Dr Maria McNamara, of UCC, won funding in support of her work on animal colouration, dating from “deep time” when fossils began to form.

Dr Martin O’Halloran is based at NUIG and his research looks at the dielectric properties of biological tissue.

European Research Council awards are highly prized by scientists as they are given for research of the highest order. They allow a young researcher to begin building a team and the licence to explore the frontiers of knowledge.

The awards given to Dr McNamara and Dr O’Halloran bring to 10 the number of European Research Council “starting grants” presented to researchers based here.

An initial 328 awards were given to researchers based across the EU, before an additional 47 were announced today.

The 375 awards are worth €550 million in total and funding comes from Horizon 2020, the EU’s research budget.

Story from The Irish Times website

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The take-home message from my work with the I’m an Engineer project was that the future of engineering in Ireland is extremely bright. Over the course of the two weeks I was involved in the project, the number of insightful, clever and well-considered engineering questions coming from the students was remarkable.

Working as a medical device engineer in the National University of Ireland Galway, we benefit from the fundamental science and engineering skills developed by students at both primary and second level. By the time they arrive at third level, their interest and engagement with science and engineer has already been well nurtured.

This is exemplified by the recipients of my I’m an Engineer prize fund, the local Presentation College Headford, who used the funds to purchase a 3D printer, and then guided by their engineering teacher Tom Ryder, went on to win several awards at the National finals of the F1 in Schools Technology Challenge.

This Challenge is a global multi-disciplinary competition that challenges secondary school students to design, build and race miniature compressed air powered balsa wood Formula One cars. PCH used the 3D printer to develop their ideas and manufacture parts for their prototype cars. PCH’s senior team then qualified for the world finals last October in Austin, Texas and did Galway (and Ireland) proud!

Article taken from I’m an Engineer get me out of here

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Each year, the URSI identifies key international scientists working on electromagnetic research, who have a track record in research excellence and high-quality technical outputs.

This is the third time that the TMD-lab has received this award, with Dr. O’Halloran receiving the same award in 2011 and 2013.

Dr. Porter works alongside a European Research Council funded team and her research investigates the development of novel medical technologies based on knowledge of the dielectric properties of healthy and diseased tissues.

The Young Scientist Award will support dissemination of work on the effect of tissue composition on measured properties and will enable collaborative meetings with global leaders in this growing field of study.

Dr. Porter will attend the 32nd International Union of Radio Science Assembly & Scientific Symposium in August to present her research and receive the award.

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Current Institution: National University of Ireland – Galway

Abstract:
Confounders in Dielectric Properties of Biological Tissues and the Impact on Electromagnetic Medical Applications

The dielectric properties of biological tissues are of fundamental importance to understanding and quantifying the interaction of electromagnetic fields with the human body. These quantities determine the transmission, reflection, and absorption of electromagnetic fields within the body. Accurate knowledge of the dielectric properties of human tissues are vital for many applications. In particular, they are used to evaluate the safety of wireless electronic devices and communications, and in the design and development of electromagnetic medical imaging and therapeutic devices. The dielectric properties often play a role in determining the operating requirements of such devices, including the minimum input (transmitted) power and the functional frequency range. Historically, studies reported in the literature have aimed to establish a database of dielectric properties for many human tissues; however, rather than solidifying existing data, such studies have often produced conflicting results, a fact which is likely attributable to the considerable differences in measurement approaches and techniques used at all stages of dielectric property studies. Dielectric measurements are typically performed by placing an open-ended coaxial probe in contact with the tissue sample, and recording the reflection coefficient with a vector network analyser. While uncertainties occur due to the measurement equipment (e.g. drift, random noise, cable movements), the uncertainties attributed to clinical factors are orders of magnitude higher. Clinical factors result from measurements on tissues in an uncontrolled environment; examples of causes for clinical uncertainties include the quality and pressure of the probe-sample contact, the sample temperature, the ambient humidity, and poor quantification of the types of tissues that are present in heterogeneous samples. This work presents an exhaustive investigation of two key clinical factors, the probe sensing depth and the process of attribution of measured dielectric properties to samples with heterogeneous tissue contents. The findings demonstrate that significant error can be introduced to the dielectric properties of tissues when using common assumptions relating to these two key clinical factors. A framework is presented for quantifying these factors, enabling future dielectric property studies to obtain results that are meaningful, repeatable, and traceable.

Bio:

Emily Porter is a Postdoctoral Researcher and Adjunct Lecturer in the Lambe Medical Device Group at the Translational Research Facility (University Hospital Galway), National University of Ireland-Galway (NUIG). Her research is focused on novel medical applications of electromagnetics. In particular, her interests include bladder and kidney monitoring using electrical impedance tomography, microwave radar for breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, anatomically and electrically realistic phantoms, and standardized dielectric measurements of biological tissues. Such electromagnetic medical devices have significant potential to enhance health diagnosis strategies and treatment outcomes, through non-invasive techniques with minimal side-effects. Dr. Porter is an active member in a European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action, named “TD1301: Accelerating the Technological, Clinical and
Commercialisation Progress in the Area of Medical Microwave Imaging,” which consists of over
160 members in 26 countries.

