SEAN COLLIER WAS just 26 when he was gunned down by Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in 2013.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) police officer was sitting in a car on the university campus three days after the terrorist attack when he was shot and killed in an ambush by Tsarnaev and his brother.

But a new tribute to him focuses on his life rather than brutal death.

The memorial, designed by Waterford engraver Sean Egan, consists of four crystal panels featuring etchings of Collier, his badge and number, the MIT dome, and a flag and eagle.

Egan was chosen to create the piece by Ralph and Rose Ingegneri of the 2013 Boston Marathon tribute memorial group.

The couple were visiting Ireland to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary when they first met the Waterford City-based artist.

Egan worked with the group – which raises funds to honour victims of the bombing – to choose symbols that he felt would best represent Collier’s life.

The Boston Red Sox team pays tribute to MIT police officer Sean Collier. AP AP

“My hope is that this piece is truly representative of Officer Collier and symbolises his courage and bravery,” he said.

If I can help tell his story through the art of glass, I feel I will have done the man justice.

The memorial will be presented to Collier’s colleagues at MIT on 15 April before being put on display at the campus police station.

Now, Egan is working on another crystal sculpture to commemorate Martin Richard, Lu Lingzi and Krystal Campbell, who were eight, 23 and 29 respectively when they were killed in the Boston attack.

His previous work include commemorate sculptures for the victims of 9/11 and the “gathering bowl” presented by Taoiseach Enda Kenny to US President Barack Obama on St Patrick’s Day in 2013.

Read: Boston bomber says sorry for the first time before being formally sentenced to death