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Name: Patricia Armshaw
Course:BSc Industrial Biochemistry (2008), PhD (due 2012)
Research: Yes
Themes:Science
2008: I spent my Cooperative Education placement with Stryker Biotech based in Raheen Industrial Estate in Limerick. Stryker Biotech is best known for its wide range of bone regeneration products such as the OP-1 implant. I've worked at Stryker for over two years in total during which time I have gained experience in a wide range of areas including product production, biological and chemical analysis and product development.
2009: It was my time in product development in the R&D laboratory of Stryker Biotech that I decided to return to UL to continue my studies to PhD level in the CES department.
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Name: Caitríona Bermingham
Course:BTech Information Technology and Telecommunications (2002), PhD (2006)
Research: Yes
Themes:Computing
2000: For my Cooperative Education placement I spent nine months at Intel Ltd. in Leixlip, Co. Kildare. I worked within the Fab24 FTS department who were in charge of all the operating boxes (UNIX and Windows) for the running of the new fabrication.
2002: For my Final Year Project I designed and developed an interactive e-learning website to facilitate the acquisition and development of study skills, with the title “Skills SuperStore”: An Interactive Study Skills Web Site”.
2002: On completion of my undergraduate degree I continued on with third level education completing my PhD in 2006 titled “Skills SuperStore: An Innovative Skills Training Learning Content Management System”.
2006: I undertook a postdoctoral researcher position examining the feasibility and use of mobile applications to enhance the tourism sector. During my time as a postdoctoral researcher I worked on two project: (i) A Digital Diary which can be downloaded to visiting tourists’ personal mobile phones to track expenses incurred for the duration of their stay and (ii) An Electronic Guide for Irish tourist attractions.
2008: In July, I joined Martin Dawes Systems (MDS) as a Production Engineer. MDS specialise in billing, subscriber management and business assurance solutions for the convergent communications sector.
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Name:Michelle Carey
Course:BSc Financial Mathematics (2008), PhD (2011)
Research:Yes
Themes:Mathematics
2004: As maths was my best subject in school, I decided to undertake the BSc in Financial Mathematics degree in UL, as it had good career prospects, Actuarial services, Data Analysis including Market Research, Demographics and Medical Research, Financial Services including accounting lending analysis and investment analysis.
2007: I spent my Cooperative Education placement working at Ulster Bank (UB) Capital markets in Georges Quay, Dublin. I worked as a trainee risk analysis for nine months. Daily aspects of the job included checking that trading limits were not exceeded by the trading desk, updating credit limits (amount of money UB were will to lend to their customers) and pricing options on the market using Bloomberg and Reuters.
2008: On graduating I became a postgraduate researcher at MACSI. MACSI aims to bring together Industry and Mathematics. I have worked on projects with many companies since I started in MACSI. Bank of Ireland, Bord Gais, and Occam Asset management Company. My industrial research has been mainly involved in pricing products for Bank of Ireland and developing new low risk products that will perform well in today’s markets.
2011: My PhD is concerned with the development of generalised smoothing in functional data analysis. Functional data analysis is very popular area of statistics and is an essential tool for the development of many areas of research: brain imaging, melanoma skin cancer, the analysis of children’s growth curves, recurrence of sports injuries, quantifying risk for financial products (CDS) and many more.
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Name:Finola Cliffe
Course:BSc Environmental Science (2005), PhD (2010)
Research:Yes
Themes:Science
2003: I spent my Cooperative Education placement at Janssen Pharmaceutical Ltd. Little Island, Co. Cork where I received hands-on experience in an environmental waste treatment laboratory. I worked with a small team of technicians and became familiar with and was trained on the equipment required for environmental analysis and treatment. I also gained experience with the workings of a wastewater treatment plant.
2005: For my final year project, I looked at the regeneration of palladium and platinum catalysts for use in the hydrogenation of vegetable oil.
