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Ciara Mageean, physiotherapist and international middle distance track athlete, has represented Ireland in the 1500m at the Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020, and Paris 2024 Olympics, where she had to withdraw due to an achilles injury. In June 2024, Ciara became the European 1,500m Champion in Rome, adding a gold medal to her silver in 2022 and bronze in 2016 at the European Athletics Championships. She also claimed a bronze medal at the 2019 European Indoor Championships and achieved a 4th place finish at the World Championships in 2023, setting a new Irish 1,500m record. Ciara improved that record a month later with a stunning 3.55.87 at the Brussels Diamond League. The Co. Down athlete now holds all Irish middle-distance records: 800m (1.58.51), 1,000m (2.31.06), 1,500m (3.55.87) and the Mile (4.14.58). Ciara always wanted to represent Ireland at the highest level, the choice a toss-up between camogie and athletics. As her ultimate dream was to participate in the Olympics, athletics won the toss and a brilliant underage career, winning World Junior Silver and European Youth gold, was to set her on the path to success.

Aengus Kelly, a chartered accountant with a degree in Commerce and a master’s in Accounting from UCD, was appointed Executive Director and CEO of AerCap, the world’s largest aviation leasing company, in 2011. Under his leadership, the Dublin-based, New York-listed company acquired GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) in a landmark €25bn deal in 2021. This acquisition created the largest company of its kind in the world, with more than 2,000 planes, 300 helicopters, and 900 engines, and brought GECAS back into Irish ownership. AerCap’s recent financial results reflect its continued global growth and success. Aengus’s exceptional leadership was recognised at the Aviation 100 Awards 2024, where he was named Global CEO & Industry Leader of the Year. AerCap was honoured as Global Lessor of the Year and received the Equity Deal of the Year award for the completion of the GE Secondary Public Share Offering. Before becoming CEO, Aengus served as CEO of AerCap’s US operations (2008-2011) and was AerCap’s Group Treasurer (2005-2007). He began his career in the aviation leasing and financing sector with Guinness Peat Aviation (GPA) in 1998 and its successors AerFi in Ireland, debis AirFinance, and AerCap in Amsterdam. Prior to this, he spent three years with KPMG in Dublin.

Clíodhna Lyons, a UCD Mechanical Engineering graduate also holds a PhD from UCD. While still writing her doctoral thesis, she joined the Research & Development team at Nissan in Barcelona, where she went from being an engine calibration engineer to leading the Powertrain and Software Engineering team in 2014. In 2019, Clíodhna moved to Nissan, Paris, to join the Product Planning team and in 2021 was appointed Director, Product Strategy and Planning for Europe. In her current role as Vice President, Product and Service Planning, Clíodhna is responsible for Nissan’s product strategy in Africa, Middle East, India, Europe and Oceania. Covering 147 markets, with vast diversity in customer needs, regulation and technical solutions, Clíodhna leads a team across six locations on three continents and has played a significant role in Nissan’s electrification strategy in Europe. In 2022, Clíodhna was recognised among a truly diverse and talented group of her peers as a Rising Star by Automotive News Europe, which honours leaders in the European automotive industry who are driving real change and fostering innovation. Clíodhna is a founding member of Nissan’s DEI council.

Dublin-born award-winning novelist, screenwriter, and playwright, Dr Emma Donoghue became a Canadian citizen in 2004. Her latest novel Learned by Heart (2023) is set in 1805 and inspired by the extraordinary regency diarist Anne Lister. Room (2010) was shortlisted for the Man Booker and Orange Prizes and has sold almost three million copies. Emma adapted it into her first feature film, Room, which was nominated for four Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Actress (won by lead, Brie Larson). The Wonder (2016, a finalist for Canada’s Giller Prize and the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year), is about a ‘fasting girl’ in 19th-century Ireland and the English nurse sent to watch her. Emma adapted it into the 2022 film starring Florence Pugh. Haven (2022) was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award. Set in Dublin during the Great Flu pandemic in 1918 (and written before Covid-19), The Pull of the Stars (2020) was adapted for theatre in 2024. Emma’s work also includes historical novels Frog Music, The Sealed Letter, Life Mask, Slammerkin, and contemporary novels Akin, Landing, Hood and Stir-fry, as well as short-story collections, literary history and two anthologies.

