Transport Minister Danny Kennedy has presented Laura Carse, PhD in Civil Engineering, Queens University Belfast, with the William Bald Bursary at the Old Harland & Wolff Drawing Office, Titanic Quarter.
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Transport Minister Danny Kennedy presents Laura Carse, from Killinchy, PhD in Civil Engineering, Queen’s University with the William Bald Bursary[/caption]
The William Bald Scholarships are an annual award for two post-graduate students, one each from the University of Ulster and Queen’s University Belfast, and each with a value of £1,500, presented by the Transport Minister Danny Kennedy. It is awarded for the best post-graduate thesis or dissertation at Masters or Doctoral level related to transportation or transport infrastructure. The Awards are sponsored by Farrans, Graham and Transport NI, DRD. The presentation of the awards was held this year at the Old Harland & Wolff Drawing Office, Titanic Quarter.
Congratulating Laura, the Minister said: “I am delighted to be here today in this historic building to celebrate the achievements of engineers in the past and to encourage the engineers of the future. So entirely support the idea behind the William Bald awards, which is to encourage the young engineers of the future who are the people that will really make a difference to meeting our transport needs in the future.
“Laura’s thesis for her PhD in Civil Engineering developed a better understanding of the effect of climate change on the long-term performance of slopes and cuttings in the particular soils we experience here in Northern Ireland. Using this data Laura was able to predict the likely long-term stability of the slopes, something that is vitally important not only for my roads engineers, but also for Northern Ireland railways, both of whom provided sites for Laura’s research.”
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