Gillian Keating – I Wish Co- Founder
Partner Ronan Daly Jermyn

Gillian leads Ronan Daly Jermyn Corporate department.  She is a highly regarded deal lawyer known for her work in the healthcare and technology markets.  

Gillian is an Adjunct Professor in the College of Business and Law at University College Cork (UCC) and in 2017 received an Alumni Achievement Award from UCC for her work with I Wish. 

Gillian is a co-founder of the multi-award winning I WISH  

Gillian is passionate about empowering the next generation of female leaders and innovators and ensuring our society enables these young women to participate fully in the economy of the future. 

Gillian has held and continues to hold non-executive board and audit committee positions in the private and public sector.  

Caroline O’ Driscoll –  I Wish Co-Founder
Partner Deloitte

Caroline is the Corporate and international tax partner with Deloitte Ireland focused on the technology sector. Caroline is a member of Deloitte’s European Diversity and Inclusion Council for the Technology Sector and a member of Deloitte Irelands Diversity and Inclusion Council.

Caroline is a member of the gender balance advisory group for the Department of Education to achieve better gender balance in STEM education at post-primary level.

Caroline is a board director of ReThink Ireland, Irelands Social Innovation Fund. And Chair of the finance committee and is also the immediate past chairperson of it@cork(2017-2019)

Caroline is Co-Founder of I Wish. Caroline says she looks to the girls who attend I Wish as they really inspire her to keep going on what has been a mad but amazing journey. She feels a huge sense of responsibility to enable every girl to live their brightest lives.

Caroline embarked on the I Wish journey with fellow co-founders because she could see the opportunity in STEM, but with less than 25% of the STEM workforce in Ireland being women she realised that there was a risk that her own daughter would not participate in the jobs of tomorrow, all she wants for her is equal opportunity of choice.

In conjunction with Cork City Council, I Wish won the 2015 Chambers Ireland Award for excellence in local government in the “promoting economic development” category, and a LAMA award in Best Education category.

2015 winner of the WMB Boots Empowering Women Award for work in promoting STEM.

Awarded one of the Top 10 outstanding young people (TOYP) of Cork in 2016 by Junior Chamber International and progressed to be named as one of the Top 10 outstanding people of Ireland in the national finals in 2016.

Along with fellow I Wish co-founders, awarded Cork Persons of the Month in March 2017,

UCC Achievement Award 2017, one of the highest honours that the university can bestow on a graduate.

American Chamber Cairdeas Award 2019

IT@Cork Chairperson Community Award 2019

Mary Robinson- Former President of Ireland, Adjunct Professor for Climate Justice Trinity College Dublin and Chair of The Elders

Mary Robinson served as President of Ireland from 1990-1997 and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997-2002. She is a member of the Club of Madrid and the recipient of numerous honours and awards including the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the President of the United States Barack Obama. Between 2013 and 2016 Mary served as the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy in three roles; first for the Great Lakes region of Africa, then on Climate Change and most recently as his Special Envoy on El Niño and Climate. Her Foundation, the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice, established in 2010, came to a planned end in April 2019. 

A former President of the International Commission of Jurists and former chair of the Council of Women World Leaders she was President and founder of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative from 2002-2010 and served as Honorary President of Oxfam International from 2002-2012. 

Mary Robinson serves as Patron of the International Science Council and Patron of the Board of the Institute of Human Rights and Business, is an Ambassador for The B Team, in addition to being a board member of several organisations including the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and the Aurora Foundation. She was Chancellor of the University of Dublin from 1998 to 2019. Mary’s memoir, ‘Everybody Matters’ was published in September 2012 and her book, ‘Climate Justice – Hope, Resilience and the Fight for a Sustainable Future’ was published in September 2018. 

London N. Breed, 45th Mayor of the City and County of San Francisco

Mayor London Breed is a native San Franciscan, raised by her grandmother in Plaza East Public Housing in the Western Addition neighborhood. In June 2018, Mayor Breed was elected to be the first African American woman and second woman in San Francisco history to serve as Mayor. She was re-elected for her first full four-year term in November 2019.

She is leading San Francisco’s ongoing response to COVID-19, with a focus on equity and supporting the City’s economic recovery. Under her leadership, the City launched a comprehensive COVID-19 testing strategy, provided millions of dollars in local relief for residents, small businesses, and communities most impacted by the pandemic, and developed a network of vaccination sites with the capacity to vaccinate at least 10,000 people per day.

Mayor Breed is focused on helping the City’s homeless population into care and shelter; adding more housing for residents of all income levels; helping those suffering from mental health and substance use disorder on San Francisco’s streets; ensuring that all San Franciscans have access to a thriving economy; making San Francisco a cleaner and safer city; and furthering

San Francisco’s leadership in combating climate change. In 2020, Mayor Breed announced her vision to fundamentally change the nature of policing in San Francisco and issued a set of policies to address structural inequities, including reinvesting in the city’s African American community.

Prior to public service, Mayor Breed served as Executive Director of the African American Art & Culture Complex in the Western Addition for over a decade. She also served as a San Francisco Redevelopment Agency Commissioner and in 2010 was appointed by then-Mayor Gavin Newsom to be a San Francisco Fire Commissioner, where she served until her election to the Board of Supervisors.

In 2013, Mayor Breed was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, representing District 5 for six years, including three years as President of the Board.

Anne O’ Leary – CEO Vodafone, Ireland

Anne O’Leary was appointed CEO of Vodafone Ireland in February 2013, having spent five years as Enterprise Director. She joined Vodafone from BT Ireland where she was Managing Director for six years and was previously Regional Director with Esat Telecom. 

As CEO of Vodafone, Anne is committed to continued investment in Ireland’s telecommunications infrastructure, resulting in Vodafone’s nationwide rollout of 4G and most recently the launch of 5G. She is also overseeing SIRO, Vodafone’s joint venture with the ESB, who are investing €450m in the roll out of high-speed fibre broadband across Ireland.  

Additionally, Anne is driving the gigabit society agenda in Ireland– with the explicit goal of access for everyone to 1 gigabit broadband speed. Equality of connectivity and the benefits that digital brings will change how everyone in Ireland lives, works and plays.  

A Cork native, Anne has long championed wellbeing, diversity and inclusion in the workplace. This has positioned Vodafone as an employer of choice in Ireland and help them achieve the Business Working Responsibly mark. Anne has served as President of Dublin Chamber and is currently Chair of Irish charity, GOAL. 

Anne joins the Board of South Africa’s Vodacom and the Board of Greencore in January 2021. 

Marie Moynihan – Senior Vice President – Dell Technologies

Marie Moynihan is Senior Vice President of Global Talent Acquisition for Dell Technologies.  Her team of over 500 talent professionals is spread across 40 countries around the globe, and hire more than 20,000 new team members annually for Dell world wide.  She is responsible for differentiating Dell as an employer of choice in the talent market and delivering a ‘best in class’ candidate  experience. Marie report’s to the CHRO and influences all key HR decisions for the company. 

Marie has been with Dell for more than 19 years holding a range of HR roles from Business Partner, HR leader for Dell EMEA, to Talent Management and Chief Diversity officer, to Global Talent Acquisition. 

Before joining Dell, Marie worked for Intel Corporation, heading up HR in their European manufacturing facility for eight years. She has also spent six years consulting in Industrial Relations with the Irish Business and Employers Confederation.   

In 2008 Marie gained external recognition in Ireland as Image Magazine’s ‘Professional Woman of the Year’ and, in 2012 and in 2015, she was nominated as one of Ireland’s ‘Top 25 Most Powerful Women’. She is married with one child and lives in Co Wicklow. 

