The late Peter Rice (1935 - 1992) graduated from the MSc programme in 1958. He is widely regarded as the most distinguished structural engineer of the late twentieth century.

Born in Dundalk, Ireland he studied at Queen's University Belfast and Imperial College London before joining Arup Consulting Engineers in London in 1956.

In his early career he was the resident engineer at the Sydney Opera House. Rice went on to collaborate with Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers on the Centre Pompidou, Paris. Other notable structures that he worked on include the Lloyds building in London, the Pyramids at the Louvre, Kansai International Airport Terminal and The Theatre of the Full Moon.