Success for UCC Student
02.06.2009
Congratulations to PhD student, Beatrice Smyth who was joint winner of the Higher Education Authority/Irish Independent “Making an Impact” award.
02.06.2009
Congratulations to PhD student, Beatrice Smyth who was joint winner of the Higher Education Authority/Irish Independent “Making an Impact” award.
Beatrice, a PhD student of Civil and Environmental Engineering/Environmental Research Institute, received her award with a presentation titled “Great gas: slurry, grass and the greening of Ireland”.
The Higher Education Authority and the Irish Independent invited researchers from any discipline to submit a short essay on the difference that their research would make to a particular aspect of Irish life, to the country as a whole, or internationally. Six researchers were chosen from the entrants and were invited to present their work at a public event in the Helix, Dublin City University. Travel grants of €2,500 were awarded to the winners, one by a panel of judges and the other by a vote of second level students who formed part of the audience.
Beatrice is part of the Biofuels Research Group based in the Environmental Research Institute in UCC and is currently in the second year of her PhD, supervised by Dr Jerry Murphy and Dr Brian Ó Gallachóir. Her research is on the use of gas as a transport fuel, with particular emphasis on the use of grass to generate biomethane. Her work forms part of a range of research projects being undertaken in the biofuels group, including research into nitrogen cycling, greenhouse gas emissions, laboratory analyses, and the logistics of the use of grass- and residue-based biomethane for fuel. Other potential Irish biofuels such as rapeseed biodiesel and wheat ethanol are also being investigated. The research group’s funding is generously provided by Bord Gáis, the Higher Education Authority, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
Picture: Beatrice Smyth
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The Higher Education Authority and the Irish Independent invited researchers from any discipline to submit a short essay on the difference that their research would make to a particular aspect of Irish life, to the country as a whole, or internationally. Six researchers were chosen from the entrants and were invited to present their work at a public event in the Helix, Dublin City University. Travel grants of €2,500 were awarded to the winners, one by a panel of judges and the other by a vote of second level students who formed part of the audience.
Beatrice is part of the Biofuels Research Group based in the Environmental Research Institute in UCC and is currently in the second year of her PhD, supervised by Dr Jerry Murphy and Dr Brian Ó Gallachóir. Her research is on the use of gas as a transport fuel, with particular emphasis on the use of grass to generate biomethane. Her work forms part of a range of research projects being undertaken in the biofuels group, including research into nitrogen cycling, greenhouse gas emissions, laboratory analyses, and the logistics of the use of grass- and residue-based biomethane for fuel. Other potential Irish biofuels such as rapeseed biodiesel and wheat ethanol are also being investigated. The research group’s funding is generously provided by Bord Gáis, the Higher Education Authority, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
Picture: Beatrice Smyth
1127MMcS