Rita O'Sullivan

Chemical & Process Engineer

The huge Novartis plant at Ringaskiddy in Cork Harbour is just one of many which have made Cork the headquarters of Ireland's Chemical and Pharmaceutical industry.Rita O'Sullivan, like many other CIT graduates, is a chemical engineer at the heart of this industry.

"I liked the science subjects and maths, but I had made no definite career choice by 5th year in school"says Rita."I had a pretty open mind about third level courses in the science and engineering field. But CIT's Chemical Engineering course attracted me most. It has a great mix of elements - sciences, computing and engineering".

Graduating in 1995 with an honours degree, Rita joined Novartis in Cork(formerly Sandoz). The plant employs three hundred and fifty people in manufacturing the active ingredients for many medicines. These are exported to several countries for packaging. The products are used for example in the treatment of asthma and high cholesterol.

"I work in small teams of professionals, sometimes as the leader, sometimes as a member. My projects are generally in the fields of energy efficiency and safety."

Rita loves animals."At one stage I considered becoming a vet."she says"But the Chemical Engineering degree at CIT turned out to be a great choice for me".