Engineering student wins place in prestigious national final for industrial automation project

Paul Casey, a third-year student on the Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Services & Automation Engineering in GMIT, has been shortlisted as one of three finalists in the 2018 third-level MIDAS Electronic Project Competition for designing, building and programming a product called ‘Check Weigher Conveyor System’, for his final year project.

The system automatically loads product, weighs it and sorts it based on its weight. The project encompasses many of the skills and technologies Paul learned and practiced throughout his degree studies, notably the Automation and Electrical design module.

“Automation was a very prominent theme throughout my degree programme and I knew from the outset that I wanted to base my final year project around it. I can’t say that I have a solid reason for choosing a check weigher conveyor system only that I wanted to take something I knew very little about and understand it as best I could. To be shortlisted for the MIDAS Electronic Project Competition is a huge honor. It’s extremely gratifying to have the work that I put into the project pay off.

I’ve been extremely fortunate to have such a helpful cohort of lecturers throughout my degree programme who were always there to offer advice and support. I would especially like to thank Paul Ryan, my project supervisor, who was always available to offer advice and who helped me throughout every stage of the project development, Ray Weldon for making Industrial Automation such a dynamic an interesting subject to learn and also Barry Finnegan, Thomas Mullin, Seamus Leonard, Pat Cassidy, Clare Lundon and  Mairtin O’Conghaile who all played a part in making my time at GMIT a memorable and enjoyable experience.”

Ray Weldon, Course Director of the B. Eng. in Electrical Services and Automation Degree, said that all Paul’s lecturers and in particular his project supervisor Paul Ryan and all the support staff are very proud of Paul’s achievement.

“Attaining such an accolade brings great honor to GMIT and to all in our department.  We all wish Paul good luck in the final on 18 October.”

MIDAS Ireland is an industry-led cluster consisting of industry, educational, research and government agencies working together to assist in the development of the micro and nano-electronics based systems sector in Ireland.
All entries were rated based on a number of criteria including:

•         Technical quality
•         Originality
•         Abstract, Background and Motivation
•         Conclusions Drawn
•         Supporting References Used
•         Presentation Impact and Quality

Paul is one of only three finalists selected from across Ireland’s third-level colleges. The other two students are Anthony Wall from UCC and Yugian Dai from IT Carlow. They will attend the October MIDAS Ireland Meeting which is being held this year in IT Carlow on Thursday 18 October where they will make a 10-minute presentation, followed by 10-minute Q&A. The winner will then be announced, and an award will be made and the other two finalists will receive runner-up prizes. The winner will also be invited to the 2018 MIDAS Ireland Conference & Gala Dinner, which is being held on 8 November in the Ambassador Hotel, Cork.

For further information on this competition see:  http://www.midasireland.ie/news/2018/09/07/Shortlist-for-MIDAS-Electronic-Project-Competition-2018-Announced

ENDS

Issued by Regina Daly, GMIT Communications Officer
See all releases on www.gmit.ie/news
Tel 091 742826/ 087-9618355 (m) email: regina.daly@gmit.ie