Members' Profiles
Our Members
Ciara Beausang is pursuing a PhD on the topic of agri-food waste valorisation in the bioeconomy in the School of Biosystems and Food Engineering, University College Dublin. She is also a member of the An Taisce Climate Committee.
Hi, my name is Dawn Attride and I am a motivated young student with a passion for science and a curiosity for research. I am currently studying Microbiology in Trinity College Dublin and my aim is to work in the field of antimicrobial resistance and unravel the workings of the microbial world during my PhD and beyond! I believe that the world of STEM should be gender inclusive - during my time at Trinity College Dublin, I have been a gender equality advocate on various societies as well as being a the Women in Property chairperson for Dublin Real Estate society. Women have such a voice to input in the world of academia and this is why I am delighted to be a member of WITS!
I have strong leadership skills and have sat on Trinity student council as a representative for over 200 students in my degree, aswell as being involved in various volutary organisations such as VTP, meitheal and student mentor training. I have a love for travelling and maintaining international relations, I will be spending my second semester at McGill University in Montreal, Canada as I was nominated by the department here at Trinity. I believe that communication is a key skill in science and have been involved as editor at my university’s newspaper - The University Times and have previously written for another Irish newspaper called The Nationalist during my internship there.
Danielle is the Marketing Manager for TU Dublin Hothouse and joined the team in 2019 having previously worked in the third level sector in Research, Innovation and Development. Over the past twenty years working in multiple sectors enabled Danielle to gain excellent commercial and industry knowledge, both nationally and internationally, across several areas including Administration, Tourism, Education, Technogoly, Management, Marketing and Business Development. In the past decade, Danielle expanded her knowledge base to include brand design, website development, public relations, event management, marketing and multiple funding regulations and application writing for Irish SME's. In her current role as Marketing Manager for TU Dublin Hothouse, she is responsible for the Marketing and Management of the TU Dublin Hothouse brand, strategy, communications, events, launches, content, web and any other relevant marketing requirements.
Professor Eithne McCabe, M.A.(Oxon), D.Phil.(Oxon), B.E.(NUI), FTCD, F.Inst.P.,C.Phys., is Professor in the School of Physics and Fellow at Trinity College Dublin. She was formerly Fellow and lecturer at Magdalen College, Oxford and Postdoctoral Member of Technical Staff and later Consultant, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Crawford Hill Laboratory, New Jersey, USA.
She has served the College and wider national and international community on numerous committees including Finance, Personnel and Appointments, Equality, Institute of Physics Juno assessment panel and IOP Women in Physics Group committee
Aoife Hurley is a PhD student in statistics at the University of Limerick. Her interests lie in the areas of spatial statistics and applications of spatial models in areas such as animal populations and disease spreading. Aoife is funded through the SFI Centre for Research Training in Foundations of Data Science.
Aoife has a keen interest in outreach and knowledge sharing, having been involved in secondary school visits to encourage students to consider STEM careers. Outside of academics, Aoife enjoys sports with a particular interest in camogie. In her spare time, Aoife has volunteered within her local camogie club taking on both coaching and PRO roles.
Adeleh Mohammadi is a PhD candidate in civil engineering at the National University of Ireland Galway. Adeleh is the post-graduate representative of equality, diversity & inclusion unit of the college of engineering and science communication officer in Ryan institute. She is interested in diversity and inclusion in academic workspace and sustainable development education.
Caroline Dowling is a PhD Candidate in Plant Genetics at University College Dublin. She studies the infamous, fascinating plant Cannabis sativa and uses computational and lab techniques to characterise its genome and developmental genes. Her research will facilitate the integration of hemp as a sustainable, multi-purpose crop into modern society. Caroline is funded by the Irish Research Council postgraduate award scheme.
Caroline gained a BSc Plant Biology from UCD and she is enthusiastic about communicating the importance of both applied and fundamental plant science research to the general public as well as to other scientists. She is also a Plantae Fellow (Plantae is an online global plant science community spearheaded by the American Society of Plant Biologists). As a Fellow she regularly produces resources for science communication and specifically works with the Women in Plant Biology network on Plantae. Post-PhD Caroline intends to pursue a research career in crop developmental and evolutionary genomics. She is active on Twitter @CarolineD0wling.
Fanny Rivera Ortiz is a final-year Ph.D. Student at University College Dublin. Her research is about Engineering Forensic-Ready Software Systems. A forensic-ready system identifies misuse security incidents which are malicious actions executed by employees and provides evidence of such incidents by generating logs. Fanny is passionate about Computer Science. Previously to her Ph.D., she studied in Mexico for a Master's Degree in Information Technologies and also a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Systems Engineering. She worked as a Software Engineer for 15 years in different IT Consultant organizations in Mexico.
Apart from Computer Science, Fanny loves art, museums, and galleries. Fanny also loves nature and enjoys doing walks. She is a very sporty lady and practices CrossFit. She loves this sport because it challenges her, and keeps her fit and healthy. Finally, Fanny loves to read about interdisciplinary topics to understand how the world works. Such topics can be computer science, zoology, neurolinguistic programming, nutrition, health, biographies, music, art, etc.
Maria Delaney is the editor of Noteworthy, a crowdfunded investigative platform from TheJournal.ie that supports independent and impactful public interest journalism. As an investigative journalist, she specialises in science, health and social justice.
Maria was previously on the executive committee of WITS, when she was chair of its policy sub-committee.
Recognition of her work includes the Mary Raftery Prize and the Journalism Excellence Award from the Irish Red Cross Humanitarian Awards as well as awards from the Business Journalism Awards, Mental Health Media Awards and Justice Media Awards.