Jacqui Hurley- I Wish 2021 MC – RTÉ Broadcaster

Jacqui Hurley is an Irish athlete, sports manager, sports broadcaster and chat show host employed by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). She is the co-presenter of Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1 and presents the sports news on RTÉ television news each day. Jacqui has played at the highest level in the sports of basketball and camogie and manages the Irish under-16 women’s basketball team. On 1 February 2009, she became the first woman to present a sports show on RTÉ Radio when she began working on Sunday Sport.

Jacqui recently launched her first book Girls Play Too which features inspirational stories from Irish Sportswomen

Brenda Romero – Video Game Designer

Brenda Romero is an award-winning game designer, Fullbright scholar, entrepreneur, artist, writer, and creative director who entered the game industry in 1981. She won a BAFTA special award in April 2017. Romero is best known for her work on the Wizardy series of role-playing video games and, more recently the non-digital series The Mechanic is the message.

Brenda became the first game designer in residence at the Games and Playable Media Program of the University of California at Santa Cruz. Brenda is currently the Program Director of the MSc program in game design and development at the University of Limerick

Charity Maziki- Storage Engineer-Dell Technologies

Charity Maziki is a Dell Storage Engineer currently working with the EMEA 24/7 Storage Support Team. Before working with Dell, she previously worked for a start-up organization as a Junior Database Administrator while completing her BSc (Hons) in Computer Science.

Outside work, Charity is a Google Developers Group (GDG Dublin) Co. Organizer and an ambassador for Women Tech-Makers (WTM Dublin). She also enjoys mentoring young females that are interested in engineering and those that are currently enrolled in engineering courses.

Charity is originally from Malawi and has been living in Dublin for the past 5 years.

Marion Buchet- Fighter Pilot & Instructor in the French Air & Space Force 

* Photo Copyright Patrice Olivier Aeropixalles

Marion Buchet has been serving as a fighter pilot and an instructor in the French Air and Space Force for nineteen years. She had the opportunity to fly the Mirage F1, the Alphajet and the Mirage 2000 and totalises almost 3000 flight hours. She has a Bachelor in Psychology and she is currently attending an Executive MBA in order to prepare for her second career. 

Marion has recently passed her second year! So she is joining the race for the bachelor this year! 

Lorraine Gustafsson- Commercial Products Manager- Hovione HE

Lorraine Gustafsson always had an interest in the sciences and the world around her.  She studied Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Applied Maths as her options for her Leaving Cert.  Lorraine studied Chemistry and Forensic Science in UCC.  It was a really good course, giving advanced knowledge of Chemistry coupled with Forensic investigation and analytical chemistry skills.  Following this, Lorraine completed a PhD in UCC in Crystallography of Pharmaceutically Relevant Compounds.  The PhD took 5.5 years and was tough, but rewarding.   

Lorraine began her career in the Pharmaceutical Sector through a Work placement.  She took a 3 month placement in Janssen Pharmaceutical Sciences, Little Island Cork in 2014 during her PhD.  Lorraine loved the work and the investigative side of things.  Following this, she returned to UCC to complete her PhD and about 1 year before her thesis was completed, a job became available in Janssen. 

Lorraine’s work for Janssen was multifaceted, varied and challenging.  She was responsible for a large suite of products and had the role of both Process Specialist/Engineer and Process Chemist.  This was ideal as it meant that she retained work both in a lab setting and also in the Manufacturing Plant. No two days are ever the same in this role, which really suited Lorraine and kept her interested. 

Following on from this role, Lorraine moved to take Operations Lead for the internal transfer of manufacturing processes within the site.  This gave her both Project Management and Validation experience, it was great growth for Lorraine.

After 4.5 years at Janssen, Lorraine was faced with the opportunity to move toward management.  She was offered the position as Commercial Products Manager at Hovione HE, Loughbeg, Ringaskiddy.  Hovione are a CMO, meaning that they manufacture products on behalf of their customers.  It’s a very different dynamic to her prior role as the Customer is always right.   Lorraine now manages a technical support team of 10 process engineers, who act as the Technical Support function for the site.  Lorraine says “It’s very interesting to now be in management.  The people side of things brings its own challenges and facets that were previously not there when I was not a Manager.  I do feel that I have a better understanding of the challenges faced by my Team, as I have done their job before.  It’s great perspective. “

Lorraine has now been with Hovione for over 1 year and says she is constantly learning. “I think that’s what keeps my mind interested.  Again it’s a job with great variety “

Lorraine’s Typical Day 

My typical day starts with Operational Meetings to get the processes moving on the floor.  I deal with escalations from my team and take them to the management meetings.  I usually then move on to tactical work, dealing with issues that have arisen from the day before and giving advice to my team.  I review a lot of documents and participate in root cause problem solving meetings and investigations, but more from a mentoring perspective now.  I am also involved in site strategic meetings, planning the production schedule and resourcing.  The job is very varied again, so a ‘typical’ day is hard to categorise. 

Type of Person 

I think you need an inquisitive mind for the role(s) that I have done, as well as strong analytical and problem solving skills.  You need to be methodical and have good written communication also. 

Overall, the job I do now utilises skills that I have gained through my university studies, PhD and all my previous roles, as well as demanding new and different ways of thinking from me. 

Lauren Andrews- UCC Graduate & Gold Associate at Johnson & Johnson

My name is Lauren Andrews and I am a recent graduate of UCC with a BSc (Hons) in Microbiology and a current GOLD associate with Johnson and Johnson. 

I made the most of my time in UCC where I played both GAA and was heavily involved in the UCC WiSTEM society. I have been involved since its founding year where I was on the PR team (2018/19), in my final year I chaired the society (2019/20) and I am currently the ex-officio for the society which goes hand in hand with supporting J&J’s WiSTEM2D team. In my final year over my term as chair I led the society to being awarded, UCC’S best academic society, UCC’s best overall society, UCC’s best collaborative event, UCC’s best SEFs* event UCC’s best overall event* and personally, I was awarded a Bene Meranti (outstanding individual award). These awards and accolades speak for themselves on paper however it was seeing the impact these events (*our inaugural IWISH UCC campus day) on so many both in UCC and further afield was how I could measure the success of the society.  

In my final year, I was very fortunate to also be awarded a J&J WISTEM2D 4th-year scholar along with previously winning an all Ireland camogie medal along the way. Something that will always stick with me is the saying ‘Only a fool leaves UCC with just a degree’. Over the past 4 years, my extracurriculars have made me the person I am today and my greatest accomplishments (excluding my degree) included winning a college All Ireland Camogie medal and Being awarded UCC’s best society proceeding winning UCC’s best new society. Both feats, both very different happen for the same reason, a strong team with a clear goal, working together with the guidance of well-experienced mentors. This is a concept I carry with me in everything I do, more importantly into my career with J&J. 

I am a current GOLD  associate (global operational leadership development) with J&J. This is a truly remarkable program I am very grateful to be a part of as it truly empowers me to accelerate my career growth. This entails of 3 rotations across each sector of the J&J supply chain across the EMEA region. My first rotation in Janssen in Cork on the Biologics Platform team within Clinical Supply Chain (BTDS –Biotechnological supply – Strategic Sciences & Technology Operations). In this role, I am responsible for managing, and overseeing the sourcing, scheduling, manufacturing execution, and delivery of large molecule drug substance clinical supplies projects from the Cork and Leiden manufacturing facilities. So far this role has put me through my paces and I have been lucky to become green belt certified in Lean fundamentals. I am lucky to work with a company that cares so much about diversity and inclusion and have had the opportunity to attend and work on some fantastic projects outside of my typical 9-5. At the end of March I will be moving onto my next role in Switzerland with Mentor, an experience I am very much looking forward to. 

