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At our staff meeting on Wednesday 3 November 2021, 81 members of the School of Engineering community were honoured for their work on the Covid-19 pandemic response.
From the very start of the pandemic, Engineering staff and students have been making a significant contribution to solving Covid-19 challenges, and the School commissioned a special medal to celebrate their achievements.
The medal, designed by Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) graduate Anke Dietrich assisted by ECA Lecturer in Graphic Design Mary Asiedu, depicts a lighthouse in stormy seas, in reference to the famous Stevenson family of lighthouse engineers. Robert Stevenson studied engineering at the University of Edinburgh in the early 19th century and went on to design the Bell Rock lighthouse.
Covid-19 activities within the School have included the manufacture of equipment to protect and monitor key workers; building bespoke hardware for healthcare; developing new cleaning techniques to target the coronavirus; studying the behaviour of respiratory droplets and effectiveness of masks; tackling problems that affect less affluent countries and supporting the recovery from the pandemic.
Recipients of the medal included undergraduates, postgraduates, postdoctoral researchers, technicians, professional services staff and academics, all of whom volunteered to undertake additional pandemic-related work above and beyond their normal responsibilities.
Their projects showcase the application of engineering to critical real-world challenges and illustrate the importance of the engineering profession to society.
The School’s response to COVID-19 challenges
Head of the School of Engineering, Prof. Conchúr Ó Brádaigh said:
"We are very proud of the selfless work that our staff and students did during the pandemic to help frontline workers and local business, particularly at the beginning of the lockdown in 2020, when nobody really understood the situation. The work they did is an example of how Engineering can play a positive role in helping the community and business overcome difficult and unprecedented challenges.” The School of Engineering is very grateful to the numerous friends, colleagues, collaborators and funders who contributed to and supported our Covid-19 projects."
