Interdisciplinary Engineering Research Review Conference

12th June 2026 | 9:00am – 4:00pm
Location: Moylish, Limerick City

Interdisciplinary Engineering Research Review Conference

The 2026 Interdisciplinary Engineering Research Review (IERR) Conference takes place on the TUS Moylish Campus on Friday 12th June from 9am – 4pm.

We are thrilled to continue our journey of unveiling the latest insights from the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS). This year, we extend a warm welcome to all students and researchers to share and delve into the heart of interdisciplinary engineering excellence.

Our event promises an even more exciting exploration of ongoing research endeavours, showcasing the dynamic landscape of innovation at TUS. From the intricacies of machinery to the nuances of analytical techniques, we offer a comprehensive glimpse into cutting-edge developments across diverse disciplines.

Join us as we open the doors to a world of discovery, providing a platform for students and researchers to engage with fresh perspectives on emerging challenges and established paradigms. Together, let’s ignite dialogue, foster collaboration, and chart the course for the future of engineering research, driven by the enthusiasm and passion of our academic community.

Conference Event Schedule

Start	Finish	Agenda	Venue
9.00 am	12:00 pm	Registration	TUS Moylish (North Entrance)
9.30 am	4:00 pm	Poster Exhibition	The Street
9:30 am	3.00 pm	Thesis-in-Three Sessions Schedule to be posted in advance	Rooms 3A01, 3A02, 3A03, 3A04
10:00 am	14:20 pm	Panel Discussion	Room 3A04
11:00 am	13:30 pm	Poster Session	The Street
15:00 pm	15.20 pm	Awards Ceremony	Millenium Theatre
15:30 pm	16:00 pm	Conference Closing	Millenium Theatre

Organising Committee

Dr. Lisa Henihan, Dr. James Ryan, Mairead Dennehy, Dr. Daniela Butan, Dr. Sean Cunningham, Orlagh Doyle

Contact: IERR@tus.ie

Panel Members

Dr. Lisa Henihan

Dr. Lisa Henihan is the Head of Department for Mechanical and Automobile Engineering and is a distinguished scientific and engineering professional and academic with over 20 years of extensive experience across multiple sectors including research, pharmaceuticals, Medical diagnostics, and food industries. Dr. Henihan was award PhD in Biosystems & Food Engineering from University College Dublin in 2018. Currently serving as a Full-time Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical and Automobile Engineering at the Technological University of the Shannon, Dr. Henihan has played a pivotal role in developing and accrediting Level 9 Masters Programs and Program leader of BEng in Engineering Technology Management. Additionally, she spearheads the Interdisciplinary Engineering Research Review Journal (IERRJ) as the Editor and the associated IERR conference, facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration and the dissemination of ground-breaking research within the engineering community.

Dr. Henihan’s contributions to the scientific community are extensive, with notable publications in esteemed journals such as Food and Bioprocess Technology, Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies, and Talanta. Her research covers a wide range of topics, from evaluating fluorescence process analytical tools for infant milk formula manufacture to developing advanced chemometric models for assessing infant formula storage conditions.

ORCiD Research Profile

LinkedIn Profile

Dr. Daniela Butan

Dr Daniela Butan is a Mechanical and Process Manufacturing Engineer with an extensive proven record of participation and delivery of successful collaborative research programmes between Academia and Industry. Daniela contributed to the design, development, and delivery of a range of research programmes whilst also attracting significant research funding. Her research has made recognised and significant contributions to the developing knowledge in the area of Mechanical Processes and Design resulting in a series of Technology transfers, National and International awards, Patents granted both in Europe and internationally. Her experience also extends to teaching Engineering at undergraduate level and supervision at both, undergraduate and postgraduate level.

