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DkIT host “Career Paths in Science” Event

05 April 2023

Dundalk Institute of Technology’s Department of Life and Health Sciences in association with the Virtual Labs project were delighted to warmly welcome past DkIT alumni to their successful “Career Paths in Science” event which was held on campus recently.

Past DkIT graduates, Mark Stewart - Section Head of Formulations Analytical at Norbrook Laboratories, Noirin Callan - Senior QA Specialist at Almac Group, Funmilayo Obadeyi - Senior Manager of QC Separations at WuXi Biologics and Jessica O’Shea - Compliance Manager at Bristol Myers Squibb were part of an informative panel discussion about their current industry positions and their career journey so far.



Lecturers from the department, and also past graduates from DkIT’s science programmes Dr. Ben Drumm, Dr. Caoimhín Griffin and Dr. Leanna Morgan gave an overview of their academic career journey, as well as some insights into the life of a researcher. Finally, Catherine Staunton, Head of Careers and Employability at DkIT, brought the whole afternoon together by presenting the graduate attributes from the DkIT Graduate Attribute Framework.

Following the event, Dr. Sinéad Loughran, one of the organisers commented

“Education is the key to unlocking a bright future, and the “Career Paths in Science” event served as a testament to that. Through the insightful panel discussion and inspiring academic career overviews, past alumni and lecturers alike demonstrated the power of education in opening doors to exciting and fulfilling careers in the field of science.”

This event was organised by lecturers in the Department of Life and Health Sciences and supported by the Virtual Labs project, a HCI funded multi-institutional innovative project which aims to evaluate the use of virtual laboratory resources in STEM practical learning and teaching. The Virtual Labs project aims to enhance transversal skill development, and ultimately the employability, of our science graduates. The event, which is outlined here, as well as the team’s recent on campus enterprise workshop, can have a direct impact on the success of the project both here in DkIT as well as with the other project partner Higher Education Institutions (MU, DCU, UCC and TUS). 

Dr Bridget Kelly, Lecturer and one of the organisers said,

Events like this are invaluable for our current students, having the opportunity to learn and hear about the various career paths explored and ventured on by experienced DkIT alumni was inspiring. The event also provided a forum to realise the value of DkIT’s innovative learning, teaching and assessment approaches in terms of how they are preparing learners for a successful career”.

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