Athlone IT to Launch Space Careers Roadshow for Engineers’ Week 2019
Are you fascinated by space? Have you considered a cosmic career in Ireland’s burgeoning space industry?
This March 7th, senior cycle secondary school students from across the Midlands will attend Athlone Institute of Technology’s seminal Space Career Roadshow – an exciting educational event designed to inform and exhilarate those interested in pursuing a cosmic career.
Supported by Science Foundation Ireland, ESERO Ireland and CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory, the event will feature talks and networking sessions with some of Ireland’s most high-profile space professionals and academics, including those working with the ESA and NASA.
Over the course of the day, transition, fifth and sixth-year students, accompanied by their teachers, will learn about STEM careers in space, specifically in the areas of materials engineering, robotics engineering and software engineering, and what it takes to get there from an academic and industry perspective.
They’ll also hear about the cutting-edge research being led by keynote speaker and Dean of Faculty of Engineering and Informatics at Athlone Institute of Technology, Dr Sean Lyons, who has been contracted by the ESA to develop the world’s first large-scale, zero gravity 3D printer as part of a multinational consortium named Project Imperial.
Drawing on expert knowledge of additive manufacturing and advanced polymer materials, Dr Lyons and his colleagues at the Materials Research Institute will use high-strength thermoplastics to develop a 3D printer capable of creating large, complex engineering structures for astronauts to use aboard the International Space Station.
Additionally, Dr Lyons and his team will lead a secondary investigation into other applications for this innovative technology, such as the printing of cell scaffolding in zero gravity conditions for use in human surgeries.
The event, which has been organised to celebrate Engineer’s Week 2019, will also showcase another Irish victory in the European space field. Students from Marist College, a secondary school in Athlone, Co. Westmeath, became the first Irish winners of the European CanSat competition last year and will be presented with a winners’ certificate by a representative of the European Space Agency.
Other keynote speakers and industry professionals speaking at Athlone Institute of Technology’s Space Careers Roadshow include members of Ireland’s Space Strategy for Enterprise and European Southern Observatory’s National Advisory groups, as well as Professor Robert Walsh, University of Central Lancashire, Stephanie O’ Neill, ESERO Ireland, Dr Niamh Smith, CIT Blackrock Castle Observatory, and Kiera Ward, Athlone Institute of Technology PhD candidate.
For more information or to reserve your free place, please click here.
Students, are you interested in pursuing a career in the space industry? Check out our suite of STEM programmes, including our Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in Polymer and Mechanical Engineering, our Bachelor of Engineering in Mechatronics and our Special Purpose Award in Robotics and Automation (Springboard+). Each of these programmes produces highly skilled, work-ready and sought after graduates. Awarded Sunday Times Institute of Technology of the Year 2018, Athlone Institute of Technology is currently first nationally of all HEIs in the Irish league table for student satisfaction and first across the technological higher education sector for research.