MTU student awarded prestigious bursary

A 20-YEAR-OLD Cork student has been awarded a prestigious bursary by the Munster Technological University (MTU).

Steven O’Reilly — from Schull in West Cork — is a second-year computer science student at MTU’s Bishopstown campus, and has been named as the recipient of the 2023 Sean Hennessy Bursary.

The award is a collaboration between cyber security company eSentire and MTU’s Department of Computer Science.

The bursary was established in 2021 as a response to Ireland’s growing cybersecurity skills shortage.

The Sean Hennessy Bursary provides financial aid that can be applied toward the recipient’s second, third, and fourth year at MTU.

In addition to receiving €1,500 of assistance per annum over their remaining three years at MTU, the recipient will also get the chance to participate in a nine-month internship with eSentire throughout their third year — leading into a part-time role for their fourth year.

The award is named in honour of Sean Hennessy, who was instrumental in setting up and leading the Cork security operations centre (SOC) in 2015, and who passed away in 2016.

Steven O’Reilly said he was very honoured to be picked as this year’s recipient of the bursary.

“I have always had a big interest in cyber security, I have worked hard to get to where I am now, and being picked for this shows me that my work is paying off,” he said.

The head of the Department of Computer Science at MTU, Ted Scully, said that the department and MTU were delighted to partner with eSentire.

“This partnership not only exposes students to leading cybersecurity experts, but also provides an opportunity to gain valuable work experience at eSentire’s state-of-the-art cybersecurity facility,” he said.

The senior director at SOC Operations EMEA, Ciaran Luttrell, said the company is delighted to also be sponsoring an MSc in Cybersecurity student award, and to participate in a new Cyber-Innovate program by providing an immersive learning environment for students in its security operations centre (Soc).