Mary awarded Fiachra Treacy ORIX Aviation award
Fermoy native, Mary O’Donnell, was recently presented with the prestigious Fiachra Treacy ORIX Aviation award at the University of Limerick.
The UL student, who is completing a Masters of Aeronautical Engineering programme in University's School of Engineering, was recognised for her passion towards aerospace and aviation.
Offered to students in their final year, the award encompasses an appreciation for aeronautical engineering, aviation and aerospace engineering in memory of Fiachra Treacy, who had been an integral part of the ORIX Aviation team for over three years, until he died tragically in January 2020. Fiachra graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Aeronautical Engineering from UL in 2000 and pursued his passion for aviation through a successful career, working with various leading aviation companies in Seattle, Bristol and Dublin, prior to joining ORIX Aviation.
As part of the award, recipients travelled to Dublin to meet with Fiachra’s family and hear about his life, before being presented with the awards at a ceremony held in UL.
“When we went and met his family, we heard all these amazing stories about how Fiachra had such an amazing interest in aviation. That’s what the award stood for really. It’s a really nice way to appreciate our own work that we have done in the last four years,” Ms O’Donnell told TheAvondhu.
Mary is now preparing to submit her thesis in two weeks time and plans to take a year out to focus on her sporting endeavours, as she will be competing in Ironman competitions such as the 70.3 World Championships which take place in New Zealand in December.
“My goal for this year is to focus on training and give it a good stab while I don’t have any college responsibilities anymore. So I can travel the world and compete both in Ireland and around the world.
“In 2025, I’ll consider going back to Boeing where I did my Co-Op or see where things take me. My thesis is on optimising drag on different positions of bike fitting, which pertains a lot to triathlon and road racing, so I might even go down the line of sports engineering and aerodynamics as well,” she explained.
The award at the University of Limerick, which is gifted through the University of Limerick Foundation, awards two final-year Bachelor or Masters of Aeronautical Engineering students with a bursary of €2,500 to assist with their studies at the university. Mary was one of the lucky recipients this year, awarded alongside Skibbereen local, Michael Veale.