Jodie Bermingham- Technical Support Engineer – VMware

Having graduated from Cork Institute of Technology in 2019, Jodie has been a member of the VMWare Global support Team. Sitting on the Networking team, she helps customers all over the world to solve their networking issues. 

Morwenna Lintott – UKI Industry Process Consultant Specialist – Dassault Systèmes 

Morwenna has a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cape Town. She moved to the UK in 2018 and now works as an Industry Process Consultant for Dassault Systèmes with a focus on change management and transformation. Morwenna is passionate about reimagining the Workforce of The Future and disrupting the status quo to create a culture which inspires and empowers young people.

Lucy Mulhall- Irish Womens Rugby Captain Stan McDowell’s Side

Lucy Mulhall played Gaelic Football with Wicklow before deciding to take up rugby having seen the success of the Ireland Women’s 15s side. She joined the Ireland Women’s Sevens programme in 2015, making her debut in Kazan of that year, and is currently captain of Stan McDowell’s side. Lucy also studied radiation therapy at Trinity College Dublin

Kate Leonard, 6th class pupil at Scoil Phádraig Naofa, Rochestown, Cork & U14 Girls Rugby Player

U14 girls rugby player.
Kate Leonard is currently in 6th class at Scoil Phádraig Naofa, Rochestown, Cork.
Kate originally joined Cork Constitution 2017 until moving to Highfield RFC in 2019, initially playing both mixed and girls rugby and now currently is playing under 14 girls rugby with Highfield RFC.
Her interests include, horse riding, unicycling, trail running, drama, watersports, cooking and currently zoom quizzes.

Sonja Eisenberg – Supply Chain Planner – Stryker 

Sonja Eisenberg is a UL Law & Smurfit Management Alumna, currently working as a Supply Chain Planner for Stryker as well as being one of the Stryker Women’s Network site representatives. 

A wide and diverse range of Stryker products are manufactured in Ireland including hip and knee system implants, bone cement and bone substitutes, surgical blades and micro-rotary burs which are used for cutting, drilling, burring and shaping bone and soft tissue during orthopaedic, spine, ear, nose and throat plastic surgery.   

The 2.5 year Stryker Supply Graduate Programme I was a part of in 2011 was key to the development of my career within Stryker and helped me understand all the different facets of the workings of medical device manufacturing facilities. It was key to building a key network of people across all areas of manufacturing and support.  

I’ve had the opportunity to be exposed to many of the areas of what Stryker does; both in Ireland and in Freiburg, Germany, throughout my last 10 years with Stryker and I’m currently working in the innovative and exciting area of Additive 3-D printing in Cork, Ireland. 

Working in supply chain you have a lot of different skills you have to use on a daily basis: you need to be a clear and concise communicator, be able to negotiate, have the ability to adjust to any manufacturing challenges that may arise and remember to think strategically as well as tactically, depending on your role. 

Grace Goldrick – Associate Manager. EASSO Commercial Finance, Global Information Technology, Colgate Palmolive  

Grace completed a 9-month internship with Colgate Palmolive as a Business Analyst, during her university degree. After completing university she returned to Colgate Palmolive, as a graduate and joined the finance applications team as a business analyst. Over the last 10 years, her career at Colgate has spanned across various different team projects, supporting and delivering many best in class technology solutions to help improve efficiency and drive growth for the Colgate business across Europe, Africa, and Eurasia.  

She now leads the Commercial Finance team.  

She loves to run, the sea, going on adventures, and a good cup of tea! 

Karen Egan – VP Global Support – VMware

Karen has over 23 years’ experience in the Software/IT industry with 18 years in Technical Support. Her career started as a software developer and since 1997 she has worked for American Corporations including Apple, Motorola , and VMware. Karen has held many roles within VMware Global Services and today is responsible for global support of new/strategic products, all customer escalations, and customer success for VMware’s on-premise solutions.   

Amy Lane – Engineering Manager – Dornan Engineering Ltd.

Amy Lane is Engineering Manager with Dornan Engineering Ltd. Amy holds a Bachelors Degree in Electrical Engineering and a BSc in Electrical Power Engineering. Amy has vast experience across many sectors in the Engineering and Construction industry including Power Generation, Oil & Gas, Mining, Data Centre, and Pharmaceutical. 

Kelly Conway – Technical Support Engineer – VMware

Kelly recently graduated from Cork Institute of Technology with a bachelor’s degree in business information systems. During her 3rd year in college, she completed a 6-month internship with VMware as a Technical Support Engineer. After a really positive 6 months, she knew she wanted to continue her journey with VMware. Once Kelly finished college she returned to VMware and has been working as a Technical Support Engineer Graduate for 6 months.  

Aine Gould- Talent Acquisition Team – Dell Technologies

My name is Aine and I work as part of the Talent Acquisition team in Dell Technologies. I joined Dell Technologies over 3 years ago as a graduate straight from college and since then I have learned so much! In college, I studied Business Studies at the University of Limerick which I always loved in school. A core part of my job in Dell Technologies is hiring both Graduates and Interns each year across the Business. I love meeting new people and building relationships and my job allows me to do that every day ? 

Sorcha O’ Sullivan- Electrical Apprentice – Dornan Engineering Ltd.

Sorcha O’Sullivan is a first-year Electrical Apprentice at Dornan Engineering Ltd. Sorcha holds a degree in Psychology, however always had an interest in interest in electronics, engineering and construction so has now started her trade apprenticeship with Dornan, working on a high profile pharmaceutical project in Cork.  

Joanna Isabel Espinosa Gomez- Technical Support Engineer – VMware

Joanna has a Bsc. In Computer science and an Msc. in Network management and telecoms. She has been a TSE of the enterprise apps team at VMware since December 2016. 

Kate Kenny- Vice President, Head of Sales UK & Ireland – Jacobs

When she’s not chasing her two young boys around, you’ll find Kate making an impact, whether it’s mentoring and helping to develop others, or in her diverse role here at Jacobs. In her role as Vice President, Head of Sales U.K. & Ireland, Kate and her team bring together knowledge and innovation from across the Jacobs organisation to challenge the way we solve problems and shape the next generation of solutions for our clients in a variety of markets.  Solutions that are better for the environment, better for people, and better for the economy. We put people at the heart of it all, thinking about how we connect communities in a sustainable and inclusive way. 

Kate rejoined Jacobs in 2018 as Director of Growth London and Cities, after a year away with a different opportunity and having previously held leadership roles with Jacobs. With 20 years’ experience in engineering consultancy, Kate has worked on the business cases for major U.K. infrastructure programs including Crossrail, High Speed Two, the expansion of Heathrow and Stansted airports and the Silvertown Tunnel in London. After A-levels , Kate went straight to Royal Holloway, University of London, to study Pure Maths, with no idea of what she wanted to do for a career. When she left university, she did bar work – in clubs and pubs around Brighton. “Perhaps not an obvious career step for a mathematician, but it was great fun,” Kate reflects. ”I loved being customer-facing and it gave me a great grounding in working with diverse people and handling difficult situations.” 

She then was invited to interview for a large engineering firm and accepted a job as a graduate transport consultant. There, she worked on all kinds of projects including analysis of the implementation of London’s congestion charging scheme, European cross-border traffic data exchange, modelling travel to airports and reviewing the impact of the Government’s 10-year plan for transport.  Things only progressed from there. Today, she says, her job is very diverse, “No two days are the same. I learn something new every day and am lucky to work with incredibly talented people.” 

Holly Lehane- Process Chemist at Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals

My name is Holly and I am a Process Chemist at Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals based in the Ringaskiddy API plant.

