Principal Investigators

 

Dr. Michael D. Murphy

Michael is a Lecturer in the Department of Process, Energy and Transport Engineering in the Munster Technological University and a Principal Investigator in the MeSSO Research Group where he leads several National and International research projects and has supervised several PhD Students and Postdoctoral Researchers since co-founding the group in 2013. Before joining MTU as a Lecturer, Michael was a Walsh Fellow in Teagasc. He was a Visiting Researcher in the University of Lisbon Portugal, in the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory and a Fulbright Scholar in the University of Colorado Boulder. Since 2013, Michael has won €2.5m in research funding from National and International bodies, published over 100 academic papers, supervised  2 postdoc researchers and 9 PhDs to completion. He is a Fellow of the HEA and an editor and reviewer for 42 Academic Journals. 

                                         Research Gate  Reviewer Profile  Linkedin  Google Scholar

 

• Research Interests: Agricultural Engineering, Building Simulation,Virtual Laboratories for Higher Education, Energy Systems Modelling, Optimisation, Machine Learning, Microgrids, Dairy Production Optimisation, Demandside Management, Energy Storage.
• Teaching: Energy Systems Modelling INTR8021, Control and Instrumentation CHEP7004, Energy Systems Control MECH8003, Automatic Process Control CHEP8004, Microcontroller Applications ELEC6035.

Dr. Andrew Cashman

Andrew is a Mechanical Engineering graduate from the University of Limerick. In 2007 he received funding from the Irish Research Council for Science Engineering and Technology (IRCSET) to undertake a PhD with the Wave Energy Research Team, University of Limerick. The project extensively utilised Computational Fluid Dynamics coupled with experimental testing to optimise an impulse turbine for use in an Oscillating Water Column application. In 2012 he began lecturing in the Department of Mechanical, Biomedical & Manufacturing Engineering, Cork Institute of Technology. Andrew has been Principal Investigator on a number of researh projects and has supervised several PhD students to completion. He is a reveiwer for journals such as Applied Energy (Elsevier), Mechanical Sciences (Copernicus Publications), International Manufacturing Conference (IMC).

Publications    Research Gate    Linkedin

• Research Interests: Computational Fluids Dynamics, Finite Element Analysis, Fluid-Structure Interaction, Renewable Energy Technologies, Turbomachinery Modelling and Optimisation, Offshore Power Conversion.
• Teaching: Mechatronics System Design MECH8014, Computational Solid Modelling MECH9001, Engineering Dynamics 1 MECH7013, Engineering Dynamics 2 MECH8013, Computational Fluid Dynamics MECH9002.

 

                                                Dr. Paul D. O’Sullivan

Paul is a Chartered Engineer, holds an honours degree in Mechanical Engineering from Queens University Belfast, a Masters Degree in Building Services Engineering at Brunel University and completed a PhD in Experimental Fluid Dynamics with the Institute for Energy Futures also at Brunel University. He spent 10 years working in industry in both design and project based engineering roles working for multi-national companies across Europe developing low energy technology solutions for building and process systems. Since 2010 he has been a full time Lecturer in Building Energy Systems at Cork Institute of Technology. He is Principal Investigator on numerous research projects and he has successfully supervised a number of PhD students to completion. He was co-leader of Sub Task C for the IEA-EBC Research Program Annex 62 on Ventilative Cooling. He is a reviewer for scientific Journals such as Applied Energy, Energy & Buildings and Building Simulation. 

Research Profile

Publications

 

• Research Interests: Indoor & Enclosed Environments, Energy Efficient Buildings, Ventilative Cooling Strategies, Statistical Turbulence, Particle Transport Modelling, Data driven & Mechanistic Fluid & Thermal system Modelling.
• Teaching: Fluid Mechanics MECH7006, Energy Systems Modelling INTR8021, Building Energy Compliance MECH8026, Building Thermal Dynamic Analysis MECH6023

 

Research members

Dr. Adam O'Donovan

Adam is a Senior Researcher at the MeSSO Research Group. He completed a PhD on measuring, modelling and simulating the thermal comfort performance of passively cooled non-residential nearly zero energy buildings. Over the past five years he has worked in various research roles at MeSSO Research on projects in the development of open source online applications for sharing data and information from the National Built Energy Retrofit Test-bed (NBERT), he has collaborated with colleagues in the agri-energy sector, was part of Sub Task C for the IEA-EBC Research Program Annex 62 on Ventilative Cooling. Currently, Adam is working on a project titled, DesignForIU: Comparison of certified versus operational performance of energy efficient technologies, which focuses on identifying the range of in use factors for a number of established low energy technologies in the Irish Energy sector.

