Top students clinch the BOV Best Engineering Project awards

• Mikiel Anton Abela, Neil Mizzi, Chris Bonnici, Samuel Mifsud, Leon Gatt and Anastasia Lauri are the winners of the BOV Best Engineering Project awards for 2019 and 2020.

The best final-year student projects were announced during the Malta Engineering Excellence Awards (MEEAs) hosted in February by the Chamber of Engineers in collaboration with Bank of Valletta.

The 2019 awards went to Mikiel Anton Abela for his mechanical project 3D Multiphase Modelling and Optimisation Framework of a Merchant Ship; Neil Mizzi for his electrical project Implementation and Testing of Paralleled Droop Controlled Three Phase Inverters and Chris Bonnici for his ICT project Emotion Recognition from Static Images.

The 2020 awards were clinched by the LPG Dual – Fuel Implementation and Simulation on a Common Rail Diesel Engine mechanical project of Samuel Mifsud; Control of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles electrical project by Leon Gatt and the Sign Language Sensorial Glove ICT project by Anastasia Lauri.

“Indeed, engineering is an important professional discipline allowing society to live comfortably through the deployment of technology and innovation. Undoubtedly, it is one of the key professions that unleashes the spirit of innovation,” declared

Kenneth Farrugia, Bank of Valletta’s chief Retail Banking officer, upon presentation of the awards. “Consequently, it is with great pleasure that Bank of Valletta is today bestowing recognition to these six students who have distinguished themselves by achieving outstanding engineering achievements. We look forward to seeing and hearing more about them through their continued professional development and eventually their wider contribution to Malta’s economic development.”

During the Annual Awards event, Bank of Valletta and the Chamber of Engineers renewed their long-term partnership through a symbolic signing of an Association Agreement. Daniel Micallef, president of the Chamber of Engineers thanked Bank of Valletta for the many years of support it has given to engineering students enabling them to further invest in their future through exposure in international fora. “In fact, we are delighted to formally announce the extension of our agreement with Bank of Valletta and we look forward to another mutually beneficial year. As a result of this agreement, the members of the Chamber will continue to benefit from our long-term partnership through customised offers specifically tailored for their financial requirements.”

The students were awarded with a grant, which will allow them to participate in international conferences events and/or training programmes enabling them to further pursue their professional development. “This is very much in line with Bank of Valletta’s ESG commitment towards inclusive and equitable quality education; promoting lifelong learning opportunities and at the same time strengthening business alliances with professional organisations such as the Chamber of Engineers,” concluded Farrugia.