Tell us a little bit about yourself and your current role?

I was born and bred in Cork and am a proud graduate of Limerick School of Art & Design. I currently live between Cork and Oxford, and am the UX design lead at Aston Martin Lagonda.

What path led you to where you are today?

From a young age I was always very creative. I loved art in school, and when I picked up an interest in engineering and mechanics in my teenage years, I had notions of working in a design-related capacity within the automotive industry. I studied Graphic Design Communications, and for my final year degree show, I picked a project that combined my love of design and driving. After college, I moved to the U.K. to work for the Alpine F1 Team as a UX Designer. Although my focus was mostly on motorsport, I soon started working on elements of the road cars as well. With that, I decided to start applying for positions at all the British OEMs. I applied to every single one: Bentley, McLaren, Gordon Murray, and many more. The months rolled on, and after six months of radio silence, I finally received an out-of-the-blue offer. It was a design strategy role within the UX Cockpit & Digital Experience department at Aston Martin. I accepted, and since then I have been designing and managing both physical and digital attributes across all of our sports cars, SUVs, and special projects. I eventually moved into a lead design role following the successful global launch of Apple CarPlay Ultra—a major project that meant getting to work side by side with Apple’s design and engineering teams to make Aston the world’s first manufacturer to feature it.

What do you love most about the work you do?

The challenge! Across the auto industry, things are changing at a rapid pace. Smaller luxury and performance car brands are heavily influenced by environmental and economic factors and, as a result, have had to react and pull together to deliver. The responsibility placed on a relatively small team means everyone works really well together, and you end up making excellent friends. After a big project full of tough decisions, late nights, and long meetings… there’s nothing better than sitting in a sunny beer garden with your friends and chatting about where our work has shown up, be it a new model launch, a press or journalist review, or maybe even a celebrity customer posting on social media. Getting to drive the cars is nice too, I guess!

Looking back, how did your time at TUS influence your career or outlook?

Maybe not technically from my student days, but I remember during my Leaving Cert knowing I wanted to go to art college but being torn between Crawford in Cork and LSAD. During my visit to Crawford, they told me they “would have no problem making me a Crawford artist” (meaning more traditional painting, sketching, and pottery). The day I visited Limerick, the first thing I was asked was, “What are you interested in?” To which I replied, “I’m not sure yet.” The response I got is not only what convinced me to choose LSAD, but it became the motto I felt truly embodied the place throughout my time there: “Well, whatever it is, no matter how crazy it is… not only will we let you do it, but we will help you do it. Nothing's impossible.” That really stuck with me.

What advice would you give to current students or recent graduates?

Be brazen. If you’re a current student, maybe that means trying to push the boat out on a certain project. For after college, fire out emails, cold calls, or messages on LinkedIn to people doing exactly what you want to do. Other than that, make time for your hobbies, whatever they may be. They give you the inspiration and energy to do good work.

What’s one memory from your student days that stands out?

Aside from graduating, I distinctly remember the last few weeks of setting up for our degree show, with everyone running and racing to get everything ready in time. It was complete chaos, but we were all in it together.

How do you stay connected to the TUS community?

I am still in touch with the few people I studied with and often see what’s happening at TUS and LSAD on social media.

What does an alumni community mean to you?

It is a great, future-proofed way of staying connected with like-minded people who share the same educational background as you.

What’s next for you?

Who knows! I am, of course, delighted in my current role at Aston; however, we do keep a very specific type of customer in mind. Some days I feel I am really just designing a car for myself. In the future, I can see myself wanting to switch focus to a wider pool of people, potentially working for a bigger brand exploring how people interact with machines and how those machines interact with the world.