Meet the Team
Sheila Donegan
Director, CalmastSheila's Bio
Sheila Donegan is a lecturer in Chemistry and Director of Calmast – the Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) Outreach centre at Waterford IT and co-founder of Maths Week. She is very active in the promotion of STEM and holds many national positions in this area. In 2007 Sheila , along with her colleague Eoin Gill were awarded the EU Descartes award for Science Communication in 2007, the highest EU award in this area. Previous winners of this award were Bill Bryson and David Attenborough.
Eoin Gill
Coordinator, Maths Week IrelandEoin's Bio
Eoin Gill is co-director of Calmast STEM Outreach Centre at Waterford Institute of Technology. He has been the coordinator of Maths Week since its foundation in 2006. He is a chartered engineer and a member of the European Maths Society’s committee for Raising Public Awareness of Maths.
Cordula Weiss
Calmast Programme ManagerCordula's bio
Cordula studied chemistry and nanotechnology at Monash University, Australia, and Chalmers University, Sweden, graduating with an MSc in Chemistry & Management from Ulm University, Germany. She completed a PhD in materials chemistry at Waterford Institute of Technology in June 2018. In September 2017, she joined the Calmast Team as Programme Manager. She is the German representative of the Native Scientist in the South East of Ireland and also judges at a regional Young Scientist competition in Germany.
Jowita Pleskot
Educational Resources ManagerJowita's Bio
Jowita is a mathematician and maths educator with several years’ experience teaching maths in the Irish secondary school system. She graduated from the University of Wrocław with a Master of Science in Mathematics, concurrently qualifying as a teacher. Jowita joined the Calmast team in October 2017 as the Education Resources Manager where she uses her teaching experience to develop workshops and learning materials for maths engagement. She continues to teach in the Polish School in Waterford. Her interests include rehoming stray animals and taxidermy.
Sian Hanley
Maths Week Programme ManagerSian's Bio
Sian is an engineer with a bachelor’s degree in electronics and an MSc in innovative technologies. She possesses several years’ industrial experience in a variety of technical and engineering roles, including working as an engineer for Fujitsu Siemens and as a research engineer at Waterford Institute of Technology. Sian joined the team at Calmast as Maths Week Programme Manager in October 2017 on foot of her experience and longstanding interest in STEM outreach and education.
Damien O'Connell
Social Media StrategistDamien's Bio
Damien is a graduate of the BA (Hons) in Health Promotion at WIT, and has a wealth of experience in marketing and social media content development. Prior to taking up the role in Calmast, Damien worked with the marketing team in WIT, with responsibility for social media marketing, digital journalism, website content management, event coordination and student outreach. At Calmast, Damien oversees social media marketing and strategy for the group’s wide ranging events, including Maths Week, as well as participating in outreach initiatives for schools and the public.