Students celebrate Trinity Employability Award success

Posted on: 10 April 2017

The winners of Trinity Employability Award, an initiative in partnership with Intel, are third year students, Rebecca Kelly and Dale Chen. The announcement was made at a special ceremony in Trinity.

Trinity joined forces with Intel in the new pioneering Trinity Employability Award to increase students’ ‘career readiness’ for future employment.

Thirty-nine students in their third year from the Schools of Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Computer Science and Statistics took part in the programme, which is the first of its kind in Ireland.

Announcing the winners, Provost, Dr Patrick Prendergast, congratulated all of the students who participated in the programme: He said: “We want to prepare students for the ever-changing challenges of the 21st century workforce. The Trinity Employability Award has set out to do this, helping our students develop Trinity graduate attributes through a combination of training and experience. We are especially delighted to be doing this in conjunction with Intel Ireland, the first industry partner to support this initiative.”

As part of the programme the students participated in a specialist curriculum that further developed their skills and graduate attributes to succeed in their studies and career.

They attended Intel-led workshops using problem-solving methodologies and applied learning to work-related situations. They also enhanced personal and professional development through 30 hours of extra-curricular activity, and learned how to critically reflect on their skills and articulate these to employers through a workshop led by the Careers Advisory Service with Student Learning Development.

Intel Ireland General Manager Eamonn Sinnott said: “The world around us is changing at an unbelievable pace, which, in turn, is transforming the workplace and revolutionising the kinds of jobs that will be available to future graduates. More than ever a focus on fundamental skills and employability attributes will be vital for students, and for that reason we are delighted to be collaborating with Trinity as the first industry partner to support this employability award."

Six finalists gave stellar presentations on the night of the award ceremony, and after much deliberation the judging panel selected the winning two. 

All participants who successfully completed the Employability Award programme received a certificate of recognition, and the six finalists received tablets. The two overall winners received cash prizes of €2,500 from Intel.

Pictured are Provost, Dr Patrick Prendergast and Intel Ireland General Manager Eamonn Sinnott  with winners, third year students,Rebecca Kelly (Nanoscience, Physics and Chemistry of Advanced Materials) and Dale Chen  (Mechanical Engineering): and four  finalists, John O’Reilly and Barry Morton also of Mechanical Engineering and Amy Clavin and  Megan Weston, of Physics.

Profiles of the winners:

Rebecca Kelly

Rebecca Kelly is a third-year student in Nanoscience, Physics and Chemistry of Advanced Materials. Rebecca found a number of things to be particularly helpful to her going forward, singling out the STAR method for interviews as a very useful tool, which she learned in one of the workshops. Rebecca said that through the programme she is more confident in her own abilities and confident to go for roles that she may want in the future.

She said: “I think the award is a great experience. I think the fact that we work with people from all different aspects of STEM mimics the work environment and therefore prepares us. I feel more confident in my ability to get the roles I would seek in the future and also to perform in those roles." 

Rebecca will now be taking up an internship during the summer and starting up a research project in September.

Dale Chen

Dale Chen is a third-year student studying Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering. Dale describes his progress through the Trinity Employability Award as a “journey of continuous development” and he believes that this journey has allowed him to develop his interview and communication skills. Dale’s new interview skills went into practice very recently. Last month he went for an interview for an internship in Kilkennyand is proud to say he will be taking it up during his summer break.

In addition to his interview skills, Dale said his communication skills have vastly improved as well.

He said: “My communication skills were one of the attributes I've developed in this programme. As part of the programme I took part in 30 hours of extracurricular activities and I really enjoyed working with the programme in the last year with Trinity.”