almost 400 members have been conferred with professional titles such as Chartered Engineers at conferring events in Belfast, Cork, Galway, Limerick, London, and Mullingar. Chartered Engineer status is awarded for demonstration of consistently high competence and is widely regarded as a gold standard within the engineering profession. Chartered Engineers are awarded the title following assessment by Engineers Ireland, leading to the awarding of an internationally recognised seal of excellence.

Acknowledging the success of recipients of all professional titles this year, Engineers Ireland president, Dr Edmond Harty, said:

“All engineers conferred with professional titles stand as exemplars of our profession and will act as industry leaders at a time when Ireland needs engineers more than ever.

“I also wish to specially commend those named as Fellow by Presidential Invitation today, for the outstanding contributions they have made to promoting the value of engineering in Irish life.

“Our role as an organisation is, not only to educate, regulate, and advocate for the profession, but to drive engineering excellence and innovation. Challenges in housing, water infrastructure, energy, climate action, AI and digital applications all require engineers’ expertise and experience to navigate and engineers will play a central role in shaping Irish society over the coming decades by pursuing innovative and entrepreneurial solutions.”