How do we underpin our country’s economic growth through research? Trinity College Dublin’s research in Materials and Intelligent Systems seeks to understand and control aspects of both the physical world in which we all live and the emerging virtual worlds being created by advances in Information and Communication Technology. Materials research is investigating the building blocks of the material and biological worlds with a view to understanding the fundamental mechanisms that govern their behaviour. This research will underpin advances as diverse as the development of future miniaturized integrated circuits (the foundation of all computer systems) as well as future medical diagnostic and drug delivery systems. Intelligent systems research is investigating the science underpinning the construction of networked computer systems that are capable of understanding and reacting to the world in which they are deployed. This research will contribute to the development of the future Internet as well as of computer systems that can adapt intelligently to the behaviour of their human users delivering, for example, enhanced visual experiences for users of virtual environments such as games.
Trinity’s approach to Materials and Intelligent Systems research is inherently multi-disciplinary involving collaboration between researchers in Engineering (including Computer Science and Electrical & Electronic Engineering), Mathematics, and Science (including Physics, Chemistry and Biology). Researchers from these disciplines work together in major interdisciplinary research centres including National-scale research institutes such as CRANN (The Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices) and CTVR (The Centre for Telecommunications Value-Chain Research) in collaboration with colleagues in all the Irish Universities and with support from public bodies such as Science Foundation Ireland, the Irish Higher Education Authority, and the European Commission.
Cognisant of the fact the developments in Materials and Intelligent Systems will underpin the future economic development of Ireland, our strategy ensures that the fundamental advances made by our engineers and scientists are fully exploited for the benefit of Society. To this end, our researchers work closely with both indigenous and multi-national companies such as Intel, Alcatel-Lucent, and IBM.