Chrysty is a Dublin based Product Manager, working closely with engineering and design teams in managing various software products using agile methodologies. She has over 3 years of experience in delivering E-Commerce SaaS products within a startup and is currently working with a multinational enterprise company in delivering AI based products. Her specialisations include designing internal processes, delivering new technological products and optimising user experience.
Fardus Sultan is an assistant lecturer in marketing/cyberpsychology, a PhD Candidate-Fiosraigh Scholar, and Co-founder and Director of FarendNet Ltd, an IT consultancy company. Fardus is also a member of the WITS Web Sub-Committee. As a Politics and Arabic graduate from the UCD, a holder of iDTP Master Diploma in Graphic Design, Fardus also obtained a first-class honours in M.Sc. in Cyberpsychology in 2017 where she also received "The Student of the Year" award.
Fardus is passionate about community issues and she participates in various boards of management. She is currently the Chairperson of women4women DLR (a women's organization with particular focus on disadvantaged and ethnic minority women), a member of the Advisory Board of Lift Ireland (A non-profit promoting leadership in Ireland), a Board Director of Southside Partnership and a founding member of Sisters of Faith for Peace (women's only interfaith organization in Ireland). She is also a PPN representative at the Economic Development and Enterprise Special Policy Committee of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.
Connect with Fardus on Twitter @FarendNet
With over 15 years of experience in IT, I am currently working as a Software Agile Delivery Manager. I started my career as an Assistant Professor and with my passion for Technology and problem-solving abilities, I transitioned into the IT industry and worked for a variety of organizations, ranging from startups and the public sector to multinational corporations. I hold multiple coaching, agile, project management, and service delivery certifications. I have a strong passion for learning and development, and I continue to engage in various learning opportunities throughout my career. During the pandemic, I began my Part-time Masters in Technology Management at NUI Galway. While doing my Master's program, I also earned a Higher Diploma in Leadership from TU Shannon and an Advanced Diploma in Personal Leadership and Executive Coaching from Kingstown College. I was recently certified as an EMCC Practitioner Coach and ICF Member Coach, and I am extremely passionate about gender equality and women's representation in IT and leadership roles. I provide pro-bono coaching sessions to assist women returning to the workforce with their career development. I love practicing calligraphy in my spare time. I would like to become a Member of WITS to share my passion with like-minded people and contribute to the STEM community. You can find me on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/anuradhagoli/ @anuradhagoli or on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/yourcoachanu/ @yourcoachanu
Orla Sherwood is a PhD student in Plant Biology and studies programmed cell death in the Irish crops, barley and ryegrass. She studies how these plants grow in elevated CO2 levels to anticipate how climate change stresses will affect plant survival in waterlogged conditions. Orla is funded through the IRC-EPA postgraduate award scheme.
Having previously completed a degree in Biochemistry and Molecular biology and an MSc in Science communication, Orla is passionate about communicating science to a variety of audiences. She currently works with the UCD Outreach team to inspire primary and secondary school students to consider science as a possible career and has previously taken part in events such as Pint of Science Dublin. Following her graduation, she plans to pursue a career in crop research.
Lisa Cavern is an IT professional and Business Analyst with Version 1, where she helps clients maximise the business benefits of technology projects.
Before moving into the IT sector, Lisa worked in science and maths education, and later in the community sector. Lisa loves learning and sharing the why and how of the world around us and is passionate about promoting equality in the sciences and technology.
Tania Malik is an Assistant Lecturer in Computing at TU Dublin. Being an academic, her role not only involves quality teaching but also research, industry collaborations and effective student engagement. She received PhD degree from University College Dublin in 2017 on a very prestigious Irish Research Council, Enterprise Partnership Scheme award (IRC-EPS) in collaboration with IBM. Her professional interest lies in the realm of research and teaching. Her research interests include high-performance heterogeneous computing, parallel and distributed computing, performance optimization, and energy-efficient computing.
Her professional career is a good mix of teaching, research and development and industry experience. She had the opportunity to work in leading Irish and international higher education institutions including TU Dublin, UCD, DCU, NCI Dublin, COMSATS and NUST Pakistan. Also, she has been actively involved in industry collaborations and worked with leading Tech. Industry partners - Fidelity, IBM, Whizz systems USA, PSEB, PYB.
Along with WITS, she is also an active member of Women in High Performance Computing (WHPC), Women Leaders in Higher Education (WLHE), Women in Technology United (WITU) and Women@CompSci group UCD. As a passionate advocate of women in technology, she always helps female students and encourages them to be part of this male-dominated field so they can become role models and work towards correcting this historical imbalance. She also proactively and voluntarily contribute to educational outreach activities for international students.
Connect with Tania on Twitter @malik_tania, and on LinkedIn.
Lisa is an early-stage researcher pursuing her PhD in the School of Microbiology at University College Cork. Originally from South Africa, her background is in medical microbiology, where she researched antibiotic resistance in hospital and community settings. Her current work focuses on bacteriophages and the human gut microbiome. She has a deep interest in pattern recognition, all things microbiology, and bioinformatics.
Jan is a Global Business Systems Director at Workhuman, the world’s fastest-growing integrated social recognition and continuous performance management platform. Over her career of nearly 30 years, Jan has worked across multiple industries in senior roles, including IT, Healthcare, Telecoms, Research, Pharmaceuticals, Fulfilment and Software Support, bringing a wealth of experience in Organisational Change, including building/managing high performing teams in Operations and Program Management roles. She has led organizations to achieve various compliance and certifications critical to business success, such as GDPR, Governance Code Compliance and ISO27001 Certification. Jan is PMP and Prince 2 certified herself and has a very well-defined approach to Programs/Projects with quality product being delivered on time and within budget.
