Born in Castlebar, I graduated in civil engineering from University College Dublin in 1995. Having worked for Roadstone for a period, I returned to UCD in 1997 to undertake a PhD on alkali aggregate reaction in Irish concretes. I completed my PhD in 2001 and joined the Centre for Materials and Manufacturing (CMM) in UCD. Based in the School of Architecture, Landscape and Civil Engineering, my role as a research engineer involves materials research, product development, process certification, technical marketing technology transfer to industry. In 2007 I transferred to the lecturing staff within the School.