WIT engineering graduate Regina Moran, then Vice President of Transformation, EMEIA, Fujitsu was the keynote speaker at WIT's Women In Technology event
Hundreds of female secondary school students were inspired by the career path of Women in Technology keynote speaker Regina Moran, Vice President of Transformation, EMEIA, Fujitsu on International Women’s Day in Waterford. (Update has since moved to Vodafone as Enterprise Director).
The event was co-ordinated by lecturers from Waterford Institute of Technology and featured 10 female speakers telling their personal stories.
Moran told the audience how it’s important to be adaptable to change – she changed roles at least 30 times, lived through recessions and boom times, layoff and hirings, had been promoted and demoted – and survived.
Waterford beginnings
“I have had and still intend to have an amazing career but way back in the 1980s it began here in this college and for that I will always be grateful,” she said.
“I chose to do engineering back when it was an unusual choice for a girl. It opened up a world of possibilities. The road less travelled led to becoming CEO of Fujitsu in Ireland for 10 years and in 2015 I became CEO of Fujitsu UK and Ireland, an amazing role. I have just recently taken on a European wide role.”
Demand for creative people
Moran paid tribute to Alice Perry, the first woman engineering graduate in Ireland and Britain in 1906. “She paved the way for other women like me and you to study engineering.”
“Engineering and technology are vital for economic growth and we need to attract creative people, male and female to our ranks.”
She also explained engineering proved helpful for a career in management.
Engineering an excellent base
“I moved into management and started to climb the career ladder. Not being great at finance and accounting I did an MBA in DCU in 2000. But my engineering roots proved an excellent base for management. It allows you to logically and dispassionately analyse businesses situations and solve business problems”
Moran also outlined trends that Fujitsu had researched –the trends that will shape our world between now and 2030. Addressing these she believes will be driven or influenced by technology.
The future is technology
“The one common denominator of all these trends, which will have profound effects on our lives, is the ever increasing need for engineering , science and technology skills,” she said.
She told the audience of secondary school students: “So for all of you, this is the beginning of a journey of life-long learning as digital skills need to be constantly updated. But by choosing to start here, in WIT, you have a strong foundation for success. Be open to the challenge of constant change, be brave in the choices you make and to all of you may you have every success wherever the road make take you.”
About Regina Moran
Regina Moran, CEO Fujitsu UK & Ireland
Having served as CEO of Fujitsu UK and Ireland for over a year, where she successfully grew the business in an increasingly digitalized world, Regina then moved into a broader European role within the Business and Application Services Team holding the position of VP, Head of Industries, EMEIA BAS. Her focus has been help our customers transform grow their businesses supported by industry relevant value propositions from Fujitsu. She is currently Vice President of Transformation, an EMEIA wide role.
With over 30 years’ experience in the IT industry, including software and consulting with DMR, Regina was CEO of Fujitsu in Ireland for 10 years until April 2015, growing the business substantially.
A chartered Fellow of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland, Regina served on the Council and Executive and as President from 2014 to 2015, during which time she promoted STEM and the role of women in engineering. She became Chair of THEA, the Technological Higher Education Authority, in May 2017. She was formerly a member of the Dublin City University governing authority, a member of the government-industry led Smart Futures Advisory Board and a former non-executive Director of EirGrid, the company responsible for the National Grid across the island of Ireland. She was awarded the ‘Sir Charles Harvey Award’ for outstanding contribution in her post-graduate MBA studies and was awarded the IT Person of the Year award at the 2014 Tech Excellence Awards.
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SETU Waterford, Cork Road, Waterford City, 