Throughout Jan’s career, she has been involved in many voluntary organisations both inside and outside of the workplace. Jan has held Chairperson and Company Secretary roles in a number of Charitable Boards. As an active member of various Women’s Networks, she is passionate about coaching others to reach success in their careers and promoting gender equity and diversity along the way.
Adreinne Fleming Senior Lecturer, Coordinator of the National Pharmaceutical Centre, TU Dublin.
Dr. Adrienne Fleming is a Senior Lecturer in Science in the School of Science and Computing at the Technological University Dublin. Adrienne is a chemistry graduate of NUI Galway with a PhD in Organic Chemistry also from NUI Galway. She is the coordinator of the National Pharmaceutical Education Centre in the University. She works closely with many of the leading pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies on development, design, and delivery of education programs. Adrienne is an active member of several professional bodies including the ISPE and RSC.
Dr. Marie Barrett completed her PhD in Plant molecular biology in UCC and partly at the University Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris. After completing her research Marie held several positions in the biotech/pharma industry as a technical sales specialist focusing in endotoxin texting and more recently as a validation engineer for a large multinational.
Marie is also a qualified Montessori teacher and has volunteered her time introducing the under 5's to maths and science to explore the world around them. She is a WITS Executive member and Treasurer since December 2014.
Dr Jane O’Hara has a PhD in Molecular Biology, and after her lab days went on to work in Science Education. She is currently working in Trinity College Dublin, on a project that brings technology into school classrooms through teacher education.
Jane has also started organising WITS book clubs, where we discuss interesting books relevant to women in STEM. She is passionate about networking and bringing people together, and hopes to meet more WITS members at an event soon. You can find her on Twitter @Curious_JaneO.
Sheila Porter is the founder and CEO of SciFest, an innovative, all-inclusive programme of STEM fairs which operate at local, regional and national levels. As a science teacher Sheila recognised the importance of STEM fair participation in encouraging in students a love of the STEM subjects and in generating a spirit of inquiry, innovation and entrepreneurship. Her vision was of a national STEM fair programme that would be inclusive, accessible, free to enter and open to all second-level students. She launched the programme in TU Dublin Tallaght in 2006 and took it nationwide in 2008. Currently more than 10,000 students participate in SciFest each year, approximately 60% of whom are female. Each year the overall winners at the SciFest National Final go on to represent Ireland in international competitions with great success.
Jane Morgan, learnt her trade at a market-leading NASDAQ technology corporation where she worked with global teams from Boston to Billund, Paris to Providence, and Berlin to Bengaluru. She’s managed and developed new / established teams while guiding the strategy, development and marketing of technology products used by millions of IT customers. She has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and post-graduate in systems practice, which together with excellent facilitation skills, equip her to help teams navigate forward in messy complex situations. (She also holds qualifications in German, sociology and environmental science.)
Passionate about technology, solving real customer problems, women in business, & psychology, in 2014 she founded JEM9.com which helps business leaders understand and reach customers. To support workplaces taking action towards gender diversity, Jane started Gendelity, a social enterprise focused on enabling practical actions. She is a director of the NGO, Parents Plus.
Leslie Shoemaker is an American who has resided in Ireland since 1992. Her career as a Chartered Counselling Psychologist has taken a variety of professional routes after completing her training in Trinity College Dublin. This includes maintaining a small private practise, co-founding a national non-profit organisation, OCD Ireland, lecturing and developing and running a mentoring program, ESTeEM, for female students in the Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin).
The award winning ESTeEM initiative, Equality in Science and Technology by Engaged Educational Mentoring, was created to provide female engineering and computer science students with female, industry based role models. In 2019 it received recognition from Athena Swan as part of the Bronze Award for the Dublin Institute of Technology. Currently, Leslie is the Academic Lead for the Saer Mentoring program in the School of Computer Science in City Campus TU Dublin.
Brian is Head of Sustainability Strategy for Technology at Novartis. He has a deep technology background having worked for multinationals such as Fujitsu, Dell and HPE, but has specialist skills in programme management and Sustainability focussed on realising the U.N Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Brian has seen first-hand how SDG #5 (Gender Equality) has enabled high performing teams in the technology sector. ‘Many of my personal successes are down to female colleagues, bosses and mentors and I am a firm believer in a balanced workplace as a result’. Brian has a BSc in Computer Science, a MSc in Information Systems and a BA in Environment, Oceanography and Archaeology. (2) Brian Minehane PMP® SMC™ SPOC™ | LinkedIn
Mashal Khan is from Pakistan pursuing her Ph.D. studies at the National University of Ireland Galway NUIG, funded by Science Foundation Ireland-SFI’s Center of Research and Training in Artificial Intelligence CRT-AI. She is a Computer Systems Engineer with a master’s degree in Information Security. Currently, she is working on Federated Machine Learning and its applications in various domains. She has been working in the industry and academia at various positions. Apart from work she enjoys playing badminton and going on short walks. She also loves to travel around, meet new people, and socialize. You can know more about her by having a look at her LinkedIn profile: linkedin.com/in/mashal-khan968
Dr. Aimee Byrne is a Structural Engineering Lecturer at TU Dublin whose research has focused on sustainability in the built environment since 2009. Her current interests include retrofit, building physics, energy efficiency, novel materials and circularity in construction. She is the Head of the TU Dublin Bio- and Circular Economies Research Group which is a multidisciplinary team of 36. Based on her years of experience at Arup Consulting Engineers, she appreciates the importance of successfully integrating academic research with industry. She has, thus far, collaborated with national representative organisations, large corporations, SMEs and start-ups. Her reputation has earned her a place on committees for The National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI), Engineers Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and EU COST Action TU1404.
Jennifer Keenahan is an Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering at University College Dublin. She is the Head of Teaching and Learning in Civil Engineering and her teaching focuses on building working relationships between engineers and architects. Having practiced as an Engineer with Arup, she returned to academia in 2017 with research interests in the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics for the Built Environment. She’s on Twitter and LinkedIn @jenkeenahan.
