CTVR Board
The CTVR Strategic Advisory Board comprises a broad range of technological, industry, business and public policy expertise. It meets quarterly to provide oversight of the Centre's activities, review the Centre's progress towards its stated objectives, and to advise the Management Committee on actions required to optimise performance. In addition, the Strategic Advisory Board provides independent assurance that the Centre is performing Well. Current Board members are:
Dr. Chris Horn - Chair, Prof. Linda Doyle - CTVR Director, Prof. Vinny Cahill - TCD, Dr. Ray O' Neill - NUIM, Kevin O' Callaghan - Alcatel-Lucent, Sam Sameul- Alcatel-Lucent, Helena Acheson - Technopolis Group, Isolde Goggin -The Competition Authority, Carol Gibbons - Enterprise Ireland, John Holland - Ericsson Ireland and Dr.Anne O' Connor - RTE.
Dr. Chris Horn - Chair
Dr. Chris Horn is the chair of the CTVR Board. One of Ireland's most successful entrepreneurs, Dr. Chris Horn advises corporations and governments, contributing regularly to high-level discussions about management, technology, and the global economy.
He has advised the Irish Government on a range of issues and has served in the following capacities: Chairman of an advisory group on Ireland's future human capital needs; Advisor on national broadband network infrastructure for major cities; Director of Science Foundation Ireland, advising on national science funding policy.
He worked for the European Commission in Brussels on a 10- year program to improve Europe's high-tech industry, later serving as one of the program's leading researchers while an academic member of staff at the University of Dublin. In 1991 he co-founded IONA Technologies, one of Ireland's leading companies, and in 1997 took the company public in what was then the fourth-largest IPO in Nasdaq history. He retired as CEO of IONA in June 2000, but returned to fill the position from 2003 until spring 2005.
Prof. Vinny Cahill - TCD
Prof Vinny Cahill was appointd Dean of Research in 2011. The Dean of Research has responsibility for coordinating and overseeing the university's researach, innovation, technology transfer, and entrepreneurship strategies.
Prof Cahill has previously served as Head of the Department of Computer Science and Director of Research for Computer Science and Statistics. He combines his role with teaching and research in the field of distributed computing systems.
Dr. Ray O'Neill - National University of Ireland Maynooth
Ray O'Neill is an experimental physicist and Vice President for Research at NUI Maynooth. A native of Belfast, he completed a BSc and PhD in physics at Queen's University before joining the department of experimental physics at Maynooth in 1993 first as a postdoctoral researcher, and later as lecturer.
His research areas include atomic and quantum physics, and applications of optics for biomedical devices. Since 2004 he has held various positions at NUI Maynooth including Dean of the Faculty of Science, and Dean of Research and Graduate Studies.
Kevin O' Callaghan - Alcatel Lucent
Kevin O'Callaghan graduated from University College Dublin in 1977, after which he worked in the UK and in the US for 10 years, in the radar and automated process control industries. Returning to Ireland in 1987 he joined Alcatel, helping to establish and later manage a Software Development Centre focussed on mobile GSM products. Following this, Kevin gained further management experience in a number of customer oriented operational roles, including a second period of 3 years in the UK, as the Chief Operating Officer of the Alcatel UK and Ireland organisation.
Kevin is now the Managing Director of Alcatel-Lucent Ireland, assuming this position in 2007 following the merger of Alcatel and Lucent in December 2006. The company is involved in a number of different activities in Ireland , including Sales and Service for its Irish customers, a number of group oriented Supply Chain and Services functions and the Bell Labs research activity.
Dr. Sam Samuel - Bell Labs Ireland
Dr. Louis Gwyn ’Sam’ Samuel has been in the CTVR board since 2008. In 1998 Dr Samuel received his PhD in Applied Chaos Theory from the University of London. He is currently executive director at Bell Labs Ireland and UK.
One of his biggest achievements to date is his taking of the Base Station Router (BSR) from basic research to prototype, and transitioned it to a product. Lucent’s BSR was selected as the first place winner of a CTIA WIRELESS 2006 Emerging Technologies (Etec) Award in the category of ’Most Innovative InBuilding Solution’.
