ARISE 2025 Showcase

Claire McNamee 
MC 
Claire is an experienced events host and communications professional with a background in public engagement and enterprise collaboration. She will guide the morning programme and facilitate the speaker sessions. 

Dr. Deirdre Lillis 
President, TU Dublin – Welcome Address 
Dr. Lillis leads TU Dublin as its President, bringing a wealth of experience in higher education leadership and strategic development. Her address will set the tone for the event, reaffirming TU Dublin’s commitment to innovation and regional enterprise support. 

Áine Kerr 
Co-founder and COO, Kinzen – Why Bother? 
Áine is an award-winning journalist, entrepreneur, and advocate for innovation in media and technology. Formerly of Storyful and Facebook, she co-founded Kinzen, a tech company focused on online safety. Her talk will explore the real-world value of enterprise–academic collaboration for regional growth and resilience. 

Neil McDermott (HEA) 
TU RISE – The Programme Perspective 
Neil is a senior representative from the Higher Education Authority and will provide insight into TU RISE’s policy context, aims, and national impact - underscoring how it supports regional innovation and SME engagement. 

Dr. Brendan Jennings 
Director of Research and Innovation, TU Dublin – Why Research & Innovation with TU Dublin 
Dr. Jennings oversees TU Dublin’s research and innovation agenda, driving collaboration between academic researchers and enterprise partners. He will outline how TU Dublin supports impactful, applied research that directly benefits industry. 

Julian Seymore 
Senior Programme Manager, Furthr – ARISE Mentoring & Training Opportunity 
Julian manages innovation supports at Furthr, a leading organisation helping startups and SMEs scale through mentorship, funding, and training. He will introduce the ARISE 1:1 mentoring and training programme, a new initiative connecting businesses with TU Dublin researchers for collaborative innovation. 

🕒 Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm
📍 Location: Room (TBC), East Quad, Grangegorman

Theme: Engineering Solutions in a Data-Driven World: Driving Innovation Across Sectors

Join us for an engaging breakout session exploring how TU Dublin’s researchers in Engineering and the Built Environment are driving transformative innovation in Smart Manufacturing and Smart Construction. This session will spotlight collaborative opportunities and success stories that exemplify the power of industry-academia partnerships to build a thriving R&D ecosystem.

What to Expect:

• Insight into TU Dublin's ARISE and Faculty Research Centres

• A case study on successful DTIF and SEAI collaborations via BERIC

• A deep dive into ARISE-supported research with iSentioLabs on sensorised tooling in Advanced Manufacturing

• A showcase from the WiSAR Gateway, highlighting real-world innovation through Innovation Vouchers and Partnerships

Whether you're an SME, an enterprise, or a curious collaborator, this session will offer valuable takeaways on how data-driven engineering is shaping the future across sectors.

🕒 Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm
📍 Location: Room (TBC), East Quad, Grangegorman

Topic: A Strong Foundation: How can TU Dublin’s community of engaged researchers support the development of the audio-visual, creative and cultural sectors and contribute to a sustainable and inclusive society. 

Format: Short presentations, followed by discussion and Q&A

Speaker(s):

• Willie White: MC, ARISE overview, successes to date, funding opportunities, overview of the sector’s stated needs
• Dr Matt Bowden: Academic Lead, Culture and Society Research Hub, an overview
• Case study: Dr Bernadette Quinn
  • Pathways for New Urban Tourism in Dublin (PNUT)
• Case study: Dr Dylan Schouten
  • GroSafe: A Technology Enabled Solution for Building Societal Resilience against Grooming
• Case study: Dr Maria Chiara Leva and Dr Brian Vaughan
  • ROBOMATE – a collaborative robotic system for manufacturing tasks

🕒 Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm
📍 Location: (Room TBC), East Quad, Grangegorman

Theme: Driving Innovation in Healthcare: Collaborative Research for Real-World Impact

This breakout session brings together leading researchers and industry partners to showcase cutting-edge research and technologies shaping the future of Biopharma, Pharma, and Medical Technologies. From drug delivery systems to nano devices and advanced fabrication techniques, discover how TU Dublin’s applied research is powering breakthroughs in healthcare.

