Engineering is a diverse and exciting career that fosters immense creative thinking, but just how far can it take you?

Today we hear from an engineer who turned their wildest dreams into reality and took them all the way to NASA. We hear how an opportunity to attend Space Camp inspired their ‘nothing is impossible’ attitude and how engineering has supported further creative pursuits in different disciplines.

Our guest is a trailblazer in the aerospace engineering industry, but also in promoting the idea that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. She is Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology, Sinéad O’Sullivan.

THINGS WE SPOKE ABOUT

• Early experiences that foster a ‘nothing is impossible’ attitude
• The impact of surrounding yourself with inspiring people
• Mission design and AI at NASA
• Parallels between engineering and other creative pursuits
• The role of AI and automation in the future of engineering

GUEST DETAILS

Sinéad O'Sullivan is an Aerospace Engineer. She formerly led strategy at Harvard Business School’s Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness with Professor Michael Porter and is currently a Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology. Formerly a Research Fellow at MIT’s College of Computing and MIT Sloan as well as a Human Spaceflight mission designer for NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Her work focuses on the intersection of technology, innovation, geopolitics, and national security. She sits on the board of the European Space Policy Institute, is a frequent contributor to the Financial Times, and is Board Member of IMMA - the Irish Museum of Modern Art. She was also recently nominated as a fellow of Engineers Ireland.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sineadcosullivan

MORE INFORMATION

Come meet the Engineers Ireland Team at the National Ploughing Championships on September 17th to 19th and have a blast at our Space Station.

We will have three incredible experiences at the Engineers Ireland 'Space Store', ran by former NASA Engineer Steve Ringler - who will be down at the Ploughing Championships with our team.

You can immerse yourself in the cosmos with virtual reality adventures using state-of-the-art headsets, try on a replica spacesuit, or get a hands-on experience with real space rocks, including pieces of the moon.

Join us at Block 2, Row 11, Stand 169 for an unforgettable journey through space and engineering.

Looking for ways to explore or advance a career in the field of engineering? Visit Engineers Ireland to learn more about the many programs and resources on offer. https://www.engineersireland.ie/

Sineads book “Good Ideas and Power Moves” is due to be published September 2025.

Engineers Journal AMPLIFIED is produced by DustPod.io for Engineers Ireland.

QUOTES

I got to spend time with the engineers at NASA, and it just put this very kind of human, normal person face on this career that seemed totally inaccessible. - Sinéad O’Sullivan

There are a ton of really smart engineers that are solving these problems at any given time. But the problem really, I think, lies with the bureaucracy of how we fund science, how we create policy around that. - Sinéad O’Sullivan

I feel like to be creative, you have to let that child part grow up with you, like if you really want to be good at doing these types of jobs, don't let people tell you they're dumb ideas. - Sinéad O’Sullivan

To be a great engineer, you need to be around great engineers. - Sinéad O’Sullivan

My entire career has been curiosity driven for the simple reason that if I'm really interested in it, I'm going to work hard enough at it to be successful in it. - Sinéad O’Sullivan

Engineering is really about learning a way of thinking, and it's one that allows you to understand nuance, complexity, and difficult challenges that you can apply to literally any other career. - Sinéad O’Sullivan

KEYWORDS

#engineering #nasa #career #space #mission #taylorswift #robots