Sandra engineers a path to summit of pharma
Sandra Dinan is enjoying her current role as a process engineer in Small Molecule Manufacturing at Lilly in Kinsale, a world-leading innovative pharmaceutical company. She joined the Lilly Engineering Graduate Programme in September 2022 after completing a BEng (Hons) degree in Chemical and Biopharmaceutical Engineering at MTU.
Sandra Dinan began her career in September 2022 at Lilly in Kinsale, a world-leading innovative pharmaceutical company.
She joined the Lilly Engineering Graduate Programme after completing a BEng (Hons) degree in Chemical and Biopharmaceutical Engineering at MTU. In her current role as a process engineer in Small Molecule Manufacturing, she outlines the varied work involved.
“Since I joined Lilly I’ve been involved in the manufacture of four separate chemical synthesis manufacturing processes which have all been very different. Working through setting up the equipment for these processes, running the batches and seeing cleaning of the equipment between the processes has been such an interesting experience and no two days are ever the same.”
With most of her first two years involved working on a new product introduction (NPI), she has learned a lot going from the advance project work in equipment commissioning and qualification, to later running the process and seeing the results being submitted to the FDA for inspection.
“It is very exciting and rewarding having this new active ingredient for a Lilly medicine now in the production schedule for next year here in Kinsale,” she adds.
“When I started the Engineering Graduate Programme, I was initially shadowing another process engineer helping where I could, and learning as much as possible through process monitoring, troubleshooting issues and process improvements. After this, I had the opportunity to support a new product introduction (NPI) which involved two separate processes.”
This was an opportunity to see the background on how to successfully implement a new process on a large scale for the first time in Kinsale, based on previous knowledge from clinical trials on a smaller scale.
“Ensuring that the medicine is made safely and meets the required quality standards is paramount and I supported in compiling some of the safety documentation for the process. I’m currently working as lead engineer for another process, involving batch planning, process monitoring, troubleshooting and implementing continuous improvements.”
While Lilly is a large company with many employees, Sandra found it easy to settle in with supportive peers and a positive site culture.
“I was initially assigned a mentor, who is a more senior experienced engineer who offered lots of advice and answer any questions I had. My manager had biweekly 1-1 meetings with me and I felt guided in the right direction with a career development focus.”
Being part of the large site at Kinsale also means she has lots of colleagues to run ideas by, and to learn from: “Everyone is very helpful and supportive, and I feel like I can reach out to anyone in any area on the site for help when needed, no matter what level, or how senior they are,” she adds.
Sandra works as part of a multidisciplinary process team responsible for overseeing a specific manufacturing process. The team includes an engineer, chemist, quality representative, automation engineer and team leader.
“A lot of the work involves liaising with cross-functional teams, including the operator team who run the process and equipment. I find they are the best people to learn from, since they actually interact most with the equipment and the process in their daily role.”
As a process engineer, a typical day involves coming to work and attending the morning meeting where a shift handover is done with the process team, including discussing issues, alarms, maintenance required and the operation plan for the day.
Other day-to-day activities include troubleshooting issues, report writing for any safety/quality issues, process monitoring and chairing meetings with multi-disciplinary teams.
“In addition, we are always looking ahead to the next process in the production schedule to assess what needs to be implemented prior to commencing production.” Even though Sandra is still at an early point in her career, career development at Lilly is well supported.
“There are many examples of people ahead of me who have started in my position and really excelled in their career. After five years, I’d like to have gained more experience as a lead engineer on multiple processes and working on design of a new product introduction for an upcoming medicine. After 10 years, I see myself moving to a more senior role potentially an operations team leader or small molecule engineering director.”
After a few more years as a process engineer, she would like to get more experience in a different area, such as process safety or continuous manufacturing.
“Lilly has an exciting pipeline and has many sites around in the world, including several new sites globally, that are currently under construction. I may have the opportunity to travel to those sites in the near future, to share learning from Kinsale and to learn from them too. At Lilly, the global manufacturing organisation is one big global team.”
STEM has been integral to Sandra’s role as an Engineer.
“Being a process engineer involves lots of troubleshooting, logical thinking and batch planning. Maths and science come into the chemistry of the process as well as ensuring the process is always safely under control.
"Technology is becoming more and more innovative and applicable in both control of the process as well as how we monitor our processes. I would definitely encourage more women to come into the sector, it’s a very rewarding job and a lot of our process team and engineering team here in Lilly are women.”
For graduates now considering their career options, Sandra’s advice is succinct: “Be yourself and be honest. Think about why you want a particular role and always bring the best of yourself to the role. Be willing to work with an open mind and learn from people who have more experience in that area, always ask questions and this will help you excel in your career development.
"Developing relationships is key to success so my advice would be to value relationships with cross-functional teams and colleagues.”
In September 2024, Eli Lilly announced plans to invest over €1.6bn to expand its manufacturing footprint in Ireland as it ramps up production capacity across its Cork and Limerick sites.
The pharmaceutical giant has announced a $1bn (€907m) expansion of its Limerick site to increase production of biologic active ingredients for the company’s portfolio of treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.
The company also unveiled its new $800m (€726m) facility expansion in Kinsale, Co Cork, which began making medicines last year to meet demand for its diabetes and obesity treatments.
This additional investment is part of Eli Lilly's most ambitious manufacturing expansion agenda in the company’s history. Since 2020, Lilly has committed over $20bn to build, expand, and acquire manufacturing facilities in the US and Europe, the company said.
