Built Environment Graduates


Clare Dowling
Civil Engineering


The course has a broad range of subjects with a practical approach including lectures on engineering principles, laboratory classes, fieldwork and design. The lecturers are very encouraging and easy to approach.

I am employed as a Structural Engineer (a sub-discipline of civil engineering) with Carlow Precast, a large concrete manufacturer. I’m responsible for the design of large precast concrete elements for structures and large infrastructure projects. This is a highly competitive market and by optimising design techniques, Carlow Precast have developed a large and growing client list in Ireland and beyond.

I developed communications, teamwork and management skills in this course which are transferable to the workplace. The flexibility of the Civil Engineering degree at (formerly) IT Carlow has allowed me to work in a variety of roles including as an infrastructure engineer and a geotechnical engineer before taking up my current role.  

Tony Brophy
Aircraft Systems

The Aircraft Systems course covers a wide base of subjects in aviation. The industry is so broad ranging, it requires a course which can touch all bases of the aviation industry. The course was informative, practical and above all else identified the skills required to work in the aviation sector.

I currently work for Aircontractors Ireland which is a part of the ASL Aviation Group. My responsibility as a Junior Aircraft Line Engineer is to carry out maintenance on large passenger carriers as well as small and medium cargo aircraft. I work as part of a team carrying A-checks, line checks and routine maintenance tasks.

The course prepared me for my current job by providing me with the academic and practical skills needed to be able to work in aircraft line maintenance. I have a good mix of knowledge gathered from both classroom and workshop which helps me in my everyday duties as an aircraft engineer. 

 

Brian Kenny

Facilities Management

The course was laid out to give the student many options and time to decide on the career path they want to take up until 4th year. There are many different routes you can take. For me the law, accounting and AutoCAD subjects are a great help in my present job.

I am currently doing a 4 year graduate placement (Excelerate) with John Sisk & Son, which at the moment has me working in the UK. The programme is set out so I can receive my chartership after 3/4 years with CIBSE. It incorporates monthly workshops which deal with all aspects of construction, design and management. The course is designed to give me the foothold I need to be senior management in a short space of time. In September I started working in North Wales on a billon pound project. My role was the management, coordination and design of the mechanical and electrical installations. In March 2015 I was moved to London. I will be doing placements with Sisk sub-contractors and working on Sisk sites.

It gave me a great insight into the types of M & E technologies, the law and contractual side of construction, report writing (professional formatting), excel training, AutoCAD and researching for information through different documents. These are all tools I use on a day-to-day basis and have given me a distinct advantage in the working world.

 

Paul Lennon
Electronic Engineering

For me, the course was the perfect balance between theoretical and practical hands-on experience that provided me with the skills required to excel in the Electronic Systems sector. The programme allows students to gain the experience of working as part of a team on projects, which builds their communication skills and introduces them to project management. The course covers the main sectors of the industry to provide students with the capability to gain employment and perform in any one of these areas, with particular emphasis on Digital System and Analogue design.

I currently work as an IP Development Engineer for Microsemi Semiconductors Ltd. Microsemi is a leading multi-national semiconductor company which provides a range of high-reliability devices and components to the Communications, Aerospace, Military and Automotive sectors. The IP solutions team in Dublin which I’m part of, deals with the design of secure, low-power System-on-Chip (Soc) FPGA solutions, which contain a hard ARM Cortex-M3 microprocessor, various AMBA peripherals and FPGA fabric which can be utilised to implement custom hardware designs.

My role in the team involves developing IP solutions to run on FPGA’s using RTL design techniques (VHDL & Verilog). Typically, these solutions involve creating design blocks to implement serial protocols which are ultra-configurable with the aim to cover all major customer use cases. Projects extend for 3-6 months in duration and require rigorous documentation and planning throughout. These are skills which are constantly developed and enhanced during the undergraduate programme at (formerly) IT Carlow.

I’m also involved with the development and verification of Firmware drivers which control the IP blocks developed within the division alo ng with drivers to support the processor peripherals. User documentation must be provided with all solutions.

As with all positions technical in nature, the job presents a new challenge to overcome every day, making good use of the problem solving techniques taught in (formerly) IT Carlow, along with continuous on-the-job learning. The job is rewarding with excellent flexibility, pleasant working conditions and provides superb job satisfaction.

Lisa Sills

TV & Media Production

I liked how hands-on and practical the course was. It’s very much geared towards group work. The practicality and the creativity are definitely a big plus too. I really miss working in the studio in particular as that was a highlight. Taking an idea from its base and making it into an actual tangible thing was always really cool.

I’m currently working as a Content Marketer with digital marketing agency, Brave Media, in Dublin. We deal with a variety of clients, from SMEs to big companies like Renault. We’re a full-service digital marketing agency so we do everything from content creation to paid advertising and building websites.

The TVM course definitely teaches you how to work as part of a team. Creativity and an understanding of digital media are very important to my job too, as are the skills I picked up in HTML, Photoshop, and video editing. TVM being so practical really gives you a launching point to be able to work within a team and dive straight into any project.