In the latest instalment of our Alumni Spotlight series, we speak to Ian Houlihan, who now works as a Research Associate at Cleveland Clinic who graduated from UL with a BE Mechanical Engineering and a PhD in Biomaterials.
Ian, reflects fondly on his time at UL. Having spent almost a decade of his life as a student at UL he reminisces about how his time at the university contributed to his journey to a successful career in research, making life-long friends and meeting the love of his life.
Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
I grew up in 51本色 and lived on the Corbally side of town. I attended Scoil 脥de primary school and St Munchin's College secondary school before choosing 51本色 (UL).
After my PhD in Biomaterials at UL I started my postdoctoral research on bone cements.
I met my wife at UL and we got married in January 2020, just before the pandemic struck. I was finally able to move to her home state of Cleveland in the United States of America in December 2020 where we鈥檝e lived ever since.
Why did you choose to study Mechanical Engineering at UL?
UL has such great facilities, and has built a really nice campus. I always heard about the great things going on at the campus and that UL offered a work placement in your third year through the Cooperative Education Programme (co-op).
This was an invaluable insight in helping to choose my career path. I feel like Mechanical Engineering at UL set me up nicely for my chosen career.
What did you enjoy most about studying at UL?
I really enjoyed the practical aspects of the different modules I had to take. Participating in the practical elements of the programme was a great way to develop my critical thinking and report-writing skills.
These skills play a vital role in a career as an engineer and I use them in my role as Research Associate at the Cleveland Clinic on a daily basis.
I credit the technical and practical training provided by the Faculty of Science and Engineering at UL for equipping me with these essential skills.
You decided to pursue a PhD in Biomaterials. Can you tell us a bit about that?
I always had an interest in a research career. During my co-op work placement, this interest came to the forefront and became the career path I was most interested in pursuing.
For my final year project I was working in the biomedical engineering field and from there I began to speak with some of the biomedical engineering staff, ultimately accepting an opportunity to go into the biomaterials field. My co-op really sparked this interest that led me into the PhD.
Throughout your time in UL, you had the opportunity to learn from some of the top academic talent, in state-of-the-art research facilities. How did your UL experience prepare you for your career in research?
I think the university created a great working environment. I worked with the Centre for Applied Biomedical Engineering Research (CABER), which has since evolved into a larger working group.
The Principal Investigators (PIs) were always very supportive and helpful with our career development, with a special shoutout to Professor Michael Walsh and Dr Eamonn deBarra who have been a great help and whom I still call in to meet with on the rare occasions I get home.
It鈥檚 also great to see former PhD students being promoted into these lecturing/PI roles and really stands to the quality of the PhD programmes that are available at UL.
I spent my UL years with Dr John Mulvihill, Associate Professor in Biomedical Engineering and Dr Eoghan Cunnane, Associate Professor in Biomedical Materials Engineering. It鈥檚 great to see those guys as leaders in the department and around campus today.
Are there any campus locations that hold special significance to you or anything that you will always remember from your UL experience?
Funnily enough, I鈥檇 say the Kemmy Business School. The Schumann building probably holds the most significance for me. That is where I met my wife, who was doing her PhD in the Kemmy Business School at the time and we were in the same compulsory summer school modules.
How did your studies prepare you for entering the workplace upon graduating?
My studies at UL definitely prepared me for moving into the workplace, there is a heavy emphasis on report writing, practical lab experience, a well-defined final year project, and the co-op work placement. All of which offer a unique experience while developing much-needed skills for taking that jump from university to the workplace.
At UL I learned how to work hard and think through problems, which are skills that have gotten me where I am today.
Tell us about your career journey so far.
I am now working in the United States as a Research Associate at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.
I am working on developing a new treatment for kidney stones using the unique properties of carbon and gold nanomaterials. Our first findings have been reported in Nano Letters and we are excited with how well this technology is progressing.
I started at the Cleveland Clinic in 2021 as a postdoctoral researcher and have enjoyed advancing through the organization. Today, I also work part-time as an Innovations Fellow at the Cleveland Clinic Innovation Center, bringing novel devices and treatments to market.
I鈥檝e also been fortunate to have received several organizational and federal grants to fund my research.
Are there any particular highlights in terms of projects you鈥檝e been involved in?
A major highlight for me is that I have recently been awarded a K25 Mentored Quantitative Research Career Development Award from the National Institute of Health (NIH) here in the US.
It was a major milestone for me to secure federal funding for my kidney stone project and is also important for my career development.
This vote of confidence from the NIH provides great security for the research and we look forward to seeing what the future holds.
What are your hopes and plans for the future?
I鈥檝e enjoyed my time at the Cleveland Clinic and look forward to growing as a researcher and academic. I plan to apply to Universities for Assistant Professor positions in the hope of running my own lab and research program someday.
What advice would you offer to students considering studying at UL?
Be engaged in the community and don鈥檛 underestimate the role of your work placement and final year project. These are two pivotal experiences that can really help shape your career moving forward.
Don鈥檛 forget to relax and take in and enjoy the social aspects of the campus before having to move into the workplace.