Meet our Speakers
Professor Vincent Wade, Dean of Undergraduate Studies and The Senior Lecturer, Trinity College Dublin, BSc., MSc, MA, PhD, FTCD.
Professor Vincent Wade holds the established Professorial Chair of Computer Science (Est. 1990) in the School of Computer Science and Statistics, Trinity College Dublin and holds a personal Chair in Artificial Intelligence. He received BSc, MSc, and PhD degrees in Computer Science and is cofounder and former Director of the ADAPT Centre for AI & Digital Media Technology (www.adaptcentre.ie). In 2024, he took up the position of Dean of Undergraduate Studies and The Senior Lecturer in Trinity College Dublin. In this role in the Academic Services Division, he oversees all undergraduate student progression and policies from college admittance to graduation. He also oversees Trinity Teaching and Learning which is responsible for academic policies (Teaching and Learning), Academic Practice, Quality Office, Careers services and Trinity Access Programme). |
Keynote Speaker: Dr Martin Compton, King's College London
Dr Compton has been an educator for over 30 years, affording him ample time to realise that it takes a lifetime of teaching to get the hang of it. In that time, he has had the privilege of teaching children, young people and adults. His teaching has spanned secondary schools, international schools, further education colleges and universities both in the UK and overseas. Having spent a number of years at the University of Greenwich and then UCL, in July 2023 he took up a post at King's College London where he was employed to lead on curriculum and assessment design but as it turned out he has spent most of his time looking at ways in which the opportunities and threats of AI will necessitate changes to pedagogy, assessment and feedback practices across higher education.He is now the College Lead for AI in Education which is giving him opportunity to help colleagues reflect on, critique and reimagine teaching and assessment design and other ways of elevating a 'freedom to learn' philosophy. |
Cathal Ahern, Student
Cathal Ahern, is a twenty-two-year-old student from Lucan, Co. Dublin. In recently completing his Trinity Joint Honours Music & Modern Irish degree, he submitted a composition portfolio as his final capstone project. He also has a keen interest in research areas including popular and traditional Irish music studies, and hopes to pursue music further following his graduation. |
Dr Alison Calvert, Queen’s University Belfast
Following a successful 10 year career in the national and international dairy industry, Dr Alison Calvert transitioned into education. She is currently a Senior Lecturer (Education) in Food Chemistry at Queen’s University Belfast, with a passion for making complex food science concepts accessible and engaging for her students. Her teaching philosophy is grounded in authenticity thus creating a dynamic and enriching learning experience for her students. |
Assoc Prof Norah Campbell, Trinity Business School, and a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin
Dr Campbell's research is in the commercial determinants of health: measuring the ways business activities - subsidies, taxation, lobbying, marketing, product design and public relations - can impact the population and planetary health. She is especially interested in where the problem of over-consumption ends and the problem of over-production begins. |
Andrew Costello, Assistive Technology/ Disability Officer/ Systems Manager
Andrew has been working with the service since January 2008 gaining experience in a wide area of Assistive Technology devices and inclusive software. Assistive Technology is a broad field, ranging from the use of very simple technology - for example, your mobile phone or e-mail - to very complex technology, such as the use of voice recognition software or technology that will read aloud information from your computer screen. Andrew is also the services system manager with responsibility for the delivery and maintenance of all current Disability IT systems such as the Disability area of the my.tcd.ie portal (SITS) and student information desk portal (SID). Andrew has also worked in the private IT sector for 4 years gaining experience in a range of IT issues from desktop to server support. Andrew has also completed an MSc in Computing (Universal Design and Assistive Technology) at the Dublin Institute of Technology and has completed research into the barriers to a successful transition of Assistive technology supports from an educational to a working environment. Andrew has also completed his BA in Management and Information Systems from Liverpool John Moores University and completed a study from the British occupational hygiene society in Ergonomics essentials. |
Mr Gavan Drohan, Head of Entrepreneurship, Portal
