Director of The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Visits University College Dublin
Dr. Kelvin K. Droegemeier, the Director of The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), accompanied by officials from the US Embassy in Ireland, visited University College Dublin (UCD) earlier this week.
Dr. Siobhan Roche, Director of Science for the Economy, Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) also attended the visit to UCD.
While at the university, Dr. Droegemeier and the delegation met with Professor Orla Feely, UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact and the Directors of a number of UCD-hosted SFI Research Centres.
They discussed the breakthrough achievements of these research programmes and the partnership approach across disciplines, universities, industry and policy-makers that they take. The Directors also highlighted the value of this approach in supporting excellent science, but also in delivering impact for all partners.
Dr. Droegemeier, whose background is in extreme weather, numerical weather prediction, and data assimilation, leads the OSTP in its coordination of science and technology initiatives across the U.S. Federal Government.
Before joining The White House, Dr. Droegemeier served as Vice-President for Research and Regents’ Professor of Meteorology at the University of Oklahoma, where he joined the faculty in 1985 as Assistant Professor of Meteorology.
Dr. Droegemeier said, “The U.S. and Ireland continue to be strong partners across many disciplines in research, education, science and technology. Our shared research and development efforts will not only impact our Nations’ economies and people, but also the broader advancement of science and knowledge of our world. I am grateful to Dr. Roche, Professor Feely, and the teams at UCD and SFI for the important work they do and for hosting me.”
Professor Orla Feely, UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact said, “We were delighted to have the opportunity to welcome Dr. Droegemeier, and the accompanying delegation, to UCD to brief them on the range of world-class research which is taking place at the University, through the lens of the SFI Research Centres which are hosted here.”
“The visit also provided us with an opportunity to outline to Dr. Droegemeier our strong collaborative links with US institutions, such as the University of California, Davis, and the significant U.S. student population here at UCD.”
She added, “As Ireland’s global university one of our aims is to further develop education, research, innovation and cultural links between UCD and U.S. institutions, leading to exchanges of staff and students, as well as ideas and knowledge, which will have impact on the Irish and US economies and societies.”
Dr. Siobhan Roche, Director of Science for the Economy, Science Foundation Ireland said, “We were delighted to have the opportunity to showcase the excellent research and collaborative programmes we are supporting in UCD to Dr. Droegemeier. The SFI Research Centres hosted at UCD are all models of excellent cross disciplinary research, industry and international collaboration, with a strong focus on delivering societal and economic impact.”
While at UCD, Dr. Droegemeier met with Professor Kevin O’Connor, Director, Beacon, the SFI Research Centre for Bioeconomy; Professor Murray Hitzman, Director, iCRAG, the SFI Research Centre in Applied Geosciences; Professor Denis Dowling, Director, I-Form, the SFI Research Centre for Advanced Manufacturing; and Professor Brian Caulfield, Director, Insight, the SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics.
The delegation also met with Triona McCormack, UCD Director of Research and Tom Flanagan, UCD Director of Enterprise and Commercialisation.
During the visit, Dr. Droegemeier also had an opportunity to tour the UCD O’Brien Centre for Science and to meet with staff and students from each of the Centres.
ENDS
28 June 2019
For further information contact Micéal Whelan, Communications and Media Relations Manager, UCD Research and Innovation, t: + 353 1 716 3712, e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie.
Editors Notes
In 1976, Congress established The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to provide the President and others within the Executive Office of the President with advice on the scientific, engineering, and technological aspects of the economy, national security, homeland security, health, foreign relations, the environment, and the technological recovery and use of resources, among other topics. https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/
Kelvin K. Droegemeier in his 33 years at the University of Oklahoma, generated more than $40 million in research funding and authored or co-authored more than 80 refereed articles and 200 conference publications. He co-founded, directed, and led the National Science Foundation (NSF) Science and Technology Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms (CAPS) and served as co-founder and Deputy Director of the NSF Engineering Research Center for Collaborative Adaptive Sense of the Atmosphere (CASA).
He has served two six-year terms on the National Science Board, the governing body of the NSF, including the last four years as Vice-Chairman, having been nominated by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and twice confirmed by the United States Senate. He served on and chaired numerous national boards and committees and is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society and American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was appointed in 2017 as Oklahoma Cabinet Secretary of Science and Technology.
Born in Kansas, he earned a B.S. in meteorology from the University of Oklahoma and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in atmospheric science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
University College Dublin, with 30,000 students from close to 140 countries worldwide, was established in 1854 and was founded on the educational principles of its first Rector, John Henry Newman. The University seeks to contribute to the economy and society through the excellence and impact of its research, innovation and scholarship, the quality of its graduates and through its engagement nationally and internationally. www.ucd.ie
For further information about the SFI Research Centres, including Beacon, iCRAG, I-Form and Insight visit http://www.sfi.ie/sfi-research-centres/