Paul Gillen, Managing Director and Country Lead for Barclays Bank in Ireland and Chief Security Officer for Barclays Bank in Europe, is also the global head of Cyber, Fraud and Internal Security Transformation teams, where he leads Cyber Security transformation at the bank, one of the world’s largest and most systemically important. Paul joined Barclays in London in 2015 from the European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) in the Hague where he was EC3’s founding Head of Cybercrime Operations and Intelligence from 2012 to 2015. Paul has been working in cyber and fraud since 1996 and was the founder of what is now the Garda Cybercrime Bureau. As a graduate of UCD, he was also co-founder of the UCD Centre for Cyber Security and Cybercrime Investigation. Paul was founding chairperson of Europol’s European Cybercrime Training and Education Group (ECTEG) and he was also founder and co-chair of the European Union Cybercrime Task Force (EUCTF), a group made up of all the Heads of Federal Police Cybercrime Units across the EU. Paul is one of only 400 recipients of the Scott Medal for valour by the Garda Síochána for his part in the rescue of kidnapped supermarket executive Don Tidey in 1983. Paul was awarded a Fellowship of the Irish Computer Society in 2021 for a lifetime contribution to cyber security.

John O’Donnell graduated with a bachelors in law degree from UCD and received a masters in law from Cambridge. John has distinguished himself across various fields, reaching the pinnacle of his legal career while also earning numerous awards and accolades for his literary contributions. He commenced practice at the Bar in 1983, becoming a Senior Counsel in 2001. A Bencher of King’s Inns, he has a diverse practice in civil and corporate litigation and his book Examinerships is the leading text on corporate insolvency and rescue. John’s literary work has been published widely. Awards include the Hennessy Award for Poetry and the Hennessy Award for Emerging Fiction, the Irish National Poetry Prize, New Irish Writing Awards for Poetry and Fiction, the Ireland Funds prize and the RTÉ Francis McManus Short Story Award. He has published five poetry collections. His first short story collection Almost the Same Blue was a Sunday Independent Book of the Year. Rainbow Baby, an RTÉ radio play, won a New York Festivals Radio Award. His documentary about the 1979 Fastnet disaster, ‘Back To The Rock’, was broadcast on RTÉ’s Doc On One. An Irish Writers’ Centre Novel Fair winner in 2024, his debut novel Second Skin is forthcoming, as is a new short story collection. John has been a member of the board of Poetry Ireland, and has served on the board of the Arts Council.

Dr Patrick Boland is a surgeon specialising in Musculoskeletal Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre (MSKCC) New York. Born and raised in Co. Kildare, he graduated from UCD and following training in General and Orthopaedic Surgery in Boston and London he completed a Fellowship at MSKCC where he has worked for 40 years. He is professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical School and served as director of the Orthopaedic Fellowship. In 2010, he founded the International Sacro-Pelvic Study Society and currently serves as its President. Dr Boland has received several awards in the US, UK and Ireland including honorary fellowships of the RCSI and The Royal College of Physicians in London. Throughout his career, he has co-authored 150 peer-reviewed articles and has been listed among Castle Connolly America’s Top Doctors for the past decade. He considers receiving the Willet F. Whitmore Award, an award by his peers, which recognises Clinical Excellence in “talent, dedication and compassion as a doctor” his greatest honour. In retirement he hopes to contribute to musculoskeletal cancer services in Ireland.