Mr Gavan Drohan is responsible for the delivery of a full programme of activities to encourage and support innovation, including incubation and acceleration programmes such as LaunchBox for students at the start of their entrepreneurial journey, through to later stage pan European startups programmes supported by EIT. His background encompasses telecomms, innovation management and as a startup founder. Prior to joining Trinity, he was a co-founder of Red Planet, an innovation consultancy which was acquired by Deloitte in 2017. |
Dr Kieran Higgins, Ulster University
Dr Kieran Higgins is a Lecturer in Higher Education Practice at Ulster University, specialising in the development of ESD in the curriculum and upskilling lecturers to support this work. Kieran was previously a Lecturer (Education) in Sustainable Development at Queen’s University Belfast, where he was Programme Director of the MSc Leadership for Sustainable Development, the university’s 25-year flagship programme on sustainability. As an internationally recognised scholar in the field of ESD, Kieran is passionate about creating inclusive opportunities for students to develop as change agents for a more sustainable future. Kieran is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. |
Dr Rachel Hoare, School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies & Director of the Centre for Forced Migration Studies
Rachel delivers language and linguistics modules in the French department, an elective on the human experience of forced migration, and a masters module on identity and forced migration, while also supervising student research in these areas. In addition to her academic role, she works part-time as an expressive arts psychotherapist with unaccompanied refugee minors and young adults for Tusla, the Irish Child and Family Agency. Rachel's humanistic psychotherapy practice informs her teaching philosophy, and she endeavours to create inclusive learning environments that value individual potential. Rachel's research-led teaching methodology draws from relational and narrative pedagogy, experiential learning, and Universal Design for Learning principles, enabling her to creatively address diverse learner needs and preferences. |
Dr Jonathan Hodgers, School of Creative Arts
Dr Jonathan Hodgers is a lecturer specialising in 20th-century music, with a particular emphasis on popular and vernacular traditions, as well as music’s impact on the environment. He earned his PhD in Music from Trinity College Dublin in 2014, where his dissertation, Dylan in Cinema, explored Bob Dylan’s influence on film. His monograph, Bob Dylan on Film: The Intersection of Music and Visuals, was published by Routledge in 2024. He is an editorial board member of the biannual journal The Dylan Review. In addition to his work on Dylan, he has also contributed to research on student data as a strategic resource and graduate employability. Jonathan is currently a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Music and was recently seconded to develop Trinity’s Education for Sustainable Development programme. |
Dr Lisa Kirwan, School of Nursing & Midwifery, TCD
Lisa is an Assistant Professor in Children’s Nursing and PhD candidate at the School of Nursing and Midwifery TCD with a research focus on adolescent mental health. Lisa has practiced as a Paediatric Intensive Care Nurse in Ireland, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia, bringing a wealth of international experience to her academic work. Lisa recently completed a Special Purpose Certificate in Teaching, Learning & Assessment for Academic Practice at TCD. Lisa has a growing interest in using generative AI to enhance children’s nursing education, student engagement and clinical preparedness in an evolving healthcare landscape. |
Tracey O’Neill, Assistant Professor in Children’s Nursing and a PhD student in The School of Nursing and Midwifery
Tracey is a Registered Children’s Nurse, a Registered Nurse in Intellectual Disability, and a Registered Nurse Tutor. Tracey’s experiences include research in the fields of child and family health, domestic violence, children’s diabetes, and children’s diabetes technology, with expertise in carrying out research with children, using child-participatory research methods. Tracey also has extensive supervisory and lecturing experience in the field of children’s nursing, on undergraduate and postgraduate children’s nursing programmes, and engaging in teaching activities using high-fidelity simulation. |
Zaur Unsizada-Samadov, Student Entrepreneurship Programme Manager
Zaur leads innovation initiatives that empower students across all disciplines. With a background in ecosystem building, innovation policy, and startup support from his previous role at the Innovation Agency Azerbaijan, Zaur now focuses on creating inclusive, interdisciplinary programmes like the Open Incubator (openincubator.ie). He’s passionate about integrating entrepreneurship into non-traditional faculties, scaling support with AI mentorship tools, and helping early-stage founders turn ideas into real-world impact. |