Engineers Ireland returns to the National Ploughing Championships with amazing engineering attractions!

Visit the Team at Block 3 – Row 9 – Stand 205 to and discover virtual reality welding, the spacewalk experience and a Formula 1 car simulator. Explore biomedical marvels, and challenge a collaborative robot.
Meet the Mark the Science Guy and the STEPS education outreach team, and look out for daily prizes and fantastic giveaways.

Visit www.engineersireland.ie/Ploughing-Championships for more information. The National Ploughing Championships takes place in Screggan, Tullamore from 16 to 18 September.

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In this inspiring episode of Amplified: The Engineers Journal Podcast, aerospace engineer and entrepreneur Stephen Ringler, Managing Director of Space Store, shares his journey from working on NASA’s Juno mission to launching a space-themed retail and education company in the UK. Host Dusty Rhodes delves into Stephen's early fascination with space, his experiences navigating large-scale engineering projects, and the challenges of budget cuts in the space sector.

Stephen also explores the power of inclusive space education, revealing how Space Store aims to make space accessible and exciting for everyone — from schoolchildren to corporate teams. Packed with insights on testing, risk management, active listening, and keeping passion alive in a demanding industry, this episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in engineering, innovation, and the future of space exploration.

THINGS WE SPOKE ABOUT

• Space belongs to everyone - not just scientists and engineers.
• Testing is critical: break it until it stops breaking.
• Communication and collaboration are essential in large-scale engineering projects.
• Active listening leads to better engineering outcomes and more relevant solutions.
• Drive and passion need support - from self-talk to strong mentors.
• How space innovation directly benefits life on Earth - from MRIs to climate tech.

GUEST DETAILS

Stephen has over 20 years of experience working in the Space sector as a Pointing Precision Engineer, Programmatic Analyst, and Business Developer. With his training that began at UCLA and his vast experience and network in the Space community, his aim with Spacetime Development is to provide top-notch business development support and engineering services to high-tech companies. Stephen enjoys exploring castles and playing board games, jazz piano and drums.

MORE INFORMATION

Looking for ways to explore or advance a career in the field of engineering? Visit Engineers Ireland to learn more about the many programs and resources on offer. https://www.engineersireland.ie/

Engineers Journal AMPLIFIED is produced by DustPod.io for Engineers Ireland.

QUOTES

• "Break it until it stops breaking, and then we can send it to space."
• "The space industry belongs to everyone."
• "We bring space to Earth - that’s what we do."
• "Sometimes we solve problems that people don't have."
• "If you're ultimately trying to take human beings and put them somewhere else, everything that is part of a human being needs to be thought about taking them somewhere else."
• "If I lost either engineering or teaching, I think I would die a little on the inside."

Engineers Ireland returns to the National Ploughing Championships with amazing engineering attractions!

Visit the Team at Block 3 – Row 9 – Stand 205 to and discover virtual reality welding, the spacewalk experience and a Formula 1 car simulator. Explore biomedical marvels, and challenge a collaborative robot.
Meet the Mark the Science Guy and the STEPS education outreach team, and look out for daily prizes and fantastic giveaways.

Visit www.engineersireland.ie/Ploughing-Championships for more information. The National Ploughing Championships takes place in Screggan, Tullamore from 16 to 18 September.

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In this episode of Amplified, we wrap up our special mini-series on sustainability with an episode discussing the importance of mindset shifts in achieving Ireland's 2030 renewable energy targets.

Henry Boucher and Terry Wilkinson, experts in renewable and civil engineering respectively, emphasise the impact of small changes in sustainability.

Terry highlights cost-effective measures like wildlife ladders for amphibians, while Henry focuses on early integration of biodiversity considerations in projects. Both stress the importance of community engagement, effective communication, and practical steps like reducing material use and measuring embodied carbon.

They advocate continuous improvement and collaboration to achieve broader sustainability goals.

THINGS WE SPOKE ABOUT

• The need to move beyond technical fixes to sustainability mindset shifts
• How biodiversity can be enhanced through subtle project design changes
• The need to move beyond technical fixes to sustainability mindset shifts
• Designing infrastructure to cope with extreme weather
• Challenges in balancing safety, cost, and environmental benefit

GUEST DETAILS

Henry Boucher is a Civil, Environmental and Renewable Engineering Manager at ESB.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/henry-bouchier-271b6b18/#

Terry Wilkinson is a Design & Application Engineer at ACO Water Management. As a Civil Engineer for ACO, Terry has focused his career predominantly on the highways industry, both in his 11 years at ACO and prior to this working as a client, consultant and contractor for Local Authority highways. He is a member of the CIHT and is working towards his chartered engineer status with CPD at the heart of this journey. His professional interests are focused on wildlife mitigation solutions and highway surface water management; however, he also has a broader understanding of applications for other areas such as rail, housing, commercial and distribution developments. Biodiversity and wildlife are things he is also passionate about personally and he is actively involved in initiatives such as local toad patrols.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/terry-wilkinson-beng-mciht/

MORE INFORMATION

Looking for ways to explore or advance a career in the field of engineering? Visit Engineers Ireland to learn more about the many programs and resources on offer. https://www.engineersireland.ie/

Engineers Journal AMPLIFIED is produced by DustPod.io for Engineers Ireland.

QUOTES

We never get to net zero unless we have a wide variety of renewable energy sources, and then we have some backup

— Henry Boucher, Civil, Environmental and Renewable Engineering Manager at ESB

Often with sustainability, people have these massive identity, massive cost ideas... but often some of the smaller measures can really have positive impacts

— Terry Wilkinson, Design & Application Engineer at ACO Water Management

It's a mindset shift that has technical solutions. We just have to think a little bit differently how we do things

— Henry Boucher, Civil, Environmental and Renewable Engineering Manager at ESB

Everything in nature and wildlife is linked. If you have a decline of a certain species, it will have a knock-on effect to something else

— Terry Wilkinson, Design & Application Engineer at ACO Water Management

Do one thing right, and then you can go back and improve something else. Just improve one thing is probably the way to do it

— Henry Boucher, Civil, Environmental and Renewable Engineering Manager at ESB

KEYWORDS
#SustainableEngineering #RenewableEnergy #BiodiversityInfrastructure #ClimateInnovation