Ethnologist and anthropologist Dr Martín von Hildebrand has dedicated the last 50 years to strengthening indigenous communities and conservation of the Amazon. Martín, whose mother was Irish, grew up in Colombia, where his parents settled in 1948. His mother was Irish. After his studies at UCD, he returned to Colombia and spent six months in the Amazon forest with indigenous communities, witnessing their treatment as slaves by rubber dealers and how their indigenous identity was being stamped out. As an activist for indigenous rights and cultural and ecological diversity, his work in both government and nongovernment sectors led to more than 26 million hectares of the Colombian Amazon territory being officially handed back to the local indigenous inhabitants. Martín is coordinating the Andes Amazon Atlantic Corridor initiative, which aims to safeguard the ecosystem connectivity and the environmental services in the northern region of the Amazon as a concrete solution to tackle climate change. He is the recipient of many international awards including the Order of the Golden Ark in recognition of his work with Gaia Amazonas and the COAMA programme, the Right Livelihood Award, the Colombian National Environmental Prize, Operation Hope’s Man of the Year, the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship and the Special Irish Presidential Award for Irish Abroad. Martín also has a doctorate in ethnology from the Sorbonne, Paris.

Dr Patricia Scanlon, a pioneering figure in AI, has had a 25-year career in academia and industry, including stints at Columbia University, Bell Labs, and IBM. In 2013, she founded Dublin-based SoapBox Labs, the global leader in ethical voice AI technology for children. Inspired by her eldest child, Patricia aimed to create immersive digital experiences for children of all ages and accents. Under her leadership, SoapBox Labs achieved global acclaim and was acquired by US-based Curriculum Associates in 2023. Patricia’s innovative work earned her recognition by Forbes as one of the world’s top 50 women in tech in 2018. Beyond her entrepreneurial success, she has been a staunch advocate for ethical AI. Until May of this year, she served as Chair of Ireland’s AI Council and Ireland’s AI Ambassador, spearheading national conversations on AI’s ethical implications and societal benefits. Patricia’s insights highlight that the biggest challenges with AI lie in algorithmic and societal biases, particularly in education, healthcare, and climate. Her leadership and advocacy work shape a balanced and informed perspective on the future of AI.

In one sense, writing a book is something you do alone. The page is like a room only you can enter, one in which you must repeatedly sequester yourself, for however long it takes, to finish. Months, more usually years, are spent in that room that fits precisely one, where you must write and write until you are done.

Only that’s not entirely true. Writing, like any other vocation, pastime, preoccupation, or job, is, ultimately, a social activity. There is no true aloneness in it, or rather that aloneness is partial, finite. Eventually, inevitably, you must come back out of the room of the page and into the world. Perhaps with a ‘finished’ book, more likely an accumulation of work that you have taken as far as you can on your own.

Taking up the position of Writer in Residence in UCD for 2024 brought me back, inevitably, to 15 years ago, when I did the MA in Creative Writing right here in UCD.

I was in my mid-twenties and coming off the back of several years’ working full-time shifts in a call centre and writing in and around that job, cloistered in the room of my page. I had reached a point of creative restlessness, nursed the suspicion that I had gone as far as I could writing for myself, writing in snatches late at night or spare hours over the weekend, my writing had reached a limit in that regard. I knew intuitively that I now needed structure and discipline. I wanted exposure and feedback, for people to read my work and tell me what they thought of it. I felt I’d arrived at a point that I was ready for that, emotionally as much as creatively.

I wanted to make writing the centre of my days, and to meet and be with people who wanted the same thing for themselves. That decision set me on my way to ‘becoming’ a writer (and I feel I am still only in that state of ‘becoming’).

Orna Ní Chionna plays a key role in the corporate governance of major UK PLCs, private companies and charities, bringing a rigorous analytical approach to boardroom decisions. Her extensive experience in both engineering and business management makes her a vital asset in navigating complex corporate landscapes and driving strategic initiatives at Burberry. Orna is also Chair of the Eden Trust.

As CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland, Paul Sweetman plays a pivotal role in fostering US-Ireland business relations. With a diverse background that includes leadership roles at Ibec and public affairs consultancy, Instinctif Partners, Paul brings a wealth of experience in strategic advocacy and business development. His engineering background provides a strong foundation for strategic thinking and problem-solving, essential in his leadership role.

