Bio
After graduating from the University of Sussex with a BA in Film Studies in 2010 I spent five years working in the digital media and IT industries, first as a freelance computer animator before moving on to production and administration roles at an award-winning digital media agency, Cogapp, and finally into a technical operations role at Semantico, a digital publishing partner. I joined my local makerspace, Build Brighton, in 2011 through an interest in programming and electronics, and became a trustee in 2012. Over the next three years I organised workshops and public engagement events for Build Brighton, worked as a producer on the annual Brighton Mini Maker Faire which promoted maker culture to over 2,000 visitors a year at the prestigious Brighton Corn Exchange, and visited other makerspaces and Maker Faires all over the UK. After noticing a lack of women in the technical industry I was working in, and seeing this reflected in the maker community I was a part of, I returned to academia in 2015 to investigate ways of improving women’s relationships with technology via the maker movement. In 2016 I gained my MSc in Science, Technology and Society from University College London. I am currently conducting PhD research on gender, technology and makerspaces in the department of Science & Technology Studies at UCL.
Publications
O’Sullivan, E. (2018). Excellence in the maker movement. Journal of Peer Production, 12.
Talks & Presentations
What even is a ‘maker’?: how we see ourselves and how other people see us. Electromagnetic Field, Guildford, UK, 5-7 August 2016.
Research Experience
Research Assistant, Institute of Education, University College London, May 2017 – September 2017.
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Assisted with the development of a large multi-year funding application for a project to develop and research the educational and identity equity potential of makerspaces for young people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. Project lead: Professor Louise Archer.
Teaching Experience
Postgraduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Science & Technology Studies, University College London, Autumn 2017.
- 1st year module – Science Communication & Engagement
- 2nd year module – Human Sciences in Society
Education
PhD Science & Technology Studies, University College London, 2020 (predicted). Thesis title: Gender, Technology, and Makerspaces. Supervisors: Dr Emily Dawson & Dr Carina Fearnley.
MSc Science, Technology & Society (Distinction), University College London, 2016. Dissertation title: Who’s in and who’s out: the state of the field of the UK maker movement.
BA (Hons) Film Studies (First Class), University of Sussex, 2010.
Awards & Scholarships
MSc STS Dissertation Prize, University College London, 2016.
ESRC 1+3 Studentship, Economic and Social Research Council, 2015.
BA Film Studies Dissertation Prize, University of Sussex, 2010.
Workshops & Events
Exhibitor, Art:Work, Tate Exchange @ Tate Modern, 2017.
Producer, Brighton Mini Maker Faire, 2012-2015.
Coding summer school facilitator, Young Rewired State, 2012-2014.
Electronics workshop facilitator, Brighton Science Festival, 2013.