DUBLIN:Medtronic, a US multinational based in Galway, won this year's Engineers Ireland Innovation Company of the Year Award. The medical technology company has developed a new type of balloon catheter to unblock diseased coronary arteries meaning that high risk patients no longer have to undergo open-heart bypass surgery.

The winner of this year's Innovation Engineer of the Year Award was Dr Srdjan Krco of LM Ericsson Ireland (pictured above right, with Donagh O'Shaughnessy, Medtronic - left - and Engineers Ireland director general John Power). Krco's work includes research on the role of mobile networks and telecommunications infrastructure in communicating with the physical world.

"Innovation is key to Ireland remaining competitive in the global economy," said John Power. "Without innovation, how can we inspire the next generation of engineers and entrepreneurs?"

Also receiving certificates of merit were the statutory body ComReg, for its Wapecs initiative, and Prof Adrian Long of Queen's University Belfast, who developed a flexible concrete arch system which has been described as the most significant innovation in arch construction since 1900.