Sandymount Technologies, a successful membrane filtration technology business co-founded by engineer Ronan McGovern, was sold to Alfa Laval in 2020. The entrepreneur’s new start-up Trelis Research is currently focused on building tools and tutorials for training AI models at Trelis.com and YouTube.com/@TrelisResearch. Ronan also enjoys sharing his experience and thinking about investing, which he shares at Arraig.com, offering practical lessons through his YouTube channel and providing a quarterly briefing for paying members.

Róisín Quinn, Director of Asset Operations at National Grid UK was awarded an OBE in 2022 in the honorary awards to foreign nationals as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours, for her services to the electricity system, energy security, and decarbonisation. She joined National Grid UK as a graduate and has held several key roles at the multinational including Head of National Control and Chief Engineer. In Róisín’s previous role she was responsible for connecting energy projects to the national transmission system, a crucial role in advancing the UK’s renewable energy goals.

James Mountjoy is a Director in PwC’s R&D Incentives Group, which supports companies in claiming incentives such as the R&D tax credit and RD&I grants. James uses his engineering experience to specialise in incentives in the technology sector. R&D incentives play a key role in driving foreign direct investment into Ireland as well as supporting the growth of Irish companies.

Romy Lynch leads product development at Keychain, focusing on blockchain technology and cybersecurity. Romy is also a co-founder of the start-up Unflow, launched in 2019, with the aim to make mobile app development smooth and easy using low-code templates for screens, new features and updates and which raised over $2.1m from prominent VCs. Romy presented at the Web Summit in 2021.

David Regan leads Concern Worldwide, a major humanitarian organisation. He started in Concern as a volunteer civil engineer in Ethiopia in 1985 before a 34-year career at Accenture. David’s approach to humanitarian work is influenced by his engineering training, which emphasises systematic problem-solving and innovation.

Dr Antonia Trotta is Principal R&D Engineer in Medtronic, the global leader in medical technology, services and solutions, which employs more than 4,000 people in Ireland. Prior to joining Medtronic in 2020, Antonia graduated with a BSc and MSc in Biomedical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano and in 2015 moved to Ireland to start a PhD at UCD in the area of biomechanics, focusing on mechanical characterisation of skin tissue and head impact biomechanics.

Fraud detection company Inscribe uses AI to detect fraud in documents that are supplied to insurers and lenders. The risk intelligence company – founded by Irish brothers Conor Burke (CTO) and Ronan Burke (CEO) along with Oisín Moran and James Eggers – uses a combination of natural language processing and computer vision to scan documents and look for potential fraud. Inscribe recently raised $25m in Series B funding for expansion and hiring plans, while developing its fraud detection software.

Siofra Herr is a Solar Array and Battery Engineer at SpaceX, the company founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and ultimately developing a sustainable colony on Mars. Siofra provides analytics, modelling and engineering expertise to enable better integration of distributed energy sources.

Director and former deputy chair at Arup Group, Dervilla Mitchell was awarded a DBE in the King’s 2024 Birthday Honours for her services to engineering, having been awarded a CBE in 2014. Dervilla leads major construction projects, bringing engineering excellence to infrastructure and urban development.

AS CFO of DCC Energy, Conor Murphy applies his engineering skills to oversee financial strategy and operations in the energy sector. His role involves managing financial risk, optimising resources and supporting sustainable initiatives. Conor’s engineering training provided a strong analytic foundation, essential for strategic decision-making in a dynamic industry.

Jonathan Ruddy, who holds a PhD in Offshore Wind Integration, is responsible for all technical project management aspects of the Greenlink Interconnector in Ireland and Wales. Jonathan oversees the HVDC Converter Station, HVDC underground cable, HVDC submarine and HVAC substation, as well as grid integration, grid code compliance testing and commissioning of the Greenlink Interconnector.