I started my career with Pfizer in 2017 when I worked as a Technical Operations student Chemist in Pfizer Ringaskiddy as part of my work placement between my third year and final year in UCC. Through this I developed my passion for meaningful work and my interest in industry.  After graduating from UCC with a BSc (Hons) in Chemistry of Pharmaceutical Compounds, I joined Pfizer in 2018 as a Continuous Improvement Project (CIP) Chemist before moving into the Process Chemist role in 2019. I have had the opportunity to gain both lab and plant experience as well as collaborating with others to achieve a shared goal.

Working in Pfizer has allowed me to continuously develop strong expertise in a variety of skill sets outside of my day to day role. I have completed a number of professional development programmes as well as further education courses. I am a huge advocate for STEM and set up the Ringaskiddy STEM Ambassador programme to encourage colleagues across the site to get involved in STEM. I am also an active member of the social events committee, the Great Place to Work Team as well as leading the site wide collaborative lab Safety, Quality and Excellence team for the past two years. During my time in UCC I was a member of the UCC Ladies Hockey Club Committee, The Chemical Society committee, uLink Peer Support Leader and Senior Chemistry Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) Leader. These have contributed significantly to my personal and professional development.

Elaine Clarke- Process Engineer-Jacobs Engineering

My name is Elaine Clarke and I’m a project engineer with Jacobs Engineering. I joined Jacobs in 2013 as a process engineer after completing my degree in Chemical Engineering in UCD, one year of which was an exchange year in UC Santa Barbara. I work on the design and build of pharmaceutical facilities across the world, some of the projects I’ve been on in the last 8 years have located me in Philadelphia, Texas, Netherlands, Hungary, Croatia and Belgium. I love the fast pace of project work and the fact that your job evolves with the evolving technology around you. I’m also a committee member of the ISPE  Emerging Leaders Ireland Affliate, a group which promotes networking and continual development within the pharmaceutical industry. The rest of the time I’m usually in a pair of rollerskates playing roller derby with Dublin Roller Derby, I was even lucky enough to make the Irish team for the 2018 world cup! 

Lydia Fitzgibbon – Converged Networks Analyst Vodafone

Lydia studied Electrical and Electronic Engineering in Trinity College Dublin, graduating in 2017. She then joined Vodafone’s Technology Graduate program in September of 2017 where she gained experience in a number of roles within the Technology department. In 2018 she began a full time role as a Converged Optimisation Specialist within Vodafone Networks. Since Dec 2020 she has been working as a Converged Networks Analyst on the Converged Performance and Analytics Team. The team work to optimise the performance Vodafone customers’ experiences on our Mobile and Fixed network. 

Since joining Vodafone, Lydia has actively championed STEM and women in Technology with a particular focus on closing the gender gap in STEM subjects at second level education. She is an active member of Vodafone Irelands Women’s Network, representing the early career demographic on the Steering Committee. She is also a member of the Connecting Women In Technology (CWIT) organisation and is the CWIT lead for Vodafone.  

Lydia has led CWIT’s Digital Futures programme for Vodafone, a programme which delivers interactive presentations to school children around the country about working in STEM environments – focusing particularly but not exclusively on young women. Lydia has also been an advocate and played a key role in inviting student teachers to come into Vodafone as part of the DCU Student Internship Program. This programme is designed to give teachers an opportunity to experience what it is like to work in a tech company, this enables them to encourage their students into STEM subjects and describe the exciting opportunities that are available to them, from first hand experience.  

Shreya Salehittal – Manufacturing Engineer – Johnson & Johnson Vision Care

I am a Manufacturing Engineer specialising in the Lens Fabrication process at Johnson and Johnson Vision Care. I graduated with a Bachelors in Biotechnology Engineering from the University of Pune in India in 2017. I completed my Masters from University College Dublin in 2018 before starting at Johnson and Johnson as a Graduate Engineer. I am currently working as a part of a multi-departmental team that includes Operations, Quality, Validation, and other Engineering functions on installing and validating new, fully automated production lines that make high volume medical devices (contact lenses). 

Deirdre McGovern – Portfolio Manager- Stryker

Deirdre is a Portfolio Manager within the Neurosurgical division of Stryker. She is responsible for creating and driving a global strategy for new product development with Stryker Neurosurgical. ​

Deirdre has been with Stryker for 8 years holding a range of roles from Research and Development Design Engineer, Advanced Manufacturing Engineer, to commercial marketing roles in various European Brand Management positions, to her current strategy centered role of Portfolio Manager.​

Deirdre has always had an interest in the creation of products that will make a difference to the world we live in. She studied Mechanical Engineering in Dublin Institute of Technology. With her engineering background, Deirdre has shown that the “problem solving” mindset learned through her studies, can be taken into almost any business function, winning a “European Marketer of the Year” award, just one year into her marketing career.​

Deirdre moved to Cork, Ireland when joining Stryker within the Research and Development team, and then to Amsterdam, Netherlands when she moved into Marketing 5 years ago. She lives in Amsterdam with her husband Alan.​

Deirdre’s biggest passion is people development. She believes by lifting each other up, we all grow and develop professionally and personally.

Oscar Carolyn- Director, Global Channel, Alliances and Design Solutions Services Sales Programs – Dell Technologies

An experienced, collaborative leader in the Technology Services industry with a broad skillset. A proven track record in establishing and leading high performing teams to deliver our strategic goals while developing diverse talent in current roles and for career progression. 

Passionate about driving positive impact back into our communities and environment. 

Tricia Smyth-Head of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I)  in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) for Dell Technologies

At Dell Technologies,  Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) is more than what we do – it’s who we are. Having full leadership buy-in is critical when creating real change within organisations, and as part of her role, Tricia works with business leadership teams to drive a business-driven culture of diversity inclusion and to ensure Dell remains an employer of choice.   

Tricia is also responsible for driving leadership commitment, engagement of customers and team members in the D&I agenda, and promoting partnerships and engagements with global companies and advocates.   

With over 4,000 team members in Ireland, Tricia is well-positioned at the centre of Dell Technologies’ international operations. Based in Cork, Ireland, Tricia brings a wealth of international experience across her +15 years’ of passionately driving D&I initiatives and employee engagement across all of her previous roles.

Sorcha Healy-Principal Engineer and Senior Data Scientist – McAfee

Sorcha Healy is a Principal Engineer and Senior Data Scientist with McAfee in the Office of the Chief Technology Officer.  Sorcha is a technical leader in Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Analytics Projects for our internal classification and prioritization, working closely with McAfee’s Chief Data Scientist to further analytic capabilities across McAfee.   She has led research in  projects such as MVISION Insights which was demoed by the CTO at our Customer show MPOWER in Las Vegas.   She has partnerships with Applied Maths in UCC on Anomaly Detection in computer networks and mentors interns from CIT and UCC.  Her research career started in the Physics Departments of UCC and the Tyndall Institute where she was involved in the modeling of semiconductor and photonic materials and  devices.  Thereafter she spent 4 years in the Revenue Commissioners as an analyst and a project manager before being recruited by McAfee to develop internal efficacy statistics in 2014. 

In her personal life, Sorcha has 2 rugby-mad children and she coaches and manages her daughter’s teen Rugby team. 

Roberta Santora- Data Scientist Manager – Facebook Zurich

Roberta Santoro grew up in a small village in the south of Italy. Motivated by her passion for math and biology, she decided to study Biomedical Engineering at the University of Pisa (Italy). After completing her Masters, she moved to The Netherlands, where she obtained a Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Maastricht. Her research focused on developing novel experimental and analytics techniques to understand how the human brain extracts information from sounds. After nearly 5 years in The Netherlands, she joined her now-husband in Switzerland, where she decided to leave academia and look for a job that would meet her interest in statistics, coding, and human behaviour. She joined Expedia as the first Data Scientist on her team, where she optimized experiments aimed at improving users’ experience. She now leads the Analytics team at Facebook Zurich, where her team enables data-driven decisions to build the technology of future VR and AR products. 

