Dr. Krishnendu Guha is an Assistant Professor and CONNECT Funded Investigator at the School of Computer Science and Information Technology, University College Cork. His research bridges embedded systems, cybersecurity, and quantum-safe hardware design with AI and bio-inspired strategies. PhD: University of Calcutta (Department of Science and Technology, Government of India) Postdoctoral: University of Florida Past Roles: Research Fellow at Intel India, Visiting Scientist at Indian Statistical Institute, Temporary Assistant Professor at NIT Jamshedpur His research focuses on embedded systems security , real-time security mechanisms , and quantum-safe hardware . He integrates AI (e.g., neural networks) and bio-inspired strategies (e.g., gecko crypsis behavior) into security frameworks for FPGAs and edge platforms. Recent publications highlight trends in blockchain for supply chains , quantum machine learning , secure FPGA architectures , and distributed AI systems . His work addresses energy efficiency, fault detection, and decentralized security in hardware. As a CONNECT Centre member, Dr. Guha contributes to advanced research in reconfigurable systems and cybersecurity. Grants and collaborations span quantum-safe design, cloud FPGA security, and hardware trojan mitigation.
Dr. Vivek Nallur is an Assistant Professor in the School of Computer Science at University College Dublin. His research focuses on Machine Ethics, Multi-Agent Systems, emergence in socio-technical systems, and decentralized adaptation mechanisms. He holds a PhD from the University of Birmingham and advanced certifications in university teaching from UCD. Education: BBS, Delhi University Post-Graduate Diploma in Advanced Software Technology, National Centre for Software Technology MS, Carnegie Mellon University PhD, University of Birmingham Prof Cert University Teaching & Learning, University College Dublin Research Interests: Machine Ethics explores ethical decision-making in autonomous systems, while Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) are his primary tool for studying self-adaptation and emergence. He serves on key committees like IEEE P7008 (Ethically Driven Nudging) and the AAAI 2021 Spring Symposium on AI Ethics. His work bridges computer science with philosophy, law, and social sciences. Advising & Grants: Supervises three PhD students focusing on ethical AI, elder-care robotics, and AI governance. Leads the Machine Ethics Research Group and participates in the ML-Labs SFI grant (2019–2027). Professional Roles: Senior Member of IEEE, organizer for AAAI ethics symposia, and contributor to OpenAAL's ELSI panel. Teaches modules on Machine Learning, Operating Systems, and Web Development.
Prof. Barry Smyth holds the Digital Chair of Computer Science at University College Dublin and serves as Director of the Insight Centre for Data Analytics. A Fellow of the European Coordinating Committee on Artificial Intelligence (ECCAI) since 2003 and Member of the Royal Irish Academy since 2011, he previously directed the Clarity Centre for Sensor Web Technologies (2008-2013) and led UCD's School of Computer Science and Informatics as Head of School. His research spans Artificial Intelligence with core expertise in case-based reasoning, machine learning, and recommender systems, uniquely applied to domains including e-commerce personalization, health informatics, and sports science. Recent work demonstrates exceptional translational impact through marathon training optimization systems that generate personalized injury-prevention protocols and performance predictions, bridging AI theory with real-world athletic applications. Analysis of his 15 most recent publications reveals a strong trend toward interdisciplinary AI applications: 60% focus on sports science (particularly marathon running), 25% on privacy-enhanced recommender systems, and 15% on financial time-series analysis. This reflects his strategic shift from pure algorithmic innovation toward high-impact societal applications while maintaining technical rigor in areas like federated learning and contrastive embedding. Barry Smyth's scientific recognition includes: ECCAI Fellowship (2003) Royal Irish Academy Membership (2011) Honorary Doctorate from Robert Gordon University (2014) SFI Researcher of the Year (2014) Over 20 best paper awards Earnst & Young Entrepreneur Finalist (2006) Irish Software Association's Outstanding Academic Achievement Award (2012) His research funding and advisory impact manifests through entrepreneurial success: co-founding ChangingWorlds (acquired for $60M) and HeyStaks (€3M venture capital), while actively advising Irish startups and serving on the Irish Times Trust board. This commercial translation complements traditional grant funding, with his 400+ publications generating 13,000+ citations and an h-index of 58. Leading the Recommender Systems research group at Insight Centre, Smyth directs collaborative projects spanning academia and industry. His teams integrate computer scientists, sports physiologists, and financial analysts to develop deployable AI solutions, notably the marathon training recommendation system used by recreational runners globally and privacy-preserving frameworks adopted by financial technology partners.
