Last July, 23-year-old Niall Kelly, from Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny, started his first full-time job. He's now a software development engineer with Euristix, the Dun Laoghaire-based telecommunications software developers.
At school, he'd always been computer mad, but back in 1992 computers careers were less glamorous, less plentiful and less well paid - "but it was what I wanted above everything else."
Kelly had to decide whether he would take a pure computer systems course or electronic engineering. In the event, he opted for UL's computer engineering programme. "It's something in between," he says. "The first two years run parallel with electronic engineering, which gives you a great knowledge of hardware. Then you specialise in software. One of the biggest advantages of the course is the reputation it has with companies."
Kelly graduated with a first-class honours degree and then decided to stay on and work for a master's. "The obvious choice was to go straight in to a job, but I was only just 21. I had an interest in telecommunications, which we had covered only briefly at undergraduate level, and then the chance to do a master's arose."
As a result, Kelly spent the next two years working on ATM networks. By that time he was ready for a job. "My undergraduate degree was very practical but the master's was theoretical and abstract. I was anxious to get down and do some practical work."
Euristix fitted the bill. "Their technologies were very similar to those I had worked on as an undergraduate. As part of my work experience, I did a lot of Windows programmes and my master's degree gave me telecommunications' experience, so Euristix was ideal."
He now works for Euristix's Advanced Telecom Software Services (ATSS) division. This, to quote the company, provides "quality custom software solutions developed in aggressive time frames under a fixed price commitment." Founded in 1990, the company supplies software to over 60 of the world's leading telecom equipment vendors.
Two weeks after joining, Kelly was assigned to a project team. "I joined at an early stage, just after agreement on the proposal had been reached between the customer and Euristix and after the high-level design had been carried out. The project had been broken up into four components and one of them was my responsibility." The team is engaged in the development of a software positioning system which will enable telephone operators to provide a range of services, including call conferencing, for example. Kelly's area of responsibility is the graphical user interface. "It's the most visible in terms of the customer," he says. "It's a good part of the project to be working on because you work closely with the customer.
"It's very challenging - more than I expected. I'm the most junior member of the team and I've been given a lot of responsibility. There are great opportunities to learn - I'm learning from my colleagues all the time - and I'm dealing with customers, a new experience for me. The project is coming to an end now and I'm off to Denmark to do the final phase."
