University of Limerick Alumni Spotlight: Barry Fitzgerald

In the latest instalment of our Alumni Spotlight series to mark Science Week 2024, we feature graduate of the BSc in Applied Physics, Barry Fitzgerald. 

After completing a PhD in computational physics, also at UL, Barry started his career life as a pure physicist, but has gone on to become a science communicator. He has multiple positions related to work in the field of science communication, firstly with Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) as a science communicator. Next, he has an Adjunct Associate Professor position at University College Dublin. And finally, he works on a wide range of science communication activities via his company BW Science. 

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m originally from Mungret just outside Limerick city, but I’m living in the Netherlands for almost 13 years. I live in Vleuten, which is a small town outside the city of Utrecht. It’s close to beautiful green areas and fields, but there is a distinct lack of hills and mountains in that part of the Netherlands.

I went to St. Nessan’s National School for primary school and then on to Crescent College Comprehensive in Dooradoyle, Limerick. 

When I was younger I dreamed of building a time machine and closely followed the fortunes of Manchester United. As I’ve got older, Manchester United have gone slightly backwards (like the team’s recent form) while my interest in many areas of science has moved in the other direction. As a result, I’ve carried out research in a host of fields such as polymer physics, physiology, biomedical engineering, and quantum physics. 

In terms of superheroes, I do remember seeing Superman fly for the first time when I was about five or six years old. But in the late 80s and 90s, there weren’t many superhero films being made. The Michael Keaton-Batman films do come to mind. Nevertheless I still had an interest in the genre and the idea of superpowers captured me from a young age. 

Why did you choose to study Applied Physics at UL? 

I always liked maths at primary school, so when I met physics at secondary school I was immediately drawn to the ‘magic’ of physics – which uses maths as a tool to help us to understand how the world around us works. 

I was thinking of doing medicine at one point, and even looking at studying accountancy too. In the end, my interest in figuring out how the world (and even our universe) works drew me towards physics. 

What did you enjoy most about the course?

For me, the highlights were in 3rd and 4th year. My co-op experience at Analog Devices in Limerick was very enjoyable as it provided me with experience of how technical content is used in a real-world setting. 

In 4th year, I worked on a final year project. I decided to explore computer models of galaxy formation – in particular how do the spiral arms in galaxies form. I wanted to know if the spiral arm process could be described with a little mathematics and some physics, and captured with a computer model. 

I have to be honest about one thing – I didn’t envisage that I was going to be studying computer programming when I started the course. We did a module in C programming in first year and I just didn’t get it. In 3^rd year, we had a second module in C programming during which I still had some reservations.

But it was during my co-op experience when the art of computer programming become clearer to me. When I started my final year project on computer models of galaxy formation, I hit the ground running, and just on time!

In 2002, my project on galaxy formation was awarded the Earnshaw Prize by the Institute of Physics in Ireland for the best final project from 2001. 

You decided to pursue a PhD in Computational Physics. Can you tell us a bit about that?

As mentioned earlier, the world of computer programming, and by association the world of computational physics, only became clear to me in the 4th year of my degree. 

Right after I finished my degree in 2001 (I graduated on September 11th 2001), I moved to the University of Sussex to undertake a PhD in cosmology. My project looked at the formation of galaxy clusters, and combined detailed computer models with data from space-based telescopes. 

My time in the UK did not go as planned. I didn’t settle in the country or with the project content. After 6 months, I opted to leave the position and return to Ireland. I worked at Analog Devices once again for about 5 months and then worked for the family business in Limerick city. 

Then in early 2003 I applied for a postgraduate grant to fund a PhD position with Dr David Corcoran at the University of Limerick. In May 2003, I found out that I was successful in getting the funding and then I started the position in October 2003. My project focused on how granular materials (like sand) behave when they are excited or moved, and the project was entirely based in the world of computational physics. I was very much at ease in this granular world. 

