Ronan Dunphy is living proof of where there is a will, there is a way. Ronan will be graduating this year with a Bachelor of Architecture (Hons) Degree, from WIT, along with a great job.
His story is truly inspiring and should give hope to the many students out there who have not been offered their desired course in this year’s round of CAO offers.
After his leaving certificate in 2006, Ronan did not get the points needed to pursue his first choice, architecture. He said “Regardless of the economic downturn, architecture is something I have always wanted to study. Architecture is an area of design that allows you to be very creative, while providing practical and useful solutions, which have a positive impact on people’s lives. The profession is constantly evolving to meet with changing social conditions, new technologies and materials”.
Undeterred, Ronan decided to accept a place on the BSc Architectural Technology (level 7) programme at WIT and was awarded a 2.1 degree in 2009. From there, he was later able to transfer directly to the honours programme, BSc Architecture (level 8), from which he earned a first-class honours degree in 2011.
Ronan was a top student all the way, and in 2011 won a coveted place on the college’s international internship programme sponsored by world renowned architect Renzo Piano, (who designed ‘The Shard’ in London) in Genoa, Italy, where he worked for 6 months. He then returned to WIT and completed his final 2 years on the Bachelor of Architecture programme, graduating in May 2013 with an honours degree.
Ronan believes that his original course gave him the fundamentals in technology, needed to become a top architect and definitely gave him the edge over other candidates. He is now employed by Reddy Architecture and Urbanism in Kilkenny, who offered him a position 2 days after getting his final results in May 2013!
SETU Waterford, Cork Road, Waterford City, 
