What’s the toughest part?

Fault finding – that is, when your design doesn’t work and you have to find out why. This is the most embarrassing and frustrating thing that I face.

What’s the best piece of advice you were given in school?

The most helpful guidance I was given was that I was told to choose a career using subjects that I enjoyed doing. I always enjoyed maths and physics at school, so I was interested in choosing a career that needed me to use both.

It took a bit of research and effort, but I settled on Electrical and Electronic Engineering and haven’t looked back since.

What has been the most useful aspect of your education to date?

Whilst at university, I had the opportunity of working within the engineering team on a shortwave radio station during work placement. As a result I specialized in Radio Frequency (RF) engineering when I returned to college.

I also found my understanding of mathematics helpful.

Best advice for work experience?

There are a surprising number of companies in Ireland involved in the space technology sector. This means that it is possible to experience a number of different opportunities – it is better to visit a number of different companies and experience different technologies rather than to just experience one.

Work experience in university engineering departments would also enable you to do this and many universities now run courses for school pupils to learn more about the subject.