Mayo student claims top honours at National Engineering Competition
ATU duo named joint winners of prestigious undergraduate award
A Castlebar engineering student has taken joint top honours at the 2025 ATU Galway Engineering Exhibition and Competition, one of the most prestigious events in the undergraduate engineering calendar.
James Swift, a student at Atlantic Technological University (ATU), and his classmate Killian Smith from Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan, were named joint overall winners of this year’s competition.
Their success has earned them a coveted place in the Engineers Ireland Innovative Student Engineer of the Year competition, which takes place in Dublin this autumn.
James also picked up the Energy Engineering Award for his pioneering project titled “Harnessing Hydrogen: A Study into Renewable Energy Storage Using Hydrogen.”
His work focuses on a sustainable method for storing surplus renewable electricity using a hydrogen fuel cell system.
“My project aims to provide a means of storing excess renewable electricity during times of low demand using a hydrogen fuel cell system,” said James.
“The prototype I developed uses electrolysis to produce and store hydrogen, which can later be converted back into electricity through galvanic operation when needed.
The system is entirely emissions-free, with water as the only byproduct.”
Meanwhile, Killian Smith took home the Agricultural Engineering Award for his design of an “Easy-Lift Mechanism” to assist in handling heavy vacuum hoses on agricultural tankers, a tool he says could significantly reduce the risk of injury, particularly for older farmers.
“The prototype I developed helps operators of vacuum tankers lift heavy vacuum hoses onto the side of the tanks without risking injury,” Killian explained.
“It’s especially beneficial for elderly farmers, helping them continue working safely.”
The winners were chosen from a pool of 100 final-year students whose projects were initially showcased in an online format. Following a competitive shortlisting process, 55 projects were selected for in-person exhibition at ATU Galway’s Café Foyer between 28 April and 2 May.
On Wednesday, 30 April, a panel of 40 professional engineers, representing 30 sponsoring companies carried out an intensive judging process during the formal competition.
The judging focused on innovation, technical merit, and potential real-world application.
Both students will now prepare to represent ATU on a national stage later this year.