Sean McEwen with his wife Jacintha and sons Cormac, Donnacha and Conor
WHEN pharmaceutical giant AbbVie recently shone the spotlight on one of its employees Sean McEwen they said that he had one of the toughest jobs in the company.
The Letterkenny man is Vice President of Quality Assurance at a company which employs in excess of 48,000 people in more than 70 countries across the globe.
Sean is based in Chicago, the company’s headquarters, where he lives with his wife Jacintha, a clinical psychologist, and their three young sons Cormac (11), Donnacha (9) and Conal (6).
Earlier this week he took time out from his busy schedule to take a zoom call from the Donegal News. He spoke about his time playing football with St Eunan’s, Donegal and Tipperary, fixing televisions for the family business and his career in engineering biopharmaceuticals.
The youngest child of the late John and Philomena (Coyle, originally from the Isle of Doagh), he has five sisters Geraldine (Letterkenny), Noreen (RIP), Eileen (London), Roisin (Glasgow) and Kathleen (Armagh) and one brother Seamus (Letterkenny).
“We are all very close. Noreen passed away from cancer in 2004 when she was just 39 years old. It was devastating for us and her family. I like to think her story would be different today because there’s been so much progress in the science and what we can do for cancer patients,” he said.
His father was an electronics lecturer in Letterkenny Regional Technical College (LYIT) and the family moved to Letterkenny from Belfast in 1972, originally settling in Gortlee before moving to Beechwood and then Oaklands Park where his mother, Philomena, still lives.
“Dad ended up taking a number of career breaks from the RTC. Himself and Seamus fixed anything electrical and they were the brains behind the electrical business (McEwen Electrical),” he said.
LETTERKENNY
A former pupil of St Eunan’s College, Sean has fond memories of his time growing up in Letterkenny.
“I consider myself a Letterkenny man and a Donegal man – probably a townie first. I’ve a great affiliation with the town and I feel a real parish pride about the place.
“I had a great time in St Eunan’s College. I’m a strong passionate believer that the college has to be a strong institution for Letterkenny and Donegal – in both sport and learning,” he said.
Sean studied Chemical Engineering in Queens University Belfast and graduated with a Masters in 1996. His first job was with Merck before joining Abbott.
“I started working in pharma manufacturing the day after I graduated and never looked back. I’m twenty-five years in the industry this year. My first role was as a process engineer, very hands-on in a highly regulated, highly-controlled environment.
“The first six to seven years helped me understand the importance of getting the process right to manufacture pharmaceuticals,” he said.
The first Donegal team to win the Ted Webb Cup with Sean, bottom row, third from right.
DONEGAL
Sean played with Donegal at U16, Minor and U-21 level, before playing two years with the county senior team. He transferred to Tipperary for a season before deciding to concentrate on his career.
“It’s always been very hard to balance a demanding career with the demands of sport and I feel sorry for people trying to do that nowadays. Everything is so professional – even club football in Donegal means lads are now training four or five nights a week.
“It (sport) was different back then but I must admit that I was always passionate about this industry. I loved the idea of working in the pharmaceutical manufacturing world,” he admitted.
Sean’s sense of humility, hard work and team ethic has helped his progression up the career ladder. He is now based at AbbVie’s headquarters in Chicago.
“I had some great mentors along the way who took me under their arm and encouraged to me to take career risks – to do something different. At the end of the day though I’m simply part of a team who work through problems and processes together,” he said.
As Vice President of Quality Assurance as Abbvie Operations, Sean leads a team of more than 3,500 people.
“In some cases it can take ten to twelve years to get a product from the idea stage to the market. In pharmaceuticals, quality is everything. We have hundreds and hundreds of products and I oversee the quality of manufacturing, testing, release and distribution of these products.
“For everyone, it’s easy to see a tablet, capsule or vial, but to create that medicine requires so much work. For just one molecule, it might require over 30 complete manufacturing steps. This is novel chemistry or biology, and my job is to make sure we are consistent when we recreate the 30 steps each time, and with the same high level of quality. Batch one should be the same as batch 1,000 when it comes to quality,” he explained.
“It’s hugely rewarding to make sure that good quality products get to market,” he added.
“I believe my quality team has the toughest job because if there’s one small mistake, it could mean rejecting an entire batch, and we can’t have that because it ultimately impacts a patient who is sick or is trying to avoid serious symptoms. We strive for “right first time” with zero defects and 100% accuracy for every product, every day, every week, every month, every year,” he said.
When he’s not at work, Sean is kept busy taking his three boys to soccer and GAA training (Chicago Celtics) while they also swim.
“Jacintha is the rock behind the whole operation. She ensures that everyone’s feet remain firmly on the ground and she keeps everything moving,” he said.
“I try to get back to Ireland a few times a year and stay connected with everybody. The last time I was in Letterkenny was last August. I think Ireland has been very, very compliant (Covid) which is great to see. I would like to get home before Christmas to see my mother,” he said.
“My father passed away in 2007 and my mother is the glue behind the whole family.” he added.
As captain of the St Eunan’s team who beat Aodh Ruadh, Ballyshannon, to win the 1997 County title, Sean is keenly watching events unfold at home these days.
“It’s a slippery slope,” he said when asked about the 2020 decider which saw Naomh Conaill beat Kilcar on penalties last week. Kilcar have since appealed the result.
“It didn’t do them (Ballyshannon) any good and I don’t see this year being any different,” he said.
Sean also played on the St Eunan’s team which brought the Dr Maguire Cup back to the town in 2007.
“I’m always thinking about St Eunan’s and keeping an eye on how they’re getting on. Hopefully, they’ll give the Championship a good rattle this year,” he said.
Like in his playing days, Sean is a firm believer in the team – the collective effort.
“It’s everyone’s responsibility to speak up, ask questions, and come forward with ideas on any quality improvement, and we like to operate that way at AbbVie.
“We are all on a relentless journey of continuous improvement. I take the responsibility extremely seriously of creating quality products for our patients who depend on them so they can work and take care of their families. I never forget that,” he added.
Sean and his wife Jacintha
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