Posted 19 February 2014
UCD appoints Professor Orla Feely VP for Research, Innovation & Impact
The Governing Authority of University College Dublin today announced the appointment of Professor Orla Feely as Vice-President for Research, Innovation & Impact.
Professor Feely is currently Chair of the Irish Research Council. Welcoming her appointment as VP, Mr Sean Sherlock, TD, Minister of State with responsibility for Research & Innovation at the Department of Education & Skills and the Department of Enterprise, Jobs & Innovation, said:
"I warmly congratulate Professor Orla Feely on her appointment. Professor Feely plays an important role in fostering the research agenda nationally. As chair of the Irish Research Council, she has shown strong leadership in delivering enhanced opportunities to Irish-based researchers. Horizon 2020, the EU framework for research and innovation offers our academics unprecedented opportunities and I am confident that Professor Feely will continue to provide this outstanding leadership."
Professor Feely holds a PhD in electrical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, where her thesis won the DJ Sakrison Memorial Prize for outstanding and innovative research. While at UC Berkeley, she also won the Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award.
Professor Feely took her primary degree in electronic engineering at University College Dublin and returned to UCD from UC Berkeley in 1992 as a lecturer. She is currently Professor and Subject Head of Electronic Engineering in the UCD School of Electrical, Electronic & Communications Engineering. She leads a research group in nonlinear circuits and has received three successive SFI Principal Investigator awards, along with grants and prizes from other national, international and industry sources.
A Fellow of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and former Chair of the IEEE Technical Committee on Nonlinear Circuits and Systems, Professor Feely is also a Fellow of Engineers Ireland and the Irish Academy of Engineering. She is a director of the Young Scientist and
Technology Exhibition and a member of the EU Horizon 2020 Advisory Group on Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions.
Professor Feely spearheaded the development of UCD's energy research strategy, which led to the foundation in 2013 of the UCD Energy Institute. The research purpose of this institute is to provide an integrated approach to addressing strategically important questions around energy, focusing on areas in which Ireland has particular competitive advantage.
At the announcement, the President of UCD, Professor Andrew Deeks said:
"Since returning to Ireland from UC Berkeley, Professor Orla Feely has built up an international reputation for her pioneering research in the area of nonlinear circuits. In addition she is a highly respected lecturer and supervisor. As well as taking a leadership role within her own College, Professor Feely plays a central part in supporting the broad University and indeed, as Chair of the Irish Research Council, the national research agenda."
Responding to her appointment, Professor Feely said she was greatly looking forward to the challenge:
"We see the benefits of research in terms of societal, economic and cultural impact, as well as on our education system. This role creates a tight link between research, innovation and impact on society. Our community of world-class academics aim to make a difference through their scholarship and my aim is to ensure they have every opportunity to do so."
(Produced by UCD University Relations)