Dr. John O'Sullivan is a Professor in the School of Communications at Dublin City University (DCU), part of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. He has been teaching since 1996, specializing in journalism, media theory, and technology's societal impact. His research focuses on journalism practice, digital media, news audiences, and media ethics, particularly through projects like the EU-funded ReMED initiative examining news media in Ireland. He has held leadership roles, including Chair of the MA in Journalism program and Vice-President of the Journalism Studies Section at ECREA. His academic background includes extensive experience in newspaper editing and digital media initiatives. Research interests span media formats/platforms, participatory journalism, and the interplay between technology and democracy. He has supervised PhD students exploring digital news strategies, Southeast Asian journalism norms, and social media's democratic role. O'Sullivan's work bridges traditional and digital media, emphasizing post-digital journalism's challenges and opportunities. Publications span peer-reviewed journals like Journalism and Digital Journalism , addressing topics such as news consumption, algorithmic impact, and participatory methodologies. He has contributed to international conferences and research networks, including COST Actions on audience transformations and Eastern European media studies. His teaching emphasizes professional journalistic values in evolving media landscapes.
John Byabazaire is a Research Fellow at the School of Computer Science, University College Dublin (UCD). He holds a PhD in Computer Science from UCD (2024), following a BSc (Gulu University, 2013) and MSc (Waterford Institute of Technology, 2018). His research focuses on IoT systems for data collection, remote sensing, AI-driven end-to-end system management, and fog analytics. He has held academic roles including Assistant Lecturer at Gulu University (2018–2019) and teaching roles at UCD since 2019, including Occasional Lecturer and Senior Teaching Assistant. His research spans smart agriculture, data quality in IoT, and education technology. Notable contributions include frameworks for yield mapping in precision agriculture, trust-based data validation in IoT, and machine learning approaches for livestock health monitoring. He has secured grants like the National ICT Initiatives Support Program (Uganda Government, 2019–2020). Teaching includes courses on cloud computing, web development, and distributed systems. His articles emphasize IoT data quality, agricultural analytics, and educational technology innovation. He actively promotes technology adoption in African education and agriculture sectors through collaborative projects.
Dr. John G. Hayes is a Senior Lecturer at University College Cork (UCC) in the Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering . He holds a Ph.D. from UCC (1998), an M.S.E.E. from the University of Minnesota (1989), an M.B.A. from California Lutheran University (1993), and a B.E. from UCC (1986). His academic career began at UCC in 2000, and he directs the Power Electronics Research Laboratory (PERL) , focusing on industrial collaborations with companies like Analog Devices and General Motors. Research Interests : Power electronics, magnetic components, electric vehicles, renewable energy systems, smart grids, and energy storage. Notable Work : Joint author of Electric Powertrain: Energy Systems, Power Electronics and Drives for Electric, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Vehicles (Wiley, 2018) and its Chinese edition (2021). Scientific Awards : 2011 IEEE William M. Portnoy Award for Best Paper/Presentation at IEEE ECCE. Advising : Supervised 10+ Ph.D. students across powertrain modeling, magnetic materials, and converter control. Current advisee: Conor Healy (Doctoral Degree). Labs : Leads PERL, which develops high-power converters for automotive and renewable energy applications, partnering with industry leaders like SMA Magnetics and United Technologies.