Aoife Glynn – Quality Technician- Johnson & Johnson

My name is Aoife Glynn. I recently completed an undergraduate degree in Science, majoring in Neuroscience at University College Dublin. In the final year of my degree, from August 2019 to January 2020, I completed a full-time industry-based research internship at Cerenovus, a part of the Johnson and Johnson family of companies in Galway. I was employed as a student engineer within the Research and Development department. Upon completion of my undergraduate degree in June of 2020, I was offered a full-time position in Cerenovus as a Quality Technician. In addition, Cerenovus have supported me in completing an application to continue working with them on Postdoctoral research in the field of Bioengineering. 

Phoebe Desmond- Manufacturing Engineering Apprentice, specialising in 3D Printing, DePuy Synthes Cork

I am a Manufacturing Engineering Apprentice working in DePuy Synthes Cork, specialising in 3D Printing. I finished the Leaving Certificate in 2019 and started my apprenticeship the same year. I work in New Product Introduction, working on developing 3D printed implants. 

Amanda Adewole, Creative Director for Black and Irish, Podcast Host and Digital Content Creator, Scientist & Researcher

Amanda Adéwole is podcast host and digital content creator based in Kildare. Also the Creative Director for Black and Irish, Amanda is passionate about young people and pushing for change in social justice issues. 

I originally applied to the Bioscience with Biopharmaceuticals programme in IT Carlow. However, ended up changing direction after my second year and ultimately found myself in Analytical Chemistry.

For about 8 months after finishing, I continued on as a researcher, expanding on the results I got from my final year project. Investigating antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria on micro-plastics.

Niamh Waldron – Engineering Manager Facebook Cork

Niamh Waldron is currently an engineering manager at Facebook Ireland working on developing the next generation VR/AR products. She was previously with Imec, Belgium where she was a technology researcher and led teams working on advanced integration and material solutions for microelectronic applications. Niamh studied Applied Physics at the University of Limerick and graduated with a PhD in Electronic Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US. 

Marie Fleming, Associate Engineering Geologist, Arup

Marie Fleming is an Associate Engineering Geologist who leads Arup’s European Applied Geology team, as well as the global Applied Geology Skills Network. With over 20 years’ experience, Marie uses her background in geology, geophysics and geotechnics to assess the physical conditions of the ground at project sites. Marie provides expert advice on the soil and rock beneath our feet and helps to determine if sites are suitable for construction and the best place to locate buildings or infrastructure. Originally from Limerick, Marie is a graduate of UCC and Imperial College London and is a visiting lecturer in Engineering Geology at a number of universities. She was President of the Institute of Geologists of Ireland from 2015 to 2017. Marie is delighted to be speaking at I Wish and will tell the students about the power and diversity of a career in STEM, as well as the opportunities it provides for each of us to contribute to shaping a better world and a more resilient future.   

Danielle van Manan, Senior Project leader in Viral Vaccine Discovery in Janssen Vaccines & Prevention

Danielle van Manen is senior project leader in Viral Vaccine Discovery in Janssen Vaccines & Prevention, located in Leiden, the Netherlands. As COVID-19 vaccine discovery program project leader, together with a great team of scientists, she was responsible for identifying, and preclinical testing of Janssen’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate. 

Danielle is a chemist by training at the University of Utrecht and received her PhD in host genetics in HIV-1 infection and disease progression at the University of Amsterdam. She joined Janssen in 2011 as a scientist in the HIV vaccine program. As project leader in Vaccines Discovery, she did lead discovery teams on the discovery of HIV vaccine, therapeutic cancer vaccines, and recently a COVID-19 vaccine candidate. 

Dr. Pixie McKenna, Doctor and TV Personality

Dr. Pixie McKenna is an Irish doctor and television personality. She is best known for her work on the Channel 4 series Embarrassing Bodies

Born in Ireland, Dr McKenna attended medical school in UCC graduating in 1995.

After qualifying as a general practitioner in 1999, Pixie moved to the UK and practised in Notting Hill London for three years. She then set up a GP practice in Ireland while continuing sessional work at Harley Street. In the public sector, she acts as a clinical assistant in sexual health and dermatology for the NHS and has worked at a number of London teaching hospitals.

Adriana Vlad – Software Engineer Facebook London

Hi, I am Adriana. I have been working at Facebook as a Software Engineer for over 4 years. Before joining the company full-time, I’ve worked at a small start-up in Bucharest, Romania, and completed a couple of internships at Twitter and IBM Research. I first arrived at Facebook as an intern, while I was still in collage, pursing my computer science degree, and I can say I did not want to leave after. During my time here I was given the opportunity to work in several different teams, on different projects, but the area I found most interesting is the one I currently work in, which is virtual reality. The team I work in builds applications to help people be productive and collaborate in virtual reality. What do I think about in my spare time? I am super passionate about architecture, one of the reasons being that I also have a bachelor’s in architecture. I also like very, very long walks in nature.  

Eimear Crotty Site Reliability Engineer Google Dublin

Eimear works as a Site Reliability Engineer in Google Dublin. Her main area of work is on the Google Cloud Platform. 

Previous to working at Google, Eimear studied at University College Cork where she received her BSc in Computer Science in 2017 with First Class Honours. She has also worked at Teamwork.com in Cork and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge. Eimear recently graduated from Bournemouth University with an MSc with Distinction in Computer Animation and Visual Effects. 

Claire McSweeney, Quality Engineer, Merck Millipore

Claire graduated from UCC with a Bachelors’ degree in Physiology. Following a short venture in retail management, Claire completed a Masters in Molecular Cell Biology with Bio-innovation in UCC. Claire began her career in Merck in September 2018 as a QC Analyst in the Analytical Labs. Recently Claire progressed in Merck to a Quality Engineer of one of the product manufacturing areas (CMF). Claire supports the cross-functional team in CMF, by identifying and mitigating risks to the product as well as ensuring high standards are maintained. 

Niamh Gillen, Innovation Engineer, Gas Networks Ireland

My name is Niamh Gillen. I am 25 years old, come from Co. Fermanagh and I enjoy playing piano and Gaelic football. During school, I had a love for science and geography so I undertook a degree in Geology and Petroleum Geology at the University of Aberdeen. After graduation, I got a place on the Ervia Graduate programme. This began my career in decarbonisation technologies for the gas network, with a main focus on Carbon Capture and Storage and Biomethane. I now work for Gas Networks Ireland as Innovation Engineer and I am undertaking a Masters in Project Management, in the hope of managing large decarbonisation projects in the future. 

Marta Carrara Structural Engineer, Arup

Marta Carrara is a Structural Engineer at Arup. Since joining Arup in 2018, Marta has worked on a wide variety of projects, including designing industrial plants, offices and data centres. In addition to the structural design of buildings, Marta has a keen interest in sustainable development and enhancing the liveability of cities. Marta says a career in STEM broadens your horizons and it is strongly related to all aspects of life. You can have many different opportunities and it’s a continuous learning experience. 

Laura Corbett, Data Analyst, Vodafone

I’m Laura, I’m 23 and I studied Physics and Astrophysics in college. At the moment, I am on the Vodafone Graduate Programme and work as a Data Analyst on the Fixed Team. In the past, I have worked as a Scrum Master and a Project Management Intern within IT.  

I am very passionate about STEM Education, particularly Women in STEM, and I am currently Teen Turn lead within Vodafone. Through this work, we provide mentors to girls from disadvantaged backgrounds who are developing apps and creating projects for events such as the BT Young Scientist. It’s a privilege to see the girls flourish and reach their full potential with a slight steer in the right direction.  

