To mark International Women’s Day 2021, we would like to take the chance to highlight some Irish women who are paving the way in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Of course, there are many names we could mention in this piece, but the following five have really stood out to us over the past 12 months, and have had many accomplishments in their chosen areas.
The theme of this year’s day is #ChooseToChallenge, as it wants to reinforce that we all have a choice in our decision to challenge stereotypes, to break down bias and to choose to live a more inclusive life. STEM industries were once predominantly male dominated and lacked female representation. This has all changed in recent years, and we want to give a shout out to some of those females who made it happen!
Edel Creely
Occupation: Member of Board of Directors at Ibec, Group Managing Director of Trilogy Technologies and Managing Director of Arkphire Services.
Why: Edel is an undeniable force in the tech industry. She started Trilogy Technologies in 2009 and it is now one of the leading IT Managing Services in the Irish market. She was previously named President of the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (Ibec), and now remains sitting on their Board of Directors. As of February 2020, she also took up the position of Managing Director at Arkphire, a Presidio IT solutions company, with operations in Dublin, London, São Paulo, Singapore, Tel Aviv and Tokyo. Edel studied Engineering at Trinity College and was formerly the Chair of the Irish Software Association.
Aoife Gowen
Occupation: Professor in UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering
Why: Dr Aoife Gowen’s research area is multidisciplinary, and involves applications of sensor technology and chemometrics to biological systems. She was one of three Irish researchers who secured €2m in EU R&D funding each as part of the prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grants in 2013. She has been successful in gaining other funding awards to support her research activities, including a European Union Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship. Aoife is a Professor in the UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering and has been with the university for over 7 years. She has paved the way in engineering and continues to be a role model for young women in the industry today.
Caroline O’Driscoll
Occupation: Partner at Deloitte Ireland, Co-Founder at I Wish and Non Executive Director at Rethink Ireland.
Why: Not only is Caroline a Partner at one of Ireland’s biggest companies, but she is also a board director and co-founder of the social enterprise, I Wish, an initiative to inspire girls to choose STEM careers. 21,000 girls have participated since it’s inception, and due to her work at I Wish, Caroline has received the National Boots WMB Empowering Women Award 2015, and was recognized as one of Ireland’s Top Ten Outstanding Young People 2016. Along with her fellow I Wish co-founders, she was awarded Cork Persons of the Month in March 2017 and the American Chamber Cairdeas Award 2019. Rethink Ireland is another project of hers, and is basically an initiative that supports Irish charities and social enterprises. Every euro raised in fundraising by them is matched by the Irish Government.
To find out more about International Women’s Day please see here: https://www.internationalwomensday.com/.