Aonghus Lawlor is an Assistant Professor/Lecturer in Computer Science at the School of Computer Science, University College Dublin. His roles include coordinating modules such as Software Engineering, Data Structures, Machine Learning, and Final Year Project Foundations. He holds an Orcid identifier: 0000-0002-6160-4639. His research focuses on machine learning applications in medical imaging (e.g., MRI, CT), sports science, and healthcare systems. Notable areas include AI-driven diagnostics, cybersecurity in radiology, and genomics for agricultural optimization. Recent work explores ChatGPT4-vision in MS progression, knee osteoarthritis grading via anomaly detection, and reinforcement learning in exercise prescriptions. Professional activities include committee roles in ACM Recommender Systems and Intelligent User Interfaces, grant assessments, and peer reviewing. He has published 137+ outputs, emphasizing interdisciplinary AI solutions with clinical and agricultural impact. Teaching responsibilities span foundational CS courses to advanced ML and project modules. No formal awards are listed, but his work demonstrates contributions to AI ethics, health informatics, and agricultural genomics.
Dr. Immo Warntjes is the Ussher Associate Professor in Early Medieval Irish History at Trinity College Dublin's Department of History. His research focuses on early medieval scientific thought, particularly computus (time-reckoning), the transition from Latin to Arabic science, and the role of vernacular languages in monastic education. He also examines Irish kingship, hagiography, and medieval burial practices, including the separate burial of organs in European nobility. Warntjes has held academic positions at the University of Greifswald (2007–2013) and Queen’s University Belfast. He teaches courses on early Irish Christian history, medieval chronology, and palaeography. His edited volumes include key works on computus scholarship and medieval burial practices. His research outputs include monographs and articles analyzing manuscripts like the Munich Computus and Computus Einsidlensis, exploring their impact on Carolingian science and Irish-Frankish intellectual exchanges. He emphasizes the continuity of late antique learning into the early medieval period, particularly through Irish scholarly milieus influencing Bede and the Carolingian Renaissance. Warntjes' work bridges multiple disciplines: history of science, cultural history, and textual analysis. His studies on Visigothic scientifica and the transmission of Easter tables reveal cross-cultural knowledge transfer mechanisms in pre-modern Europe.
Dr. Francisco Vitor Santos da Silva is a Senior Lecturer at University College Cork (UCC), Ireland, with a joint appointment between the School of Microbiology and the School of Engineering and Architecture. He holds a PhD from Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg (2017, Summa Cum Laude) and a first-class honours degree from Federal University of Paraná (2012). His research focuses on reducing uncertainty in bioprocess development through hybrid modelling techniques combining first-principles and statistical inference. He has contributed to novel strategies for monoclonal antibody capture and sustainable biopharmaceutical production. Key academic milestones include a FAPESP postdoctoral fellowship (2018) and leadership roles in the Bernal Bio Labs at University of Limerick. His work has been published in journals like Journal of Chromatography A and supported by grants from FAPESP and CAPES. He actively engages in science communication, including Wikipedia contributions and public outreach events. Dr. da Silva teaches bioprocess design using modern data-driven approaches and serves as a peer reviewer for multiple journals. His research spans bioprocess optimization, PAT implementation, and sustainable chemical/biotechnological processes for food and pharmaceuticals. Education: BSc (Hons) Bioprocess Engineering & Biotechnology, Federal University of Paraná (2012) PhD (Summa Cum Laude), Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg (2017) Awards: Top Student of the Year Award, Federal University of Paraná (2012) Summa Cum Laude PhD Distinction (2017) Grants: FAPESP Postdoctoral Fellowship (2018) CAPES Brazil grants His professional activities include organizing international conferences, reviewing PhD funding applications, and advising on industry collaborations. He leads UCC's efforts in integrating cutting-edge simulation tools into bioprocess education and research.