Treasa Jones Senior Structural Engineer, Arup

Treasa Jones is a Senior Structural Engineer at Arup. Having previously worked in New Zealand for seven years, Treasa has unique experience in designing structures for earthquake resilience, and in retrofitting and strengthening existing buildings. She has been back in Ireland for almost three years and is currently working on the new structural design of a data centre and a new library in Clare. Buildings currently account for 40% of all carbon emissions in the world and Treasa is excited for more young people to get involved with Engineering and the built environment so that we can really push for change in the industry and reduce this percentage. We need new ideas and a sense of urgency and ownership of the problem. 

Jessica McCarthy, Engineering Director within Site Reliability Engineering Google

Jessica currently holds the position of Engineering Director within Site Reliability Engineering in Google. Where her focus is on the reliability of Google global network infrastructure, software and services ( WAN, Edge, GCP). 

Prior to joining Google, Jessica was a Senior Staff Research Scientist/Principal Investigator with Intel Labs. Her main focus was on the research and development of future dependable cyber physical systems. Jessica’s interests include distributed systems, cyber physical systems, information centric networking, embedded systems, big data technologies, sensing, cloud computing, infrastructure management, enterprise architecture amongst others.  

Jessica has authored several scientific papers and holds a number of patents in the field of IoT, service orchestration, and information centric networking. 

Jessica is the chair of women in big data (WiBD) Irish Chapter and is passionate about building a diverse and inclusive technical pipeline of talent. She is the sponsor of Generation Google Scholarship: for women in computer science in Ireland. 

Jessica graduated with a B.Sc. from the National University of Ireland Maynooth 1999, she was awarded an honours M.Sc. in Computing from the Dublin Institute of Technology 2008 and was awarded PhD from Trinity College Dublin in June 2019. 

Margaret Akano, Rachel Akano & Joy Njekwe , Co-Founders of Memory Haven Dementia App

Margaret Akano

Margaret Akano just started her Medical journey. She has a huge passion for the sciences, particularly biology. The workings and functions of the human body has always been of interest to her. and always been fascinated by technology and the ways in which it can be used to assist people in their daily lives. That is why she jumped at the opportunity to take part in the Technovation Entrepreneurship Competition. Her team, Memory Haven took home the grand prize in the senior girls division and the People’s Choice Award 2020. The purpose of the app is to support and promote the independence of people living with Dementia, while also empowering their families and supporting their caregivers using assistive technology.  

Rachael Akano   

is a 15 years old student at the Sacred Heart Secondary School from Drogheda, Co Louth. She has a love for business and app development and has had a fascination for hardware and electronics for as long as she can remember. While the other girls her age were playing with Barbie dolls, Rachael was fixing and repurposing old gadgets that she would find around my house. After Secondary school, her dream course for university is Business and IT. When given the opportunity to take part in the Technovation World Summit 2020 alongside Joy Njekwe , sister Margaret Akano and Evelyn Nomayo, she jumped at the opportunity. “It would’ve been foolish not to! ”she states. The award-winning app Memory Haven was designed to empower and promote the independence of people living with dementia while supporting their families and caregivers. Although extremely passionate about business and IT, Rachael also has  a deep seeded love for music. When not working with the Memory Haven Team or studying hard to achieve her dream course, The young budding musician spends her time writing music playing different instruments and singing her heart out!  

Joy Njekwe  

Joy Njekwe is an exceptional student at Our Lady’s College Greenhills where she studies physics, chemistry, economics, French and the core three subjects all at a higher level and is known for her curiosity in regard to science and engineering. The prospective computer engineer strives to bridge the gap between health care and science and her scientific passion has earned her many opportunities such as coming second in the Social Technology Challenge in the Essence Awards 2018 and winning the Grand Prize and People’s Choice Award in Technovation 2020. At the age of 17, Joy has established herself as a Co-Founder of Memory Haven an app designed to help improve the lives of individuals living with Dementia, their families and their caregivers.  

Anne Moore, Sustainability Manager, Gas Networks Ireland

With a background spanning 22 years in Environment and Health and Safety roles, Anne Moore was recently appointed as Gas Networks Ireland’s Sustainability Manager. An honours BSc Chemistry graduate with Post Graduate Diplomas in Environmental Protection, Occupational Health and Safety and Occupational Hygiene, Anne is also the Honorary President of the Occupational Hygiene Society of Ireland.   

Pooky Mitchell, Graduate Consultant Arup

Pooky Mitchell wanted to have the variety, creativity and control in her career that would allow her to make an impact in something worthwhile. Thanks to STEM, she now achieves this as a Graduate Consultant on Arup’s Intelligent Mobility team where she specialises in Intelligent Transport Systems, self-driving cars and improving the sustainability of the transport network. At I Wish, Pooky hopes to be able to give advice around STEM and show how it provides young women with endless opportunities to make a difference in themselves and in the world. 

Emily Long, Design Verification Engineer, Qualcomm

Emily studied Electrical and Electronic Engineering in University College Cork, graduating in 2019. While working towards her degree, she spent her summers first as an Engineering intern in Firecomms, and then as a research assistant in the Electrical Engineering department in UCC. After graduating, Emily joined Qualcomm as a Design Verification engineer, working on the Security team. She is passionate about promoting STEM and women in technology, and since joining Qualcomm she has spent time working with TY students, both in the office and through virtual school visits. 

Leanne Dicker, Control Systems Engineer, Arup

Leanne Dicker is a Control Systems Engineer on the Controls team at Arup. Since joining Arup in 2018, she has worked on a wide range of projects from school extensions to data centres and is currently working on hospital designs. Leanne is passionate about coming up with creative and efficient solutions to modern-day problems. Leanne is looking forward to sharing her experiences in STEM and hopes her journey inspires others.  

Una O’ Grady, Senior Civil Engineer, Arup

Una O’Grady is a Senior Civil Engineer on Arup’s Energy team. Una has spent over eight years delivering energy and sustainability projects in Ireland and abroad and is particularly interested in making the energy sector more sustainable. She returned to Ireland in 2018 and is currently working on projects to transition the energy sector to lower carbon emissions and help meet climate change targets. Una is looking forward to speaking to the students at I Wish about the opportunities STEM offers to solve the challenges we face today. While logic and reason are important skills for engineers, Una believes that showing empathy and striving to make people’s lives better are crucial to have a successful career in STEM. 

Laura Hueston, Founding Director of Sustainability Works

Laura is a sustainable financial consultant and a Founding Director of Sustainability Works, a multi-disciplinary sustainability consulting firm.  Laura is passionate about highlighting the key role that the financial sector must play in mobilising finance to tackle climate change and other global sustainability challenges. She lectures and advises on a broad range of sustainable finance topics, including responsible investment, energy efficiency finance, and renewable energy finance. She also devises and develops ideas around using finance as a tool to drive citizen engagement on climate action in Ireland.  A Chartered Tax Adviser and a Chartered Accountant, she has over 20 years of experience across practice and industry.   

Amanda Burridge – Site Reliability Engineering Manager- Google

Amanda Burridge graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University. After working a few years as a software developer for Compunetix, Amanda was recruited as a Site Reliability Engineer in 2014 to Google’s office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in America.  

For the first two years at Google, Amanda worked for Hardware Operations SRE–the team that supports all the automation that keeps Google’s datacenter machines healthy for Google’s users. in 2016, Amanda initiated a transfer to Google’s engineering office in Dublin, Ireland, working for the same team. In 2018, she joined Networking SRE, the team that supports Google’s enormous network, and stepped into management that same year in October 2018.  

