Ceiling at the Tate Britain
(c) Copyright Martin McAdam
Martin Patrick McAdam
Martin McAdam is an engineer and entrepreneur with extensive experience in energy, infrastructure, and capital-intensive project delivery. He co-founded Ardgowan Distillery and played a central role in raising £22m and delivering the project from concept and planning through construction to full commercial operation. He is currently involved in the development of Shockingly Fresh, a natural-light, high-density farming business focused on sustainable food production. Martin is also a semi-professional photographer, and his work has been published in national and international press.
Current Projects
Ardgowan Distillery Company Limited
Ardgowan Distillery was founded to create a modern Scottish distillery rooted in tradition but designed for long-term quality and sustainability. As a co-founder, I was closely involved from the earliest concept and site selection through planning, financing, construction, and commissioning. The project required raising £22m of capital and managing the delivery of a complex, capital-intensive asset. Today, Ardgowan is fully operational, producing high-quality single malt whisky with a long-term maturation strategy and a clear focus on building enduring value rather than short-term volume.
The whisky that went to the South Pole.
Expedition is actually doing quite well for our first whisky - It achieved a bronze in the Scottish Field Whisky Challenge. And has been shortlisted as a finalist in three categories of the Scottish Whisky Awards.
Expedition is a Finalist!
Long Term Projects
Pat McAdam Scholarship
The Pat McAdam Scholarship in Chemical & Bioprocess Engineering was established in memory of Pat McAdam, at the request of Martin McAdam, to celebrate and honour the life and work of his late wife, a much-loved teacher.
The gift to establish this Scholarship was generously donated by Martin McAdam, a UCD Chemical Engineering graduate (BE 1982), Martin's and Pat's daughter, Dr Kate McAdam and Pat’s parents, Mr & Mrs Paddy & Kathleen O’Connor.
The purpose of the Pat McAdam Scholarship in Chemical & Bioprocess Engineering is:
to celebrate Pat McAdam’s life as a teacher and her talent with students - the talent that encouraged her students to strive for more, to learn more and to want to be more
to promote and support excellence in Chemical & Bioprocess Engineering education.
The Pat McAdam Scholarship is awarded annually to a UCD Stage 2 Chemical & Bioprocess Engineering Student. The award is intended to support the recipient in undertaking a Research Internship during the Summer at the end of Stage 2.
Each year since 2011, the Pat McAdam Scholarship has been used to fund the Pat McAdam Scholar’s participation in a prestigious Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program within the Renewable Energy Materials Research Science & Engineering Centre (REMRSEC) at the Colorado School of Mines, in Golden, Colorado.
Martin McAdam and the UCD School of Chemical & Bioprocess Engineering gratefully acknowledge the support of Prof. Chuck Stone, REMRSEC REU Director and Professor Colin Wolden, Chemical & Biological Engineering Department, Colorado School of Mines in hosting the Pat McAdam Scholar in Chemical & Bioprocess Engineering.
Dr. Kate McAdam PhD (3rd from left) and Martin McAdam (centre) with a number of the Pat McAdam scholars.
McAdam Travel Bursary
Martin McAdam is a UCD Chemical Engineering graduate (1982) sponsors the McAdam Travel Bursary, initiated in 2013, as an award for which both Stage 2 and Stage 3 Chemical & Bioprocess Engineering students are eligible. The award is intended for students who wish to achieve a personal goal, which may or may not be directly linked to Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, but which would contribute to a broadening of the student's individual development.