Science Foundation Ireland 1 Careers

Explore career opportunities focused on Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths

Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) is the national foundation for investment in research in the areas of STEM, which assists in the development and competitiveness of industry, enterprise, and employment in Ireland. We also promote and support STEM education and engagement to improve awareness and understanding of the value of research to society and to support the STEM careers pipeline.

Design Engineer / Entrepreneur Sharon Rabi

Mechanical Engineer Gillian Cagney

Software Engineer Roisín Howard

Physicist Dr Arlene O'Neill

Oz Ilbrahmi, Manufacturing Specialist

Oz Ilbrahmi works as a CEO and Manufacturing Specialist. The inventing process and problem-solving are key things that Oz finds stimulating about his work.

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Who are the people who most influenced your career direction?

Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Bill Gates and believe it or not, the guy who designed the Kalashnikov! (Mikhail Kalashnikov).

Describe a typical day?

My typical day involves ensuring that my staff have sufficient work to keep them busy so they’re not idle. I feel it’s crucial to have plenty of interesting and challenging work to keep you occupied.

What are the main tasks and responsibilities?

My main responsibility is to ensure that my staff are not bored! I provide them with sufficient activities to keep them mentally engaged with their work. I work to keep them expanding their knowledge base. Key skills involved in my role are time-management skills, people skills, predicting future trends and the ability to trust yourself in your decisions.

What are the main challenges?

Funnily enough I don’t like doing paperwork, in fact I rather despise it!

What do you like most?

I love problem-solving and also the inventing process.

What is your education to date?

BA in Animation
BEng in Mechatronics

What aspects of your education have proven most important for your job?

As far as my secondary education goes, not a lot. Unfortunately, nothing which I was learning in school was sufficient and I don’t blame the teachers. I believe that it was my job to request what I wanted to learn more about and to go out and explore what I would be interested in and then ask more about that, as opposed to just waiting on my teachers to give me different things to learn about. I don’t blame my teachers at all but I do regret not knowing about different fields and industries earlier on.

Does your job allow you to have a lifestyle you are happy with?

If I was to think about it honestly, it does and it doesn’t. I do really enjoy what I’m doing so I could be considered a workaholic – but I love my work. I would nearly go as far as to consider my work one of the main aspects of my lifestyle.

What advice would you give to someone considering this job?

The most important thing is to be passionate about what you’re doing. It can be pretty difficult at times and in those times, the only thing that gets you through it are the little successes you achieve during the week or the month or by solving a problem or getting a new client.

What kinds of work experience would provide a good background for this position?

Work experience doesn’t have to be given by somebody else – you can actually give it to yourself. What I mean by that, is that you can take up your own projects and see how well you do with those and that would eventually build up your own personal portfolio. For example, if you tried to build your own drone/RC car or something at home or even just started tinkering about with interesting projects you would receive a huge boost mentally. After that, you could go and get some professional experience with engineering firms/companies if your interest still persists.