What did you enjoy about UL? What is student life like here?

During my bachelor’s degree in Applied Physics, I was living at home so I didn’t really experience all of the madness of student life. I remember being part of the Rag Week crew in 1999, so I got to see another side of that very busy week. 

When I was a PhD researcher at UL, I lived in both Raheen and Castletroy, with the latter allowing me to experience more of the student life on campus. 

I remember dragging some of the other PhD researchers from the Department of Physics to karaoke nights in the Stables because I fancied myself as a bit of a singer. I did get to the karaoke final at the end of the semester a couple of times, but I had no chance of winning!

Also, we used to play an indoor soccer game every Friday at 5 pm between 2004 and 2009. It wouldn’t be an overestimate to say that in that time more than 150 different people played in those games, including some current UL staff.

 
How did UL support you throughout your studies?

It’s hard to pick out individuals for their support and advice throughout my time at UL. Besides a two-year period between 2001 and 2003, I was at UL in some capacity from 1997 to 2012. Some of my friends joked that I was there so long that there could be a chance that someone would name a building after me! In that time I received advice and support from collaborators, PhD researchers, lecturers, and work colleagues. Some advice related to research, while other advice related to life in general. 

I do remember vividly speaking to Dave Corcoran and John O’Donoghue about the offer to move to the Netherlands when I received it in late 2011. They provided valued advice for what proved to be a pivotal moment in my life and career. 

In terms of the learning centres, I was coordinator of the Science Learning Centre between 2008 and 2010. This provided me with a lot of experience in terms of managing resources, time, people, and expectations. I finished that role right at the end of my PhD and then moved to a role in NCE-MSTL at UL (which is now known as EPI STEM – National Centre for STEM Education).

Tell us the story of writing your first book

My career journey has been unconventional, unplanned, and unimagined. And I’ve loved every minute of it. However, the starting point was self-publishing a book that had many twists and turns. Here’s the story of that book. 

Back when I was at UL and finished my PhD, my plan was to take the next step in research (a postdoctoral position), which I hoped would be followed by a step into a tenure-track position in academia. This is what I thought I was supposed to do for the rest of my life. 

In 2012, I moved to the University of Twente for a postdoctoral research role, and when that position finished I took the step to another postdoc role at Eindhoven University of Technology. The main reason for this was to get a job of course (my contract at Twente was almost done), but also to sample another area of research before attempting to get a tenured academic role. However, I was then offered a 3-year postdoctoral position at the same university on a project related to the processing of bio-particles for the production of sustainable fuels. I took it, and I must say that I enjoyed that research a lot.

The problem with my career trajectory and plan was that my head had been turned by the promise of greater adventures in the multiverse of science communication. I was drawn to the impact that I could have in the area of ‘scicomm’ instead of fundamental research. Here’s a short sub-story of how I started to recognise the potential for such impact.

In 2012, I gave a talk on superhero science to students at a Dutch high school for a friend of mine who was an English teacher at the school. He wanted a native English speaker to lecture the class on any topic of their choosing for one hour. Rather than boring the students with my work on polymer physics, I decided to share my hobby research on superhero science. 

At the end of the class, one student walked up to me and said: “Thanks for this great talk. I was thinking of doing forensic science at university, and because of this talk that’s what I’m going to do.” Of course, this isn’t what she said exactly, but the key take-away was that my story on the potential of science had helped her to make an important life decision. This was real impact, and from that moment on I became addicted to real, tangible impact. 

It took me some time though to attain more impact like that as I was cautious about changing direction. My work on superhero science was a hobby, and nothing more than that – or so I thought. 

But then in 2013, I told a friend of mine at a bar in Enschede about my idea to write a book on the science of superheroes. He thought it was cool, and he set up a meeting for me with a business advisor in the region. The following week I found myself in a meeting with the business advisor to discuss setting up a business (which I hadn’t imagined doing at all). He also suggested using the business to self-publish my book.