Education



Master of Science in Engineering, Science, & Technology Technology Entrepreneurship

  • 3.7/4.0 GPA
  • M.S.c. (Master of Science) Degree



Master of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

  • 1st Place (tied) in M.A.I Class
  • 1st Place in B.A. and B.A.I Classes
  • 4.0/4.0 GPA
  • M.A.I. (Master in Engineering) Degree
  • B.A.I. (Bachelor in Engineering) Degree
  • B.A. (Bachelor in Arts) Degree

Academic Awards

  • Naughton Fellow
  • MAI Stream Prize in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering (split)
  • Gold Medal
  • Jeffcott Prize
  • Marmaduke Backhouse Prize (2nd place)
  • Victor W.Graham Prize (split)

Technical Skills

Design



Software

College Projects

During my six years in college I gained a vast array of skills and experience in design, prototyping, and testing through projects such as the ones below.

Extracurricular Roles

BuildBase is Trinity College Dublin's first 3D printing facility for students and I had a large part to play in the first two years of its development.

Chairperson, Inaugural BuildBase Council

  • Created and implemented a new training regime that is now being used to train all incoming members.

  • Managed the booking system and user database for 150 members.

  • Directed the review and update of the BuildBase website.

Technical Officer

  • Introduced more than 50 members to the design principles of 3D printing.

  • Instructed more than 50 members on the use of the CURA slicing software and the Ultimaker-2 3D printers.

  • Maintained 5 Ultimaker-2 3D printers continually throughout the year.

Internship Experience

Inbetween the succesive years of my degree I spent the summer breaks applying the engineering knowledge and design skills I had learned to solve the problems of researchers in the college or companies around Dublin.

Research Assistant

Optimum Placement of a SAW Strain Sensor
  • Modelled 5 different cutting tool geometries under a variety of loading and support conditions using the Ansys Workbench Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software.
  • Analysed the resulting strain distributions for each tool to determine the most suitable location for the Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) sensor.
  • Modified the geometry of the most promising locations using realistically achievable CAD operations to maximise the associated strain readings.


Statistical and Software Intern

Software Development and Crash Test Data Analysis
  • Established a crash test database that is now being used by all forensic engineers in the firm as a reference for comparison with ongoing road accident cases. The database was created by designing custom recursive Python programs to download the 55GB AGU crash test database, translate file names from German to English, and make summary word documents of each crash test.

  • Created repair cost probability plots that are now being used by all forensic engineers in the firm to assess the veracity of repair cost claims by parties involved in ongoing cases. This was achieved by analyzing experimental crash test data to determine the relationships between Repair Costs, Vehicle Collision Speed, and Change in Vehicle Speed.


Robotics Intern

Development of a Speech Recognition and Synthesis System
  • Developed a speech recognition and synthesis system using Ubuntu Linux, ROS, PocketSphinx, and Python, which allowed a domestic service robot to interact with a human participant.

  • Converted user utterances to a Command Frame Representation (CFR) that was subsequently used to direct the actions of the Navigation and Perception modules of the robot.


Teaching Experience

I really enjoy sharing all the things I've learned in engineering and showing school children how the maths and science they are learning can be applied in the real world.

Trinity Walton Club

  • Introduced secondary school students to the basics of computer programming through the Arduino Integrated Development Environment (IDE).

  • Explained elementary electronic concepts to the students and assisted them in applying this knowledge to build simple electronic circuits to read from sensors and control outputs using the Arduino microcontroller.


DCU Centre for Talented Youth Ireland

  • Presented Newton’s Three Laws and Drag to a group of 16 primary school students aged 8-12.

  • Consolidated the learning outcomes of the lesson by challenging the students to create balloon powered buggies that they raced to compete for 3D printed prizes.


TCD Girls Engineering Summer Camp

  • Encouraged secondary school girls to consider engineering as a potential course of study by providing a first-hand insight into engineering.

  • Showed the problem-solving mentality required of engineers by setting a number of hands-on puzzles and verbal riddles.

  • Illustrated how the science learned by engineers is applied to solve real-world problems by teaching Newton’s Laws of Motion and embodying these principles in water powered rockets that the girls later constructed.

  • Taught the fundamentals of computer programming by providing a C++ template for an X’s and O’s game, which when completed allowed the girls to play one on one against each other.


Certificates



Sporting Achievements


I first joined Navan RFC when I was 10 years old and over the next 9 years I was part of one of the most succesful underage teams ever in the club's history.

  • U19 All Ireland Medal (2014)
  • U19 D’Arcy Cup Medal (2014)
  • U19 North East League Medalx2 (2013, 2014)
  • U19 Leinster League Medalx2 (2013, 2014)
  • U19 All Ireland Runners Up Medal (2013)
  • U17 All Ireland Medal (2012)
  • U17 Leinster League Medal (2012)
  • U17 Culliton Cup Medal (2011)
My individual performances also meant that I got called up to represent the North-East U-16 regional squad (2010-2011) and the Leinster A-Schools provincial squad (2011).

References

Here are some of the people who were kind enough to write me a reference for my application to Notre Dame

Mike McHugh

  • +353 (0) 86 317 5293
  • mchughmp@tcd.ie

Mike and I helped to setup BuildBase (Trinity College Dublin's first student 3D printing facility) and we ran a two week summer camp to inspire secondary school girls to study engineering in college.

Conor McGinn

I worked closely with Conor for the final three years of my degree in Trinity. As the head of the Trinity Robotics Research Group and as my Masters thesis supervisor he has had a vital role in developing my knowledge of Robotics.

Kevin Kelly

  • +353 (0) 1 896 1383
  • kevin.kelly@tcd.ie

Kevin was the organizer of the Girls Engineering Summer Camp and he recruited me to help out. After that summer, Kevin was one of my mentors in a yearlong project in Innovation in Product Development.