 

• Research Interests: thermal comfort modelling/analysis, whole building energy modelling, model calibration, occupant behaviour, ventilative cooling, passive cooling strategies, energy efficient technologies

 

 

Dr. Darren Murphy

Darren is a Senior Researcher at the MeSSO Research Group. In 2020, he completed a Walsh Scholarship PhD focused on the optimisation of grass measurement technologies through field experimentation and numerical simulation. He then worked as a Research Officer with Teagasc and participated in the Water Quality Modelling Group tasked with advising Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, as part of EU negotiations in relation to the review of the Nitrates Action Programme.  Darren work with Oritain as a Geospatial Engineer and was project lead for the development of models to predict natural product origins for the purpose of reducing supply chain risks. In 2023, Darren joined MeSSO, his current research focuses on renewable energy use in Agriculture, as part of the AgReGen project.

• Research Interests: Agricultural Engineering, Livestock Systems, Geospatial Data Science, Remote Sensing, Energy Systems Modelling, Optimisation, Machine Learning, Near Infrared Spectroscopy, Grassland & Soil Science

 

Fergus Delaney

Fergus Delaney is a lecturer in the Department of Process, Energy and Transport Engineering. He has a BEng in Mechanical Engineering and a MEng in Environmental Engineering from UCD. He has 20 years lecturing experience and 10 years industrial experience as a site based engineer and project manager. He developed the BER assessor training and the IEE funded TRAINENERGY programme. Fergus was the project manager in the development of the ZERO2020 building and its PV islanded micro-grid.

• Research Interests: Near zero energy building design, thermal comfort, indoor air quality, PV & battery storage, islanded micro-grids.
• Teaching: Fluid Dynamics, Thermodynamics, Building Services & Fire Engineering, Process Plant Services, Degree Day Analysis.

 

 

Dr. Brendan P. Walsh

Brendan is a Chartered Engineer with over twenty years Industrial and Consultancy experience. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from CIT and a Master of Engineering Science degree in research into “Phase Change Materials” from UCC. Brendan has also been awarded a PhD in “Manufacturing Process Sustainability Advancement through a Water-Management Value-System" from UCC. He has published in prestigious peer-reviewed academic journals and been nominated for international awards including the Elsevier Atlas Award. He is also a reviewer for several other journals. Brendan's vast industrial experience encompasses many roles ranging from Maintenance to Detailed Design and Project/Construction Management across several different sectors. Publications

 

• Research Interests: Industrial Energy-Water Nexus and Management, Industrial Sustainability, Engineering Modelling, Free Cooling, Thermal Energy Storage, Phase-Change Materials.
• Teaching: Facilities/Utilities Engineering, Process Plant Equipment, Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, Environmental Engineering, Electrotechnology, Mechatronics, Mechanical Processes and Materials.

 

 

Dr. Philip Shine

Philip graduated with an honours degree in Sustainable Energy Engineering (BEng) in 2014 from CIT. In 2018, Philip completed his PhD research which focused on predicting energy and water consumption in the Irish dairy industry using statistical analysis and machine-learning methods. During the course of his PhD research, Philip published his research findings in several high-ranking peer reviewed journals, whereby his work saw him awarded researcher of the year in 2017 by the Environmental Science Association of Ireland. Philip also represented CIT as a STEM Ambassador, and worked on a team of CIT and Teagasc based researchers, successfully developing and deploying the Dairy Energy Decision Support Tool (DSSED). Philip is currently a Postdoctoral researcher in CIT, where his work focuses on further developing DSSED for optimising energy usage in the agricultural domain. Philip is also currently undertaking the role of secretary for the ESAI.

• Research Interests: Agricultural Sustainability, Energy and Water Modelling, Machine-Learning, Demand-Side Management, Vehicle-to-Grid.

 

 

 

                                                           Dr. Brian Hand

Brian was awarded a PhD without corrections in Mechanical Engineering from MTU in 2018. This research focused on the aerodynamic design and optimisation of an offshore floating H-type Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT). Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations were utilised with high-performance computing to successfully predict VAWT performance. Brian reached the top 10 worldwide in the ANSYS Hall of Fame International Competition 2019 with his PhD work using CFD. Brian was awarded the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Best Project Bronze Medal. Brian represented MTU as a STEM Ambassador. Brian worked research projects focused on the design of new renewable energy technologies at MaREI. Brian conducted fundamental research on the EU 2020 funded TAOIDE and FloTEC projects. Brian has experience of supervising masters and Erasmus student projects. Brian has reviewed papers for the Renewable Energy Journal and the Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics.

