Former Dairymaster CEO Professor Edmond Harty has been inaugurated as vice-president of Engineers Ireland.
The new vice-president was inaugurated at the professional engineering statutory and regulatory body’s AGM, which was held virtually yesterday (Thursday, June 3).
Prof. Harty is an adjunct full professor at the UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering and is currently chair of the Board of Directors of AgriTech Centre of Excellence, a governor of the Irish Times Trust, and chairs the board of governors at Pallaskenry Agricultural College.
With a mechanical engineering degree from University of Limerick and a PhD in Biosystems Engineering from UCD, Prof. Harty is regarded as “one of the world’s pioneers in agricultural technology”, Engineers Ireland claims.
With a track record of “combining leading research with successful commercialisation of the resulting intellectual property”, the engineering body notes that Prof. Harty has filed over 100 patent applications and developed a multi-disciplinary innovation focused company of almost 400 people with operations in five countries.
As CEO of Dairymaster, with a 22-year involvement with the firm, Prof. Harty oversaw the introduction of new technologies from software and electronics to lasers and robots, as well as developing products using internet of things, cloud computing, machine learning and AI.
Edmond is also a former EY Entrepreneur of the Year, and a recipient of the Parsons Medal from the Irish Academy of Engineering. He was also a former chairperson of Engineers Ireland’s An Ríocht region, serving a two-year term 2014 – 2016.
Commenting on his inauguration, Prof. Harty commented:
“Engineering changes our world and the evolving nature of technology is the central force behind the transformation of the business industry.
“I look forward to working with president Orla Feely, staff and the wider membership as we leverage the talent of our engineering community and navigate the pathway to Ireland’s economic recovery,” he concluded.