2005: I commenced my PhD which involved environmental aspects but was very biochemistry based. This work looked at the large scale production of plasmid vectors as delivery vehicles in gene therapy and the effects of their production on the environment. The waste streams generated from the production of plasmid DNA (pDNA) upon the environment were assessed and subsequently reduced by altering the phosphorus and nitrogen content of the culture media. The findings from this research were subsequently modelled using a flexible and user-friendly computer model which I developed to evaluate the possible environmental impacts.Thermal and enzymatic treatments of pDNA containing waste product streams were also evaluated in terms of their suitability for pDNA degradation.
2010: After the completion of my PhD I was employed at Vistakon Pharmaceuticals as a QC technician for several months.
2011: Currently, I am a member of the Glycobiotechnology Group in the Biochemistry Department of NUI Galway. I am working on a project that involves the development and optimization of novel enzymes to convert a commercial agri-food waste to high-value products, including sugar-rich energy feedstocks and biochemicals.
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Name:Kate Corish
Course:BSc Product Design and Technology (2007)
Research:No
Themes:Design
2007: I won two national awards for my Final Year Design Project, a manual handling device for sheet construction material.
2008: I embarked on a round the world trip.
2009: On return, I began working for one of the world’s leading medical device companies, Medtronic in Galway city. I am a member of the design engineering team working primarily on delivery system, user interaction and handle design. I work in the structural heart division where we work on minimally invasive, beating heart, heart valve replacement systems.
2010: I was promoted up a level from associate to engineer and was nominated by my company for Grad Irelands "Graduate Employee of the Year", in which I made it to the final 8.
The initial project I worked on was used in humans for the first time.
2011: Working as design lead for delivery system and handle design on a new heart valve project.
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Name:Sarah Jane Hackett
Course:BSc Financial Mathematics (2010)
Research:No
Themes:Mathematics
2006: I chose to study maths in college as I always liked it in school so it made sense to continue on studying a topic I enjoy. There is a lot of a variety within the Financial Mathematics course, incorporating the statistical and modelling sides of maths as well as some computing which was something completely new to me.
2008: For my Cooperative Education placement I worked at PriceWaterhouse Coopers in Dublin where I was employed as a member of the Market Risk Group. I found this was a great opportunity to apply the skills I had developed so far from my chosen programme of study and to gain relevant work experience. My role involved pricing different financial derivatives on a variety of projects.
2010: While completing my Cooperative Education placement I got the idea for my Final Year Project. This work involved developing both a statistical and numerical method for generating interest rates to price financial derivatives and then undertake a comparison of the results.
2010: Since graduating Iwas working in the Central Bank of Ireland for the Financial Regulator. I started off working with the Reinsurance team, supervising annual and quarterly returns from reinsurance companies. Iwas working with the Solvency II team on the Financial Analysis Unit. At present we are working on Solvency II templates which companies will be required to submit along with their annual returns.
2011: In August I started working with PrudentialInternational where I will be working as a trainee actuary and doing my actuarial exams in conjunction with this.
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Name: Brendan Hoare
Course:BSc Construction Management and Engineering (2009), MEng (ongoing)
Research:Yes
Themes:Engineering
2008: During my third year at UL, I succeeded in getting an eight month contract with John Sisk and Sons for my Cooperative Education placement. I gained great real world experience as a site engineer and junior construction manager on a wide variety of sites including Castletroy retirement village, CityEastPlaza and Analog Devices B.V. Working with Sisk, gave me the opportunity to put my academic knowledge into practice. It was great to work with such a wide range of professionals, understanding the industry from both the design and construction stages.
2011: While working at CityEastPlaza, I saw how the design and implementation of building services and methods of sustainable construction impacted the energy performance of a building. As a result, I was motivated to pursue a Master of Engineering degree in the area of building energy performance measurement using wireless technology. I have been able to use my management training to keep my project on schedule and I am thoroughly enjoying myself as it is a novel and interesting topic. While completing my research on campus, I am also teaching tutorials on subjects such as land surveying, design studio and labs in material science. I also enjoy volunteering at the Northside Learning Hub where I introduce kids to science and engineering concepts.
