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An exhibition of work by students from ������’s internationally acclaimed School of Architecture and Product Design has been officially launched in Istabraq Hall, Limerick City, as part of the Design@UL Showcase 2025.

The projects on display span a wide range of applications from sustainability to medical devices. Over 70 student projects from the undergraduate programmes in Architecture and Product Design and Technology, and the MSc in Design for Health and Wellbeing will be on display at the exhibition, which will be freely open to the public from 7pm Friday, 23 May until Friday, 6 June 2025*. 

Associate Professor Peter Carroll, Head of UL’s School of Architecture, said: “This year’s theme is ‘The Power of the Student Voice’, it focuses on the future, and on Limerick, where our students live, work and design for a better future. 

“Design@UL is the culmination of months of rigorous effort, research, empathy, and creativity that takes place in the School of Architecture and Product Design,” he added. 

All of the architecture projects on display address questions of local, national and global relevance as students were tasked with creating a thesis project based on a ‘shared future’ for Limerick as a city that faces challenges in climate resilience and social equity. 

Tara Fielding’s, ‘Wanderer's Pilgrimage’ looks at Limerick as a car-free city where people move through buildings and streets in a shared, green urban landscape. Rachel O’Malley Raeke looks at Limerick as a 24-hour city with uses from Dawn until Dusk that provides for transient visitors and city inhabitants alike.  

Dr Eoin White, Associate Professor and Course Director of the BSc Product Design and Technology said: “This year’s Design@UL exhibition highlights how each piece of student work is an impactful solution to a real-world challenge, combining innovation with a strong commitment to community and sustainability. 

“These future-focused designs reflect our students’ drive to shape a more thoughtful, equitable, and resilient world.”

The product design students have been encouraged to challenge existing norms and generate impactful, inclusive solutions that enhance future life experiences through their projects. 

Several projects on display deal frankly with issues of sustainability including: ‘re:pair’ by Caleb Daly which proposes sustainable solutions for footwear, and ‘Kora’ by Fiona Gleeson which focuses on mitigating biodiversity loss in urban areas.

A growing interest in health and wellbeing can also be seen in the work of the Product Design and Technology students this year as students are hoping to follow in the footsteps of UL Graduate, Olivia Humphreys. Olivia’s project ‘ was displayed at last year’s exhibition, and went on to win the 2024 Global James Dyson Award in the Medical Devices category.

This year, med-tech projects include: ‘AirSure’, a patient-centred endotracheal tube securement device by Aoileann Carmody, and ‘AMY’ by Leah Shanahan, a pregnancy test which enhances FemTech accessibility for those with visual impairments. 

All architecture projects on display address questions of local, national and global relevance as students were tasked with creating a thesis project based on a ‘shared future’ for Limerick as a city that faces challenges in climate resilience and social equity. 

A number of awards were presented at the launch of the exhibition to outstanding students. 

Product Design and Technology student Jonah Phelan took home the Logitech Designer of the Year award, for his project, ‘Soul’, a smart device that preserves the best part of smart devices – social, utility, capturing, and entertainment while respecting the user’s attention and time and reducing distractions. 

The runner-up award was presented to Isabelle Bentley Curran, who designed ‘Elithya’, a balloon-based IUD insertion device in collaboration with UL Hospitals Group’s, Rapid Innovation Unit (RIU). 

The Architecture thesis prize went to Vivien Ahern for her final year thesis, ‘Folkloric Foundations’. Through folklore and storytelling, Vivien’s project creates a sense of building timeless communities while constructing architectural narratives.

Prizes were also presented to Allanagh Prendergast who won the best dissertation for her work on Clare Island, County Mayo, and Lena Slew who won the best drawing award for her drawings of her Community Centre for the Future at Markets Field.

Professor Kenneth Stanton, Executive Dean of Faculty Science and Engineering spoke about the “intersection of ideas and impact” on the night. 

“These student’s projects are more than academic milestones; they are signals of the city and society they are determined to help build,” said Professor Stanton.

The school is renowned for producing world-class innovators who have gone on to win a Global James Dyson Award, exhibit at the UN Climate Change Conference, work in prestigious global design centres, and create spin-out companies from the projects they worked on while obtaining their degree.

*The exhibition opening hours will be limited to the civic office opening hours (9am-5pm Monday-Friday and closed bank holidays).