Session Highlights:

This session is ideal for companies seeking R&D partnerships, funding collaboration, or access to cutting-edge MedTech research.

🕛 Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm
📍 Location: Room 116 (to be confirmed), East Quad, Grangegorman

Theme: Driving Innovation Through Collaboration: Accelerating Sustainable Impact Across Food, Beverage, Bioeconomy, and AgTech

Step into this dynamic breakout session and experience the cutting edge of sustainable innovation across the food, agtech, and bioeconomy sectors. We’ll kick things off with a series of interactive, hands-on research stations, where TU Dublin researchers will showcase their work and connect directly with industry representatives.

After the demos, a panel discussion will dive into how collaborative research is shaping the future of sustainability, with insights on emerging trends, partnership opportunities, and the real-world impact of academic-industry engagement.

Interactive Demonstrations (12:00–12:30pm):
Meet the researchers and explore five exciting projects, including:

• Sustainable food packaging and bio-based products - Swarna Jaiswal 
• Optimising renewable energy systems including Wastewater treatment efficiency using fluid dynamics (whiskey distillery case study) – Camila D Bastiani and Ger Gallagher 
• Brewing and Distilling including Wild yeast strains in brewing and distilling – Graham O'Neill
• Bio-based materials for sustainable construction – Patrick Daly 
• Food innovation including valorisation of brewer spent grain - Azza Silotry Naik

Panel Discussion (12:30–1:00pm):

Panel Theme: Driving Innovation Through Collaboration

This discussion will explore the value of industry–academic partnerships, share real-world success stories, and look ahead to what’s next across these critical sectors.

Panel Participants:

• Rena Barry Ryan – Food Innovation, TU Dublin

• Patrick Daly – Bio-based Construction

• Swarna Jaiswal – Centre for Sustainable Packaging and Bioproducts (CSPB)

• Enda Winters – Teeling Whiskey (TBC)

• Prof. Jesús Frías – SHSH Research Hub

• Moderator: Ruth Mc Adams, ARISE Business Development Manager

This session is a must-attend for enterprises interested in sustainable solutions, circular economy practices, and innovative R&D opportunities. 

🕒 Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm
📍 Location: (Room TBC), East Quad, Grangegorman

Theme: Exploring Collaboration, Digital Transformation, & AI in Research & Industry

In an industry defined by constant change and digital disruption, how can enterprises stay ahead? This breakout session explores how businesses in the ICT and Financial Services sectors can partner with TU Dublin to co-create innovative solutions through research collaboration and funding supports.

What You’ll Hear:

• Brian Walsh – MC and ARISE overview. Learn about TU Dublin’s collaboration model, R&D supports, and how your enterprise can tap into funding streams and innovation networks.
• Dr. Dympna O’Sullivan – Introduction to the Digital Futures Research Hub and its focus areas in digital transformation, data science, and AI.
• Elizabeth Darnell (PhD candidate, Workday collaboration) – “Trust in AI systems through transparent and accessible Explainable AI”
• Case Study: Israa Amro & Cian Gallagher (Applied Aerial Technology) – “Detecting Wind-Fallen Trees and Estimating Timber Volume Loss in Irish Forests Using UAV Imagery, Computer Vision, and Deep Learning”

Whether you’re a fintech innovator, data-driven enterprise, or tech-enabled SME, this session offers a valuable look at how academic collaboration can help you scale smarter, faster, and more sustainably.

The event is located in TU Dublin Grangegorman in the East Quad. Registration will take place in the lobby on the ground floor.

Where are we located?

The University's Grangegorman Campus is located in Dublin 7, about 1 km from Dublin City Centre. The campus is surrounded to the south-east by Smithfield, to the west by Stoneybatter, north by Cabra, to the north and east by Phibsborough / Broadstone. Our Eircode is D07H6K8. View our location on Google Maps. or MazeMaps

Parking in Grangegorman