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Name:David Jeffreys
Course:BSc Computer Systems (2001)
Research: No
Themes:Computing
1998: During the summer break, I developed the test software for the first entirely Irish designed and manufactured portable computer which was targeted at the US Education Sector.
2000: During the summer break, before final year, I developed a small scale instant messenger with classmate John Savage, for Datamate which became their primary product. The product was the first step in establishing Datamate, and demonstrated the technical expertise in the organisation which helped the directors to raise investment capital to expand the business.
2001: Following graduation, I spent four years working in Datamate, with fellow graduate John Savage, as a software developer. Here we both developed a secure instant message platform aimed at the talent agencies in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The system is currently [2011] used by companies such as Universal Music Group.
2005: Set up Action Point Software Ltd. with John Savage, to provide a professional software development service to indigenous and international clients, with the company head office in Limerick.
2006: This year we made a strategic decision to expand the company service offerings to include IT Services which enabled us to win new contracts locally and nationally.
2011: In my role as Managing Director, I’ve worked with my colleagues to grow the company to 21 employees with offices in Limerick, Dublin, and Cork. This year we were awarded some grant aid from the Limerick County Enterprise Board to assist with further growth and I was nominated by EnterpriseIreland for the Enrst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award 2011, but failed to be short listed! (– I’ll be back!). We’ve also been successful in our application to IRCSET to sponsor a University of Limerick PhD student this year.
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Name: Brendan Kennedy
Course:BSc Industrial Chemistry (2001), PhD (2007)
Research: Yes
Themes:Science
2004: My PhD was based on the development of based on the development of microelectrode ensembles that have potential applications as the basis for low cost chemical sensors.
2007: I held the positions of Senior Electrochemist with Trustwater of Clonmel and Production Supervisor with Organic Lens Manufacturing of Ennis. I also spent three months working with Cenergy, a company located in China that develops project under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change.
2010: I am the Chief Technical Officer of HKPB Scientific Ltd., a research and development company at Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. The company focuses on the manufacture and sale of biomaterial called hydroxyapatite.
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Name: Aidan McGarry
Course:BSc Equine Science (2005)
Research: No
Themes:Science
2005: Following my degree I began working in the marketing department of Tote Ireland. Tote Ireland Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Horse Racing Ireland (HRI), with responsibility for the operation of a Totalisator on the 25 racecourses in the Republic of Ireland. Within this organisation, I was responsible for the day to day promotional work on the racecourses as well as the larger project planning that was required for the major promotions at the major racing festivals at Punchestown, Galway and so forth.
2007: I moved to HRI, which is a semi state body whose mission is to develop and promote Ireland as a world centre of excellence for horse racing and breeding. HRI encompasses Tote Ireland, Irish Thoroughbred Marketing, Racing
Department and the Racecourse Division. Within HRI, I am currently in the position of Customer Support Executive in the Racing Department. One of the key functions of this role is to provide an initial link between all 700 licensed trainers in the country and HRI. On a regular basis, I run induction days for all newly registered trainers, briefing them on what they can expect in their careers and generally being a first port of call if they come into any difficulties. This role also involves liaising with various organisations such as RACE, The Turf Club, Irish Trainers Association and so forth in relation to improving the system in which all licensed trainers interact on a daily basis with HRI.
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Name: Tom Melly
Course:BSc Applied Physics (1999), PhD (2004)
Research: Yes
Themes:Science
1997: I spent my Cooperative Education placement in Intel Ireland, based in Kildare. I worked in the Quality and Reliability group. I was lucky enough to work in two branches of the group, half of the time with the calibration group, which was in charge of the thousands of individual pieces of equipment used in the plant. This was a real test of the hands-on experience. When I was not working in calibration, I was shared with the reliability group where I used mathematical skills to monitor the factory output and ensure production was up to standard.
