Prior to his PhD, Dr Ciarán Callaghan built a diverse professional foundation in chemistry and engineering, working in the British Army, the Irish Marine Institute, Cranfield Defence & Security and the Guinness Brewery. He later earned a PhD at the University of Bath’s Centre for Doctoral Training in Sustainable Chemical Technologies, developing biodegradable cellulose microbeads to replace microplastics. Bridging academia and aerospace, he also completed a UK Space Agency fellowship and served as an Operations Engineer for the space-tech firm Skyrora.

Following his doctoral research he moved into the defence sector, spending time working on munitions and defence infrastructure projects. He also established two specialized UK SMEs, which spearheaded cutting-edge research and development in propellant chemistry.

Today, Ciarán serves as Vice President of International for Supply Energetics Inc., a high-growth US start-up modernizing the defence industrial base by reshoring nitrocellulose-based energetics manufacturing. Backed by industry veterans from SpaceX and Anduril, the company utilizes automation and modular production to secure critical supply chains.