I did my MSc and PhD at University College Dublin, where I was very lucky to be supervised by the late Professor Michael A Hayes. I learned a lot from him and have since tried to be as good a mentor as he was, to as many early-stage researchers as possible. Below is a partial list of some of those who came to work with me. Don't hesitate to contact them to find out what it's like!

Then there is a chart where I keep count of all the reference letters I've written since 2010.

I also list all the courses I've taught so far, with feedback reports. My wish is that the students were inspired by these Applied Mathematics courses and found them challenging and rewarding.


MENTORING


Harold Berjamin
Postdoctoral Fellow - 2019-2021 [articles together: 2]
Harold contacted and visited me in 2017 to prepare an application for the Irish Research Council postdoctoral fellowship. It came first (!), earning him the Thomas Mitchell Medal of Excellence. He is working on the modelling and simulation of linear and non-linear elastic waves in very soft solids, such as a brain matter.

Bin Wu
Postdoctoral Fellow - 2019-2022 [articles together: 5]
I met Bin during my first visit to Zhejiang University in 2017. He later applied successfully to the Irish Research Council for a postdoctoral fellowship, and the following year for a Marie Curie-Sklodowska Fellowship from the European Commission. We are working on waves and vibrations in soft electro- and magneto-elastic matter.

James Blackwell
PhD Student - 2018-2022 [articles together: 3]
James was studying Medical Physics at NUI Galway when he formed the project of a PhD with Niall Colgan (School of Physics) and me as supervisors. He received funding from the IRC straight after his BSc, to work on the ultrasonic imaging of soft matter, including gels and brain matter. He is a keen public speaker, and regularly takes part in science communication events.

Yangkun Du
PhD Student - 2015-2020 [PhD thesis: download here, articles together: 4]
I met Yangkun in 2017, when I first visited Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China. We worked on growth and residual stresses in soft matter. The next year he applied successfully to the China Research Council for support to visit Galway for two years (2018-20) to complete his PhD. He is now a postdoctoral research assistant at the University of Glasgow (2020-2023).

Hannah Conroy Broderick
PhD Student - 2016-2020 [ [PhD thesis: download here, articles together: 3]
Straight after her BSc in Applied Mathematics at NUI Galway, Hannah applied successfully for a Hardiman Scholarship (declined) and an Irish Research Council Postgraduate Scholarship (accepted!), for a PhD in Applied Mathematics under my supervision. She worked on the stability of dielectric elastomers.

Michele Righi
Doctoral Visiting Scholar - 2018 [article together: 1]
Michele was a PhD student at the Scuola Sant'Anna in Pisa, Italy, when in 2018 he came to Galway for six months. Together we worked on the stability of dielectric elastomers. He is now employed by the SoundBounce company.

Antonia Trotta
Doctoral Visiting Scholar - 2018 [articles together: 2]
Antonia did her PhD at University College Dublin (2015-18), supervised by Aisling Ni Annaidh, my former PhD student. She was funded by a Marie Sklodowska-Curie European Training Network and came for a short-term visit to Galway to work on the modelling of brain matter. She then was fixed-term Lecturer of Mechanical Engineering at UCD. She is now a researcher for Medtronic in Galway.

Taisiya Sigaeva
Postdoctoral Visiting Scholar - 2018 [articles together: 3]
Tais contacted me in the summer of 2017 to start a collaboration. She then came to Galway from Canada for four weeks as a James M Flaherty Research Scholar; here is her report (great pics!). She was then a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Calgary, and is now Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering at Waterloo University.

Yipin Su
PhD Student - 2011-2016 [PhD thesis: download here]; Post-Doctoral Fellow - 2018-2020 [articles together: 5]
In 2011, Yipin started his PhD in Solid Mechanics at Zhejiang University, China, under the supervision of Weiqiu Chen. We met at a conference in 2015 and he then decided to visit me for six months in Galway. I ended up being a co-supervisor for his PhD. He came back to Galway for two years as a Postdoctoral Fellow (Irish Research Council) and is now at the University of Southern California.

Valentina Balbi
Research Assistant - 2015-2016; Post-Doctoral Fellow - 2017-2019 [articles together: 2]
After a PhD in Paris, Valentina came to Galway for three months as a Research Assistant, with support from Enterprise Ireland. Next she became a Postdoctoral Fellow, first at the University of Manchester for a year, and then back at NUI Galway for two years, as a Marie Curie-Sklodowska Fellow. She then became a Lecturer of Applied Mathematics, first at the University of Limerick and now at NUI Galway.

Ilaria Cinelli
PhD Student - 2013-2018 [PhD thesis: download here; articles together: 4]
Ilaria started her PhD in Biomedical Engineering at NUI Galway in 2013, with funding from the Galway University Foundation. She was co-supervised by Maeve Duffy and Peter McHugh and later, by me also. She then became a Postdoctoral researcher at Tufts University She was, and still is, very involved in the Mars Society!

