The Princess Royal Award for Emerging Engineers (Brennan Cup in NI) is a competition open to ICE student and graduate members, as well as apprentices at either of these grades or holding professionally qualified membership as IEng MICE or EngTech MICE and continuing on their apprenticeship.
Applicants submit and present their paper which may be on any topic related to civil engineering. The competition gives applicants an opportunity to highlight their technical expertise as well as showcase their communication skills.
We anticipate that the three NI finalists will present their papers in person to the judging panel.
Heat winners from all regions are further shortlisted to three finalists who will present their papers again at The Princess Royal Award for Emerging Engineers International Final in Autumn 2026, which will decide the overall ICE Emerging Engineer 2026.
AECOM
civil engineer
Jamie is a civil engineer at AECOM working in the Water division, focusing on wastewater infrastructure and stormwater management. His current work includes the reduction of combined sewer overflow spills and the delivery of flood alleviation schemes within the Belfast area.
Queen's University Belfast
student
Myah is currently in her third year of her BEng in Civil Engineering and is due to graduate in May 2026. Her dissertation focuses on the removal of tetracycline from water using adsorption processes, with particular emphasis on kinetic modelling and adsorption isotherm analysis.
She has secured a graduate role with AECOM commencing in 2026, where she will be working within the renewable energy sector.
Ulster University
PhD resercher
Rachel Woodward is currently a current PhD Researcher at Ulster University with an interest in developing sustainable waste-based cementitious binders for deep soil mixing applications.She has 5+ years of Site Engineering experience working for GRAHAM. She's worked on various projects within the highways, railway and water sectors including projects such as the A6 Randalstown to Castledawson Dualling Scheme, the Belfast Transport Hub Enabling Works and Busway Bridge and the York Street Train Station. This varied experience allows her to approach her research with a practical mindset to think beyond the engineering applications and performances to explore the economic, social, and environmental implications including scalability, waste-management, and security of our global supply chains.
A five-session course delivered by industry experts focusing on key aspects of contracts used in Civil Engineering.
Join the online audience and show your support for the two Yorkshire and Humber finalists, as they present their papers at the regional final of the Princess Royal Award for Emerging Engineers.
This series of events is aimed at those preparing for their Professional Review at Incorporated level and will provide advice and guidance on how to approach the communication task, against various industry specific themes.
