Dublin, IE
Originally Cork

Mech. & Manufacturing Eng. + Mgmt
Trinity College Dublin
Always building

Sam·O'Connell

Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering student who likes turning problems into things that work — across software, hardware and the occasional startup. Focused on innovation, problem-solving and actually shipping.

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Profile

I like finding innovative solutions to real problems — and then actually building them.

I'm Sam O'Connell, a Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering with Management student at Trinity College Dublin (integrated master's, 2024–2029). I grew up in Cork and moved to Dublin to study, after finishing school at Presentation Brothers College.

I build across software and hardware — web platforms like SlotSpace and the Trinity Hall welfare site, browser tools like SpoilerShield, and hardware like Guardian, a child-safety device my project group designed, built and pitched in second year. Whatever the medium, I care about innovation, solving the actual problem, and getting things over the line in a fast-moving, creative world.

When I'm not building, I'm usually on a football pitch or chasing the next idea.

PROFILEACTIVE

InstitutionTrinity College DublinIntegrated master's

CourseMech. & ManufacturingEngineering with Management

Duration2024–2029

FromCork → Dublin

ToolsSolidWorks · PythonExcel · AI workflows

StrengthsProblem-solvingLeadership & people

Selected work

SlotSpace

Founder & builder · Web platform

A platform that makes booking management quick and easy for small businesses — the ones still running their diary over phone calls and DMs. Businesses build a booking page from ready-made templates with their own photos, hours, services and prices; customers book a slot and get a confirmation email with calendar links. I came up with the idea and built the whole thing — React + Supabase, live at slotspace.ie — and it's now onboarding its first founding-member pilot businesses.

Booking platformSmall businessReact + SupabaseFull-stackFounder

STATUS: live · onboarding pilot businesses

Scout → SpoilerShield

Hackathon team build → ongoing · Browser extension

Started as Scout, a customisable browser extension blocking World Cup spoilers, built with my team — 3rd place at the UCC ACM World Cup Hackathon. Since grown into SpoilerShield: a Chrome extension that blurs text and images about any show, film or team you don't want spoiled, using on-device AI (Chrome's built-in Gemini Nano) with Wikipedia and TMDB data — no backend, no telemetry.

Browser extensionOn-device AIChrome MV33rd place

STATUS: v0.3 · in development

Trinity Hall Welfare

Founder & builder · Web platform

A website built around the wellbeing needs of first-year students living in Trinity Hall, Dublin — a searchable directory of support services, 20+ curated helplines and resources, welfare-team events and FAQs, with crisis contacts one tap away. I came up with the idea and built the site — it now serves over 1,000 students.

Student wellbeingSupport directory1,000+ usersFounder

STATUS: live

Guardian

Hardware · Mechatronics

A location-tracking safety device children clip to their backpack on the way to school — aimed at parents, as a safe substitute for a smartphone. Arduino UNO + SIM808 GPS/GSM with an accelerometer for crash detection: automatic SMS arrival notifications, live location sharing and a one-press SOS alert. Designed, built and pitched with my project group in six weeks, then shown at Trinity's Research & Innovation Showcase 2026.

MechatronicsArduino · GPS/GSMCrash detection6-week build

STATUS: built & showcased

TOP

Research · Prototype

Token Optimisation Protocol — researching how AI usage costs behave in the real world, and whether a session's cost can be predicted before it's spent. A measurement study over real usage data turned up meaningful findings inside two weeks; a first research paper is in draft.

AI researchCost predictionMeasurement studyPaper in draft

STATUS: research in progress

Milestones & awards

2024Leaving Cert

625 points · 7 H1s

Leaving Certificate

A maximum-points Leaving Certificate — top of the cohort nationally.

Naughton Scholarship

Naughton Foundation

Awarded to high-achieving students entering STEM at third level.

Awarded

2024Award

Trinity Entrance Exhibition Award

Trinity College Dublin

Recognising outstanding results on entry to Trinity.

Awarded

2024Competition

IAMTA Cork Applied Maths Competition — 1st place

Irish Applied Maths Teachers' Association

First place in the Cork regional applied maths competition.

1st place

2026Hackathon

UCC ACM World Cup Hackathon — 3rd place

UCC ACM · with team

Third place overall for Scout, a browser extension that blocks unwanted World Cup spoilers.

3rd place

Leadership & roles

2022VOLUNTEERING

Chief Volunteer Coordinator

SHARE · Cork

Coordinated volunteers for SHARE, the Cork student-run charity supporting the city's elderly — a role built entirely on organisation and people skills.

2025–26NOW

Welfare Team Member

Trinity Hall

Part of the welfare team supporting first-year students in Trinity's largest residence — the same community my Trinity Hall welfare site was built for.

ONGOINGSOCIETY

Member

Engineering Society, TCD

Active member of Trinity's Engineering Society.

Off the pitch

football

Competitive soccer

Years of representative football — Cork City, Cobh Ramblers, College Corinthians and Cork Schoolboys. Started every game of Cork Schoolboys' winning All-Ireland campaign.

SFAI U16 All-Ireland Cup winners · 2022

screen

Film & acting

Starred in Vindicta — winner of Best Picture at the First Cut! Youth Film Festival.

Best Picture · 2022

making

Building & tinkering

Always have a side project on the go — usually something that mixes software and hardware, and starts with "what if…".

now

Currently

Getting SlotSpace's first pilot businesses on board and, with TOP, digging into how AI costs can be predicted before they're spent.

SlotSpace · TOP — July 2026

Contact

Let's build
something good.

Always up for interesting problems, collaborations and ideas. If you're working on something and need someone who'll actually build it — get in touch.

samoconnell06@gmail.com LinkedIn GitHub Instagram CV / Résumé