Niall Hanley, Contracts Director at JJ Rhatigan Building Contractors, has been appointed to the judging panel for the Engineering Excellence Awards 2026, contributing over 25 years of construction industry experience and a career defined by the design and build of complex, large-scale engineering projects across some of Ireland's most demanding sectors.

Hanley works within one of Ireland's most established Tier 1 main building contractors. JJ Rhatigan, headquartered in Galway for 70 years with regional offices in Dublin, Cork, Sligo, and London, operates across a portfolio that spans private and public sector projects, encompassing traditional building contracts, PPP contracts, new builds, fit outs, renovations, and landmark design and build developments. That breadth of project exposure gives Hanley a command of engineering delivery that spans procurement models, technical complexity, and sector-specific requirements in equal measure.

His expertise centres on design and build contracts, applying cutting-edge technology and engineering innovation to deliver complex infrastructure across the pharmaceutical and medtech, industrial, education, and healthcare sectors. That cross-sector experience, developed over a career in which project scale and technical ambition have consistently pushed against the boundaries of conventional delivery, equips him to assess entries with a practitioner's understanding of what genuine engineering excellence requires under real-world conditions.

A Fellow Member of Engineers Ireland and holder of a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Hanley brings to the panel both the professional credentials and the hands-on project delivery experience that the Engineering Excellence Awards is designed to recognise and celebrate.

The awards programme spans 26 categories recognising outstanding achievement across civil engineering, structural engineering, mechanical and electrical engineering, sustainable engineering, renewable energy, manufacturing, and innovation in engineering.

The 2026 panel includes Judging Coordinator Matt Cotterell of MTU, Professor Brian Caulfield of Trinity College Dublin, Dr Brian Deegan of the University of Galway, Dr John Mulvihill of the University of Limerick, Daniel Clarke Hagan of Atlantic Technological University, James McNamara of TUS, Tom Rowan of Rowan Engineering, and Barry Williams of Mott MacDonald Ireland.

Entries close on 10 July 2026, with the awards gala taking place on 21 October 2026 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Santry.

Visit the official Engineering Excellence Awards website and subscribe to the newsletter for category details, programme updates, and the full judging panel.