Melania Carfagna
Doctoral Visiting Scholar - 2015-2016 [article together: 1]
Melania was doing her PhD in Politecnico di Torino with Alfio Grillo when she decided to work with me for three months in Galway at the end of 2015. She finished her PhD in 2017 and is now a Data Modeler for Toyota Europe.

Robert Mangan
Final Year Project Student - 2014-2015; PhD Student - 2015-2018 [PhD thesis: download here; articles together: 5]
Robert went to NUI Galway as an undergraduate student in Mathematical Science, and then to the University of Limerick for an MSc in Mathematical Modelling. He then started a PhD with me, funded by the Irish Research Council, which he completed one year early! He is then joined Intel as a Computer Vision Engineer, and is now Data Scientist with Innoplexus in Germany.

Irene Lusetti
Summer Intern - 2015 [article together: 1]
Irene came to Galway from Politecnico di Milano, Italy, for a three month summer internship in 2015. We worked on wrinkles in soft solids and wrote an article together. She is now a Business Analyst at McKinsey & Company.

David Nolan
PhD Scholar 2014 [articles together: 2]
David was doing his PhD in Biomedical Engineering (supervisor: Pat McGarry) at NUI Galway when I got in touch with him in 2014. We needed some expertise in Finite Element simulations and he was the best! He became a fixed-term Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at Trinity College Dublin, and now is a researcher for Medtronic in Galway.

Artur Gower
PhD Student - 2011-2015 [PhD thesis: download here; articles together: 8]
Artur joined NUI Galway as a Hardiman Scholar, for a PhD in Applied Mathematics under my supervision. In his second year he was awarded further PhD funding from the Irish Research Council. He was working on the propagation of waves and the formation of wrinkles on soft matter. He then got a three year Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the University of Manchester and is now Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at Sheffield University.

Zaki Abiza
Summer Intern - 2011 [article together: 1]
Zaki came to Galway from the Enseirb-Matmeca engineering school in Bordeaux, France, for a three month summer internship. We worked on waves in soft solids and wrote an article together. He followed his Aeronautic Engineering degree in France with a Global Executive MBA in Spain and then became Business Development & Aerospace Engineer at Dassault Systemes.

Luigi Vergori
Post-Doctoral Fellow - 2012-2013 [articles together: 4]
Luigi joined NUI Galway as a Marie Curie COFUND Fellow. He was funded by the Italian Institute of Higher Mathematics and the European Commission to work on instability and anisotropy. He went on to become a Lecturer in Mathematics at the University of Glasgow, and now a Lecturer in Engineering at the University of Perugia.

Badar Rashid
PhD Student - 2009-2012 [PhD thesis: download here; articles together: 10]
Badar joined University College Dublin for a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, co-supervised with Prof. Michael Gilchrist (UCD). He was funded by the Irish Research Council to work on the modelling of brain matter at dynamic strain rates. He is now Brigadier-General, Director of Research and Development at Pakistan Ordnance Factories in Wah Cantt.

Julie Motherway
PhD Scholar - 2011 [articles together: 2]
Julie was doing her PhD in Mechanical Engineering (supervisor: Michael Gilchrist) at University College Dublin when I was there as a Marie Curie Fellow. In 2011 we needed to obtain some Finite Element simulations and she was happy to help! She is now Research and Development Manager at Stryker Instruments in Cork.

Aisling Ni Annaidh
PhD Student - 2008-2012 [PhD thesis: download here; articles together: 9]
Aisling's PhD in Mechanical Engineering was co-supervised with Prof. Michael Gilchrist (UCD). She spent one year in the Institut d'Alembert in Paris and completed a Joint PhD awarded by UCD and by Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, for work on the mechanics of stabbing. After working for one year as an engineer, she joined UCD as (the first female!) Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering. She is now Senior Lecturer.

Riccardo De Pascalis
PhD Student - 2008-2012 [PhD thesis: download here; articles together: 2]
Riccardo's PhD in Mechanics was co-supervised with Prof. Giuseppe Saccomandi (Lecce). He spent one year in the Institut d'Alembert in Paris for his Joint PhD. He was funded by the Universita del Salento and the Franco-Italian University, to work on the semi-inverse method in solid mechanics and instabilities. He then became a post-doctoral fellow, at the University of Manchester, at the Universite Denis Diderot in Paris, and now at the Universita del Salento in Italy.

Melanie Ottenio
PhD Student - 2003-2006 [PhD thesis: download here; articles together: 5]
Melanie joined the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie for a PhD in Mechanics, co-supervised with Prof. Gerard Maugin (Paris) and Prof. Ray Ogden (Glasgow). She spent one year in Glasgow for her Joint PhD. She was funded by the French Minister for Science and Technology and the Stevenson Foundation, to work on waves and surface stability in pre-stressed solids. After one year as a post-doctoral fellow at the Universite de Bordeaux I, she became a Lecturer at the Universite de Lyon.


