Tyndall National Institute
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Tyndall National Institute is a leading European research centre in integrated ICT (Information and Communications Technology) materials, devices and systems. It is one of Ireland’s five National Labs, specialising in both electronics and photonics. Tyndall works with industry and academia to transform research into products in its core market areas of electronics, communications, energy, health, agri-tech & the environment. With a network of over 200 industry partners and customers worldwide, they are focused on delivering human and economic impact from excellence in research. A research flagship of University College Cork, Tyndall is home to a research community of over 600 people of 52 nationalities.
Tyndall is named after physicist John Tyndall.[1] His interests spanned around the following – heat, sound, light and environmental phenomena.
John Tyndall is best known for the explanation of why the sky is blue.[2] This is known as the Tyndall Effect. When sunlight passes through the atmosphere the light is scattered by small particles suspended in the atmosphere. The blue light that we see is known as Tyndall Blue.[3]
John Tyndall developed a practical demonstration of the propagation of light though a tube of water via multiple internal reflections. This he referred to as the light-pipe, which was a forerunner of the optical fibre used in modern communications technology.[4]
Tyndall was founded in the complex of buildings known as the “Lee Maltings”, Cork, Ireland. The site was first developed as a flour mill in 1787. The Lee Mill was the largest water-powered flour and corn milling installation at the time on the River Lee.[5]
In 1797, just 10 years later, the mill became The River Lee Porter Brewery. The brewery operated until 1813, where it was taken over by Beamish & Crawford (B&C).[5]
The Lee Maltings was bought by University College Cork in 1968 and converted to laboratories.[5]
In 1979 a silicon wafer-fabrication laboratory was established to provide R&D and specialised training facilities for the semi-conductor manufacturing industry.[5]
The National Microelectronics Research Centre (NMRC) was established in 1981.[6]
Tyndall National Institute was established in 2004, under a formal agreement between the Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Innovation and UCC. Between 1981 and 2004, the institute was led by the following CEOs -
NMRC
- Prof Gerry Wrixon (Formerly NMRC): 1982 - 1999
- Prof Gabriel Crean (NMRC): 1999 - 2004
TYNDALL
- Dr Alastair Glass (acting): 2005
- Prof Roger W Whatmore: 2006 - 2012
- Dr Kieran F Drain: 2013 - 2017
- Prof William Scanlon: 2018 to present