Publications

• Research Interests: Unsteady aerodynamics, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Wind Engineering, Renewable power generation, Turbulent flows, Finite Element Analysis, Composite materials

•  Teaching: Computational Solid Modelling, 3D Mechanical Analysis and Design, CAD and Design, Material Science, Maintenance and Reliability, Electrical Principles

 

Dr. James Pittam                 

James holds a degree in Interior Architecture and a PhD in Architectural Simulation form CIT. He is formerly a lecturer in the Department of Architecture in CIT and UCC, and is certified as a European Passive House Designer (CEPHD). James has over 15 years expericence as an industrial designer. James completed his PhD research at MeSSO developing remote cataloguing and measurement techniques for disaggregation of local authority housing stock into representative archetypes to facilitate large scale thermal modelling. James is currently an adjunct researcher, collaborating with MeSSO on industry based design projects.

• Research interests: Energy Efficient Buildings, Retrofit of Local Authority Housing, Thermal Modelling. Stock Aggregation Modelling, Remote Measurement Techniques.

 

Postgraduate researchers

Andre Leippi

Andre received a MSc. degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences in Karlsruhe, Germany. In his master’s thesis he dealt with the structural optimization of a combined energy system with charging stations for a car dealership. In 2020 he received a RISAM scholarship to undertake a PhD to investigate the holistic energy performance of a smart building with integrated renewable energy systems and electric vehicle charging under the supervision of Dr. Michael D. Murphy.

 

Paul Maher

Paul is currently aPhD student in the MeSSO research group under the supervision of Dr. Michael D. Murphy and a Walsh Fellow in Teagasc Moorepark under the supervision of Dr. Patrick Tuohy. Paul's research focuses on optimizing grazing infrastructure on beef and dairy farms, where investigations will take place to discover the current level of grazing optimality on pasture based farms and where opportunities may lie for future improvement. Previous to beginning a PhD, Paul graduated from UCD in 2020, with a degree in Agricultural Science.

 

Damilola Asaleye

Damilola A. Asaleye received a MSc. Degree in Physics from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Her MSc. Research was on prediction of electricity production in Nigeria using Autoregressive Models. Damilola is currently a PhD candidate, under the supervision of Dr. Michael D. Murphy. Her research focuses practicality driven demand side management.

Darren Murphy

Darren is currently a PhD candidate, under the supervision of Dr. Michael D. Murphy. He obtained his degree in Civil Engineering from UCC. Before joining MeSSO Darren worked as an agricultural design Engineer. The Aim of Darren's research is to develop and enable an intelligent system that will apply precision management to whole farm grassland and grazing systems using new modeling and optimisation techniques.

 

Fergal Buckley

Fergal graduated from Cork Institute of Technology in 2018 with a degree in Sustainable Energy Engineering. Following his graduation, Fergal work as a wind farm operations controller and assetless energy trader before taking a position in the UK as an electrical engineer, designing a wide range of electrical systems and overseeing their installation on site. As of October 2019 he has been a Walsh Fellow in Teagasc Moorepark undertaking a PhD, titled “Milking and Energy Efficiency of Large and Expanding Dairy Farms” under the joint supervision of Dr. Michael D. Murphy and Dr. John Upton.

 

Markus Fleschutz

Markus received an MSc. degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences Karlsruhe, Germany as best of graduating class. In his theses, he conducted techno-economic analyses of innovative commercial energy systems including ice energy storages and absorption chillers. In a cooperative PhD between CIT and the University of Applied Sciences Karlsruhe and under the supervision of Dr. Michael D. Murphy and Dr. Marco Braun, he is currently using mathematical optimisation to determine the economic and ecological potential of industrial demand response.

 

Ryan Prendergast

Paul is currently a PhD student in the MeSSO research group under the supervision of Dr. Michael D. Murphy and a Walsh Fellow in Teagasc Moorepark under the supervision of Dr. John Upton. Ryan graduated from LLYIT with a degree in Agricultural Science. Before beginning his PhD, Ryan work as a technician providing automated technologies to Irish dairy farms, such as Robotic Milking systems and Livestock Performance management tools. Ryan's research topic is titled “Increasing milking efficiency through the application of automation and optimisation methods”.

