MTU Cork students create award winning device
A medical tool designed to increase cervical cancer detection rates has been created by a team of fourth-year mechanical and biomedical engineering students from MTU Cork.
The result is the Tulipa Device and the team has been awarded the Siemens Innovative Student Engineer of the Year Award 2022 by Engineers Ireland.
Tulipa is a modern, universal take on the vaginal speculum designed not only with the patient in mind but also the practitioner.
The device aims to restore comfort, reduce fear, increase the attendance of women at these vital exams, and will provide a sterile solution for speculums in Third World countries.
The student team of Mary O’Riordan, Daineadh Power, Sean O’Shea, Eoin McGrath, Joe O’ Reilly, Andy Leahy, Ali Rezk, Jamie O’Hanlon was awarded the prestigious accolade.
Commenting on behalf of the winning team, Mary O’Riordan, said: “We are incredibly proud and honoured to be awarded the Siemens Innovative Student Engineer of the Year Award 2022 by Engineers Ireland. We look forward to bringing this product to the next stage of development and we hope that Tulipa will soon play a key role in combatting cervical cancer globally.”
The winning project was selected by a panel of judges, including Joe Walsh, General Manager of Siemens Ireland, Aisling Hahessy, Engineer Ireland’s Engineer of the Year 2021 and Senior Structural Engineer with Arup, Barry Bowen, Manager of Engineering & Senior Recruiting Consultant, Morgan McKinley and Mia Fahey McCarthy, Head of Sustainability, SSE.
The student team were also joined by finalists Aine Kane from Atlantic Technological University Galway who presented her project, the Endosteal Dental Implants with Cellular Architecture. Sam French, Beverly Jones, Olin Hennessy, Harry Sweetnam, Philip Healy, Niall Marley, Dylan Hogan and Ben Donovan from MTU Cork presented their product, Honeyroam, which helps to help combat losses of bees by bringing the beehives and their colonies online.
Joe Walsh, General Manager of Siemens Ireland, said: “On behalf of Siemens, I would like to offer a warm congratulations to the MTU student team who created the Tulipa device on being awarded the prestigious title of Siemens Innovative Student Engineer of the Year. This innovative device has the potential to transform the lives of women globally and will help to support early medical intervention and diagnoses of cervical cancer worldwide.
“I would also like to sincerely congratulate both Aine Kane from ATU – Galway and the Honeyroam team from MTU Cork who demonstrated innovation, creative thinking, technical excellence, and hard work at today’s competition final.”
John Power, President of Engineers Ireland, added: “The initiatives showcased at the Innovative Student Engineer of the Year Award competition are a testament to the talent and creativity that exists in our third-level engineering institutions. I wish each project team every success with their future studies and engineering careers - they are the leaders of the future.”