Meet the Team

To achieve the important national objective of promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths), CALMAST has a full-time staff of six who work with University staff, students, resources and external partnerships.

The Centre’s founders and current directors are Dr Sheila Donegan and Eoin Gill.

Dr. Sheila Donegan

co-Founder & co-Director

Sheila's Bio

Dr Sheila Donegan is a lecturer in Chemistry at SETU and co-director of CALMAST. She is a passionate advocate of STEM and holds many national positions in this area. She also co-founded Maths Week with Eoin Gill – the leading festival of its kind in the world – which attracts over 520,000 participants each year across the island of Ireland.

Sheila and her colleague Eoin won the 2006 EU Descartes Prize for Science Communication, the highest EU award in this field. Most recently, in 2021, she was awarded the Network Ireland Business Woman of the Year in the STEM category.

Eoin Gill

co-Founder & co-Director

Eoin's Bio

Eoin Gill is co-director of CALMAST and first came to SETU as a lecturer in Environmental Engineering. He is passionate about promoting STEM for all: in 20 years, Eoin has been involved in all area of STEM outreach, organising thousands of events and reaching hundreds of thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds.

Eoin is particularly proud of Maths Week Ireland, of which he has been the coordinator since its foundation in 2006, and the Robert Boyle Summer School. He is also a member of the European Maths Society’s committee for Raising Public Awareness of Maths.

Nollaig Healy

STEM Public Engagement coordinator

Nollaig's Bio

Nollaig has over 20 years’ experience in leading and managing the design and implementation of Marketing and Communications Strategies for Kilkenny Arts Festival, Clonmel Junction Arts Festival, Pavilion Theatre, Gate Theatre, Visual Carlow and Dublin Fringe Festival.

She believes that STEM, in the same way as art, can help people discover, create and broaden their thinking. Nollaig holds a B.A. in English & History from UCD, an M.A in Arts & Heritage Management from WIT and most recently a Higher Diploma in Science Digital Marketing & Analytics from Carlow IT.

Karolyn McDonnell

Festival & Engagement Executive

Karolyn's Bio

Having worked in higher education for the past ten years and with wide-ranging professional experience in community and youth work, financial services, the Arts, and health and education research and promotion, Karolyn is a keen advocate for egalitarianism and the promotion and enactment of #STEAMforAll.

She is passionate about collaborative and partnership working. Her role with Calmast focuses on our continued work with industry, communities, education and research organisations extending our reach in interdisciplinary STEAM projects across Ireland. She holds a Masters by Research, a PGDip in Teaching and Learning and BA awards in Legal Studies, in Financial Planning and in Social and Community work.

Elaine Liew

Graphic Designer assistant

Elaine's Bio

Elaine Liew is a graphic designer. In 2022, she graduated with a BA (Hons) in Design (Visual Communication) from South East Technological University. She started as an intern and is now a member of the Calmast team.

Elaine is passionate about creating designs that communicate messages effectively and that resonate with audiences, whether through branding, printed materials, or digital media. Proficient in Adobe Creative Suite. She believes that STEM and visual communications are interconnected, which influence people to engage through compelling design that is pleasing to the eye.

Dr Nora Salaberry

STEAM Festival & Engagement Executive

Nora's Bio