ORCiD Research Profile

Colm Crowe

Colm Crowe is a distinguished Six Sigma lecturer with over 15 years of industry experience. Throughout his career, Colm has collaborated with top manufacturing firms, spearheading numerous process improvement projects that have significantly boosted operational efficiency. His passion for sustainable energy is evident as he seamlessly integrates his love for solar panels into his teachings, highlighting the critical role of green technology in today’s industry. Colm’s dynamic approach to Six Sigma training, enriched with real-world insights and hands-on methodologies, inspires students to innovate and excel in their careers. Outside the classroom, Colm enjoys experimenting with solar energy solutions at home.

Dr. Séan Cunningham

Dr Seán Cunningham is a Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at the Technological University of the Shannon. Sean is a module leader for various engineering modules in Mechanical Engineering, Precision Engineering, and Product Design Control at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Seán specialises in medical device design, development, and simulation. With close to a decade of industrial research and development experience, Seán has driven innovation through Enterprise Ireland (EI) Innovation Partnerships Programmes (IPP) with Irish MedTech companies. Sean holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering (Medical Device Modelling) and a Bachelor of Engineering in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Limerick. His research focuses on developing aerosol-generating medical devices for systemic illness management via pulmonary delivery, with a particular research focus on improving targeted drug delivery.

ORCiD Research Profile

Mairead Dennehy

Mairead Dennehy is a Lecturer on the Medical Technology Programmes in the Department of Applied Science at the Technological University of Shannon. Mairead lectures in the areas of Electronics and Electronic systems engineering, Biomechanics, Medical device design, operation and testing, medical physics and Radiotherapy, rehabilitation technology and medical devices standards and regulations.

Mairead graduated with a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from UCC, a Masters in Biomedical Engineering from the UL and completed a CAMPEP accredited training programme in Radiotherapy Medical Physics. Mairead has experience in the electronics industry as an Applications Engineer in Analog Devices, the medical device industry as an electronic sustaining engineer in Medtronic and as medical physicist in the radiotherapy departments of Galway University Hospital and the Mater Private Network radiotherapy centre in Limerick.

Mairead is a member of the executive of the Biomedical and Clinical Engineering association of Ireland and holds the position of Education Officer from July 2026.

Orlagh Doyle

Orlagh Doyle is an Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical & Automobile Engineering since 2023, teaching on the L8 Process & Engineering Management and L9 Process Validation & Regulatory Affairs programmes. Prior to working in TUS, Orlagh had worked as a Quality, Supply Chain & Operations Professional in the Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology and Medical Device sectors holding management positions in the areas of Operations, Supply Chain, Customer Service, Packaging and Quality and most recently as a Responsible Person for Uniphar. Orlagh has worked for large multinational companies such as Flextronics, Stryker and Olympus and start-up companies such as CelgenTek and PBC BioMed. Orlagh has a proven track record of achievement in Facility Set-Ups, starting up new Functional Areas, New Product Introduction, Product Supply and People Management. Orlagh hold a Master in Computer Integrated Manufacturing and a Degree in Production Management both from the University of Limerick along with completing modules in Pharmaceutical Auditing (UCC) and Validation Principles & Practices (UL).

Dr. Emma Kelly

Dr Emma Kelly is a Lecturer in the Mechanical & Automobile Engineering Department in TUS. Emma’s specialised areas of her PhD research were Heat Transfer and Computational Fluid Dynamics.

She lectures in the areas of Heat Transfer, Mechanical Design, Project Work and Project Management. She coordinates the Departments Engineering Showcase each year and has also recently become one of the departments Workplace Coordinators.

Emma is also involved in supervision of third year projects, fourth year Dissertations and also of Masters Dissertations.

Philip Moloney

Philip Moloney is an Lecturer in Mechanical & Automobile Engineering at the Technological University of the Shannon since 2003. With over a decade of experience in advanced manufacturing and engineering, Philip brings a strong foundation in project management, polymer technology, and process & equipment validation. He earned a B.Sc. in Polymer Technology from Athlone IT in 2007 and a Master Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma at the University of Limerick 2026. Before entering academia Philip held senior engineering roles across leading medical device and manufacturing companies including JJVC Vision Care, Boston Scientific, Cambus Medical (Freudenberg Medical) & Filtertek ITW Medical. His career focused on process optimization, validation of complex equipment and manufacturing systems, and leading cross-functional projects for new product introduction and continuous improvement. At TUS, Philip lectures on Project Management, CAD & Design & Engineering Computing, while also supervising both undergraduate and postgraduate projects/dissertations.