Emily Porter studied at McGill University, Montreal, Canada, where she received her M. Eng. in 2010 and her Ph.D. in Applied Electromagnetics in 2015. During her time at McGill University, she also worked as an editor and proofreader for technical publications. Her Ph.D. research focused on the design and implementation of a microwave breast health monitoring device, which is currently undergoing early clinical studies at the McGill University Health Centre’s Breast Clinic at the Royal Victoria Hospital (Montreal). Initial results of the study have been published in IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering and IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging. Dr. Porter is the recipient of several prestigious national and international awards, including the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society Doctoral Research Award, the Irish Research Council (IRC) “New Foundations” Grant, the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) Charlemont Grant, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Postdoctoral Fellowship, Le Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT) Fellowship (Research Fund of Quebec: Nature and Technologies), and the D.W. Ambridge

Dr. Porter is the recipient of several prestigious national and international awards, including the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society Doctoral Research Award, the Irish Research Council (IRC) “New Foundations” Grant, the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) Charlemont Grant, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Postdoctoral Fellowship, Le Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT) Fellowship (Research Fund of Quebec: Nature and Technologies), and the D.W. Ambridge Prize, awarded by McGill University for the most outstanding graduating doctoral student in Natural Sciences or Engineering.

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Adam Santorelli, of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, has been awarded a James M. Flaherty Research Scholarship from the Ireland-Canada University Foundation (ICUF). This competitive award targets emerging researchers and supports a short research visit to investigate topics of strategic importance and encourage partnerships between Canada and Ireland.

A final-year PhD student, Adam’s research focuses on developing low-cost hardware for microwave imaging. At NUI Galway, he joins a research team focused on microwave medical imaging, led by Dr Martin O’Halloran. Microwave imaging is a highly promising technology that is just now reaching the stage of clinical testing. It has the potential to offer extremely cost-effective medical imaging, enabling wider access to cancer screening, particularly in remote or developing regions. Working alongside the team at NUI Galway, his research looks to develop advanced imaging techniques for low-cost radar-based systems.

Dr Emily Porter has been awarded the Royal Irish Academy Charlemont Grant, which are bestowed on early-career postdoctoral researchers to enable short but high-impact research-related travel missions. The award aims toward encouraging excellence in all areas of Irish scholarship and facilitating research on an international stage.

Dr Porter works with the European Research Council research team in the new Translational Research Facility at NUI Galway. Her research, supervised by Dr Martin O’Halloran, she examines the dielectric properties of human tissue and how these properties can be utilized in up-and-coming medical technologies. The Charlemont Grant will enable her to visit a well-established dielectric property laboratory, run by Dr Sammut at the University of Malta, where she will be in a unique position to learn from some of the best in the field. The research trip promises to facilitate future collaborations with the University of Malta and help to accelerate the investigation of tissue properties at NUI Galway.

Dr Martin O’Halloran, ERC Research Fellow and Head of the Medical Device Research Group in the Lambe Institute, said: “These awards highlight the quality of researchers now joining the ERC-funded Medical Device Lab at NUI Galway, and are an early success for the newly-opened Lambe Translational Research Facility.”

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Dr Porter is a recent PhD in Electrical Engineering graduate of McGill University, Montreal, Canada, where she studied microwave radar for breast health monitoring. She will join the ERC research group in the new Translation Research Facility at University Hospital Galway, a custom-build facility to enable state-of-the-art medical research.

She will be supervised by Dr Martin O’Halloran, a Science Foundation Ireland Investigator, who recently secured over €1.8 million from the European Research Council to examine the dielectric properties of human tissue, as a platform for the development of new medical devices.

Working alongside NUI Galway’s Dr Róisín Dwyer and Professor Michael Kerin in the Lambe Institute for Translational Research, Dr Porter will develop improved methods for measuring the dielectric properties of biological tissue. These properties are of fundamental importance to understanding the interaction of electromagnetic fields with the human body. In particular, these quantities determine the absorption of electromagnetic fields in human tissues. Dielectric property research is extremely relevant to the advancement of electromagnetic medical devices for the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of cancers and other diseases, and will provide a basis for her colleagues at the Translational Research Facility to investigate and apply such techniques.

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Dr Martin O’Halloran has been recognized for work in new ways of detecting breast cancer at NUI Galway.
While he has been shortlisted for the Chartered Engineer of the Year Award, another Galway engineer, Brendan Mulligan from Renmore, is shortlisted for the Volunteer Engineer of the Year Award.

Martin O’Halloran has made a significant contribution to the project Exploring New Frontiers in Breast Cancer Detection using Microwave Imaging.
Martin, who has an engineering degree and PhD, is currently completing a master’s of science in clinical research.

The article is taken from the Tuam Herald.

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