Hello and welcome to another boring website. My name is Rob (Robert) O’Connor and I’m using this as a collection space for thoughts and musings on projects (i.e. dumping ground). I live in Waterford (Ireland) with my wife and children. There’s a few aspects to my professional life, so in no particular order of merit or preference …
My main job is working as a lecturer in the Department of Computing & Mathematics at the South East Technological University (SETU). At present, I teach computer science and programming at undergraduate levels. In the past, I’ve also specialised in media tools with a special emphasis on audio production. I’m the Programme Leader for the BSc (Hons) in Computer Science, which might sound fancy, but in all honesty that means a large part of my working day involves editing spreadsheets and solving problems.
I’m heavily involved in academic podcasting at SETU. I host The Machine, a computer science education podcast and 9Plus, a series that looks at researcher across the University. I produce and work with the hosts of other podcasts at SETU and beyond, such as The Nerve (hosted by my wife Jenny). The guiding principle behind all of these is to present potentially dense topics in an accessible format. Sometimes, it’s easier to listen to a 30 minute conversation than read through a long PDF.
Music has always played a huge part of my life and I would says strongly defines my identity. Even though I haven’t gigged in while (last seen on stage with a guitar in Whelans in March 2020!), I have written, recorded and released music under my own name and with the bands Acrojunk (now defunct) and Fighting Spiders (COVID killed my involvement with that band ☹️). In 2024, I released a solo EP (Level 1) with plans to follow it up with two more. I have a heap of unreleased material written and am always threatening to unleash a solo album (because the world needs another 40-something man telling you his thoughts through song.) I also work as a musician with some theatre groups, most notably Waterford Spraoi. Back in the deep mists of time, I used to DJ in some local clubs and pubs, which brings me onto the final part of my professional life.
For 17 years, I presented Irish Beats on Beat 102-103, a radio show that focus on the contemporary Irish music scene. There’s a huge amount of material released by Irish artists every month, much of it brilliant, but most of which doesn’t get much recognition. Airtime is finite resource, but I always tried my best to play as much high quality music to as large an audience as possible. If one listener a week discovered a new act, then I considered it a successful show. Due to time pressures, I finished up on the radio in March 2023. Irish Beats continues with a new host and is broadcast every Sunday from 8-10pm every Sunday on Beat 102-103.
I’ve been posting shows to my personal MixCloud profile. BTW I’m not some sort of xenophobic music nationalist! I listen to a wide variety of music from all over the world, but on the radio I focused on homegrown sounds.
Besides all that, I volunteer at my local Coder Dojo. I like to run and keep relatively fit. I regularly complete 5 and 10k distances and have done a few half-marathons in my time. I’ve never run a full marathon though and don’t think I want to either! I’m *love* food and am happiest at weekends cooking up a storm in the kitchen, listening to records and getting lost in my own head. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and playing video-games, especially those of the science fiction & fantasy variety.
In 2024, I started a part-time PhD with Trinity College Dublin, working under Prof. Owen Conlon of the ADAPT Centre. The PhD ties numerous aspects of my professional lives together as I’m looking at the intersection between podcasting, science communication and AI. I’ve been threatening to do this for years, so it was about time I committed … or maybe I should be committed for embarking on something like this at this stage of my life???
I am interested in research opportunities around podcasting, especially from an academic or outreach perspective. I’m contactable at robert.oconnor@setu.ie for SETU-related matters. I also have my DMs open on Bluesky for everything else @roboconnor
I am not a prolific academic publisher, but that’s something I’m trying to work on. My OrcID is 0000-0002-9601-8453