Clodagh Moore

Clodagh Moore came from Industry to TUS, Dept of mechanical and Automobile in 2011. Clodagh’s expertise includes operations management, process engineering, lean manufacturing, fluids and mechanics. Through her time in industry, she held engineering and managerial positions working for multinational companies, including Intel and Stryker. Clodagh loves the energy and innovation that teaching brings. A classroom environment of engaged learning is created for her students via industry-applied workshops, case studies, company visits, and Clodagh’s industry expertise. In recent years Clodagh has been the lead developer of multiple programmes such as L8 Degrees in Process and Engineering Management, L8 Degree in Engineering Technology Management, Masters in Product Design Control and additionally the Masters in Process Validation and Regulatory Affairs in Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices. When developing programmes and modules, Clodagh’s guiding principle is to ensure that they are directly linked to industry needs and are accessible to industry-based personnel to promote upskilling and advancement and to satisfy the hiring demands of industry.

Dr. James Ryan

Dr. James Ryan is an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical and Automobile Engineering at the Technological University of the Shannon. He teaches across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in areas including Process Validation, Design Verification and Validation, Plant Engineering, Engineering Management, and Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning, and has also contributed to learner support through the Learning Support Unit and the flexible learning unit.

He recently completed his PhD on the development of a cyber-physical safety system for the control of hazardous energy in the workplace. With over 20 years of hands on industrial experience across engineering, manufacturing, automation, instrumentation, calibration, validation, continuous improvement, and Lean Six Sigma, including senior technical roles in the medical device sector, Dr. Ryan brings a strong applied perspective to his teaching and research. His interests include manufacturing safety, HVAC, and psychrometrics.

Dr. Jim Tobin

Jim is a Quality Professional with a PhD in Manufacturing Quality Systems from Cranfield University (UK), MSc in Quality Management, BEng In Mechanical Engineering and PgDip in Project Management. His Industry Experience extends over 30 years working with Pharma, Medical Device and Other companies. These companies include Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Abbott Vascular, Boston Scientific, Guidant, Dell Computers, Seagate Technology, Quantum Peripherals, and General Electric Corporation.

Within this timeframe he has held roles from Quality Engineer, Quality Manager, Supplier Quality Engineer, Quality Fellow and Field Engineer. As Site Quality Lead he has managed FDA and other 3^rd Party and Corporate Inspections. In Lead Auditor role he has carried out Internal and Self-inspections.

In addition, he has worked on Equipment Transfer, Installation, Commissioning, Validation and High Voltage Test for Start-Up and mature companies.

To-date in TUS he has lectured on Regulatory Affairs and supervised Cert in Quality Management and MSc Students.

Dr. Patrick Walsh

Patrick Walsh BEng, PhD, CEng is the CEO of Limerick Wave.

Patrick is also a senior lecturer in the Mechanical & Automobile Dept at the Technology University of Shannon (TUS). He graduated from University of Limerick (UL) with a Bachelor of Engineering and his PhD was based on risk sharing contracts in Supply Chains. He began his working life as an Optional Hydo Plant Specialist with University of Limerick installing small scale hydro stations at different river locations in southern Ireland. He moved to industry where he gained a combined 10 years in senior management experience across different manufacturing industries. He got involved with Limerick Wave in 2008 (while working on research projects in TUS) and proved the working concept in 2010 at the Hydraulic Maritime Research Centre (HMRC). He has been working on Power Take Off (PTO) technology for the past 16 years resulting in the New Irish Short-Term Patent Application No. S2023/0375 “A converter for converting oscillating rotational motion to unidirectional rotation motion”. This breakthrough technology is called the Aontreo (Gaelic for “one-way”).

Interdisciplinary Engineering Research Review Conference