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Dr. Dermot O'Dwyer

Associate Professor (Civil Struct & Env. Eng.)
MUSEUM BUILDING

 dwodwyer@tcd.ie

 3531896 2532


Biography

Dermot O'Dwyer graduated with a 1st Class Honours degree in Civil Engineering from UCG in 1989. In 1991 he completed a research masters on the limit-state analysis of masony vaults. From 1991-1993 he worked as a structural engineer design structures varyling from water towers and treatment tanks to multi-storey apartments and industrial buildings in a variety of materials. He became a chartered engineer in 1993. In 1993 he joined Irish Rail. Within Irish Rail he worked in the technical office working on a range of topics from the development of new switch geometries to budget planning. While in Irish Rail he was secunded to the Light Rail office. In 1995 he joined the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering in Trinity College Dublin. He was awarded a PhD in 2001 for the thesis "The Application of Genetic Algorithms to Civil Engineering Optimisation Problems".

Research Projects

 Railway Bridge Dynamics
 Railway Bridge Dunamics

Representations

Details Date
Member of the National Monument's special advisory committee on Skellig Michael 2021
Board member of the Industrial Heritage Association of Ireland 2010
Irish Representative on the Institution of Civil Engineers' Panel for Historic Engineering Works (PHEW) 2008
Member of the organising committee of the Engineering Heritage Society of Engineers Ireland 2008
Member of the Accreditation Board of Engineers Ireland 2010

Memberships

Membership of Professional Institutions, Associations, Societies

Details Date From Date To
Chartered Engineer, MIEI 1993
MICE 2008
Dermot O'Dwyer, The Halpins - Irish Lighthouse Builders 1810-1862, Studies in Construction History, Proceedings of the Tenth Annual Conference of the Construction History Society, Queens' College Cambridge, 12-13 April 2023, edited by James W.P. Campbell et al. , 2023, pp243 - 254, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
Dermot O'Dwyer, The development in the design of beams from 1820-1860, Iron, Steel and Buildings: Studies in the History of Construction Proceedings of the Seventh Conference of the Construction History Society, Queens College, Cambridge University, April 2020, edited by James WP Campbell et. al. , Construction History Society, 2020, pp73 - 82, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
Ron Cox & Dermot O'Dwyer, Dublin-Belfast Main Line 1837-1857, Papers from the Second International Early Main Line Railways Converence, Early Main Line Railways 2: Papers from the Second International Early Main Line Railways Conference, York, UK, June 2018, edited by Michael Chrimes , 2019, pp1 - 10, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
Dermot O'Dwyer, The Drainage of the Fucine Lake in Antiquity and in the Nineteenth Century, Studies in the History of Services and Construction: The Proceedings of the Fifth Conference of the Construction History Society, Queens' College Cambridge, 6-8 April 2018, edited by James W.P. Campbell et al. , The Construction History Society, 2018, pp157 - 170, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
Triona Byrne and Dermot O'Dwyer, Repair of masonry arch bridges with respect to longitudinal cracking and load assessment, Proceedings of the First International Conference on Construction Materials and Structures, First International Conference on Construction Materials and Structures, Johannesburg, South Africa, 24-26 November 2014, edited by Stephen O Ekolu, Morgan Dundu and Xiaojian Gao , IOS Press, 2014, pp1181 - 1189, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
Dermot O'Dwyer and Ronald Cox, Old Ennisnag Bridge, Proceedings of the First Construction History Society Conference, First Conference of the Construction History Society, Queens' College, Cambridge, 11-12 April 2014, edited by James w p Campbell et al. , Shport Run Press, Exeter, 2014, pp301 - 311, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
Dermot O'Dwyer, Jay Cummins and Ronald Cox, John Rennie's Dublin cast-iron trusses, Proceedings of the First Construction History Society Conference, First Conference of the Construction History Society, Queens' College, Cambridge, 11-12 April 2014, edited by James W P Campbell et al. , Short Run Press, Exeter, 2014, pp313 - 322, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
Water and Drainage in, editor(s)Ronald Cox & Philip Donald , Ireland's Civil Engineering Heritage, Cork, Ireland, The Collins Press, 2013, pp67 - 86, [Dermot O'Dwyer], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
Dermot W. O'Dwyer, Disaster and success: design lessons from history, Proceedings of the ICE - Engineering History and Heritage, 166, (3), 2013, p177 - 186, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
Dermot O'Dwyer, Book Review, Review of Structural Design in Building Conservation, by Dimitris Theodossopoulos , Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers: Engineering History and Heritage, 166, (February 2013 EH1), 2013, p1 , Review, PUBLISHED
  

Page 1 of 6
Dermot O'Dwyer, The Mechanics of Bridge Pier Impact Forces From Ship Collisions, Structural Faults + Repair-2024 and European Bridge Conference-2024, Edinburgh, 11-13 June 2024, edited by Mike Forde , 2024, pp1-4 , Notes: [Presentation and Extended Abstract], Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
D.W. O'Dwyer, The potential roles of Construction History in Engineering Education, History of Construction Cultures Proceedings of the 7th International Congress on Construction History (7ICCH 2021), July 12-16, 2021, Lisbon, Portugal, Lisbon, Portugal, 12-16 July 2021, edited by João Mascarenhas-Mateus, Ana Paula Pires , 2021, pp1 - 7, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
Ronald Cox & Dermot O'Dwyer, Called to Serve, Dublin, Engineers Ireland, 2014, 1 - 145pp, Notes: [Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers of Ireland 1835-1968], Book, PUBLISHED
Dermot O'Dwyer, Engineering: The Pre-Industrial Age (book review), Review of Engineering: The Pre-Industrial Age, by Dick Parry , The Structural Engineer, 92, (4), 2014, p1 , Review, PUBLISHED
Dermot O'Dwyer, Book review: Traces of Peter Rice, Review of Traces of Peter Rice, by Kevin Barry , Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineering - Engineering History and Heritage, 167, (EH1), 2014, p1 , Review, PUBLISHED
Dermot O'Dwyer, Book review: William Dargan: An Honourable Life 1799-1867, Review of William Dargan: An Honourable Life 1799-1867, by Fergus Mulligan , Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Engineering History and Heritage, 167, (EH1), 2014, p1 , Review, PUBLISHED
Dermot O'Dwyer, Review of Traces of Peter Rice, by Kevin Barry , Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineering - Engineering History and Heritage, 167, (EH1), 2014, p1 , Review, PUBLISHED
D.W. O'Dwyer, Comments by D.W. O'Dwyer and K. Dubsky Trinity College Dublin, Gestión ambiental de la Universidad, Valencia, 2002, edited by Eduardo Peris Mora , 2002, pp79 - 83, Meeting Abstract, PUBLISHED
D.W. O'Dwyer, Design of Friction Buffer Layouts, Universities' Transport Studies Group, Dublin, 1997, 1997, pp9 , Conference Paper, PUBLISHED

  

Research Interests

Description Of Research Interests

Railway Engineering: all aspects of permanent way and civil engineering infrastructure with a particular emphasis on bridge and track dynamics. Structural optimisation : application of optimisation methods ranging from linear and quadratic Programming methods to genetic algorithms Structural Masonry : the analysis and assessment of historic masonry structures including masonry vaults, arches, bridges and cantilevered stone stairs Engineering History and Heritage Emergence of Tecnhologies : Interest in the history of technology to the present with a particular longstanding research interest in the mechanisms underlying the emergence of new technologies across a wide range of fields within engineering, mathematics and computer science.