Eamonn Dillon: Prof Eamonn Dillon, who has died at 82, was an outstanding and popular teacher who contributed substantially to the development of engineering in Ireland and University College Cork, and to the modernisation of the college.
Born in 1920 and brought up in modest circumstances in Friars' Walk in Cork, his parents were Thomas, a sergeant in the RIC, and Margaret Dillon. He went to school at Sullivan' Quay and then North Monastery.
It was a university scholarship that provided the young Dillon with the opportunity of studying civil engineering at UCC. From the outset he embraced that opportunity with an infectious enthusiasm, which he sustained right up to the time of his death on June 19th.
He graduated from UCC with a first-class honours BE degree in 1941, remaining in the university as demonstrator for two years. He then went to wartime Britain, where he worked on the design and construction of the "Mulberry Harbour" project, which was to be a key element of the D-Day landings.
After the war, he worked on the major Mullardoch-Fasnakyle-Affric hydroelectric project in Scotland, both as a design engineer and a contractor's agent. Here he developed an enduring close friendship with O.C. Zienkiewicz, now a distinguished engineering academic, with whom he frequently discussed engineering education and research.
He returned to join the academic staff at his alma mater in 1951. As a young man, he was the driving force behind the modernisation of the curriculum, resulting in the change from a three-year to a four-year BE degree in the mid 1950s.
In 1962, he was awarded a personal chair, becoming professor of concrete technology. In 1970, he was appointed professor of civil engineering and head of department. He applied himself to the job with enthusiasm and availed of every opportunity to develop the department. He retired in 1988.
Outside his department, he was a major figure in the modernisation of UCC, serving on its governing body and its most important committees. He fostered the development of NIHE Limerick, now University of Limerick, and was a government nominee to the board of Irish Steel. He is one of the few to have been made an honorary fellow of the IEI.
He was an engaging lecturer, at his best when, working from first principles and without notes, he led his students on a voyage of discovery in the subjects of strength of materials and applied elasticity. While he set high standards, he was always sympathetic to those who were not so academic and to any student with personal difficulties. He will be remembered fondly by his students, many of whom have achieved positions of responsibility and eminence in Ireland and abroad.
In retirement he maintained his great enthusiasm for engineering and for life. He devoted much time to researching and writing a history summarising the achievements of Irish engineers. Increasingly frail in recent years, his bright sparkling mind always shone through. His beloved wife, Ruby, died in 2001. He is survived by his children Eamonn and Frances.
Eamonn C. Dillon: born November 21st, 1920; died June 19th, 2003.