Paying it Forward

Dr Katriona O’Sullivan beat the odds as a homeless teenage mother. Now she’s trying to change them. With generous philanthropic support and expertise from Microsoft, the tech giant and MU lecturer have partnered on a series of outreach-focused STEM innovations – with real-life impacts on the line.

DreamSpace is the name of the €5 million immersive STEM education hub Microsoft Ireland opened at its Leopardstown campus in 2018. Maynooth University is one of the leading research partners in the project, with Dr Katriona O’Sullivan at the helm.

Space to dream, however, is not something Katriona herself had much of as a child. “There’s poverty and there’s underneath poverty. That’s where my family was,” she said. Katriona had a baby at 16 and found herself homeless, living in a hostel in Birmingham. Eventually she followed her Irish parents back to Summerhill in Dublin, where she worked the overnight shift as a cleaner in Connolly Station. “I had no prospects, none that I knew at the time anyway. I was always bright, but no one in my family was educated. Education wasn’t valued. You don’t know anyone who is educated and you don’t value it. It becomes an ‘us’ versus ‘them’ mentality.” It was then Katriona said she “accidentally stumbled on education” through a friend in the Trinity Access Programme. “So I marched into the Trinity Access Office straight away and asked, ‘How do I get into this?’” From there, her world changed. “I never felt so special as I did in a classroom. My brain opened. It was my first sense of self-esteem.” Although Katriona said she felt isolated at Trinity for a long time, she was grateful for the opportunity. “I eventually realised that access to education, and to technology, was access to living really and it’s a right we all have. I spent many years feeling like I was a charity case.” That she was not. Katriona graduated with a first and secured a funded PhD in Psychology. What followed was a series of positions, including a post-doc at the Trinity Access 21 project. “This is when I began to come into my own as an academic, and as a human being really.” She partnered with Google on the company’s Trinity Access 21 Programme and found that while she enjoyed teaching, she loved research and working with industry to apply that research and bring it to real people. “I found my home in making sure people like me got access to education, by finding partners and making sure that what we’re learning gets out there into society.” In 2017, she made the move to Maynooth University to coordinate a new programme called Turn to Teaching aimed at diversifying teacher education in Ireland.

“When I got to Maynooth, I felt like I had arrived home. In the student body I saw people who are diverse, intelligent, capable, and ready to grow and develop. I could see myself.

In the staff I saw a desire to collaborate. I’d never experienced that before. I am all about inclusion and working together. Maynooth is like that. It’s not all about competing with one another.” Not long afterwards, Katriona was invited to speak at the World Education Forum in London about the importance of diversity in teaching. “My parents died of drug addiction, and suddenly I found myself talking to HRH Princess Beatrice about the importance of diversity at the World Education Forum.” There, she had drinks with Kevin Marshall, Head of Education at Microsoft Ireland, and her friend Senator Lynn Ruane. Once back home, Katriona reached out to Marshall with a pitch. “I used the same skills to survive being 16 and homeless, the same skills I used when I went into the Trinity Access Office. I’m very good at networking. I learned early on that who you know can be as important as what you know. So I emailed Kevin and asked how Maynooth can be involved in what they were looking to develop with schools. Kevin had worked with Maynooth in the past and said ‘let’s do something together.’” Soon thereafter, Microsoft funded its first grant to Maynooth, a €50,000 research grant evaluating the initial work happening in DreamSpace. Since then the Microsoft-Maynooth partnership has grown exponentially. Microsoft has provided nearly €500,000 in research grants and donations toward Katriona’s work. The company has co-funded her lectureship post at the ALL Institute, along with research support staff, and projects including the development of the AI Academy for STEM teaching training programme for girls. “We are delighted to be working with Katriona O’Sullivan and Maynooth University,” Marshall said. “Katriona has added huge value, insight and good humour to the DreamSpace team. The quality of work is outstanding, and we hope to achieve even more in the coming years.” There are several other projects in the pipeline, including the development of STEM Passport, a set of micro-credentials for student engagement in STEM to be recognised as a pathway to career and college, with other industry and education partners. The work also attracted funding from Science Foundation Ireland Covid-19 Rapid Response Programme. “The work we are doing together is an extension of my life experience. It is about building fairness in society so everyone gets access to education and to the skills that will help them prosper.

This isn’t about charity; it’s about championing people like me. Microsoft recognises that girls, working class people, people with disabilities, are really valuable to industry.

DreamSpace STEAMS ahead

RTE’s Home School Hub provided a much-needed educational platform for children when schools closed last spring, and relief to families living under lockdown restrictions. During the Covid-19 pandemic, one million young learners missed months of school and relied on materials to learn at home. With this in mind, a project led by Dr Katriona O’Sullivan, Digital Skills Lecturer at Maynooth, and Dr Kevin Marshall, Microsoft Ireland, aims to help families to access remote supports for home-based learning, even if school life has been interrupted. Funded by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), the collaboration between Maynooth University, Microsoft Ireland and RTÉ will extend the DreamSpace HomeSpace segment of the RTÉ Home School Hub. This segment focussed on developing student’s skills and creativity in STEAM subjects -- science, technology, engineering, the arts and maths. This research aims to identify how DreamsSpace HomeSpace encourages students, in particular students who are disadvantaged, to learn STEAM subjects, and ensure they have access to remote learning through the distribution of “unplugged” STEAM lessons. Dr O’Sullivan explained: “We’ve observed that inconsistencies in accessing technology solutions which maintain school-home relationships are adding a massive burden to families. Unfortunately, we have seen class and gender impact on this engagement.” She added: “The burden of maintaining children’s education is mostly lying at the feet of mothers. Despite many trying to maintain their own employment, economically disadvantaged families have had the least capacity to engage in education.”

Intel funds 10 scholarships for science postgrads

Longtime partner and neighbour Intel Ireland has stepped up yet again, funding scholarships for outstanding MU students pursuing a Master’s degree in the Faculty of Science and Engineering. Students from the Departments of Electronic Engineering, Maths and Stats, Computer Science and Theoretical Physics were all eligible to apply. This year 10 students were chosen, securing scholarships for €3,000 each to help them develop their understanding and skills for the needs of industry. The successful awardees include six Taught Master’s students from Electronic Engineering and four from Maths and Stats. Huge thank you to Leixlip-based Intel Ireland for their ongoing support of Maynooth University.