 

Daniel O'Mahony

Daniel is currently a Postgraduate student in the MeSSO research group under the supervision of Dr. Michael D. Murphy. Daniel has worked as a facilities management consultant with Arup since 2012 and received the Award of IWFM Ireland Region, Young FM Professional of the Year in 2017. He has extensive experience in offering Facilities Management advice for Public and Private Clients. Daniel's research focuses on building energy simulation with a particular focus on financial analysis.

 

 

Kelum Sandamal

Kelum is currently a postgraduate student in the MeSSO research group, under the supervision of Dr. Michael D. Murphy and Dr. Darren J. Murphy. He obtained his bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Moratuwa. Following his graduation, he completed a Master of Philosophy at the same university, specializing in Transportation Engineering. Kelum’s research aims to develop a Farming National Scale Microgeneration Optimization Tool, which will enable decision-makers to quantify national-scale microgeneration capacity through solar photovoltaic (PV) installation across Irish farms by identifying eligible farms for solar PV installation across Ireland.

 

Amanda Andrahennadi

Amanda received her BSc. (Hons) degree in Electrical Engineering in 2022 from University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. Currently, she is a Postgraduate student in the MeSSO research group under the supervision of Dr. Michael D. Murphy. Amanda's research is primarily focused on CO2 reduction on Irish farms through optimising renewable systems and through the application of life cycle analysis.

 

 

Adjunct Researchers

 

• Dr. John Upton, Teagasc
• Prof. Marco Braun, HKA University
• Dr. Pat Tuohy, Teagasc
• Prof. Lidula Nilakshi Widanagama Arachchige, University of Moratuwa
• Prof Malcolm Cook, Loughborough University
• Dr. Elodie Ruelle, Teagasc
• Dr. Ken Bruton, MaREI
• Dr Upaka Rathnayake, ATU

Former Students

Dr. Fan Zhang

Fan Zhang completed this PhD under the supervision of Dr. Michael D. Murphy in the Department of Process, Energy and Transport Engineering at Cork Institute of Technology. His doctoral work explored the prediction of the milk production for the Irish dairy industry using novel mathematical modelling techniques. He obtained his PhD from CIT, MSc in Computer Science from DIT and BSc in Software Engineering from the University of Beijing.

 

Dr. Nazar Baker

Nazar holds primary degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Basrah and Building Energy Systems from CIT. He is working with PM Group using CFD modelling to investigate particle transport phenomena in cleanrooms with the aim of ventilation rate reduction in ISO 8 cleanspaces. He received a RISAM scholarship in 2013 to undertake a PhD in this area under the supervision of Dr. Paul O’Sullivan.

 

Dr. Ken O’Connell

 

Dr. Philip Shine

Philip received his BEng in Sustainable Energy Engineering Cork Institute of Technology. Philip completed a PhD under the supervision of Dr. Michael D. Murphy in the Department of Process, Energy and Transport Engineering in CIT. His research focused on the application of machine learning and data driven regression models to profile water and electricity utilisation patterns in dairy production.  In 2018 Philip received the ESAI Postgratuate of the year Award.

 

Dr. Adam O'Donovan

Adam received his Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Sustainable Energy Engineering from Cork Institute of Technology in 2014. Adam  completed he's PhD  in the Department of Process, Transport and Energy in CIT under the supervision of Dr. Michael D. Murphy and Dr. Paul O’Sullivan . Adam’s research focused on the development of a validated, scalable, and mechanistic whole building energy model.

 

Dr. Michael Breen

Michael has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from CIT, and was the recipient of awards from Engineers Ireland and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers for his academic performance. His research is entitled “Precision energy management for dairy farming systems”, and is being carried out in conjunction with Teagasc Moorepark research centre, under the joint supervision of Dr Michael D. Murphy and Dr John Upton.

 

Dr. Quang Phan An

Quang An Phan received his B.Eng in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Hochiminh City University of Technology (HCMUT), in Vietnam, in 2006. He received his M.Sc in Electrical Engineering from ToulousePolytechnique. An was lecturer in Electrical Engineering in HCMUT . An completed his PhD research in multi-objective optimisation of energy storage in microgrids, under the supervision of Dr. Michael D. Murphy.

 

 Dr. Darren Murphy

Darren was a PhD candidate, under the supervision of Dr. Michael D. Murphy. He obtained his degree in Civil Engineering from UCC. Before joining MeSSO Darren worked as an agricultural design Engineer. The Aim of Darren's research was to develop and enable an intelligent system that will apply precision management to whole farm grassland and grazing systems using new modeling and optimisation techniques.