1999: I graduated with my degree in Applied Physics. I really enjoyed the course and found it both broad and diverse. It gave me an excellent grounding in physics, chemistry, material science, mathematics, electronics and computer programming, all of which I use in my career now. Other skills we take for granted are report writing, presentations, and developing
computer literacy.
1999: After completing the Applied Physics degree, I undertook a PhD exploring the area of III-V semiconductors and their chemistry. I completed my PhD in 2004. During that time, I gave public presentations at international conferences, helped external companies with physics related problems, was asked to teach physics and chemistry to secondary students for a year. I was involved in the Young Scientist demonstrations for several years.
2010: I work as a R&D engineer for Feasa Enterprises Ltd. in Limerick. My main role involved measuring physics of their colour/intensity LED measurement system. I also consult with customers in testing within the ever-growing LED new applications market covering areas as diverse as car headlamps, airplane strobe lights to agri-grow lights. I am also active in the fibre optic device area, where they are used as components in optical gyroscopes for the aviation industry.
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Name:Barry O'Connell
Course: BEng Mechanical Engineering (2005), PhD (2009)
Research:Yes
Themes: Engineering
2003: For the Cooperative Education aspect of my degree I worked at Boston Scientific's Research and Development department in Galway. I was the only student in the history of the company to file for a medical device patent while on Cooperative Education.
2005: On completion of my degree I was awarded an IRCSET scholarship to undertake a PhD in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Limerick. This research focused on drug transport from drug eluting stents used in the treatment of coronary artery disease.
2009: While completing my PhD I was involved in the creation of a new medical device for use in carotid artery disease for which the university has begun the process of obtaining a patent application.
2011: To date I have received funding in excess of €600,000 to bring this product to the commercialisation stage. In the coming months, it is hoped that this project will advance to a stage where a company can be formed around the technology.
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Name:Alison O'Connor
Course:BEng Aeronautical Engineering (2008), Graduate Diploma in Advanced Materials (2009)
Research:No
Themes:Engineering
2006: I completed my Cooperative Education with Luftansa Technik Turbines in Shannon, Co. Clare.
2008: Final Year Project: I carried out tensile experiments using C (T) specimens to find stress intensity and fracture toughness results.
2009: Graduate Diploma thesis: A literature review on polymer-clay Nano-composites.
2009: Began working with the European Space Agency (ESA) in the Netherlands in the Materials and Processes Section as a Young Graduate Trainee (YGT) on a research project entitled "Formation of Hydrides in Titanium at Slow Strain Rates"
2011: Currently a Project Leader at The Welding Institute (TWI) based in CambridgeUK for the Fatigue Structural Integrity Group. Work involves a combination of research and consultancy on fatigue issues for industrial applications.
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Name: Ciara O'Driscoll
Course:BEng Biomedical Engineering (2007), PhD ongoing
Research: Yes
Themes:Engineering
2003:(Ongoing) I work for the Mathematics Learning Support Unit at MaryImmaculateCollege, University of Limerick, delivering modules in foundations of Analysis for 1st year students and C++ programming for 2nd and final years. I have taught MSU classes for the Mathematics Department since 2003. I deal mainly with first and second year students and have had class sizes from 10 to as large as 100 some nights. These classes are really popular with the students and they attended regularly.
2005: For my Cooperative Education placement I worked within the Cardio department of Guidant Ltd. in Co. Tipperary. I oversaw two key project: Wetblast area design layout and testing the failure of lead-wires of both pacemakers and defibrillators.
2007: I designed and evaluated a balloon device that could be used in the treatment of postpartum haemorrhaging.
2008: On completion of my degree I decided to take a year abroad where I worked teaching Science and Mathematics to secondary school students in a school in Tanzania, East Africa.
2009:I returned to the University of Limerick as a research postgraduate student and began working on a project titled "Developing 3D Strain Rosettes to Analysethe stress at internal points within theCement Mantle of a Femoral Model of a Total Hip Replacement".