GetReskilled UK

Week 9: Big pipe, meet small pipe.

🔹 What it is: A fitting that changes pipe diameter between two runs.

🔹 Spot it: A trapezoid — wide on one side, narrow on the other.

🔹 In a pharma plant: Matching line sizes between equipment of different capacities.

🔹 Why it matters for validation: Size changes affect velocity and flow — relevant to process verification.

Full symbol library 👉 https://www.getreskilled.com/validation/pid-symbols/

Geraldine Creaner (nee Griffin) passed away peacefully yesterday, 19th August 2026. As most people know, GetReskilled is a family business, and Geraldine was at the heart of this. She prided herself on knowing every student’s name and was simultaneously cheerleader and mentor (sometimes torMENTOR when the case needed it!) for nearly 2,000 students over the past 12 years. She changed so many lives for the better and her legacy lives on in not just her family but also in the people who she helped transition and upskill into the pharmaceutical and medical device industry.

Our Geraldine was a Clare woman at heart, having been born in Ennis, and was keen to remind her friends and neighbours in Cork of this by flying the Clare flag at every hurling match (yes – especially the ones where they were playing Cork!). She spent the last 40 years travelling the world, and will be returning home to Ennis as her final resting place next week.

Geraldine qualified as a laboratory technician at Carlow Regional Technical College (now South East Technological University) in 1978. She was the first person in her family to obtain a third-level qualification, and she funded her own studies by working as a waitress every summer and borrowing from the Credit Union.

Upon graduation, she secured a Laboratory Technician role with Antigen in Roscrea. She subsequently moved back closer to home to Syntex Pharmaceuticals (later Roche) in Clarecastle – where she met and married Gerry Creaner, a chemical engineer from Dublin who had gotten his first job on the Clarecastle site.

In 1986, she took a career break to raise her children (Niamh, Sinead and Colm). During this time, her and the family moved around Ireland and the rest of the world living in Grand Bahama, Cork, Singapore, Boston and London.

In 2012, Geraldine came back to work for GetReskilled, becoming Programme Director – thus beginning the “family” part of this family company as Niamh, Sinead and Colm have all subsequently joined GetReskilled over the years. She always joked that when Gerry had asked her to come work with him, he said it was only for a few months and that it later turned out she was too good to replace. She was absolutely right.

The pastoral care GetReskilled students receive is all down to the systems Geraldine put together. We all know that the hardest part of returning to education is trying to have the support network in place to make it possible – because there is always going to be a day when quitting seems easier than continuing. Geraldine seemed to be able to instinctively know how to balance the Mentor, TorMENTOR and Cheerleader role. She knew when someone just needed a break to catch their breath, and when someone needed a push because they were so close to the finish line it was in sight even if they couldn’t see it yet.

Geraldine did not discover a molecule or commission a facility. She did something this industry needs just as badly and finds far harder. She helped 2,000 people make the career change into an industry that needs them.

The good, kind and supportive acts we put out into the world always come back to us in unsuspecting ways. Geraldine had been diagnosed with a Stage 4 Glioblastoma, and so the medicines and medical devices that were keeping her alive and comfortable were manufactured, validated and released on regulated sites by the operators, technicians, quality specialists and validation engineers she trained.

She helped build the workforce that was caring for her. We can think of no clearer measure of what one person’s work in this industry can amount to.

Geraldine was loved by so many including her husband Gerry, her daughters Niamh and Sinead, and her son Colm. Beloved by her sisters Mary Chawke, Frances O’Donoghue and Tina McGann; and her brothers-in-law Gerry McGann and Ray O’Donoghue. Predeceased by her sister Ann Slattery. Her nieces and nephews (all of whom remember their Auntie Geraldine), and her grand-nieces and nephews (who all fondly remember their Granty-Geraldine), her friends, neighbours and thousands of students who she was always there for.

Her Reposing and Funeral details can be found
https://www.getreskilled.com/geraldine-creaner/

📖 Term of the Week: Operational Qualification 👇

Documented testing that equipment operates as designed, across its intended operating ranges. The 'O' - does it run the way it should?

💾 One to save for later.

Learn it properly in our Equipment Validation (IQ OQ PQ) course 👉 https://www.getreskilled.com/iq-oq-pq/
Or explore all 70+ terms: https://www.getreskilled.com/validation/validation-glossary/

📌 New term every Tuesday — follow along for the full A–Z.

A little reminder this week: you're not on your own. 🤝 If something's got you stuck, don't sit on it — message your Course Coordinator and we'll help you work through it before tonight's deadline. And if you're all sorted, email your completed booklet (and workshop assignment, if it applies) by midnight as usual. Reaching out is always the right move. 💛

For all our current students, progress check-ins are tomorrow so make sure you’ve emailed your completed question booklet (and workshop assignment, if applicable) to your Course Coordinator by midnight tonight so we can open up the next session of work for you without delay.

Week 8: A permanent, leak-tight join.

🔹 What it is: A welded connection where two pipe ends are fused together.

🔹 Spot it: A simple X on the line.

🔹 In a pharma plant: Hygienic, permanent joins on product-contact pipework.

🔹 Why it matters for validation: Weld records and inspection are key documentation for installation qualification.

Full symbol library 👉 https://www.getreskilled.com/validation/pid-symbols/

What kind of jobs can Project Engineers get in the pharmaceutical and medical device industry?

👉 As a project engineer, your main opportunities are in managing capital projects in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries (either directly or via an engineering consultancy that serves them).

Depending on your background, you probably won’t need training in Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) while working on capital projects but it would certainly help bolster your qualifications. In addition, you should consider learning the basics of IQ OQ PQ Protocols as you will encounter them on a regular basis.

👉 Another career option would be to retrain for validation roles.

👉 And finally, you could retrain and move into plant engineering roles.

Apart from “Project Engineer” or “Senior Project Engineer”, here are some of the more common suitable job titles we see advertised:

➤ Project Automation (OEM) Engineer
➤ Project Engineer (Ops Readiness)
➤ Project Engineer (Service & Maintenance)
➤ Engineering Projects Manager
➤ Project Manager (Pharma)

Note: These suggestions. are based on spending almost 8 years putting together both Ireland's and the UK's largest pharma jobs board.

Learn more about moving into Pharma as a Project Engineer in this post -
https://www.getreskilled.com/engineer/project/

If you are interested in retraining for plant/maintenance/facilities engineering roles, check out our "Conversion Course into Engineering Roles in Pharma" at this link - https://www.getreskilled.com/conversion-to-engineering-roles-in-pharma/

If you are interested in retraining for validation technician, C&Q or CQV roles check out our Starter Validation Course at this link - https://www.getreskilled.com/iq-oq-pq/

If you want a proper course on Good Manufacturing Practices, check out our GMP Training for Beginners in Pharma at this link - https://www.getreskilled.com/gmp-training/