In deciding the awards, the judges consider investment in resources, innovation in education, impact of the innovation on the student community, the integration/development of campus start-ups, actual or potential contribution to the economy and differentiation. The ‘Best in Class 2012’ award was kindly sponsored by Shell E&P Ireland Limited. This award clearly recognizes the scale and diversity of the real impact the M.Sc. in Bioengineering course has from the student experience to contribution to the Irish economy to making an impact on global healthcare challenges.
The M.Sc. in Bioengineering aims to provide engineers and scientists with the education and creative skills needed to practice in the medical devices industry in Ireland and focus on important clinical needs. The only course of its kind in Ireland, this unique venture allows students to study at specialist Institutes of Bioengineering with academic and research expertise in Bioengineering including University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and the National College of Art and Design.
Professor David FitzPatrick, Course Director M.Sc. Bioengineering in UCD commented “Receiving the Engineers Ireland Engineering Education Award is a tremendous milestone for the course and recognises the significant contribution and commitment of all those involved in the development and delivery of this unique programme since its inception in 1998. The collaboration between academic staff in the contributing institutions, currently University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and National College of Art and Design, also previously including University of Limerick and University of Ulster, has brought together academic excellence, medical device expertise and research to provide graduates that have a demonstrated ability to meet the skills and knowledge needs within the medical devices sector.”
The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) contains Ireland’s largest medical school and is the centre of surgical training on the island. Professor Fergal O’Brien says “we are immensely proud of this latest accolade. The RCSI have taught students on the course since the beginning and are delighted with this latest endorsement of the quality of the course”. Bioengineering is a highly interdisciplinary profession and since its foundation, the M.Sc. in Bioengineering has provided students with the unique opportunity to be taught by lecturers with expertise that span a number of engineering disciplines as well as the life sciences and clinical medicine across a number of universities.