Governance committee

Sean Baker is an entrepreneur based in Dublin and co-founder of IONA Technologies plc, where he held many executive positions including CTO, SVP of Customer Services, Chief Scientist, and VP Applied Research.

He is Chairman of Incaplex, a healthcare IT startup; and a director of Calom Technologies. He is Chairman of the National Digital Research Centre (NDRC), and a member of the centre’s investment committee. He was Chairman of the Irish Software Association from 2009 to 2011.  He is a member of the governance boards of a number of Science Foundation Ireland funded projects including Lero, ICHEC and Clique; and is a member of the Advisory Council for Science, Technology and Innovation. He is also a mentor under Enterprise Ireland’s iGAP programme. He was a member of the boards of Iona Technologies plc, Havok, Gridstore and Delta Index. He is also an Adjunct professor at UCD.

Professor Feely is Vice President for Research, Innovation and Impact and a Professor of Electronic Engineering at University College Dublin. She holds a BE degree from University College Dublin and MS and PhD degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, where her PhD 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.  She leads a research group in nonlinear circuits and has been awarded research grants and prizes from a number of national, international and industry sources.

Professor Feely is a Member of the Royal Irish Academy and a Fellow of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), Engineers Ireland and the Irish Academy of Engineering. She has served as Chair of the Irish Research Council and of the IEEE Technical Committee on Nonlinear Circuits and Systems, and as a member of a number of Editorial Boards. She is a director of the Young Scientist and  Technology Exhibition.

Professor Feely is Chair of the EU Horizon 2020 Advisory Group on Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions and is also a member of the Higher Education Authority.

Philip is Chairman of Ilex Urban Regeneration Company Ltd. Ilex URC was established by the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland to promote the physical, economic and social regeneration of Derry-Londonderry and has specific responsibility to manage and re-develop the large former military base of Ebrington. He is former CEO of The Digital Hub a Government Agency established in 2003 to create a centre of excellence for Digital enterprise, education and the arts to accelerate the development of Ireland’s digital

Bill Kearney is Vice President IBM Ireland Lab and Director of IBM Dublin Campus where 1000 people are employed over three different cities in Ireland. The lab is involved in a wide range of software projects and engages with businesses, communities and universities throughout the country

John Mc Sweeney was appointed  Head of  Innovation of ESB in 2012. He previously held senior positions as Executive Director of Energy International in 2011, Manager of ESB Asset Development ,Manager of Engineering and Facility Management at ESB International and Manager of ESB IT Solutions and Telecoms .A physics  graduate and a mechanical engineer John joined ESB in .1992 and is now retired from this role. Prior to his career in the energy sector he held senior positions in the Industrial Development Authority including Director Germany and is a former Irish Army Officer.

Dr, Mary Shire was appointed Vice President Research at the University of Limerick in 2011.  Over the years, UL has successfully built links with industry and Dr Shire's extensive private sector experience plays an important role in furthering UL's vision to support economic growth for Ireland and the Shannon Region. Dr Shire holds a degree in Chemistry and Biology and a PhD in Chemistry from NUI Maynooth, together with an MBA from the University of Limerick.Previously Dr Shire worked for leading US-based pharmaceutical company, Celgene Corporation. In her role as Senior Research Chemist, Dr Shire developed inventions for drug discovery covered by 20 US patents. A number of these compounds are on the market in the US and Europe for the treatment of life-threatening diseases. Following this Dr Shire returned to Ireland and joined a Japanese Pharmaceutical company, Yamanouchi Ireland, based in Dublin. In 2000, Dr Shire moved to work with Schwarz Pharma Ltd in Shannon where she established a successful R&D team. With the establishment of Accelerated Technology Solutions Ltd in 2004, Dr Shire launched a company, providing training and consultancy to Irish pharmaceutical companies.