After graduating from the School of Engineering in Trinity College, Katie joined the German industrial control and automation company Festo working as an Applications Engineer. Katie has worked on automation projects in a wide range of industries from BioPharma to Food & Beverage, Lab Automation to Medical Device manufacturing.
Swaetha Ramkumar is a first-year Ph.D. student at Trinity College Dublin funded by Trinity's Provost Ph.D. Award to study the Atmospheres of Alien worlds also known as Exoplanets. Her interest in the field of Exoplanets stems from her Master's degree at University College London, which sheI graduated with a Distinction. Sweatha completed her Bachelor's degree in Physics at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetam (India), graduating with a Distinction. She was the Chief Editor as well as the Secretary of her university's Astronomy Club. Apart from academics, Swaetha enjoys oration and was placed Second in both Inter-School and Intra-University Elocution competitions. As an avid reader, she enjoys English Literature and pencil sketching.
Julie Hogan has been elected Chair of WITS for 2018-2019. She studied Electronics Engineering in NIHE Limerick, and has been working in R&D for the past 26 years in Ireland and abroad.
Currently, she runs a small R&D team in Memjet Ireland, Dublin, with a team of 13 scientists and engineers (4 of whom are women) working on digital print engine controller design and MEMS printhead design. Her current role combines technical, project management and management responsibilities, and she has previously worked in all three areas at different times for ARM in Cambridge, ParthusCeva in Dublin, Silicon and Software Systems (S3) in Dublin and AT&T in Bray with secondments to the Netherlands and Australia.
Kalyani Yogeswaranathan is a second year PhD student in the school of computer science at University College Dublin. Her research focuses on Cloud-Fog-Edge computing framework for smart agriculture. She graduated from University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science. Her research interests include Cloud-Fog-Egde Computing, Multi Agent Systems, and IoT.
Jane Grimson was the first woman to graduate in Engineering from the University of Dublin, Trinity College and is a Past President of Engineers Ireland and the Irish Academy of Engineering.
Jane is an honorary member of WITS and gave the 2016 Mary Mulvihill lecture Targets, quotas, carrots and sticks – eliminating gender inequality in academia.
Professor Jane Grimson is Fellow Emerita and Professor of Health Informatics, Trinity College, Dublin
Magaly V. Mora is a quality professional with experience in the manufacturing and validation environments of several industries (Medical Devices, Electronics, Automotive, and Mining-Metal). Magaly received her BEng in Electronics and Communications from Tec of Monterrey (ITESM). She received her MSc in Quality Systems and Productivity from the same institution.
In her background; Magaly has launched new products, transferred manufacturing lines, and implemented/audited Quality Management Systems (ISO TS13485, FDA, ISO TS 16949, ISO 9001, and ASME). Magaly is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and Project Management Certified Member at PMI. She currently works as Project Manager in the Photonics Packaging Research Group at Tyndall National Institute. She is acting as Operations Manager in the PIXAPP Pilot Line Gateway.
Magaly is interested in volunteering and advocating for initiatives supporting equality, belonging and inclusion in STEM. She started to get involved in gender equality initiatives in 2003, co-funding a student chapter for the Society Women Engineers (SWE) at her alma mater in Mexico (ITESM, Campus Monterrey). Magaly is a WITS member since October 2016. She has been involved organising INWED celebrations in Cork since 2015. Magaly participated as Executive Committee Member of WITS from 2016 – 2020, mainly coordinating WITS events (on-site and virtual). Feel free to contact her for collaborations or as a guest speaker. Magaly enjoys sharing her experience with WITS and her journey as a women Engineer (IEEE Member). She is a link creator who enjoys meeting new people and working with multidisciplinary teams. Magaly tweets @MagalyVarinia, and you can also connect with her via LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/magalyvarinia/.
Dr Rebecca O'Neill is the Project Coordinator for Wikimedia Community Ireland. A large portion of her work focuses on improving and strengthening the representation of women on Wikipedia. Having worked in the Natural History Museum for a number of years, she has a particular interest in the history of science and technology in Ireland.
She serves on the National Committee for Commemorative Plaques for Science and Technology for WITS, focusing on the representation of women as well as the Committee's online presence
Susan Treacy is a member of the Executive of WITS and a member of the Policy sub-committee. Susan is the CEO for HealthTech Ireland as well as a Business Consultant with her company Treacy Healthcare Consulting. Since completing her Masters in Medicine (Biomed. Sci.) at Queen’s University Susan moved into Business roles in diagnostics and MedTech, having initially worked as a Biomedical Scientist in Pathology laboratories in Ireland and Australia. She subsequently held roles in Application Support, Sales and Marketing, Strategy, Business Development, Management and Directorship.
In early 2016 she founded Treacy Healthcare Consulting, providing healthcare organisations with a number of business-critical services including operational and strategic direction, innovation strategies, business development requirements and establishment of international distribution networks specific to life sciences. She has a particular passion for finding solutions through innovation and collaboration, that ultimately benefit the system and the patient. She works with WITS (Women in Technology and Science) to help deliver the strategic ambition of the organisation and to provide better outcomes for women in STEM. She also encourages and supports women to realise their potential and understand avenues and opportunities that STEM offers. Susan can be followed on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/treacyhealthcareconsulting/ or contacted at treacyhealthconsulting@gmail.com
Sandra Riordan is a Synthetic Organic Chemist with Research Applications in Asymmetric Catalysis. Mentor and Founder of Chemistry Academy and enjoys Inspiring Fun and Interest in Science.
