After graduating from UCD with an M.Eng in Structural Engineering with Architecture in 2015, Julia worked for OCSC Dublin, before joining Arup Berlin in 2018. Since the beginning of her career, she has followed her passion of working in diverse, international teams by contributing to the design of large-scale projects globally. In 2019, Julia was selected to go to Malaysia on a one-year assignment, to support the integration of the Malaysian offices into the global Arup Group.

In 2022, Julia relocated to Arup London where she is the design coordinator of the substructure of a prominent new high-rise building in the city of London with Foster+Partners architects, which aims to generate half of the carbon of current benchmarks to construct. 

As a passionate supporter of women in STEM, Julia was selected as EDI champion for Arup Germany, where she was responsible for organising initiatives which promote diversity and inclusivity within the group.

William Fyans studied Mechanical Engineering in Trinity College Dublin and for the last 20 years has pursued a career in the development of novel technologies. He conducted the structural design of principal elements of the lifting equipment aboard the world’s largest ship (Pioneering Spirit); played a lead role in the mechanical design of tidal turbines with Openhydro and led the design of super-precision mechanisms for scientific instrumentation. 

William is currently the Engineering Manager with SiriusXT, leading the design and regulatory approval of the world’s first laboratory-based Soft X-Ray Microscope. This technology enables the generation of a through-thickness 3D image of a single cell and represents a significant development in disease and drug research.  

William is also the Director of Fyans Engineering, which offers consultancy services. Recent projects include the development of a new system of multi-storey modular construction on behalf of Suretank, which has been implemented in the data industry.

Séamus Gilhooley is a graduate from the University of Limerick with a BSc in Physics (2010) and MSc in Engineering (2022). He started his career in biotechnology with Curran Scientific and GenCell Biosystems in manufacturing and R&D roles.

With a move in 2013 to the medical device company Stryker, Séamus worked in development of various medical devices used in orthopaedic surgery, including revision hip and total knee arthroplasties. He gained increasing responsibility from design engineering to technical lead on projects and portfolio lead engineer, and had the opportunity to mentor multiple interns, graduate engineers and permanent engineers.

During this time, he demonstrated innovation in engineering by being nominated by R&D management for Stryker’s best invention (2015), and winning member in global awards for collaboration (2017, 2019), as well as being granted six patents. 

Siobhán Gleeson is a Senior Engineer with Arup where she specialises in the design and construction of flood relief schemes. She is a graduate of Civil and Environmental Engineering from University College Cork. 

Prior to joining Arup, she worked in the UK for four years as a graduate engineer with the Environment Agency. She had roles in Asset Management, Planning & Consent, the Thames Barrier, and BIM implementation teams. She also worked as a site engineer on a large flood alleviation scheme.  

Having been with Arup for five years, her role now involves managing the detailed design of complex flood relief schemes, site design liaison, contract administration and BIM implementation. She is currently leading the delivery of the Douglas and Togher Flood relief schemes for Arup. A key focus of Siobhán’s has been the promotion of BIM and digital initiatives in the design and delivery of infrastructure projects. 

Dr Fergal O’Rourke is a chartered engineer, the Director of the Centre for Renewables and Energy at Dundalk Institute of Technology, Principal Investigator of the CREDIT Technology Gateway and a lecturer in the School of Engineering. He holds a BE(Hons) in Mechanical Engineering (First Class Honours) and a PhD (Mechanical Engineering). His PhD thesis focused on the hydrodynamic design and evaluation of a tidal current turbine operating in real site conditions. Fergal is principal supervisor of six PhD students that are working on projects in the energy domain. 

Fergal has over 15 years’ experience in design, evaluation and research, undertaking key roles as a designer, project engineer, engineering consultant and research and development engineer. He has worked on the design, development and evaluation of a range of energy products and systems that provide a sustainable use of energy and reduce carbon emissions. Much of Fergal’s research and industrial project work form part of the learning material for undergraduate engineers.