Level 6 Building Services Engineering paved the path for Waterford’s Paul Martin to become Chairperson of the Chartered Institute of Building Services
De La Salle Waterford past pupil Paul Martin, who hails from the Hibernian Bar on Bolton Street in Waterford talks about his rise from the Level 6 Higher Cert in Building Services to a lead role in Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and now Chair of CIBSE Ireland (Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineering Ireland Region)
Looking back to his Leaving Cert subjects, Accounting, Geography and Business Studies, Paul comments that they weren’t ‘traditional’ engineering subjects but his interest in engineering was evident from an interest in how things worked – much to the detriment of his sister’s CD player.
From his Level 6 Higher Cert, Paul progressed onto a level 7 add on and from there he went to the UK to do further studies.
“Although it took me an extra two years to complete my education (compared with students entering into a honours degree programme directly) I found that SETU gave me an excellent understanding of the basics of engineering and beyond.”
Finishing his undergraduate studies in the late 1990s Paul was lucky to have worked through the recession. He notes now that things are picking up there is a huge demand for Building Service Engineers graduates and says that compared with traditional engineering qualifications Building Services Engineers are paid more.
He is now a Chartered Engineer and Programme Manager for Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and in charge of Technical Standards Development.
“My day to day job is developing standards that will insure that we will live in a more sustainable country and influencing other EU countries to follow our lead,” he explains.
In 2017 he was elected Chairperson of the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineering Ireland Region. “This position will allow me to help influence our members (and beyond) in the latest and greatest engineering developments.”
“I am a very proud graduate of SETU and I was delighted to see the standard of the course held high (20 years on) when I judged the Building Services student awards last year in SETU. The lecturers always had time for their students and in particular were always helpful when I couldn’t get my head around some of the aspects of the course.”
“I couldn’t recommend Building Services course in SETU more. I know talking to employers that graduates from SETU are held in high esteem,” he continues.