Dr. Conor Ryan | ARC Hub for ICT

Prof. Conor Ryan (Co-TR) is a leading authority in Evolutionary Computation and the inventor of GE, the foundational technology underpinning ALERT. A Full Professor at the University of Limerick and Deputy Director of Lero, the Research Ireland Centre for Software, Prof. Ryan is a former Fulbright Scholar at MIT who has secured over €7.5M in research funding. Beyond his academic stature, he is a seasoned serial entrepreneur, having co-founded and served as CTO for two companies, Evolvability and NVMdurance. In ALERT, Prof. Ryan provides the methodological vision and the senior commercial leadership necessary to navigate the complex EDA licensing and spin-out landscape.

Last updated: 2 October 2026

Research Themes: Sustainability & Environmental Management

Research Programmes

AgriFuTech

An AI genomic prediction engine that learns directly from complex, noisy datasets to deliver reliable trait predictions across crops and environments.

AI-Sprayer

A chemical-free precision weeding, fertigation and irrigation platform for organic farms, using computer vision to target hot water at individual weeds.

Climate Parametric Risk Solution (CPRS)

Climate Parametric Risk Solution (CPRS)

Parametric climate risk products for agriculture and renewable energy, helping farmers, lenders and operators manage weather-driven revenue volatility.

ColdChain

A low-cost, disposable RFID tag that signals remotely if frozen goods rise above zero, enabling continuous cold-chain monitoring across the supply chain.

EleVate

An EV fleet battery platform using real-time vehicle data and AI to extend battery life, cut maintenance costs and improve fleet reliability.

FLUX

Predicts the energy a computing workload will use before it runs, helping data centres cut costs, reduce emissions and meet EU reporting rules.

IBSO

The Irish Building Stock Observatory links building performance with social, economic and financial data so retrofit investment can be targeted with evidence.

OptiSIFT

Certifies metal powder oxidation at the point of use in additive manufacturing, replacing destructive lab tests that take three to five days.

PRIOR

Detects combustion drift, fouling and steam trap failure in SME thermal plants, recovering fuel losses of €14,000–€25,000 a year without costly sensors.

Road AI

Automatically assesses road surface condition from imagery using computer vision, replacing slow manual inspection of defects such as potholes.

TrueFrame

Predicts optimal AV1 encoder settings in a single pass, removing the repeated trial encodes that drive up cloud costs and energy use.

Wingsense

Low-cost Doppler radar sensors that identify and count flying pollinators non-invasively, bringing biodiversity monitoring into environmental IoT networks.