Aileen Wynne is a mainframe systems programmer with AIB, with over 20 years’ experience in systems programming, networks, storage, and onsite and remote support. She is a Fellow of the Irish Computer Society. She has been part of the GSE UK team since 2016 and founded the WITS stream at the GSE UK Conference in 2017. Outside of mainframes, she has a passion for family history and genetic genealogy.
Dr Sandra Collins is the Director of the National Library of Ireland. The NLI collects and makes available the recorded memory of Ireland, caring for more than 10 million items, including books, newspapers, manuscripts, ephemera, photographs, websites and digital media. Sandra is originally a mathematician and has worked in digital innovation and cultural heritage over 20 years in the public and private sectors. She was previously the founding Director of the Digital Repository of Ireland in the Royal Irish Academy and a programme manager in Science Foundation Ireland. She cares about culture for everyone, open data, diversity and inclusion, and tweets at @sandricollins
Oonagh Monahan is the founder and principal consultant at Alpha Omega Consultants, based in Leitrim. The main areas of activity are food business development, research project management and women in business networks. She works as a facilitator, trainer, mentor and consultant across the country. In 2019 she was won the IQFA Food Hero award. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology in both the UK and Ireland and is a Chartered Scientist. Oonagh is the author of the book “Money for Jam, the Essential Guide to Starting Your Own Small Food Business” which is published by Oak Tree Press.
Amber is a Security Engineer with Intercom in Dublin, where she works to make the Intercom product offering and ecosystem more trustworthy and secure. Having qualified with a BA, BAI and MAI in Computer Engineering from Trinity College Dublin, she has spent the past number of years working in the domains of DLT/blockchain and Security. She is also a Tech Advocate representing County Meath as part of the RITA community.
Amber is particularly passionate about societal issues around technology. She believes that security, privacy and education about these are the key to building a truly inclusive and equal global society, empowering all to use technology for their betterment. She was awarded TCD’s prestigious Maurice F. Fitzgerald Prize for her ambitions to bring about sustainable trust in technology as well as her academic achievements.
Dr Arjumand Younus is a Research Scientist in Afiniti AI, and a part-time lecturer in Technological University Dublin. Before this appointment, Arjumand has contributed to SFI funded projects during her different post-doctoral positions at CONSUS-UCD and INSIGHT-UCD. She is also serving in the capacity of co-director for Women in Research Ireland which is a volunteer-run registered charity working for better representation of women and under-represented groups in academia. Arjumand’s research focuses on Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, and Data Science for Social Good, and she is passionate about the value of artificial intelligence to make society better.
Dr Veronica Sofianos is an Assistant Professor (Ad Astra Fellow) at the University College Dublin. Veronica has a BSc in Materials Science, a MSc in Materials Science and Technology and a PhD in Chemistry. She has been in academic teaching and research positions in Chemistry, Physics and most recently in Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering. Her research focus is on nanomaterials for green energy storage and generation. Over the last five years, she has been involved in various outreach activities to encourage, support and mentor high-school students (especially females) to follow a career in STEM.
Dr Norah Patten is a Scientist-Astronaut candidate with Project PoSSUM and is the founder of Planet Zebunar; a start-up company in Ireland which is driven to inspire the next generation of engineers, astronauts and scientists. In 2016, Norah participated in the New Frontiers Entrepreneur Development Program, funded by Enterprise Ireland.
She was a recipient of the Emerging Space Leaders Grant and a Next Generation Plenary panellist at the IAC in 2015. Through a partnership with NanoRacks, Norah initiated and managed ‘The Only Way is Up’ project which launched Ireland’s first student experiment to the International Space Station in 2014. She participated in the International Space University Space Studies Program in 2010, has industrial experience from The Boeing Company and Bell Labs Alcatel Lucent, is a regular speaker at public events, and has featured on national television and radio
Dr. Catherine Cronin is Strategic Education Developer at the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Holding degrees in Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, and Women’s Studies, Catherine recently completed her PhD in the area of Open Education. Catherine’s current research focuses on digital/open education and critical approaches to openness. Catherine is a long-time advocate for greater equity in STEM and a regular contributor to conversations around open education, within Ireland and globally. She has been involved in teaching, research, and advocacy in higher education and in the community for over 25 years.
Emma O’Hare is a Trainee Engineer with AIB on their Technology Graduate Programme. A West Cork native now based in Dublin, she graduated from UCD with a BA International in Information & Social Computing and English. She studied at Sorbonne University in Paris for her Erasmus year abroad and is the winner of the 2021 ESST European Undergraduate Essay Prize. You can connect with her on LinkedIn here.
Niamh graduated from DCU in 2015 with a B.Sc. in Genetics and Cell Biology. She began her career in clinical research working in the UCD Clinical Research Centre where she also completed her M.Sc. in Clinical and Translational Research.
In 2018, she went on to work as a Clinical Trial Manager in RCSI focusing on maternal health. She later became the lead Project Manager for the largest ever EU funded health research project to be led by an Irish University and has worked on large scale health projects in the public sector.
She is passionate about women’s health and improving access to clinical trials and is currently working with Teckro, an Irish company whose vision is to modernize and simplify Clinical Trials.
Mary Carroll is a Business Strategist and Coach, who started her career in design engineering and has held management consulting and senior management roles in engineering and business development. Mary is a former WITS Chair and has also worked for international aid organisations. Since 2010, Mary supports clients in strategy, business planning and inclusive leadership, including unconscious bias awareness, through her business www.growthpotential.ie
After she graduated from two Masters in Management and International Business in France, Marine has pursued her entire career in the Technology sector so far. She recently learnt the basics of app programming and web development to strengthen the technological orientation of her already hybrid, business and technology-oriented profile.
