University of Limerick Alumni Spotlight: Aonghus O'Donovan

In the latest instalment of our Alumni Spotlight series, we speak to Aonghus O’Donovan, a graduate of Mechanical Engineering at UL. 

A Mechanical Engineer and Product Designer who cut his teeth at Dyson after graduating from UL, Aonghus has gone on to gain a with a wide range of experience in different industries from Formula-1 to Femtech. Most recently, he has co-developed the MyCelsius Cooling Bracelet, a wearable device designed to help women manage hot flushes.

Aonghus shares why he chose to study at UL and how what he learnt in college led him to a successful career in Engineering. 

Tell us a bit about yourself.  

I’m from Tullamore, County Offaly. Like most Irish kids I invested often six days a week playing sports from rugby to basketball, Gaelic football, tennis, golf and whatever I could to be running around outside.

I developed an interest in Engineering while studying for the Leaving Cert with my favourite subject being Design and Communication Graphics, which involved technical drawings and CAD (computer aided design). 

My dream job as a kid was to design iPods and iPhones so I guess I’m not a million miles away from that now. 

Why did you choose to do study Mechanical Engineering at UL?   

UL appealed to me because they offered a general year of Engineering first before you decide on which discipline to specialise in. For me, the most appealing part was the year in industry that the UL Engineering degree offered. 

On top of that the sports and sports facilities at UL really appealed to me.   

What did you enjoy most about the course? 

My favourite parts of the Engineering course were the practical aspects – the coursework where we learnt how to design and build products and learnt how to machine and test them. 

What was the most important thing that you learnt while studying at UL? 

The most important thing I learnt while studying at UL was how to problem solve. At the time I thought the endless modules in Mathematics were never going to help me in the real world, but looking back now these were very well thought out modules that are really what make you become an Engineer and develop the attitude that any problem can be solved with the right mindset.

What did you enjoy most about studying in UL?  

My favourite things about studying in UL were the classmates and friends I made while there, and the endless fun that was to be had on campus every year. 

Where did you do your co-op and how did it benefit you in your career after college?

I was incredibly lucky with my co-op when I secured a job in New York City, working out of an office in Times Square for nine months, designing HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems for sky scrapers and data centres. 

I’m extremely grateful to a UL graduate, James Conwell, Director of Engineering at JT Magen in NYC. He decided to offer this role to me for my co-op and taught me how to actually apply Engineering in the real world. 

Were you a member of any clubs and societies during your time in UL? 

I was a member of the basketball and rugby clubs at UL. My proudest moment was in my fourth year at UL when we finally took home the All-Ireland Universities Cup for Rugby. This was the first time UL had won it since Paul O’Connell was playing. 

Sports is an integral part of life at UL and I’m a strong believer in how great it can be for people’s mental health and wellbeing whilst studying or working. 

Are there any lecturers or other people in UL that played a pivotal role during your time at UL?  

Dr Vanessa Egan and Dr Philip Griffin were pivotal to my success at UL. Both were extremely approachable, made difficult subjects really comprehensible and offered continuous advice throughout my four years, leading me to graduate with a first class honours degree. I’m really grateful to both of them. I still remember the videos online of Philip describing the UL Engineering degree, from 16 years ago, the day before the CAO deadline when I decided on UL. 

Tell us about your career journey so far.

Thanks to the co-op experience I gained at UL and the portfolio I put together from my coursework at UL, I managed to secure a job at Dyson, the biggest innovator I could think of for designing and developing consumer electronics products. 

I moved to the UK to work for Dyson and joined their team to develop an Electric Vehicle (EV) from scratch. I specialised in thermal comfort and spent my time working with experts to develop novel methods of heating and cooling people with minimal power. 

When the Dyson EV didn’t make it to market, I joined HiETA Technologies where I designed cooling systems for Formula 1 cars and the aerospace industry, and managed a team of extremely talented Engineers. My proudest moment was seeing a part I designed on Lewis Hamilton’s F1 car. 

Each work experience for me gave me a unique set of skills with specialties in product design, heat transfer and thermal comfort. And so, when I met Maxime Kryvian, co-founder of Celsius Innovations, who was suffering from hot flushes and wanted to start a business with me, I was thrilled to enter the start-up world and build a product and a company. 

What are your hopes and plans for the future?  

We just launched our flagship product, the MyCelsius Cooling Bracelet, in Ireland in April this year, which has been a huge success so far. We were featured in the Irish Independent, Newstalk, and a dozen other newspapers, radio shows and podcasts. 

I’m really excited to build off this early success, scale our company and keep designing innovative products that really help people. 

What advice would you give to anyone considering studying Engineering at UL?

Do it! The work experience year in industry is the best thing you can do with your four years to help you get a good job and actually learn how to work in industry.