We are delighted to announce that two Tyndall researchers have won Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Awards. Joined by over 350 leading members of the Irish research community, Tyndall’s Dr Ivan O’Connell of MCCI and Prof. Peter O’Brien of IPIC were recognised along with six other awardees as key leaders in the Irish Research Community.
The prestigious awards were unveiled today at the annual SFI Science Summit and celebrate SFI researchers’ contributions to Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.
Speaking about the award winners, Prof. William Scanlon, CEO Tyndall, said: “It’s a fantastic achievement for Tyndall researchers to be recipients of two out of eight awards this year. I would like to congratulate Dr Ivan O’Connell on receiving the Industry Partnership Award and Prof. Peter O’Brien on receiving the Best International Engagement Award. These awards recognise your individual contribution to the Irish Research community and showcase the quality of research work taking place at Tyndall and its hosted centres”.
SFI Industry Partnership Award
The SFI Industry Partnership Award celebrates a collaboration between an SFI-funded academic research group and industry.
Recipient: Dr Ivan O’Connell, MCCI at Tyndall National Institute
Dr Ivan O’Connell is the Analog Mixed-Signal Principal Investigator at Microelectronic Circuits Centre Ireland (MCCI), hosted in the Tyndall National Institute. His primary research interests are in the area of Analogue Mixed Signal Circuits and data converters. He is particularly interested in the application of this research in the application areas including: Internet of Things, Biomedical, Smart Agri and Energy Harvesting. He is currently a principal investigator in a number of Innovation Partnerships. Dr O’Connell is an SFI CONNECT Funded Investigator and a successful SFI-NSF iCorps awardee.
SFI Best International Engagement Award
This award recognises the accomplishments of a Science Foundation Ireland-funded researcher/group specifically in the context of their international activities.
Recipient: Prof. Peter O’Brien, Tyndall Photonics
Prof. Peter O’Brien obtained his Degree and PhD in Physics from Trinity College Dublin and University College Cork respectively. He was a postdoctoral scholar at the California Institute of Technology and research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. He was founder and CEO of a photonic’s startup company developing specialised optical imaging systems for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications, which he successfully sold in 2009. Prof. O’Brien is currently collaborating in 12 H2020-EU projects, is Director of the European Photonic Packaging Pilot Line and Deputy Director of the Irish Photonic Integration SFI Research Centre (IPIC). He is an adjunct professor at the College of Optical Science, University of Arizona, Tucson and a visiting researcher at Columbia University
Acknowledging the award winners, Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Ms Heather Humphreys TD, said “I am pleased to see the outstanding work of the Irish research community acknowledged through these SFI Science Awards. The recipients are among Ireland’s top researchers and the awards recognise the contribution they are making in a number of areas including industry collaborations, entrepreneurship, communication and public engagement. I would like to congratulate each awardee on their tremendous achievements, their discoveries will bring economic growth and societal development in Ireland.”
Director General of Science Foundation Ireland and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of Ireland, Professor Mark Ferguson, also congratulated the award winners, saying “Every year the Science Foundation Ireland Awards provide an opportunity to highlight some of the excellent impacts and achievements of our research community. I want to congratulate the winners on their dedication and the contribution they are making to Ireland’s economy and society. I am confident that their success will be a source of inspiration to their peers and, more importantly, to the next generation of researchers in Ireland. At Science Foundation Ireland we very pleased to see the superb quality of research that our funding enables, and are proud that Irish research continues to be impactful and world-leading.”
For details of all award winners see; http://www.sfi.ie/research-news/news/sfi-2018-science-awards/