Guest Speakers

Margie is Director of Research and Policy Insights, with key responsibilities for analytical and research functions within SEAI including the development and delivery of energy data and insights to support policy decisions, and investment in innovative energy research which contribute to Ireland's energy transition.  As a member of the Executive Leadership Team of SEAI contributing to the development and implementation of organisational strategy and operationalising that strategy for optimal delivery of results.

Margie is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of Engineers Ireland.  She joined SEAI from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), where she served as Head of Education and Public Engagement and as Interim Director of Science for Society.  Margie has served on several national education and skills policy groups and is currently Chairperson of the Gender Balance in STEM Education Advisory Group to the Department of Education.

David W. Higgins is an independent economist based in Dublin. He previously worked as Chief Economist at Carraighill, a Dun Laoghaire based research consultancy focusing on European financial systems and equities.

He worked on a range of topics during this time, including the political risks to banking systems, Brexit, post-pandemic inflation, energy markets, household discretionary spending, interest rates, and debt sustainability.

He holds a MSc in Global Central Banking and Financial Regulation from Warwick University. He is co-host of the “Next Round” podcast and is a regular contributor to Irish media including the Irish Independent and the Brendan O'Connor Show on RTÉ Radio One.
 

Siobhán O’Halloran is the Future Networks Manager at Gas Networks Ireland, the semi-state organisation responsible for operating Ireland’s €3bn, 14,725km national gas network, and ensuring the safe and reliable delivery of gas to more than 720,000 homes and businesses across the country. In her current role, Siobhán leads the network forecasting and planning function within the business, which assesses the current and future demand for gas and sources of supply on Ireland’s gas transmission and distribution systems, as well as the implications of incorporating renewable gases such as biomethane and hydrogen. Siobhán is a graduate of UCC (BSc Maths & Physics) and joined Gas Networks Ireland in 2014 where she has held roles in the Revenue Reporting, Network Planning and Future Networks areas.

Phil is the Director of the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) Decarbonisation Division having joined the organisation in 2020. Phil leads the Decarbonisation Division which plays a key role in developing and implementing regulatory framework in the areas of offshore renewable energy, onshore renewable energy, electricity generation and demand connection policy, electricity interconnection, district heating, emerging sectors and coordination of CRU’s actions under Ireland’s Climate Action Plan. Phil previously held the following roles: Head of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) Research & Technology Department; Assistant Professor at UCD; energy consultant at RPS Group and Manager at Science Foundation Ireland. He holds Bachelors (engineering) & Doctoral (energy) degrees from UCD.

Fergal McParland (CEng MIET) is Chief Technical Officer (CTO) for Energy at the Irish Government’s Department of the Climate, Energy and the Environment (DCEE).  Prior to his role as CTO, Fergal held a number of roles at EirGrid Group across ICT, Grid Development and Interconnection. He has extensive experience in the development and design of European energy markets and previously held the role of chairperson of the Board of the Joint Allocation Office (JAO) in Luxembourg. JAO is responsible for the sale of cross border energy forwards contracts across Europe and for the clearing and settlement of a range of cross border energy balancing products. He is a member of the IEA Security Task Force and the European Commission’s Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET) Steering Committee. 

Peter Coyle is the Executive Chairman of the Marine Renewables Industry Association, the oldest Offshore Renewable Energy representative body. MRIA represents ORE interests across the industry spectrum and has a particular but not exclusive interest in emerging technologies such as Floating Wind, Wave, Tidal and hybrids. He is a Director of Ocean Energy Europe and a member of numerous industry bodies. Peter spent his first career with IDA and latterly with Enterprise Ireland where he was an Executive Director.

Lisa Ryan is a Professor in Energy Economics in UCD School of Economics and the UCD Energy Institute. Her research is in clean energy technology adoption, energy markets, and climate change economics and related policy. She is on several expert government and international advisory bodies. 
She was the senior energy economist in the Energy Efficiency Unit at the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris until summer 2013. She has also previously worked as policy analyst in the public sector and Volkswagen AG. Lisa has a PhD in environmental economics from University College Dublin (UCD), and other postgraduate and undergraduate degrees in economics and engineering from UCD and Colorado School of Mines, USA. 
 

Kerrie is currently Head of Research and Technology Department in Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). The SEAI Research & Technology Department coordinates Ireland's energy research funding programme, National Contact Point for EU Horizon Europe, and houses technology research areas of offshore/ocean, onshore electricity/wind and renewable heat (bioenergy and district heating).

Kerrie has over 17 years' experience in management of funded research, with the last nine within sustainable energy. The roles have spanned central university functions, research performing teams and national energy research funding agency, covering programmatic development & management, finance and governance.  She holds a BA in Mathematics and Geography, a Master's in Environmental Public Policy and is an FCCA accountant.

She is active across several EU coordination committees and initiatives such as representing Ireland on the EU SET-Plan, Horizon Europe Programme Committee and the Atlantic Strategy Plan, and nationally includes participation on steering and working groups relating to offshore, district heating, hydrogen and funded research. She is committed to bridging the policy/education/research/industry interface and is a non-executive board committee member of Kildare Wicklow ETB.

Dr. Jizhong Meng is an IRC Postdoctoral Fellow at Teagasc, Ireland, specializing in the sustainable recovery of critical raw materials from waste streams. His research focuses on developing advanced electrodialysis and electrochemical technologies to enable circular solutions for energy and resource systems. He leads two European priority patent filings, including novel processes for lithium and phosphorus recovery from lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery waste, supported by the University of Galway and Enterprise Ireland funding.

