Courses
Health Systems, Hardware Security, and Human-Machine Intelligence: Signalling our Strength with the 36th ISSC 2025 at Atlantic Technological University
The 36th Irish Signals and Systems Conference was recently hosted by Atlantic Technological University at the Letterkenny campus. This year’s event was chaired by Ruth Lennon and Vice Chair, Dr Eoghan Furey, who welcomed researchers, industry professionals, and leading academics from Ireland and abroad for a series of cutting-edge talks, poster presentations, and a celebratory dinner at Castle Grove.
The 36th Irish Signals and Systems Conference was recently hosted by Atlantic Technological University (ATU) at the Letterkenny campus. This year’s event was chaired by Ruth Lennon and Vice Chair, Dr Eoghan Furey, who welcomed researchers, industry professionals, and leading academics from Ireland and abroad for a series of cutting-edge talks, poster presentations, and a celebratory dinner at Castle Grove.
As a leading conference in Ireland for systems and signals, the theme centred on ‘Signalling Our Strength’ with Fanad lighthouse as a symbol for the breath and scope of research across the region. Researchers, industry representatives, and engineers travelled from across Ireland and internationally to share and learn about the latest developments in Electronic Engineering and Computer Science.
Notably, Ruth Lennon is only the second female chair leading out on the ISSC and hosting it in-person after the transition to an online conference back in 2020 when Dr Furey was chair. Additionally, over 80 papers were submitted to the ISSC with hopes of being indexed by one of the prestigious sponsors of the event, IEEE UK.
Speaking on the success of the event, Chair of the ISSC 2025, Ruth Lennon notes, “It was an honour to welcome colleagues from universities and industries across Ireland and beyond to ATU Donegal for this year’s ISSC. The energy of our discussions, and the diversity of topics, from smart healthcare to cybersecurity and cognitive AI, truly reflect the strength and depth of our signals and systems. I’m especially proud of the collaborative spirit and innovation shared, and I look forward to seeing these conversations continue beyond the conference.”
President of ATU, Dr Orla Flynn, highlighted the impact of the conference:
“ATU is proud to have hosted the ISSC conference which brought together leading engineers, industry professionals, and students from across Ireland. With the Fanad lighthouse as a symbol of guidance and resilience, the event not only showcased innovation in signals and systems but also engaged closely with the local community, keynote speakers, and Donegal’s role as a vibrant region for research. The work of Eoghan and Ruth has highlighted the strength of our research community through their dedicated support and organisation of this successful conference. The event truly shows how, together, we are signalling our strength as a research community and industry across Ireland.”
Fireside Networking
A feature of the event included a fascinating fireside chat between Dr Marion McAfee, Ruth Lennon, and Prof. Maire O’Neil for “Signalling the Strength of Women in Engineering”, hosted by IEEE Women in Engineering UK and Ireland, and chaired by Karen Murphy Gallinagh. Insights were shared amongst the room about developing strong links for women within the Engineering field, including Marion who shared, “Your network is important to your career, have people you can trust and bounce ideas off. Look after those relationships even when you move institution”.
Healthcare, Hardware, and Human Cognition through AI
Keynote speakers across the two days highlighted the revolutionary ways we can support signals and systems within our health technology, our hardware systems, and our understanding of mental health:
Dr Marion McAfee from ATU showcased how we can apply manufacturing and design within our healthcare system through the design of smart implant devices, such as urinal stents to support with kidneys and ureter functioning, the 3D printing of a polypill, and production of bioresorbable tissue scaffolds to treat arthritis. Her research proposes treatment strategies that could minimize surgery, are biodegradable, and enhance home monitoring to reduce hospital stays.
Director for the Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT), Prof. Maire O’Neil outlined the importance of establishing cybersecurity ecosystems within today’s global supply chains. Hardware threats impact our most crucial sectors, including our healthcare, government infrastructure, and transportation structures. The work being conducted at CSIT is exploring the dual role of AI as a threat and defence mechanism to detect and mitigate against cyberattacks.
Prof. Tomas Ward from Dublin City University delivered a unique take on human cognitive and physiological performance through AI. He demonstrated how AI assistants, such as ChatGPT and Deepseek, can now be seen as signals for exploring human mental health and learning models on conditions ranging from ADHD to depression.
The poster presentations also exhibited interesting insights, including former BDA & AI PGDip student Dylan Foley who combined archaeology and signal science mathematics. His project investigates how machine learning can develop a 3D framework to detect spatial patterning of prehistoric landscapes and colonial sites, including Early Medieval Ringforts and tower houses.
A Castle, A Conference, and A Ceilidh
The event was organised in collaboration with local community groups, schools, and small businesses, reflecting ATU’s ongoing commitment to regional partnerships and creating meaningful connections between the university and its wider community. The conference offered a chance to engage with the local community and experience Donegal’s rich cultural heritage through a welcoming evening reception held in the elegant surroundings of Castle Grove. Guests were treated to lively performances by the Donegal Dancers and music from the Letterkenny & District Pipe Band who provided the night’s entertainment as part of showcasing Irish culture and hospitality.
Four prizes were announced at the end of the conference to highlight achievements across the paper, poster, and presentation contributions. Among the recipients were:
- Cara Rose from Ulster University was awarded the IEEE Women in Engineering Award. Her research focuses on developing an unmanned ariel drone that can access remote or hazardous areas to support with search and rescue missions, medical care, environmental and crowd monitoring.
- Jack McShane from Atlantic Technological University received the Best Poster Award for his display on optimising autonomous and shared mobility services to enhance transport in remote areas.
- Patrick Moxom from UCD School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering was presented with the Best Student Paper Award for his research on the design of a multi-stage bit-flipping decoder to enhance quantum error-correcting codes.
- Dr Paul Cuffe from UCD School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering claimed The Best Paper Award, who presented the best pathways for delivery drones to traverse overcrowded airspaces and new ways we can visualise data from audio signals and spectrograms.
The finale of the event passed the torch to the next host, with the University of Limerick revealed as the location for the 37th ISSC Conference.
For more information, please contact jorden.mcmenamin@atu.ie / 074 918 6127.
