About the TRIL Centre
TRIL Directors
Dr Brian Caulfield, Academic Director, TRIL Centre
Brian has completed all of his formal education to date in UCD, graduating with a Bachelors degree in Physiotherapy in 1992, a Master of Medical Science degree in 1994, and a PhD in Medicine in 2002. He has held various clinical Physiotherapy positions in Ireland and the USA, primarily in the fields of orthopaedics and rehabilitation, and has also worked as a consultant to the medical devices sector, mainly in concept and product development as well as managing clinical investigations. He has been working in UCD for over 10 years and has just recently completed a term as Head of the School of Physiotherapy & Performance Science and Dean of Physiotherapy. Brian's research focus covers a wide range of areas based around assessment and enhancement of human performance. There are 3 strands to this programme of research; development and evaluation of wearable motion sensor applications for sport and health, design and validation of novel electrical muscle stimulation technologies, and identification of causes of and optimal intervention strategies for recurrent musculoskeletal injuries such as patellofemoral pain and ankle instability.
Brian’s work is underpinned by a desire to best exploit technologies developed by colleagues in computer science and biomedical engineering for the advancement of human function in health and sport. As such, his research depends on close collaboration with researchers from other fields, as evidenced by his roles as PI in the CLARITY Centre for Sensor Web Technologies and leader of the STIM-XDP collaboration between UCD and Biomedical Research Ltd. He has published over 60 papers and has co-authored 6 patent applications arising from this work. He has supervised 7 PhD and 21 MSc theses to completion since 2000 and is a member of the editorial board of Journal of Orthopedic & Sports Physical Therapy, Journal of Sport Rehabilitation and Journal of Athletic Training and Sports Healthcare.
Niamh Scannell, European Research Director, Digital Health Group, Intel
Industry Director, TRIL Centre
Niamh directs Digital Health Group’s European Product Research & Innovation team based in Leixlip. PRI Europe (PRIe) is an interdisciplinary team of social scientists, technologists, and interaction design researchers and is part of Eric Dishman’s, Intel Fellow, Global Product Research and Innovation Group. The European team was established in 2006 with the mission of extending Digital Health Group’s research into Europe with a particular focus on understanding Ageing and how technology can support older people to live independent, active lives.
Niamh’s role involves managing PRIe as well as the team’s collaborations with European medical, technical, social science and design researchers in academia and industry in the health domain. Niamh is also Industry Director of the Technology Research for Independent Living (TRIL) Centre. TRIL is an active industry-academic research collaboration involving approximately 70 researchers from PRIe, University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin and National University of Ireland, Galway. The centre was launched in January 2007 by the then Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin, Eric Dishman & Jim OHara. TRIL is also multi-disciplinary in nature and includes social scientists, technologists, designers, clinicians and neuroscientists to create one of the largest research efforts of this type in the world. With support from IDA Ireland approximately $30 million will be invested by Intel & the IDA over a three year period.
The TRIL Centre is focusing on three key areas: improving social health and community engagement for older people, detecting and reducing falls in the home, and helping those with memory loss to maintain their independence. These research areas are important as a decline in physical and cognitive or mental performance associated with becoming older is often coupled with a decline in self-confidence and in social interactions. Age related physical decline includes an increased risk in falls and fall-related injuries, which are a major cause of concern for older people and indeed a major public health concern worldwide. For further information on the TRIL Centre please visit www.trilcentre.org
Niamh is a first class (top honours) engineering graduate of the National University of Ireland, Galway. She has been with Intel since 1992 and has held a number of manager roles with multi-nation work experiences (US, Europe & the Middle East) leading virtual and direct report teams; the latter half focused on new business programs. She joined Intel from Digital Equipment Corporation.
