Associate Professor in Sensor & Optical Instrumentation.

1. SFI funded Principal Investigator-Frontiers for the Future.Funded Investigator in I-Form Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre Phase 2, 2024-2028.
2. Funded Investigator in Curam Medical Device Research Centre Phase 2.
3. Previously held academic positions in Chemical Engineering at The University of Manchester, Sensor Instrumentation at UMIST and Applied Physics/Engineering at Liverpool John Moores University.
4. PhD in Engineering (Optical Fibre Sensor Technology) from University of Liverpool, UK.

Currently Funded Projects:

1. Research Ireland ARC Hub for HealthTech: Photonics BioPressure Sensor. Using micro-photonics to engineer a low cost point of care wearable sensor to detect excess fluid build-up, causing eodema and indicating heart failure.
2. ENLIGHT Galway Thematic Network: CARDIOPTIC-Photonic sensors for monitoring heart failure, cardiovascular disease and other medtech applications with ENLIGHT universities.
3. SFI Frontiers for the Future:Laser Functionalisation of Flexible Polymer-Carbon Composites for Medical Sensing.
4. SEAI National Energy Research, Development & Demonstration Funding: TidalHealth – Structural Health Monitoring and analysis of Tidal Turbine Blades, with Eirecomposites and ORPC.

Research:

• Laser induced carbon nanomaterials, for medical devices.
• Porous 3D laser induced graphene for sensing and energy generation.
• Smart composites and surfaces for pressure and gait analysis.
• Distributed sensors to monitor radioactive ponds containing spent fuel cells for nuclear decommissioning.
• Functional materials and key enabling technologies for medical devices and biosensors.
• Chemical sensing, and process analytics.
• Optical laser inscription & instrumentation, optical sensor systems, advanced functional materials (optical and electronic properties).
• Photonic materials and devices.
• Application of machine learning, and signal analysis to sensor signals,to extract process variables, or to identify individuals and their health conditions.
• Polymer optical fibre sensors.
• Human Motion Sensing.

Optical and Photonic Instrumentation:

Optical fibre technology and photonic materials for sensors and devices, ranging from functional chemically sensitive optical coatings, to laser inscribed photonic and conducting structures in transparent materials that affect their optical and electronic properties.

Optical Materials: Advanced functional materials, and their optical, materials and chemical properties for structures and devices.

Materials: Nano-electronics, materials characterisation and analytical methods.

Medical technlogies: Sensor instrumentation and measurement for healthcare. Strongly multidisciplinary and include photonic guided wave tomography for health care technology for monitoring older people at risk of falling, rehabilitation, gait and mobility analysis using pattern recognition and signal analysis.

Manufacturing & Process analytics: Industrial manufacturing processes using laser and photonic technologies for sensors and devices. Key enabling technologies, including laser, additive and subtractive manufacturing.

Environmental Monitoring

Sustainable Engineering: Sensing of enviromental parameters, pH, moisture, turbidity, chemicals in soil, water for agricultural and marine applications.

Recycling of polymers and plastics, microplastics separation.

Optical instrumentation, and optical materials. Including photonics, optics, lasers, optical fibre technology.

Laser processing of optical materials. Sensors & sensor systems, including distributed sensors, signal processing, artifical intelligence and tomography.

Medical technologies, including wearable sensors, non-invasive ambient sensors.

Chemical sensing, analytical science and process analytics.

Electronics, instrumentation, signal processing and control engineering.