Energy experts from the fields of energy technology, policy, innovation and business will be thrashing out ideas about Ireland’s future energy needs at Energy Night on 26 January, while NUI Galway students will also be showcasing leading-edge energy research in areas such as the smart grid and wave energy.
Students from the Chemistry, Energy and Physics Societies at NUI Galway came up with the idea to hold Energy Night, which will look at the future of energy supply, demand, cost and security in Ireland.
Prominent panel participants at the event will include Paul Lynam, chief executive of Siemens Ireland; Professor J. Owen Lewis, chief executive of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI); the acclaimed fuels researcher John Simmie, who is emeritus professor at the Combustion Chemistry Centre, NUI Galway; Neil Walker, head of the Energy and Environment Unit at IBEC; and nuclear energy expert Philip Walton, who is emeritus professor of physics at NUI Galway.
Ireland’s energy needs
RTE’s environment editor Paul Cunningham will moderate the discussion entitled ‘Averting a Future Irish Energy Crisis’.
Energy Night will kick off at 5.30pm in the Orbsen Building Foyer at NUI Galway, whereby students who are currently carrying out research in the green tech area in areas such as bio fuels, wave energy, smart buildings and smart grids will showcase their work.
One of the event’s organisers, Rory Monaghan, a post-doctoral researcher at NUI Galway’s Combustion Chemistry Centre, says the event has been made possible due to its sponsors – Enerit, IRCSET and SEAI.
He says the students hope that Energy Night will help ignite an enhanced understanding, interaction and collaboration between energy stakeholders in the policy, business, technological and academic spheres as well as the public.
Open to all
Energy Night is open to all members of the public. If you are interested in attending the panel discussion please email nuigenergy@gmail.com as space in the lecture theatre is limited.
More information on NUI Galway Energy Night is available here and on the Energy Night Facebook page.
Alternatively, contact Rory Monaghan at rory.monaghan@nuigalway.ie.
Above photo: Back row, l-r: Catríona Killeen, Emer Henderson, Gearoid White, Daniel Coakley; middle row, l-r: James Glynn, Ronan Rochford, Magdalena Hajdukiewicz, Christine Conroy; front row, l-r: Valerie Murphy, Sinéad Burke, Rory Monaghan. Student organisers missing from the photo are Róise McGovern, Michelle Hennigan, Vincent Fagan and Sarah Bonham