Dr Mary Moloney Lecturer, Researcher and Work Placement Co-ordinator in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering at Munster Technological University, Cork 

Dr. Mary Moloney, Lecturer, Researcher and Work Placement Co-ordinator in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering at Munster Technological University, Cork and Lecturer at the Cork Centre for Architectural Education.

Mary is a Fellow of Engineers Ireland and Fellow and Council member of the Irish Academy of Engineering. Mary graduated with her PhD from UCC, she also has a Postgraduate Diploma in Environmental Engineering from Trinity College Dublin, and a certificate in Health and Safety from UCD.

Prior to commencing her academic career, Mary held many positions in industry as: a Structural Designer; Construction Manager; Senior Projects Engineer; and Procurement Team Leader with Pfizer.  

Mary is deeply committed to promoting STEM careers, particularly with female students. She is currently the MTU I Wish STEM ambassador, co-hosting and co-ordinating a campus week annually for 80 female transition year Students in MTU-Cork.

Mary’s research interests include: engineering education and the use of digital media; promotion of females in STEM; sustainable infrastructure development and delivery; and project management and delivery.

Hannah Ahern, Final Year Biomedical Engineering Student in MTU & I Wish Alumni

Hi, my name is Hannah Ahern. I am a Final Year Biomedical Engineering Student in MTU. In secondary school, I loved maths and technical graphics/DCG and so when I visited the IWish exposition when I was in Fifth year it opened my eyes to the huge range of courses and careers available in Engineering/STEM fields. The similarities I shared with people working in these roles in terms of what I enjoyed and found interesting in school led me to further consider all of the options available in STEM fields. This is how I discovered Biomedical Engineering. My course specifically teaches us how the human body works, how it allows us to move and complete every-day tasks, and also about all of the medical devices that are made by engineers in order to improve the function of the human body. It is incredibly interesting, and I would highly recommend a career in the Engineering Industry.

Jillian O’ Donoghue, Final Year Biomedical Engineering Student in MTU & I Wish Alumni

I’m Jillian O’Donoghue. I’m in 3rd year biomedical engineering student in MTU. Maths was always my favourite subject in school, I thought I would study accounting in college but I ended up not liking the subject in 5th year. It’s because of events like the IWISH exposition, which I attended in Transition Year, and with encouragement from my careers guidance counsellor that I considered studying engineering. I started in Common Entry engineering in first year because I wasn’t sure which type of engineering would best suit me. I found that biomedical engineering combined the subjects I liked the most in school – maths, physics, and biology. I am the treasurer of the WiSTEM society so I get to continue some bit of accounting! I personally think it’s very important to encourage girls to study STEM and that is why I am delighted to be involved in this event!

Alison Adriaansen, First Year Student student studying Software Development in MTU & I Wish Alumni

My name is Alison Adriaansen and I am a first-year student studying Software Development at MTU. I am passionate about all things technology related! I attended both the I Wish Cork City Hall event and the CIT Campus Week. I found both events very enjoyable and they really opened my eyes to the importance of gender equality in STEM fields!

Aideen Buckley, Third Year Structural Engineering Student student at MTU & I Wish Alumni

My name is Aideen Buckley. I am a third-year Structural Engineering student at MTU. I chose to study engineering as I loved maths and construction studies in secondary school. The IWISH programme does great work encouraging young women to pursue their interests in the STEM sector and I have been lucky enough to participate in some of the events that have taken place during my time at MTU.

Crischelle Pana, Software Consultant, Guidewire

My name is Crischelle Paña and I was born in the Philippines.  

I came to Ireland when I was 10, but basically grew up in Carlow.  

I’ve always been interested in Math, Physics, and science-related subjects because of the problem-solving aspect of said subjects. I really liked fixing problems, finding solutions, and figuring out how things worked.  

I love helping young girls realize what they could be and encouraging them to push boundaries! I love the unbelievable fact that I can be a role model to these young girls and help shape their minds. It’s rewarding. 
I also love the fact that I can represent a minority group in the sector that I’m in. 

Computer Science wasn’t actually on top of my CAO list for the first half of my 6th year. It was medicine. I researched a little bit more about this course and it intrigued me.  

It was something new, something I definitely wanted to try. I studied Computer Science in UCD for four years. Now I am working in Guidewire 2 years as a software consultant.  

Emily Mulqueen, Drinking Water Compliance Analyst, Irish Water

I am a Drinking Water Compliance Analyst for the Eastern Region, currently working from home in Cork City. As a compliance analyst, my main objective is to make sure that Irish Water is meeting its drinking water regulations, set out by law. I previously completed the Irish Water Graduate programme, which is composed of three 8 month rotations in three technical areas of Irish Water. I had rotations in Environmental Regulation (my current department), Asset Operations and Capital programmes. I then took on a role as Efficiencies Coordinator in the Southern Region. 

I studied Microbiology in UCC, having a particular interest in Environmental and Food Microbiology. This led me to apply for the graduate programme, as I wanted to gain experience in areas outside of the lab. I liked the idea of different rotations as I still hadn’t decided which area to fully specialise in. It is also a great opportunity to work with people from various disciplines, to try and understand the ins and outs of the whole company. It really prepared me for my current role. I have also recently completed a Higher Diploma in Food Science and Technology to further develop my understanding of this area. 

I chose science after secondary school as I always had an interest in biology and enjoyed studying it for the leaving cert. I didn’t know what area exactly I wanted to work in and so I thought a science degree would be a good base to have. It’s such a broad area, with so many different career opportunities and so I would recommend it to anyone who is unsure of what course to put on the CAO. 

My favorite thing about working in science is that it is so broad. Contrary to what many people believe, you are not restricted to lab work. Whether you prefer to work mainly on your own, or you are a complete people person, there is an area of science for you.  

Miriam Grant, Civil Engineer, Irish Water

My name is Miriam Grant. I am a Civil Engineer who has been working in the water sector since graduating in 2013. I hold a BEng in Civil Engineering and an MEng in Engineering Management, both from University College Dublin.  

My experience has been in water operations and planning, and more recently I have been involved in the preparation and programming of the National Water Resources Plan in Irish Water. The plan will identify how we will provide a sustainable, secure and reliable water supply to our customers for now and into the future whilst safeguarding the environment. 

In my spare time, I love hiking and travelling which is sadly on hold for now, but I can’t wait to start planning again! 

Christina Colby, Chief Customer Officer, Guidewire

Christina is the Chief Customer Officer at Guidewire, who provide core software solutions to the insurance industry.  Though she went to university to pursue an architecture degree, she quickly pivoted to business and technology when she realized how creative she could be there as well. Over her career, she has also held leadership roles in a global technology consulting firm and a start-up which was acquired as a unicorn (over $1B).

And, though COVID-19 has kept her grounded, she typically travels around the world working with customers and is lucky to live in both New York and London!

Catherine O’ Brien, Senior Manager, Accenture

Catherine is a Senior Manager at Accenture leading the Renewable Energy and Sustainability practice area for Energy and Utility clients in Ireland. She supports local and global businesses to shape their energy transition strategy with particular emphasis on the role of technology as global climate ambition accelerates.  

Catherine is a Chartered Engineer by background having completed her degree in Civil Engineering at NUIG and masters in Sustainable Energy Engineering at UCC. Prior to Accenture, Catherine held a variety of diverse roles at ESB over almost a decade, from wind and solar energy engineering, to energy trading, to strategy and innovation where she developed new low carbon energy businesses for ESB.  

Having also completed her MBA at UCD Smurfit, Catherine is deeply interested in how she can bring her energy engineering and business strategy experience together to help business and society accelerate Ireland’s sustainable development agenda.  