Very early in her career, Marine has realised the consequences of the gender gap in STEM, both for women and for businesses, and decided to act for change. Before joining WITS in August 2021, she worked in Switzerland where she volunteered for an organisation aiming at supporting and fostering women embracing careers in the Digital sector.
Prof Ita Richardson is Professor of Software Quality in the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems at the University of Limerick, a Co-Principal Investigator in Lero and a Principal Investigator in the Ageing Research Centre. As an active member of the international Software Engineering research community, she leads projects on Global Software Engineering, Connected Health and Gender issues in STEM, and has a track record of research student supervision and publication on these topics. She has received funding for her research from a variety of sources including Science Foundation Ireland, European Union, Irish Research Council and Enterprise Ireland, and she has collaborated within public and private organisations, including University Hospital Limerick, University Maternity Hospital Limerick, Bon Secours Hospital Tralee, HomeSafe Care, Ocuco, IBM and Johnson & Johnson.
Ita teaches undergraduate and postgraduate classes at the University of Limerick, currently on the topics of Software Quality, Requirements Engineering and Professional Issues in Software Engineering. She uses problem-based learning in her teaching, which allows for student learning through solving real-life problems.
Ita is an advocate for education and outreach, organising talks with groups such as medical and healthcare staff and students and those working in industry, and undertaking visits to promote STEM to young women in secondary and primary school. She is currently leading a project sponsored by Johnson & Johnson on Women in STEM2D (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths, Manufacturing and Design). Ita led the University of Limerick Equality and Human Rights portfolio from 2017-2020, during which time she represented UL on the Irish University Association Vice-Presidents’ group on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. She currently chairs the CSIS-Lero Athena SWAN committee.
Website: Ita Richardson | Lero
Maxime Deckers is a PhD candidate in Computational Astrophysics at Trinity College Dublin. Her research focuses on unraveling the nature of SN Ia explosions. These events are used as standard candles in the universe, which means we can use them to determine distances on large scales. Maxime is passionate about her subject, also having completed internships at University College London, where she wrote an algorithm to find binaries in GAIA data, and Trinity College Dublin, modelling the spectrum of a peculiar supernova event. She graduated with a gold medal from Trinity College Dublin Physics and Astrophysics in 2019.
Maxime sits on the Executive and events subcommittee of WITS, and has both moderated and taken part in WITS panel discussions. She has several years of experience tutoring primary and secondary level students, focusing in particular on exam/test preparation.
Laura is a PhD student in Trinity College Dublin studying the first stellar explosions and their progenitors as an awardee of the IRC postgraduate research award. Laura is also and a member of the Executive Committee of WITS. A Naughton scholar and graduate of TCD in Physics and Astrophysics, Laura is passionate about her research having completed her final year project studying binary stars, as well as a placement in Nottingham Trent University in Imaging and Sensing for Art Conservation and History.
She has a great interest in outreach and knowledge sharing, having been involved in projects such as City of Physics and volunteering with TCD Physics helproom, in addition to her work with WITS.
Dr Sheila Donegan is Director of Calmast, Waterford Institute of Technology’s STEM Engagement Centre. Established in 2002, the centre works to promote all areas of STEM to all ages, and has grown to engage over 30,000 at STEM events across the Southeast region. Sheila is co founder of Maths Week Ireland, the all island festival to promote maths and its applications, which had over 350,000 participate in 2020. .Sheila has won many national and international awards for her work, including the 2007 EU Descartes award for Science Communication, the highest EU award in this area. In 2019 Sheila was awarded the Network Ireland Business woman of the year in STEM. Recently, Calmast, was awarded the Best Education Outreach Award at the Education Awards 2021 for their programme of Maths Outreach for Covid.
Elisabeth Wintersteller is Training Programme Manager at the Irish Photonic Integration Centre (IPIC) at Tyndall National Institute. She is managing a programme for doctoral students, PIADS and SPARKLE, which is an MSCA-COFUND fellowship programme. Before joining Tyndall National Institute, she worked at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany and at Medical University Innsbruck, Austria. She has experience in developing and establishing education and training programmes for PhD and postdoctoral students as well as event organisation and has coordinated and administered national as well as EU grants.
Dr Aoibhinn Ni Shuilleabhain is an Assistant Professor in the UCD School of Mathematics & Statistics and a member of the Executive Committee of WITS. A graduate of Theoretical Physics from UCD, Aoibhinn taught Mathematics, Physics, Applied Mathematics & Science at second level before commencing her PhD in Trinity College Dublin.
As a science communicator, she actively promotes science and presents RTE's flagship science programme '10 things to know about...' She is director of the Maths Sparks outreach programme at UCD.
Clare is a Mentor and Trainer specialising in the career and leadership development of females in STEM and non-traditional roles. She was awarded her Engineering Degree from MTU in 2004 and studied to Chief Engineer Level in 2014. Clare is professionally certified in Training and Development, Prince 2 Project Management as well as a Diploma in Business Coaching. Clare spent ten years travelling the world as a Marine Engineering Officer in the Merchant Navy, and for nine months of one year, did not see another woman or a child. In Irish History, only a handful of women had achieved the same qualification by the time she sat her Chief Engineers exams.
In her career to date she has represented the engineering and training professions, which grew organically side by side, both domestically and globally in over 30 countries. In both disciplines she has achieved recognition with her professional approach, technical capability, ethical values, and heartfelt communication. Clare has extensive experience in fast paced Manufacturing, Production, Maintenance and Facilities environments and roles.
