Cork Institute of Technology student Kieran O'Callaghan has been chosen as the outright winner of the Siemens Engineers Ireland Innovative Engineer of the Year Award 2008 at a ceremony in Dublin.

Kieran, a Final Year Mechanical Engineering Degree student at CIT, recently represented Ireland at the European Young Entrepreneurs Finals in Reims, France with the AquaEye Project: the Design and Development of a Swimming Aid for the Visually Impaired which is being conducted in conjunction with the National Council for the Blind, Ireland.

AquaEye is a non-contact device, which monitors a swimmer's position and alerts them on pool end-wall approach. Kieran's solution utilises Machine Vision and Data Acquisition Technology. Last year at Westminster, London, AquaEye won the International Gold Medal for Best Project involving the Design and Development of a Medical Device.

The AquaEye team comprises Mechanical Engineering Final Year Degree student, Kieran O'Callaghan and Business Degree students Imelda Callanan, Aidan Sheehan, Brian Barry and Stephen Hunt.

Xiao Fang Zhang, CIT's other national finalist, was also highly lauded by the distinguished panel of judges in Dublin. Xiao, a student at the School of Mechanical and Process Engineering in CIT, was also a member of the CIT team "Med--Ware" who won the "Most Technically Innovative" category in the 2008 Student Enterprise Awards earlier this month. Med--Ware™ is a medical device which aids in the elimination of air bubbles in the infusion process before they reach the patient's bloodstream.

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