Catherine will share with you the diverse and exciting experiences she has had on her career journey to date, and will explore the world of opportunity a STEM career can offer.  

An Taoiseach Micheál Martin 

Jean Lucey, Laboratory Manager, Analytical Services, Merck

Jean Lucey is a Laboratory Manager, Analytical Services, Merck.  Having graduated with a Bsc in Microbiology from University College Cork, Jean spent a short period of time in academia before transitioning to a Microbiology Laboratory Analyst position with Merck within the Life Science Sector.  Jean has held multiple roles across the Quality Assurance function of her organisation, from her initial role as a Microbiology Analyst to Quality and Validation Engineering roles supporting product manufacture, culminating in her current role as Laboratory Manager for Analytical Services for Merck Cork. Jean has always been passionate about Science and loves working in a challenging environment where she continues to grow, develop and learn. 

Clíodhna Connolly, Solutions Engineer, Deloitte

Clíodhna graduated from UCD with a Computer Science degree in 2017 and shortly after re-joined the Consulting department in Deloitte where she had previously worked as an intern. She has been with Deloitte for almost 4 years, and throughout that time she has been working on the same large public sector client. Clíodhna and her team member’s work together to transition more and more of their client’s services online so that they are readily for customers whenever and wherever they are.  She works alongside other Developers, Testers and Business Analysts with her day-to-day tasks consisting of the development of new components of their client’s website and internal tools in accordance with the clients requirements.

Julieanne Fleming, Senior Manager, Systems Engineering, Deloitte Ireland

Julieanne decided back in 2008 that a career in politics wasn’t for her so declined her CAO offer. Instead, Julieanne decided at the time to take up a vacant place on a new undergraduate course in DCU, BSc. Enterprise Computing. Julieanne dived head first into the world of technology and hasn’t looked back since! In 2012, she joined Deloitte Ireland on their consulting graduate programme as a Technology Analyst.  Today, she leads a multi-disciplinary team of 20+ technology consultants on a large scale digital transformation programme. Her team consists of Business Analysts, Testers and Developers who work together to design, develop and deliver digital solutions in an agile environment.

Julieanne’s day-to-day consists of team check-ins, project planning, requirements gathering, and communicating with project stakeholders. The best part of her job is mentoring team members in their roles and unlocking potential! Outside of work, Julieanne loves to travel and hike.

Emma Keating, MC at I Wish Social Media Hub, Marketing Advisor at MDP 

Emma Keating graduated from Commerce, UCD in 2015 and has since pursued a career in Marketing. Emma is currently a Marketing Advisor at the Marketing Development Practice (MDP) based in Smurfit Graduate Business School. She has been working alongside a team of MDP masters students running the ‘I Wish’ social media accounts in the lead-up to the 2021 event. 

Fenella Riordan, MC at I Wish Social Media Hub, Student at Rockwell College Tipperary

I have a passion for food and social media, I run an Instagram page which I have built a following of over 500 in the last 9 months. On this page, I share my cake creations along with recipes and many other things.

I’m an active member of the sanctuary runners and I also assist them in the running of their social media accounts. 

Health and fitness also play a big role in my day-to-day life, having played many sports over the years including hockey, swimming, basketball, and gymnastics. 

 I’ve a keen interest in the hospitality, food and events industries, and in the future I aspire to be a successful businesswoman. 

Muireann Heaney, I Wish Alumni & 2nd-year Mathematical Sciences and Physics Student in UCC

Hi I’m Muireann Heaney, I’m a 2nd-year Mathematical Sciences and Physics Student in UCC. I always
enjoyed maths and science in school and was very curious about the subjects but never saw myself
pursuing a degree in STEM. It wasn’t until I attended IWISH and the IWISH campus week in CIT that I
realised all the different careers in STEM, these events opened my eyes, and I could see myself going
to study a STEM course in college. IWISH exposed me to multiple opportunities I hadn’t even heard
of before, meeting and interacting with women working in industry really encouraged me to think
about studying STEM. After this I changed my extra Leaving Cert subjects to physics and applied
maths, and it’s clear I’ve been hooked on them since! I love my course and couldn’t see myself doing
anything else now. With IWISH having such an impact on my career I volunteered at the City Hall
event last February and became even more inspired. This year I became an OCM on the WiSTEM
Society in UCC in the hope to encourage more girls who are looking to pursue a career in STEM! I’m
so excited to be a part of this truly inspiring event.

Aoife Murray, I Wish Alumni & First-year Engineering student at UCC

My name is Aoife Murray and I am a first-year Engineering student at University College Cork. I first began to consider studying engineering after attending an I WISH event during Transition Year in 2018. Maths and Physics were my favourite subjects in Secondary school, and after further research into engineering I realised it was the perfect choice for me. I am delighted to have joined the WiSTEM UCC committee as First Year Rep this academic year, and be able to help encourage girls in STEM like other women have done for me. I am so grateful for iWISH and the work they do, I truly believe they have a huge impact on the futures of many women.  

Dolly Sagwe-Onyoni, Executive Coach & Personal Finance Advisor

Dolly is a values driven person with a career that spans over twenty years of increasing responsibility in Business Finance while working for

Procter & Gamble, Hewlett Packard (HP), General Electric and currently the Finance Director for Oracle Africa. Her responsibility has seen her support the growth of these companies across Africa and further engaged in business across the Middle East and some Mediterranean countries.

Amongst her professional achievements, Dolly made the Top 40 under 40 list in 2010 by the Business Daily (Kenya), the “Women Leaders of the World” program (2019) and is a fellow of the Santander W50: The Next Generation of Leading Women program (2019).

Dolly is an Accredited Executive Coach and has served on several boards including Women Corporate Directors, Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE), USIU-A Alumni Association amongst others.

Dolly passionately champions financial wellness, a skill that is critical in the 21^st Century. Under her initiative dubbed “Let’s Talk Money” founded over 10 years ago, she offers experiential financial literacy classes teens, college-ready students as well as young adults /couples who are in their building years – 25-40 year olds. She actively mentors young adults who are in the building phase of their careers.

In her leadership and community engagements, Dolly has often offered herself as a mentor for upcoming leaders for over 15 years across different leadership programs and countries in Africa. She has recently launched a virtual leadership incubator, LeadOn that targets future leaders going through secondary schools across Kenya. She is a member of the Rotary Club of Muthaiga and a key trainer at the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA).

Allison Barry, Technology Analyst Deloitte

Allison graduated with a Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from NUI Galway in 2019. Having worked as part of a two-person team within a women’s health startup, she proceeded to join Deloitte as a technology analyst. Since then, Allison has been working as a Robotic Process Automation Developer for two public sector clients. She and her colleagues have been working to abate excessive backlogs within the public sector that have arisen from the pandemic, through the implementation of cutting edge automation technology. Allison works alongside other Business Analysts and Testers in the implementation of automated business processes. Their work enables civil servants to do value-added activities by eliminating administrative tasks and repetitive data input, allowing them to use their time more effectively in the fight against COVID-19.  

Sinead Fitzmaurice, CEO of TransferMate

Sinead trained as a chartered accountant at PwC Ireland. She gained 10 years international experience at the firm, managing projects in London & Jersey. Sinead was appointed Group Financial Controller at Venner International where she managed the firms’ successful IPO. She returned to Ireland in 2005, joining Clune Technology Group, formerly The Taxback Group as Group CFO. Since then Sinead has worked closely with the Group Founder, Terry Clune who five years later founded TransferMate Global Payments. Since its inception Sinead had been a key member of TransferMate’s leadership team and in 2019 Terry promoted Sinead to TransferMate CEO. TransferMate, through its market leading regulated payments technology powers payments products for world leading banks and software platforms via an integrated API solution.