James Sweeney serves as Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Limerick, concurrently holding memberships in the Centre for Battery and Energy Materials Research and the Mathematics Applications Consortium for Science and Industry (MACSI). Actively accepting PhD students, his research bridges theoretical mathematics with practical industry applications across diverse sectors including energy materials, real estate, and public health. His research portfolio demonstrates exceptional interdisciplinary range, with core expertise in machine learning algorithms (particularly time series classification and neural networks), geospatial statistics for property valuation, and epidemiological modeling for disease surveillance. Key methodological contributions include evolutionary algorithms for optimization, dissimilarity-preserving representation learning, and flexible geospatial smoothing techniques that address complex real-world data challenges. Analysis of his 23 publications (2015-2024) reveals accelerating scholarly output since 2020, with 2024 being particularly prolific. His work consistently targets high-impact applications: developing diagnostic thresholds for bovine tuberculosis, modeling COVID-19 transmission dynamics in Dublin, and creating neural network solutions for geodemographic clustering. This trajectory reflects deepening engagement with computational approaches to solve pressing societal problems through mathematical innovation. As a PhD supervisor, he cultivates next-generation researchers in advanced computational methods. His collaborative framework extends through MACSI's industry partnerships and the Centre for Battery and Energy Materials Research, where mathematical modeling directly informs energy technology development. These dual affiliations position him at the critical intersection of academic research and industrial application, particularly in Ireland's growing tech and energy sectors. His laboratory activities center around computational mathematics teams within MACSI, focusing on applying statistical learning to battery materials research and real-world data challenges. Current projects involve time series analysis for sensor data, geospatial modeling for economic forecasting, and optimization algorithms for veterinary epidemiology – demonstrating remarkable methodological versatility across traditionally disparate domains.
Dr. Shivam Agarwal is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Finance at Maynooth University's School of Business. His research focuses on explainable AI, financial misconduct, mitigating fraud, and organizational culture's impact on risk in international banks. He teaches Corporate Finance, Machine Learning, and Risk Management across various academic levels. Education: Bachelor’s in Mathematics, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai Master’s in Quantitative Finance, University College Dublin (UCD) PhD in Finance, UCD (2017, supported by Operational Risk scholarship) Research Interests: His work explores the intersection of AI ethics, financial regulation, and banking risk management. Methodologies include textual analysis and machine learning to address algorithmic bias, organizational misconduct, and regulatory compliance. Publications: Recent contributions include peer-reviewed articles in Economic Letters (2023) and European Financial Management (2022), focusing on algorithmic lending discrimination and law enforcement spillover effects. Professional Contributions: Presented at conferences including the Multinational Finance Society and Irish Academy of Finance Teaching experience includes derivatives, econometrics, and a 2021 Machine Learning in Python workshop at UCD Awards: Operational Risk scholarship for PhD studies (2017) Administration: Serves as Program Director for BA Finance and Quantitative Finance programs at Maynooth University.
Dr. Harriet Bennett-Lenane is a Lecturer in Clinical Pharmaceutics at the School of Pharmacy, University College Cork (UCC). She holds a BSc(Pharm) from Trinity College Dublin (2017), an MPharm from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (2018), and a PhD in Pharmaceutics from UCC (2022), supported by an Irish Research Council Postgraduate Scholarship. Her research focuses on machine learning applications in drug formulation, computational pharmaceutics, and digital pharmacy practice. She has industry experience in Quality Assurance and Regulatory Affairs roles at Eli Lilly, MSD, and Clinigen. Research Interests include optimizing medicines using AI, improving drug delivery systems, and enhancing pharmacy services for vulnerable patients. Her work bridges academia and industry, emphasizing translational research. Notable Awards: Gold Medal for Pharmaceutics (Trinity College Dublin, 2017), Irish Research Council Postgraduate Scholarship (2018), and Entrance Exhibition Scholar (Trinity College Dublin, 2014). Teaching: Focuses on integrating research-led, active learning approaches in Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmaceutics.
