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UCD professor, Kevin O’Connor has been named researcher of the year. The professor of microbial biotechnology has developed robotics to convert dairy waste into molecules that are useable in plastics.
The announcement was made at the Science Foundation Ireland’s (SFI) 2019 summit.
His work in the area of dairy waste product is now being scaled and implemented in Glanbia’s biorefinery at the National Bioeconomy campus at Lisheen, Co Tipperary. The AgriChemWhey project, in conjunction with Glanbia, has received over €30m funding.
Delight
"I am delighted and honoured to receive this prestigious SFI award. It is a recognition of the dedication of the many researchers and industry partners with whom I work and collaborate with, across multiple scientific fields and sectors, at UCD, across Ireland and internationally," O'Connor said.
"Through these collaborations we are creating knowledge and translating this knowledge into innovative technological solutions to address global and societal bioeconomy challenges. I would especially like to acknowledge and thank SFI for their funding, and UCD, BEACON centre members and my wife and family for all their support.”
Acknowledging all the award winners, John Halligan, Minister for Innovation said: “I would like to congratulate each awardee on their achievements, which illustrate the invaluable knowledge and resource that Ireland’s research community offers.”
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