REFERENCE LETTERS


Over the years I've noticed I'm writing more and more reference letters. So I've decided to keep track of my production of these letters, see chart below. The total is more than 300 letters since 2010!


CURRENT & PAST TEACHING


2020-2021:
Galway: MP180 Applied Mathematics (48 lectures);
Galway: MP345 Mathematical Methods I (24 lectures); feedback
Galway: MP346 Mathematical Methods II (24 lectures);
Galway: MP410 Non-Linear Elasticity (12 lectures/shared). feedback

2019-2020:
Galway: MP180 Applied Mathematics (48 lectures); feedback
Galway: MP236 Mechanics I (24 lectures); feedback
Galway: MP365 Fluid Mechanics (8 lectures/shared);
Hangzhou: Nonlinear Elasticity and Incremental Instability for Soft Solids (Graduate Course, 9 lectures).
Udine: Incremental Nonlinear Elasticity (Graduate Course, 6 lectures).

2018-2019:
Galway: MP180 Applied Mathematics (48 lectures); feedback
Galway: MP345 Mathematical Methods 1 (24 lectures); feedback
Galway: MP346 Mathematical Methods 2 (24 lectures); feedback
Hangzhou: Nonlinear Elasticity and Incremental Equations of Instability (Graduate Course, 6 lectures);
Udine: Waves and Wrinkles for the Mechano-biology of Skin (Graduate Course, 5 lectures).

2017-2018:
Galway: MP180 Applied Mathematics (48 lectures); feedback
Galway: MP365 Fluid Mechanics (24 lectures); feedback
Brescia: Introduction to Nonlinear Elasticity (Graduate Course, 12 lectures);
Hangzhou: Incremental Equations of Instability for Soft Solids (Graduate Course, 6 lectures).

2016-2017:
Galway: MP345 Mathematical Methods I (24 lectures); feedback
Galway: MP346 Mathematical Methods II (24 lectures); feedback
Galway: MP236 Mechanics I (24 lectures). feedback

2015-2016:
Galway: MP345 Mathematical Methods I (24 lectures); feedback
Galway: MP346 Mathematical Methods II (24 lectures); feedback
Galway: MP365 Fluid Mechanics (24 lectures); feedback
Galway: MP237 Mechanics II (24 lectures); feedback
Ravello: Incremental Equations of Instability for Soft Solids (Graduate Course, 6 lectures).

2014-2015:
Galway: MP345 Mathematical Methods I (24 lectures); feedback
Galway: MP410 Nonlinear Elasticity (24 lectures); feedback
Galway: PH109 Special Topics in Physics (1 lecture).

2013-2014:
Galway: MA119 Mathematics for Business (12 lectures); feedback
Galway: MA109 Statistics for Business (12 lectures);
Galway: MP346 Mathematical Methods II (24 lectures); feedback
Galway: MP365 Fluid Mechanics (24 lectures); feedback
Galway: PH109 Special Topics in Physics (1 lecture).

2012-2013:
Galway: MA119 Mathematics for Business (12 lectures); feedback
Galway: MA109 Statistics for Business (12 lectures);
Galway: MP180 Applied Mathematics (48 lectures); feedback
Galway: MP410 Nonlinear Elasticity (24 lectures);
Modena: Incremental Stability of Soft Solids (Graduate Course, 5 lectures);
Udine: Incremental Equations for Soft Fibrous Materials (Graduate Course, 6 lectures).

2011-2012:
Galway: MP120 Engineering Mechanics (24 lectures); feedback
Galway: MP252 Engineering Applied Mathematics II (10 lectures);
Galway: MP363 Methods of Mathematical Physics I (24 lectures);
Galway: MP364 Methods of Mathematical Physics II (24 lectures); feedback
Galway: MP491 Nonlinear Systems (24 lectures);
Limerick: Nonlinear Elasticity (Graduate Course, 5 lectures).

2010-2011:
Galway: MP363 Methods of Mathematical Physics I (24 lectures); feedback
Galway: MP364 Methods of Mathematical Physics II (24 lectures); feedback
Galway: MP406 Classical Elasticity (24 lectures). feedback

2009-2010:
Madrid: Incremental Stability and Bifurcation (Graduate Course, 10 lectures).

2006-2007:
Udine: Interfacial Waves in Pre-Stressed Elastic Bodies (Graduate Course, 6 lectures).

2003-2004:
Paris: Ondes Elastiques dans des Solides Pre-Contraints (Graduate Course, 12 lectures).

2000-2002:
Texas A&M: MATH308 Differential Equations (6 times).

1996-1997:
Rennes: Secondary School Physics and Chemistry.