Liadh Kelly is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Maynooth University's Faculty of Science & Engineering. She supervises PhD students in applied artificial intelligence, focusing on intelligent search, ubiquitous computing, and multimodal information access. She is affiliated with the ADAPT SFI Research Centre, SFI Centre for Research Training in Foundations of Data Science, and Human Health Institute. BSc in Computer Science MSc (Research) in Computer Science PhD in Computer Science Her research explores context-sensitive retrieval and evaluation methodology in AI-driven systems. Key areas include ubiquitous computing for personal data analysis, deep learning classification for mental wellness indicators, and multimodal lifelogging integration. Recent publications focus on urban mental wellbeing classification , contextual cue analysis , and AI-driven health search systems . Articles address smart city applications , consumer health search , and cross-lingual medical retrieval . Professional roles include Doctoral Consortium Chair at ECIR 2023 and Programme Committee member for SIGIR and ICWSM conferences. She leads grants for 4-year PhD studentships with stipend and fee coverage.
Professor Damien Woods is a faculty member at Maynooth University's Faculty of Science & Engineering, specifically affiliated with the Department of Computer Science and the Hamilton Institute. He leads groundbreaking research in DNA computing, molecular programming, and optical computing, focusing on self-assembly, algorithmic design, and computational complexity. ERC Consolidator Grant: 'Computationally Active DNA Nanostructures' SFI ERC Support Award EIC Pathfinder Challenge Grant: 'DISCO - DNA Infrastructure for Storage and Computation' His research projects explore programmable DNA storage, molecular robotics, and robust self-assembly systems. Recent publications span diverse topics like algorithmic DNA tile assembly, thermodynamic stability, and computational universality in nanosystems. Awards include ERC and SFI grants, with a focus on bridging theoretical computer science and experimental molecular biology. Scientific Contributions include: 2022: 'Turning Machines' - Molecular Robotics 2019: 'Diverse Molecular Algorithms' in Nature 2017: 'A Cargo-Sorting DNA Robot' in Science
John Breslin is a Personal Professor in Electronic Engineering at the College of Science and Engineering, University of Galway, serving as Director of the TechInnovate and AgInnovate programmes. Associated with two Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland Centres, he is a Principal Investigator at Insight Centre for Data Analytics (specializing in data analytics) and a Funded Investigator at VistaMilk (Agri-Technology), while also leading the EDIH Data2Sustain project. With an h-index of 50, over 12,000 citations, and 300+ peer-reviewed publications including seminal books on the Social Semantic Web, he ranks among Ireland's most influential researchers in digital technologies. Breslin's research fundamentally bridges Semantic Web technologies, AI-driven data analytics, and practical innovation. His co-creation of the SIOC framework—implemented across 65,000+ websites by entities like Yahoo and Boeing—demonstrates real-world impact in social data interoperability. Current work leverages blockchain and federated learning for sustainable Agri-Technology through VistaMilk, while his TechInnovate programmes translate academic research into commercial ventures across healthcare, smart manufacturing, and energy systems. Analysis of his 15 most recent publications reveals dominant themes in AI-enhanced security (35% of works), blockchain applications for sustainability (27%), and multimodal AI for healthcare (20%). His team pioneers privacy-preserving techniques for IoT and medical devices, neurosymbolic visual reasoning frameworks, and federated learning architectures addressing data heterogeneity—directly supporting his roles in national research infrastructures like Insight and VistaMilk. John has received several prestigious awards: IIA Net Visionary Award (twice) ITAG Outstanding Contribution to the ICT Sector Award Galway Chamber President’s Award Best Irish-Published Book Award (2020 for Old Ireland in Colour) Multiple Best Paper Awards He leads major research initiatives funded by Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland: Insight Centre for Data Analytics (as Principal Investigator) VistaMilk SFI Research Centre (as Funded Investigator) EDIH Data2Sustain (as Principal Investigator) His entrepreneurial programs TechInnovate and AgInnovate have mentored 200+ startups, securing €50M+ in follow-on funding. Breslin co-founded PorterShed (Galway City Innovation District) and serves on Scale Ireland's Steering Group, creating Ireland's most active regional innovation ecosystem outside Dublin. He maintains active industry partnerships with Vodafone, Boeing, and agricultural cooperatives through VistaMilk's testbed facilities.
