During a recent visit to St. Conleth’s College in Dublin, Roughan & O’Donovan’s Stephen Shortall discussed his path into the engineering profession with a class of 5th-year students. He talked subject choices and college courses, internships and first job offers.
‘If students can see people who are a bit like them - people they can relate to - it really helps them to say, 'I could do that job',’ he says.
Engineers week
Shortall was one of five graduate engineers from the company visiting the school to talk about STEM courses and the different career paths engineering-related subjects can open up. Their aim was to inspire the next generation of engineers.
Make a mark on the world
Elisa Longo, an engineer working on Ireland’s first smart motorway project, spoke about how engineering offers a chance for all young people – girls as well as boys – to have a real impact on the world.
‘Few other industries offer the opportunity to address serious global challenges, such as restoring and improving our urban infrastructure. Nor do they promise such strong job prospects,’ she says.
A passport to work abroad
Jorge Castillo spoke to the students about the opportunities engineering provides to travel and work overseas.
‘While I was studying civil engineering in Spain, I often wondered what direction my degree would take me. Now, I’m living in Ireland and working on transportation projects across the length of the country. That’s exciting,’ he says.
Engineering in practice
Rico Raymundo and Gavin McNamara devised a technical challenge to explain the basic concepts behind beam design and demonstrate how engineers can solve everyday challenges by thinking creatively.
’It is hard to expect students to work towards something they have never seen anyone else do and don’t fully understand,’ says Raymundo.
The response
By the end of the talk, the students had lots of questions. The graduates were delighted with the reaction, and even more so when the students’ career guidance counsellor, Anne Ryan, emailed Roughan & O’Donovan’s Managing Director, Harry Meighan, to say:
Thanks to your engineers’ excellent presentation and infectious enthusiasm, I now find myself with a class of budding engineers.
