ESB sponsors Engineers Ireland Conference 2006

In an effort to facilitate much-needed debate on the key issues in engineering today, Engineers Ireland are holding their Annual Conference on April 26th & 27th in the Burlington Hotel, Dublin 4. Taking place over a day and a half, the conference format is designed to facilitate practising engineers, engineers in management and decision-makers in the engineering arena.

Day one will present a series of parallel sessions. Representatives of the Project Management, Local Government, Biomedical and Information Communications Technology Divisions of Engineers Ireland have prepared a three-hour programme focusing on issues in each area.

Parallel Sessions:

Local Government: Setting the scene for waste management and addressing the issues for recycling and incineration in local authorities.

Information Communication
Technology (ICT): Exploring utility models for software and presenting new findings for Semantic Infrastructure.

Biomedical: A panel of experts in the field will discuss a different way of delivering health care than that which currently exists. Project Management: Addressing project management of public procurement, project agreements and the link with risk management procurement projects.

Day 2

Plenary Sessions: Powering Ahead: Is Nuclear the Future?
The world is facing an energy crisis; oil is running out, climate change is now recognised as a serious problem, and the price and security of energy supplies is a major challenge. A pro-nuclear decision by the British government would have an impact on Ireland and our energy policies. Ireland needs to establish a secure energy supply for the future and as part of that process, a debate must be held on whether nuclear power is part of our future.

A Picture of Health in 2030:
This session will present research results on the future direction of medicine and health care. Major trends influencing every area of health care will be outlined: the impact of computer technologies, the development of diagnostic robots, genetics research and technologies, how genetics will create new patterns of drug discovery and drug development, pharmaceutical industry challenges and trends for the future.

The Trouble with Traffic-Decongesting an Urban
Ritual:
Mobility is the most basic of our requirements in today's society and it's one that is not being adequately catered for. Time spent in traffic is vastly reducing the quality of life of hundreds of thousands of Irish people daily, as well as unnecessarily polluting of the environment. This session will address the real issues concerning urban congestion and outline the options for moving forward. It will ask is Transport 21 enough? How will it be implemented and what role will or should engineers play in this process?

If you are interested in attending the conference or want to find out more, contact 00353 16090230 or visit www.engineersireland.ie/conference06