A scientist from UCD has won an award for the quality of his research but also for his ability to communicate his discoveries. Dick Ahlstrom reports.
A University College Dublin scientist has won a research award in part because of his great skill at communicating the complexities of science. His ability to create commercial products while working from discoveries in basic science also contributed to his success.
Prof Donald Fitzmaurice, professor of nanochemistry at UCwon this year's Irish Research Scientists' Association's annual Gold Medal award - this year renamed the Johnstone Stoney Medal - for his work in the field of nanochemistry. According to IRSA chairman, Dr Donal Leech, Fitzmaurice took the award as he satisfied all three criteria sought by the judges; excellence in science, excellence in science communication or excellence in innovation, seen in patenting, licensing or the creation of campus companies.
Fitzmaurice is a world expert on nanochemistry, is an accomplished communicator of science, particularly through his work in the Irish Council for Science, Technology and Innovation, has founded one campus company and has a second in the pipeline.
This year's award was re-named in honour of George Johnstone Stoney (1826-1911). Born at Oakley Park, Co Offaly, he made far-reaching contributions to the study of spectra, the light of various colours emitted or absorbed by different substances.
He also coined the term "electron" in 1891.
Fitzmaurice is director of the nanochemistry group within UCD's Department of Chemistry. It typically involves the work of five post-doctoral and 10 graduate researchers and Fitzmaurice praises the work done by these researchers.
The award notes the research group's contribution in three areas, says Fitzmaurice, the creation of new knowledge, the development of new skills and expertise in the people involved in the research and the group's efforts at transferring its discoveries and people into the "knowledge economy".
The third element has become increasingly important and is an aspect that universities must begin to pursue more vigorously, he believes. It involves "knowledge transfer to support knowledge enterprise", he states.
He has had considerable success in this endeavour via a company he founded, NTera. It employs 30 people in Dublin, 10 in Switzerland and has attracted $20million in venture funding to commercialise the "electronic paper" developed at UCD.
His UCD team is now working on "self-assembly of nanoscale structures in solution", in effect "growing" electronic circuitry in a beaker. The group has already successfully grown nanoscale wires and switches.
"Now our work is moving towards self-assembly and self-organisation of these components," Fitzmaurice says.
"We are inspired by nature. Why can't we assemble in a beaker a Pentium chip by just achieving a fraction of what nature can do."