He also helped establish the consortium, GreenTouch, which focused on providing the critical innovations that will improve telecommunication networking efficiency by 1000fold.
In February 2008 he was elected a Bell Labs Fellow for pioneering work on Flat Cellular Architectures (LTE)and the invention of the Base Station Router (BSR).
His main research interests are Applied Nonlinear Dynamics, Complexity Theory, Quantum Computing, Small World Theory, Network Architectures and Autonomic Systems.He is still active in research with currently, over 28 publications and 60 patent submissions as an inventor or co-inventor.
Since 2007 he has also been a board member of Digital Communications Knowledge Transfer Network (DCKTN) and previously served as Board Member of Mobile Virtual Centre of Excellence (Mobile VCE) from 2002 until October 2006.
Helena Acheson
Helena Acheson joined the Technopolis Group in October 2010 from her role as Head of Division at Forfas, which is the national policy advisory body for enterprise, science, technology and innovation in Ireland. Helena has over 20 years experience of working on policy frameworks (science, innovation, regional development, trade, competitiveness, tax & finance) and their implementation on behalf of the Irish government and the EU Commission.
Furthermore, Helena has benn actively involved for over 16 years at a plicy level with EU Framework Programmes and ERA developments through her participation in CREST (now ERAC) and the Council Research Group. Helena has also led the development of policies and supportive startegies to caputer the economic benefits of State investment in research and innovation including, for the maximisation of Irish industry, participation in EU Framework Programmes (FP4,FP5 and FP6).
She has proven capability to design and implement inclusive and consultative statkeholder processes and has national (Technology Foresight Ireland) and international experience of future-oriented, multi-actor and complex strategy and priority-setting exercises. She has also participate din, advised on and evaluted Europena foresitght initiatives (Germany and Hungry) and co-authored reports in the field. Helna has pratical experience of science outreach activities having had Divisional responsibility for the Discover Science programme for almost 10 years.
At EU level, Helean has been a member of a number of policy expert groups particularly in frelation to Foresight, Joint Programming and Synergies (FP, CIP, ERDF). Recent evaluation experience relates to t he mid-term review of COST (as rapporteur) and panel member for the mid-term review of FP7.
Helena holds a Masters qualification in Economic Policy, Competition and Regulartory Policy and a degree in Agricultural Sciences. Helena is a natvie English speaker and can work in French.
John Holland - Ericsson
John joined Ericsson Ireland as CTO in January 2007, contributing to the growth of sales from 30% market share then to the 70% enjoyed today. His current role in Ericsson is to own, identify and develop new business across the 16 countries that make up Region Western and Central Europe. John has a particular interest in and focus on telecoms for smart metering and smart girds.
A respected speaker and presenter at interntional conferences, John is a senior executive who has built up a wealth of business, regulatory and technical experience covering telecoms, media and utilities over the last 20+ years. He has held a number of C/VP level roles and has considerable rollout and start up experience inculding five green field mobile network rollouts, a broadband start-up, Telecoms software development as well as extensive Cable TV and the music business experience.
Dr. Carol Gibbons
Carol is a Senior Business Advisor with Enterprise Ireland, the Government organisation in Ireland responsible for the development and growth of Irish enterprises in work markets. Her current role in Enterprise Ireland is working with a small team to look out to the future, to identify new business trends and opportunities fo Irish companies. Carol has several years experience working directly with CEO's and Senior Management teams of a number of Ireland's leading companies, both Multinational and Indigenous, in Research, Development and Innovation to strengthen their product and service offering, leading to the successful growth and scale of their business.
Carol's previous experience in the commercialisation of technology developments has led to the sharing of knowledge and experience of start up environments and how to scale up such companies. Her time as a Policy Advisor in Science and Education continues to give her a keen interest in the use of science and technology at primary and secondary level education in Ireland. She is an avid follower of science and technology developments, particularly in convergence areas of Health and Technology innovations and new business models internationally. Carol holds a PhD in Material Science and has a background in Information, Communication Technologies.