Clare has worked in a range of companies from global corporations to non-profit organisations. This unique combination of roles in a variety of sectors allows her a rare insight into the requirements of an organisation to empower and engage their employees resulting in improved business processes and efficiency. Clare combines her professional and real-life experience to deliver strong and engaging training experiences, tailored to the requirements of the organisation.
www.clareoconnor.ie www.linkedin.com/in/clareoconnorcoaching/
Geraldine Canny is Head of Research at South East Technological University in Waterford where she oversees research policy and research project pre- and post-award management, training and support. She holds a B.Sc. in Biotechnology from National University of Ireland Galway and a Ph.D. in Immunology from University College Dublin. She carried out a CCFA-funded postdoctoral fellowship at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston and was an instructor at Harvard Medical School. Subsequently, at Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV-UNIL) as Senior lecturer, she established and ran a translational research programme on endometrial biology and endometriosis. This work resulted in the discovery of novel biomarkers and several publications. Dr. Canny was then employed at a foundation and at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) where she managed several national and international fellowship programmes as well as European funding programmes. Between 2018 and 2021 Dr. Canny held the position of Marie Sklodowska-Curie actions (MSCA) National Delegate and National Contact Point, this was the area of highest national drawdown under Horizon 2020. During her tenure as Head of the Irish MSCA office funding awarded to irish HEIs, companies and non-academic organisations exceeded 95 million euros. Geraldine is passionate about EDI and career progression for young researchers.
Dr Marion Palmer is an experienced academic and higher education manager, former WITS Chair and a long-term member of the Executive Committee of WITS. She was head of the Department of Technology and Psychology at Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT).
Her research interests are teaching, assessment and technology enhanced learning. Prior to joining IADT Marion was a science teacher and also worked in curriculum development. Marion joined Women in Technology and Science (WITS) at its inception in 1990, was chair 2013-2016 and now supprts the Executive. Marion tweets @marionjpalmer.
Dr Andrea C Johnson is a member of the Executive Committee of WITS. Andrea graduated from University College Cork, with a PhD in Computer Science. She is a passionate advocate of women in technology and was an early adopter of Teenturn. She has a special interest in the mentorship and sponsorship of women in technology, and was a participant in the WNX Wisdom Mentoring Program. Andrea’s research focus is Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging and the application of AI in this space
Dr Johnson is a Senior Director at Workhuman. Workhuman build cultures of gratitude and human connections for leading global brands. Andrea says of Workhuman “We love what we do because we’re shaping the future of work – and the world – through our people and global technology” For more detail see LinkedIn.
Dr Andrea C Johnson is a member of the Executive Committee of WITS. Andrea graduated from University College Cork, with a PhD in Computer Science. She is a passionate advocate of women in technology and was an early adopter of Teenturn. She has a special interest in the mentorship and sponsorship of women in technology, and was a participant in the WNX Wisdom Mentoring Program. Andrea’s research focus is Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging and the application of AI in this space
Dr Johnson is a Senior Director at Workhuman. Workhuman build cultures of gratitude and human connections for leading global brands. Andrea says of Workhuman “We love what we do because we’re shaping the future of work – and the world – through our people and global technology” For more detail see LinkedIn.
Fatemeh is an Assistant Professor in the School of Computer Science, University College Dublin. She received her PhD in Computer Science from Trinity College Dublin, in June 2018, which was funded by Science Foundation Ireland. Her current research focus is on developing AI-based algorithms to solve problems such as climate change and sustainability in applications such as smart energy grids and transportation using agent-based modelling and collaboration.
Sheelagh worked in hotel management in London and Ireland for over a decade after graduating from Shannon College of Hotel Management, including running her family business. Her career changed direction in 1998, entering the field of community development and from there moving into the public sector focused on economic development, entrepreneurship and enterprise through her role at both national and local level with the Local Enterprise Offices. Sheelagh also holds a degree in Training & Education and a Masters in Project Management, and has been a Director on a number of boards including Microfinance Ireland. In her current role as Entrepreneurship Manager in Enterprise Ireland, Sheelagh is particularly focused on increasing participation by women in entrepreneurship.
Nicola is graduate of Kevin St. (Dip. In Electrical Eng.) and D.C.U. ( B.Sc. in Information Technology) She started her career in Silicon Valley working for a Semiconductor multi-national . She then returned to Ireland working various positions in the Semi-Conductor industry . She has much experience and particular interest in developing technical training.
Currently working as a Garda Civilian, Nicola is excited to be on the WITS executive as she is passionate about seeing Women prosper in the STEM industry.
Dr Catherine Mooney is an Assistant Professor in the UCD School of Computer Science and a member of the Executive Committee of WITS. Her research is in the area of machine learning based biomedical systems that support clinical decision making.
Professor Regina Connolly is the first female Professor of Information Systems in Ireland. She has served on the expert eCommerce advisory group for Dublin Chamber of Commerce, which has advised national government on strategic digital transformation. Her work on development of connected health business models has been presented at the European Parliament. She is a member of LERO, the SFI funded Irish Software Research Centre and is a founding member of the DCU Centre for e-Integrated Care, as well as serving on the Governing Council of the Irish Academy of Management.
Regina has significant expertise in healthcare technology impact assessment as well as eHealth business model development and is a Lead Investigator in several international Ambient Healthcare Technology research projects that have received over €16 million in funding from the European Commission. In 2012, she was appointed as a Non-Executive Director of the National Orthopaedic Hospital of Ireland, Clontarf and currently serves as Deputy Chair of the Board of Governors of the Hospital.
Anne-Marie is a bioanalytical scientist, with an interest in microbiology, immunodiagnostics and infection prevention. She has been a member of the WITS Ireland Executive since 2015. She has a BSc in Bioanalytical Science from ITT Dublin, a BA in International Relations from DCU and has worked in biopharmaceutical and environmental monitoring. She is passionate about science, communication and advocacy. Anne-Marie is an ultra-marathon and mountain-runner, and is an active member of the Irish Mountain Running Association. (Ask her about blenders).
