Engineering Inspiration: National Webinar Series Celebrates Engineers Week 2026
Published
To mark Engineers Week 2026, Curious Minds, SEAI, and ESERO Ireland teamed up to deliver Engineering Inspiration, a four-day webinar series designed for Primary School students (3rd-6th Class).
The series introduced classrooms across Ireland to the world of engineering through real stories from professionals working at the cutting edge of energy, transport, space, and sustainability. Each day highlighted a different engineering pathway, showing students how varied and exciting the field can be.
Teachers and students can also access a FREE complimentary activity booklet here for Engineers Week 2026, which is packed with hands-on challenges and classroom resources.
Each webinar has been recorded for you to watch back in this YouTube playlist.
Tuesday: Engineering Big Ideas with Fiona Lavin
The week opened with Fiona Lavin, who explored how lasers, deep‑ocean data cables, and Ireland’s largest energy‑using companies have all shaped her engineering journey.
Now part of SEAI’s Large Business Decarbonisation team, Fiona works with some of the country’s major energy users to reduce emissions and accelerate Ireland’s clean‑energy transition.
Drawing on her earlier work as a research engineer where she developed laser technologies and worked on data cables stretching thousands of miles across the ocean, Fiona showed students how complex systems can be redesigned for sustainability.
Wednesday: Smarter Energy and Transport with Shane Prendergast
Mid‑week, classes met Shane Prendergast, Programme Manager at SEAI, who posed a powerful question: How can cars, home appliances, and mobile phones work together to fight climate change?
With a background in Aeronautical Engineering and experience certifying vehicle technologies at the National Standards Authority of Ireland, Shane now helps expand Ireland’s electric vehicle charging network and develop smarter ways to use energy.
His session highlighted how engineering can transform communities, enabling people and businesses to become confident, flexible energy users.
Thursday: Space Engineering Adventures with Maeve Doyle
On Thursday, students headed to space with Maeve Doyle, a flight software verification and validation engineer working in space sustainability.
Maeve tests satellite software to ensure spacecraft operate exactly as intended once launched. Growing up her passion for astronomy led her to study physics and astrophysics before joining cutting‑edge projects such as EIRSAT‑1, Ireland’s first satellite.
She has also worked as a Fleet Operations Engineer, helping manage a constellation of more than 600 satellites orbiting Earth. Maeve’s talk demonstrated how programming, physics, and curiosity can come together in a space engineering career.
Friday: Innovation from Lab to Ocean with Kerrie Sheehan
The series concluded with Kerrie Sheehan, SEAI’s Head of Research, Innovation and Electricity. Kerrie gave students a glimpse into a career where no two days look alike, from testing tiny e‑bike sensors in the lab to supporting trials of wave‑powered buoys in the Atlantic.
Kerrie leads Ireland’s national energy research programme, supporting pioneering projects across offshore energy, renewable heat, electric vehicles, and more. Her session showed how engineers bring ideas from early design stages through to testing and real‑world deployment.
Explore More: Free Activity Booklet
Teachers can continue the learning with our FREE Engineers Week 2026 Activity Booklet, created to complement the webinar series with fun, curriculum‑linked engineering challenges.
Download the accompanying Resource!