Eoin Tuohy founded start-up Sports Impact Technologies to tackle the problem of undetected concussion. Inspired by his previous work on advanced space technologies at the European Astronaut Centre and the European Space Agency, he developed a miniaturised device to fit behind the ear that can record the impact of head collisions during rugby, Gaelic football and soccer games, transmitting the data off-field so decisions to take players off can be made without delay.

Aine Denari serves as President of the Brunswick Boat Group, a position she has held since 2020. She joined Brunswick Corporation, a global leader in marine recreation, after spending 20 years in a variety of roles in the automotive industry and leadership positions at major global consulting firms. As well as her degree from UCD, Aine has an MBA from Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University), completed the Stanford Executive Program, and holds advanced engineering degrees from Purdue University and University of Detroit Mercy.

Aidan Ryan is VP, Operations at Allegion International PLC, a global provider of security systems with more than 120 branches in 35 countries and over 8,000 employees. Aidan is a business leader in operations, product development and marketing, identifying growth opportunities, diagnosing business issues and implementing practical solutions. Prior to his current role, Aidan has led functions and business units in Europe, the USA and Asia in the industrial machinery, commercial electronics and consumer products industries and has led the development of strategy and execution of business programmes.

Shauna Higgins leads initiatives in the green economy, promoting sustainable engineering practices. Her role involves driving the adoption of green technologies and practices across various sectors, helping to build a more sustainable and resilient economy.

Chris Enright joined FSI in January 2018 and, since then, his focus has been on building on the recent progress made towards a continuously evolving forensic organisation, working to effectively use the most advanced methods in the investigation of crime.

Mark completed his Chemical Engineering undergraduate, PhD and post-doctoral studies from UCD’s School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering. In 2011, he and Professor Brian Glennon co-founded APC to disrupt the pharma and biotech industries with a hyper-focused, accelerated approach to drug process development. APC has grown organically to become a global powerhouse in process development, partnering with companies large and small to bring medicines to market at unprecedented speed. APC now employs over 250 scientists, engineers and pharmaceutical professionals across Ireland and the US and aims to double in size in the coming three years.

Matthew Coffey and Katie Farrell met at UCD where they both studied engineering and co-founded SQUID straight out of college. Their loyalty technology platform allows users to keep all their loyalty cards in one app. SQUID is used in over 1,000 businesses across Ireland in mainly independently owned and small chains across the café, hospitality and salon industries. The business recently secured funding, adding investors like Colm Lyon and Sequoia Capital to its cap table.

Helen McBreen is a partner at Atlantic Bridge, a venture capital firm investing in high-potential tech start-ups. Her engineering background provides deep insights into technology trends and innovations, helping to identify and support ground-breaking startups. Helen’s ability to understand complex technologies and their market potential is key to her success in venture capital. “As an engineer and problem solver, I have a bias to overcoming hurdles and getting things done. This can take a fair degree of resilience, determination, and persuasiveness, all qualities that were embedded in me during my time at UCD.”

As an undergraduate student of Agricultural Science at UCD, I participated in many college activities including debates, athletics and football. I was also a regular poker player in the dimly lit basement of the then College of Science Building in Merrion Street.

Some of the most cherished events of an Ags UCD experience in the 1960s were the amazingly popular Ags Dances in the Olympic Ballroom, organised and run by final year students in the faculty of Agriculture. The top showbands of the day featured in turn, including the Capital, the Miami, the Dixies, the Clipper Carlton, and dozens more. Proceeds were banked to finance a trip abroad for the final year students as a ‘last hurrah’ before final exams. Friendships and memories made at the dances were everlasting. Of course, alcohol was not then available at dance venues, and many were first lured into relationships on the dance floor of the Olympic by the overture: “Will you have a mineral?”

