New head of industrial collaboration at SFI

Paul Dodd: “facilitating interactions between academic researchers and industry”.

This will include the Centres for Science, Engineering and Technology, Strategic Research Clusters and Principal Investigator Industry Supplement programmes. Dodd will also interact with companies and industry associations directly, as well as being the main SFI contact point with Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland.

Commenting on the appointment, Professor Frank Gannon, Director General, SFI, said, “SFI’s continuing strides to boost R&D activity in Ireland is critical to future economic development. Initially this is through the support of research groups, but this in time should impact Irish industry. In his new role Dr Dodd will play a pivotal role in facilitating interactions between academic researchers and industry.”

Before joining SFI in 2005, as a Scientific Programme Officer in the ICT Directorate, Dodd worked in R&D in both academic institutions and industry. He has held research appointments at Trinity College Dublin and Queen’s University, Belfast. Immediately prior to joining SFI Dodd worked for the data storage company Seagate Technology, and was responsible for coordinating Seagate’s European Universities funding programmes. His research background is in nanoscale material science and device physics.