Dr. Meng earned his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Galway, where his doctoral research integrated anaerobic digestion and electrodialysis for nutrient and energy recovery. He has published more than ten peer-reviewed SCI papers and received multiple distinctions, including the University of Galway Sustainability Innovation Award and the NUI Early Career Researcher Award.

Actively engaged in international collaboration, Dr. Meng has organized the Digestate Management International Symposium, delivered invited talks across Europe, and currently serves as workgroup leader in the EU COST Action “Water4Reuse.” His work bridges fundamental science and industrial application, advancing sustainable technologies for critical raw material recovery and contributing to the circular economy.

Dr. Sweta Malik is currently working as a Senior Power System Researcher at the UCD Energy Institute, where she is part of the Next Generation Energy Systems (NexSys) project, contributing to its Energy Strand. Her research focuses on peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading, using advanced optimisation and game theory models. Sweta also works on the policy side of energy trading, particularly within the European context, combining technical and regulatory insights to support the clean energy transition.
Beyond her research, she actively contributes to standards development as a committee member and young professional leader with the National Standards Authority of Ireland. Her work has been internationally recognised - she received the IEC Young Professional Award in 2022 and the CEN-CENELEC Innovation Award in 2024, both in the young professional category.
 

Dr. Niamh Power is Chairperson of the Environmental Science Association of Ireland and a Lecturer and Researcher at Munster Technological University. She graduated top of her class in Civil & Structural Engineering before completing a PhD in Environmental Engineering on waste management, anaerobic digestion, and transport fuels.

Her work centres on sustainable energy and the circular economy, with expertise in solar PV, renewable energy from wastes and crops, anaerobic digestion, nutrient recovery, life cycle analysis, and the policies driving the energy transition. Dr. Power leads and contributes to major national and EU projects including ReNu2Cycle, ReNu2Farm, Phos4You, InVEST (solar PV), and SIMONE (farm sector resilience).

Through her research and leadership, Dr. Power is advancing cleaner energy solutions, smarter resource use, and a more resilient future.
 

Alireza Etemad is a Senior Energy Engineer at Codema, Dublin's Energy Agency and a PhD Student in Mechanical Engineering at University College Dublin. He holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering and an MSc in Energy Systems Engineering. Alireza's PhD research focuses on integrating heat pumps into low-temperature district heating systems. Before joining Codema, he worked as an energy policy researcher at SEAI and as a visiting researcher at Aalborg University, Denmark, specialising in district heating modelling. Alireza has contributed to international research collaborations, including the International Energy Agency’s Technology Collaboration Programmes and various projects across Europe and the Middle East on the planning, design, and implementation of energy systems.

Dr. Anita Ortega BEng Mech, MSc Eng Mech, PhD Eng Civil, is currently a researcher working on the performance of integrated renewable technologies at TCD.  As part of the EU Horizon 2020-funded IDEAS project, she pursued her PhD at Trinity College Dublin, contributing to cutting-edge research in sustainable building technologies. Her work focused on integrating advanced solar systems into building facades—specifically, combining concentrating CPC collectors with photovoltaics, enhanced by luminescent layers and thermal energy storage. This innovation aimed to boost energy efficiency while minimising spatial impact.

Her research was tested at two demonstration sites: the University of Ferrara in Italy and the Brackloon Drummin Community Centre in Mayo, Ireland—bridging academic excellence with real-world application. Through her contribution to Work Package 1, she helped advance the IDEAS mission: making buildings smarter, greener, and more self-sufficient.

Kriti Bhalla is a dedicated researcher at IBSO specialising in Smart Readiness Assessment and Grid Integrated Control of Buildings. She is currently pursuing MPhil (part-time) at Built Environment Research and Innovation Centre, TU Dublin under the supervision of Dr. Ciara Ahern. Her work focuses on developing intelligent building systems and building ontology frameworks that enable seamless integration between building controls and electrical grids. Kriti's research contributes to advancing smart building technologies through structured knowledge representation and data-driven approaches to optimise energy performance and grid responsiveness. With expertise in architecture research, teaching, and collaborative stakeholder engagement, she is committed to advancing sustainable innovations in the built environment that energy-efficient and carbon-neutral.

Dr Eoin Ó Broin is an engineer with a PhD in Energy Systems Modelling. His research has explored scenarios of energy demand, greenhouse gas and air pollution emissions in the residential and transport sectors. His current research examines the possibility of using the heat embodied in Wastewater Treatment Plant discharge, to supply District Heating networks. He also has experience of planning and local Government in Ireland as a county councillor on SDCC. Dr Ó Broin is an alumnus of IT Tallaght, the University of Limerick and Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. His time living in Sweden showed him the benefits of 24-hour building heating and 24-hour hot water supply from District Heating.

Terence O’Donnell received the BE in Electrical Engineering from University College Dublin in 1990 and the Ph.D. degree, also in Electrical Engineering from University College Dublin in 1996. He is currently an Associate Professor with the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University College Dublin (UCD) and Director of the UCD Energy Institute. 
He has a research background in the area of power electronics and current research interests include the role of power electronics in a decarbonised power system. He is an author on over 70 international peer reviewed journal publications and has worked on numerous national and international research projects related to power electronics and power systems.  He is currently director of the NexSys Programme, which is a €16m collaborative research programme, funded under Research Ireland’s Strategic Partnership Programme, investigating pathways to a net zero energy system.