Profile
Tadhg O'Donovan
My CV
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Education:
St Munchin’s College (’91 – ’97); Trinity College Dublin (’97 – ’07)
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Qualifications:
BA BAI (Mechanical Engineering); PhD (Thermal Science)
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Work History:
Trinity College Dublin & Lufthansa Airmotive
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Current Job:
Associate Professor
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About Me:
Irish guy, living in Edinburgh – father or two (Eilidh (4 years) and Seán (1 year)) and married to another engineer, Jen!
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Spend most of my free time these days changing nappies – but when I get the chance I like to swim, play golf, meet friends…
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I work with solar, and in Scotland that’s not easy – so I guess I like a challenge. I love engineering; I get to design and play with gadgets every day!
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My Typical Day:
A real mix of lectures, design meetings, progress report meetings, site visits, data analysis…no two days are the same!
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I have a lot of freedom in my job. Yes, I work to a schedule for lectures etc, but most of my week and during the summer months, I have the freedom to indulge my engineering interests. So no two days are the same…
I manage a research group who are working on a wide range of renewable energy projects, like:
Solar Panel Design for Domestic Heating
Thermal Stoage, use of the heat we heat we collect when we need it
Solar Powered Water Desalination
Concentrated Solar Power Plant Development (where we use mirrors and lenses to focus the sun to a very hot spot before we convert it to electricity)I also have the opportunity to work with:
Surgeons and Physiologists to develop devices for blood flow measurement and muscle rehabilitation
Brewers and Distillers to integrate renewables into their processes
Electronics and Computing Companies to keep their electronic cool or look for ways to use the waste heat.So day to day I do background research (lots of reading, lots of learning); I hold planning and design meeting; I allocate work packages (design, build, test, model etc) and I do a lot of that myself too…every day is different, because the projects keep changing, evolving; it’s very exciting to review progress!
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Curious, Inventive, Fun-loving
What did you want to be after you left school?
Aircraft Pilot
What don't you like about your current job?
Answering e-mails :(
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