Profile

I am from Dublin and have been living in the Netherlands for about two years now. Growing up, I was always interested in how things work, so I would read books to find out, but I would also try to figure things out myself. I enjoyed building things with Lego, constructing little huts with my friends in the local park, and learning about the world around me. When I was about twelve, I started reading books about stars and planets. I didn’t understand everything but was fascinated by what I read. At that time, a burning curiosity about space and about life itself was ignited inside me that has led me down the path to where I am now.

Reading has always been a favourite pastime. Harry Potter was a cornerstone of my teenage years–I’m in Gryffindor! More recently, I have enjoyed The Foundation series by Isaac Asimov, the greatest sci-fi writer of our time. I don’t have much time these days to play computer games, but my favourites are still Street Fighter and Final Fantasy.

Aside from science and reading, I also love sports such as football, rugby, basketball, and snooker. I play 5-a-side football in a league at work, and it’s super fun. Another great passion of mine is playing poker. I played it online professionally for four years. It has taught me the value of discipline and persistence, and that in life, sometimes you have to take chances to achieve great things.

Our planet is surrounded by a thick layer of gases (air) called the atmosphere which stretches several hundred kilometres above the surface. The environmental conditions beneath the atmosphere are very different to what they are like above it. Materials above the atmosphere, or in space, are exposed to different pressure levels, extreme temperatures and high energy radiation coming from the Sun. Satellites operate above the atmosphere so the materials they are made from must be able to survive and work in quite hazardous conditions. It is important to make sure the materials can withstand these conditions before a satellite is launched and this is where my work comes in.

I work in the Materials and Electrical Components laboratory at the European Space Agency. We have facilities here that can recreate the environmental conditions that exist in space. I place materials inside a large chamber and expose them to space-like conditions for days, and sometimes even months. During and after each experiment, I analyse the materials using different instruments to see how they have reacted to the space-like conditions. If they pass the test, we can use them on our satellites. Pretty cool, huh?