THE CLASS OF 2019 – MEET THREE TOP GRADUATES 
This article first appeared as three separate posts on Facebook during Graduation Week 2019; stories and photographs by Niamh McGovern.
08 July 2019
Celebrating our amazing graduates of the Class of 2019 – who this summer joined Queen's worldwide alumni family – DARO Digital Intern Niamh McGovern met Chloe McAteer, BEng Software Engineering, Eoghan Mulholland, PhD Pharmacy and Sapphire Duffy, BSc in Business Information Technology.
"I love how Queen's created an environment for me to develop my skills, not just in a lecture hall, but through the many events the University hosted in the evenings and weekends – from hackathons to meetups and conferences – which have all gone a long way in growing a passion and love for the tech industry."
The words of County Down alumna, Chloe McAteer (pictured left), who graduated at the end of June with a BEng in Software Engineering. Chloe is a winner of the Rising Tech Star Award, which was presented by Women Who Code, Belfast in 2018, celebrating the women who have the potential to make waves in the tech industry.
"I was delighted to receive this award for my work in the local tech community, from writing blogs about my experiences with different types of technologies, to speaking at meetups and conferences, and hosting workshops."
Chloe was also named one of the Top 100 Young Innovators in 2018 and has recently won the Megaw Memorial Award for her final year project at Queen's, from the School of Electronic, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
"My final year project that I presented to win this award was a web application that used Artificial Intelligence to remove sensitive information from documents, whilst retaining the documents context. This application has the potential to be revolutionary for redaction as it can render GDPR compliant documents.
Chloe completed the Kainos App Camp in 2016 and was named overall winner for the 8 week programme for her app design, and went on to complete her placement at the company. Now that she has graduated, it won’t be a surprise that she will be returning to Kainos as an Associate Software Engineer.
"I really enjoyed my time at Queen’s! Over the past four years, I have met so many amazing people and have gained countless practical skills that I can take with me into the industry to help me further my career,” added Chloe.
Varied and unique journey
Meet graduate Eoghan Joseph Mulholland from County Derry, who earned a PhD from the School of Pharmacy this summer, and who is a passionate advocate for cancer prevention at Queen’s.
Throughout his time at University, Eoghan has been awarded an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA), for his teaching activities at PhD level, and was a postdoctoral representative for the Athena SWAN board at the School of Pharmacy at Queen's earlier this year.
"I have many fond memories of Queen's, having been at the University for nine years,” said Eoghan.
“After completing an undergraduate and Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering, I undertook a PhD in the School of Pharmacy and am now a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the School.
“I have had a really varied and unique journey, but one thing is certain, I wouldn’t change a moment of it!"
In recognition of Eoghan’s work at various university conferences and public engagement events, he received the Researcher Plug award alongside his degree.
In addition, he was awarded the Cancer Prevention Fellowship by the Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland, to attend a Molecular Prevention course in the United States, which is organised by the National Cancer Institute and National Institute of Health, USA, one of just 20 people to win this competitive award.
What about his future plans? “After graduation,” said Eoghan, “I will be leaving Queen’s to undertake a funded Postdoctoral Research Position at the University of Oxford, through Cancer Research UK. This is a three year post and will focus on developing new treatments for colorectal cancer."
Making the most of time
And there’s Sapphire Duffy (above right) from County Antrim, who has just taken up a graduate role as a Software Engineer at Kainos, who earned a BSc in Business Information Technology this summer, though up until recently she was the Director of Women Who Code Belfast.
"Being the Director of Women Who Code Belfast during my final year of University has been a challenging experience and one I am so thankful I proceeded with it,” she told Niamh.
“Running events and encouraging women to excel in their technology careers is what I am so passionate about. I also got the opportunity to represent Women Who Code Belfast in San Francisco at Connect 2019, an initiative ran by the Women Who Code global team – and I connected with other directors all around the world.
“When I first started out in this field, I was extremely confused about what career I wanted to pursue and where I was going to go. This community really helped me and I wanted to do the same for them. I love helping and being supportive of others.
Reflecting on her University experience Sapphire said: “One fond memory of University would definitely be when I was in the competitive cheerleading team, Queen's Knights Cheerleaders, stunting outside the Lanyon building, and taking part in competitions overseas.
"I will also never forget my role as a committee member in the Queen’s Computing Society – I was lucky to be part of the team for three years. I have won a few awards while at University such as the EPS Course Representative of the Year and the Community Star award for Women Who Code Belfast plus I received an award from my School for achieving the best First Class Performance across six modules.
“I definitely made the most of my time here and got involved in as much as I possibly could.”
Niamh McGovern is a Digital Intern in the Development and Alumni Relations Office at Queen’s and a 2017 BA English and Politics graduate of the University.
To submit graduate news items, or for general enquiries about this story, please contact Gerry Power, Communications Officer, Development and Alumni Relations Office, Queen's University Belfast or telephone: +44 (0)28 9097 5321.
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