Vicky Twomey-Lee is a software engineer, but can be found nowadays organising community tech workshops and events with a focus on advocating diversity in the tech community. She has managed the Python Ireland user group since mid-May 2005, and chaired four annual Irish Python conference, PyCon Ireland. She was nominated and became a member of the Python Software Foundation in 2012, and also became a board member of the EuroPython Society that year. She launched PyLadies Dublin in October 2013 and is the main organiser.
She co-founded and is also the main organiser of Coding Grace, which runs language agnostic, diversity-friendly workshops and events. Games has always been in her interests, so much so, she co-founded GameCraft Foundation to run community game jams so people can “Connect, Create, Collaborate”. Her focus to bring like-minded people together, grow, learn and support each other. You can find her on Twitter: @whykay
Marguerite Sayers is Managing Director of ESB Networks DAC. A native of Co. Kerry, she qualified as an Electrical/Electronic Engineer from UCC in 1991, and has worked in various managerial positions and locations throughout Ireland with ESB since graduating. Following senior roles as HR Manager, Customer Services Manager for Dublin South and Head of Asset Management for ESB Networks, she managed ESB’s Generation portfolio for two years before returning to ESB Networks as Managing Director in November 2014.
Marguerite now lives in Dublin, is a Fellow of the Institute of Engineers of Ireland, and has been a member of Engineers Ireland’s Council for the past seven years. She is also a member of the Development Board of the National Paediatric Hospital.
Dr Jaine Blayney studied Mathematics at the University of Oxford, then undertook a MSc and PhD in Bioinformatics at the University of Ulster. This was followed by bioinformatics post-doctoral research at University of Ulster and Queen’s University of Belfast. She is currently a Lecturer in Computational Biology at the University of Ulster with the Stratified Medicine Centre. She is a part-time film extra and organiser of cultural events
Dr. Fiona Boyle is Head of Department- STEM (Director of REEdI- Rethinking Engineering Education in Ireland) within the School of STEM at Munster Technological University (MTU)- Kerry Campus. Fiona has a B.Sc. (Hons) in Microbiology from NUI Galway, a M.Sc. in Biomedical Science from University of Ulster Coleraine, and a Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology from NUI Galway. Fiona’s recent experience focuses on agility and innovation in development and delivery of education to ensure the talent pipeline can meet the future skills needs of Industry in the region and beyond. This involves the use of VR/AR technologies, eLearning, and the inclusion of significant work-based project centric learning in undergraduate programmes. Fiona’s early research centred on the topic of antimicrobial resistance in bacterial pathogens in the environment, nosocomial and agriculture settings, with a focus on the genetic mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance in Salmonella. Fiona’s Industry experience spans over 14 years in the MedTech and Pharma sectors, holding key roles in the areas of Terminal Sterilization (across Ethylene Oxide, Gamma, E-Beam and Gas Plasma modalities), Microbiological quality and Biocompatibility of medical devices and pharmaceutical products.
Akshaya is an Early Stage Researcher under Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Program, pursuing her first year as a Ph.D. student in the school of mechanical and materials engineering at University College Dublin. Her research is focussed on applying and scaling microfluidic devices for automated medical diagnostics. Having a background in molecular biology and chemical engineering, she has worked for 3 years in various start-ups (India) in developing cost-effective diagnostics for detecting drug resistance and AI-aided devices for assessing chronic inflammation. She enjoys solving interdisciplinary challenges that come with advanced medical devices.
Dr Lara Cutlar is Vice-Chair of WITS. She completed her PhD at UCD in the summer of 2015, and is continuing that work on a non-viral gene therapy for a terrible skin fragility condition, called Recessive Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa (RDEB).
She is project manager at Amryt Pharma and often found at University College Dublin as a visiting researcher. She tweets at @cuttyla.
Arlene is a third-year Ph.D. student in the school of electrical and electronic engineering at University College Dublin. Her research focuses on the development of data fusion frameworks for wearable health monitoring devices. She graduated with her bachelor’s in electrical and electronics engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Calicut, India, and her undergraduate research focussed on human-robot interaction. She previously worked at Bosch India Ltd. in engineering and strategy development for hybrid electric vehicles. Her research interests include multi-sensor data fusion, biomedical signal processing, and machine learning.
She is an active member of the engineering world health chapter at University College Dublin. Her other interests include watercolor painting, air-rifle shooting, and food.
Stacey Kerr is a PhD candidate in plant molecular biology at University College Dublin. Her project focuses on studying the cannabinoid metabolic pathway. She secured funding from the Irish Research Council through the Government of Ireland postgraduate scheme. Stacey is currently collaborating with the Max Planck Institute for Plant Molecular Physiology to complete her PhD.
She obtained her undergraduate degree in Cell and Molecular Biology from UCD. She also has industrial research experience gained from her time as a research assistant in UCD following her bachelors degree.
After graduation, she plans to pursue a career in plant molecular biology.
Ailbhe McGurrin is a PhD student in the School of Agriculture and Food Science at University College Dublin. Her research focuses on bioactive compounds from Irish seaweeds such as antimicrobials and antioxidants, and developing eco-friendly processing methods to retrieve useful compounds from seaweeds leaving no waste behind. She is undertaking a PhD through the Irish Research Council Enterprise Partnership Scheme and is collaborating with Bantry Marine Research Station Ltd on this project.
She obtained a BA (Mod.) in Microbiology from Trinity College Dublin followed by an MSc. in Biotechnology from The University of Edinburgh. Subsequently she gained experience both in academia and industry working on bioactive compounds from bacteria, plants, seaweeds, and microalgae following a circular economy approach. She has a keen interest in marine biotechnology, nutraceuticals and functional foods, and waste valorisation.
Outside of the lab, she enjoys cooking, watercolour painting, and swimming.