Portrait of Clionadh Martin

When I was about 16, I wanted to be a car mechanic, so my mother brought me around to see if someone would give me a job, so I could get some experience, but I did not fit the image. I then decided to be a Mechanical Engineer, and enrolled in an undergraduate and graduated in 2006, and from here I took advantages of opportunities that came my way.

During my first job as a Mechanical Engineer, I did a course on PLC programming, and here is where my interest in robotics was sparked. I loved the idea of making machines do things, with simple programming steps and so decided I wanted to become a Robotics Engineer. But first – I had to go and explore the world for a couple of years.

I arrived back in Ireland in 2008 and started a two-year top up course that provided me with a Robotics Engineering Undergraduate. I then combined my passion for robotics and travelling and spent 2 years doing a double master’s degree in advanced Robotics, in Italy, France and Japan.

I was never a straight A student, or someone that was exceptionally brilliant at maths, even though the world wants to make everyone believe that if you are not good at maths, then engineering is not for you. I believe this is one of the narratives that needs to change, to open these disciplines to a wider variety of people. Engineering, and robotics specifically requires’ a huge amount of creativity. The beautiful thing about robotics is that it incorporates so many disciplines, from software development, mechanical engineering to philosophy and human centre social understanding to be incorporated into how your robots should behave in the wider community.

My journey consisted of insecurities with regards to my capabilities as an engineer, and I think it is important to state that I was close to quitting a few times, because I just didn’t think I was good enough. I had two choices I could take, one was to stay within engineering as the potential for making good money was high, but I would have to continue through my insecurities, and the second was to become a teacher, as I enjoyed it, but you had to work long hours with much less pay, and so I decided to stick with engineering!

One of the problems with jobs is that people are constantly pushing their ways of doing things onto others, and don’t give them space to work in a way that best suits them. It wasn’t until I started my own company, that I understood that people work and learn differently and given the space, they can thrive. Having developed the first two mobile robots, from writing the code to get all the electromechanical components to talk to each other, to allowing myself the time and space to dive deep into understanding how the mechanics and logic worked for varying parts of mobile robot operation, allowed me to get to a point where I was quite confident about my engineering capabilities. I bring this personal learning experience and try to adapt it within my team, to give them the space to make mistakes and learn.

All these experiences, both good and not so good, led me to found my robotics startup back in 2018, where I am now the CTO. I have gained a huge amount of knowledge and experiences over the last 6 years with regards to product and business development, along with funding and managing all kinds of people. I believe communication is the key to showing people that anything is possible. No-one that has made it anywhere has made it without going through difficulties, insecurities and getting help from people around them. And hence on the side of founding and being the CTO of Coalescent Mobile Robotics, I mentor other startups and I take part in hosting robotics camps for young girls.

I believe an important message to women and girls looking to follow a career in a STEAM subjects, is that it is a lot of fun, and the more you find the fun side of it, the more you will allow yourself to grow!

Find out more about IFR's initiative "Women in Robotics".