Rathgormack born Emma Daily became Keltech’s very first female to enter our Welding Academy in November 2021. 8 months later Emma’s welding torch is burning bright. She has firmly become a key member of our Tank division and now fabricates fuel & hydraulic tanks for some of the largest construction equipment manufacturers in the world.

Emma begins: I always had a mechanical mind, from a young age I was breaking stuff and putting it back together. I think that probably comes from working at home with my Dad who is a mechanic by trade. We were always surrounded by cars and motorbikes at home, anything with an engine fascinated me!”

Emma attended Scoil Mhuire Greenhill Carrick on Suir. “I loved my time there but as an all-girls school I found my options limited when it came to taking up technical subjects like metalwork, engineering and so on, they just weren’t available… Instead I found myself doing subjects like Home Economics and Music, a bit stereotypical of an all-girls school I suppose.”

Emma graduated in 2015. “All my friends were going to college; it was just the thing to do. I drifted along too and ended up with a degree in legal studies having completed 4 years in WIT.” Having the benefit of maturity Emma started to rethink her career choice. “My instincts were telling me this is not the right path for me to go down, even though I had my degree I had no real passion for it ”.

Emma spotted one of Keltech’s posts advertising our Welding Academy. “When I looked into the company a little bit deeper and saw you were making stuff for the likes of Volvo, Manitou and Liebherr I applied immediately.”

Emma was instantly recognised as a top performer during her welding academy training says the Head of Welding Academy Jeff Imre (himself a Master Welder). “Emma’s talent was noticeable straight away, you could tell that Emma had been working with her hands all her life, she picked up the core skills so quickly”. At the end of the intensive programme Emma was independently examined and certified to ISO 9606-1, a welding qualification recognised the world over!

Emma Concludes “if I had one piece of advice to give to a younger me it would be to trust your gut. My passion has always been all things mechanical, working with my hands and so on. I got swept away in the “you must go into 3rd level education stereotype” instead of following my interests. Last year I reversed that and I could be happier now! Its never too late.”

Enjoyed reading this post or want to find out more? Contact seamus.lawlor@keltech.ie or 00353864681333 for any enquiries.