I graduated in 1964 and worked as an Agricultural Adviser in Louth and Cork. In 1969, I joined the staff of UCD and was awarded a Kellogg Fellowship. I went to the US for postgraduate studies and throughout my time there, was kept fully informed of all the goings-on back home by my colleagues in UCD. Every Friday evening, the local UCD Fellows would meet for a ‘few scoops’. One of the scoopers – a former classmate of mine at UCD – received the Monday edition of The Irish Times by post each week. Who would get to read it first? There was always a scrum.

Returning to Ireland, I was responsible for the research component of the MA degree in UCD’s Department of Agricultural Extension. I also lectured Ags undergrads. Everyday personal contact with the students, and particularly the supervision of numerous masters theses, guaranteed many lifelong friendships.

In recent years, my wife and I have been enthusiastic participants in UCD Lifelong Learning courses, mainly in literature and the arts. I completed the course “Genealogy/Family History” in 2014 and I have continued to make regular use of the James Joyce Library and research faculties. I also value being able to support the UCD Champions ‘Opening Doors’ Alumni Fund.

Illness meant that I had to stop dancing for a few years, but when a new treatment made me stronger and healthier than I had ever been, I started taking Ballet classes with Aishlingí Academy. I felt like I’d never been away.

I don’t feel like I must pretend to be someone I’m not when I’m there. Everyone is supportive, and when I perform with them, I feel like I’m an essential part of something special.

“Are you a fresher,” he said, pointing at the boy’s scarf. “I am, you?” “Ah me too! You just had your tour too?” “Yes. Film & English … you?” “You’re jokin’, I’m on Film & English.” “And which bus …?” “The 7pm 740 to Gorey.” “Wait, what? Okay, this is just unreal.”

Still friends, men now, both work and have a place up in Dublin, so they don’t have to commute anymore. And the boy, now a man, lives happily in Ireland and doesn’t regret a single thing in coming here, working here, and studying here.

The day of my interview for an Access course, in 2019, I felt only shame, loneliness. My social status in Ireland was nothing to be proud of. A female Nigerian asylum seeker living in the direct provision system and oh, I was pregnant, and a mature student. I felt dirty, intimidated, exposed, out of place, with nothing but my need to belong and my passion for education.

When I got to the Access and Lifelong Learning (ALL) Centre at UCD, every judgmental voice in my head quietened. It was as if I had stepped into another world. I was greeted with a warm smile by a staff member who was a truly wonderful and helpful person. I felt a sense of connection to the place and I wanted badly to belong, so I poured my heart into my personal statement and my interview. I talked about a novel I had read a while ago, my plans for the future and how I intended to care for my unborn baby during school term, if my application was successful.

I left the ALL Centre full of hope. I did not feel judged by my interviewer, I felt understood. It was with a different feeling that I walked out of UCD that day. The feeling that I had found my place of sanctuary was very strong, I just needed to get in. My first encounter with the ALL Centre staff and the effects of the environment itself made me feel like I belonged in UCD and this feeling was reinforced by the support and openness I got from staff, lecturers and students, from the day I started classes in September 2019. When my baby was born, they let me bring her to class; they took turns holding her, I was made aware of supports and shown facilities available to me. I saw that I was not crazy to want education as an asylum seeker and a mother. I found my place and my voice with UCD.

I wore the wrong coat On the first day Then couldn’t seem to Shrug it off In my haste It snagged on jagged shoulders Became a farcical cape For my own crusade I could feel it Trail behind me Across the cracked path To this place Swishing around We left no trace The forward foot Erased The back foot In its happy space But in between A fizz and hiss This lit kiss and Cradled candle Handed down the dark To brighten even The brightest mazes

I’m autistic. A neurological condition that’s given to loudmouths and freaks. Because of that, a part of myself, specifically my head, can feel about as hollow as a large chocolate egg and twice as fragile. Almost as fragile as the majority of connections I had before third level. More often than not, there is at least a group or person out there in UCD that will be interested in your likes and dislikes. So when and where did I feel like I belonged at my college? My answer is, when I started working at Belfield FM. And I could finally express myself for who I am.