The KerrySciTech Team
KerrySciTech depends on the input of a team of individuals from a wide range of backgrounds, all united in their vision to showcase Kerry as a hub for science, technology, and engineering.
KerrySciTech Board Members
Manjit Gill
Manjit Gill was appointed to the KerrySciTech Board as Chairperson at the end of 2020. Prior to moving to Kerry in 2011, his roles included CFO / COO with Carphone Warehouse plc, Finance Director with Elan plc and Finance Director of the GSM Association as well as roles across a variety of other sectors both nationally and internationally. He has in-depth understanding of margin management, financial restructuring, overall investor relations and is well versed in providing strategic leadership, direction and organisational development. A former Deputy CEO & CFO of the Gleneagle Hotel Group, Manjit joined KerrySciTech founding member Aspen Grove Solutions in 2020 where he is the CFO.
Guillaume Py
Guillaume Py is the Head of Innovation with Fexco, responsible for driving innovation within the company, enabling transformational change using agile and user centric approaches. Guillaume has a key role in identifying and validating early stage opportunities with strong capabilities in product design and development, user experience management, business analytics, business model definition, business transformation and change management, commercial and contractual negotiation, team building and management, project and programme management.
Dr. John Daly
Dr. John Daly is Research & Innovation Manager at Dairymaster. He has extensive experience in industrial product development and design optimisation, with a number of patent inventions and published papers to his name. Since joining Dairymaster in 2009, he has specialised in the technical and commercial development of milk cooling and heat recovery technologies. Dr. Daly is very involved in the recruitment of technical and professional staff for Dairymaster and has a keen interest in the development of the organisation skill and capability.
Stakeholder Advisory Committee Members
Seán Ryan
Seán Ryan (Founding Member & Advisory Committee) is the Founder and CEO of Aspen Grove Solutions. Since 1995, Seán has been working on Internet-based business-service solutions, successfully using the Internet as a B2B service medium in industries including insurance, legal, education, construction, energy, and property management. He has vast experience of enterprise solution implementation and integration, now focusing on making Aspen Grove Solutions a significant industry solution provider in the property space. A finalist in the 2012 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Seán was instrumental in establishing the Tralee Coder Dojo, the 3rd Coder Dojo in the world and one of the most successful, having introduced coding and technology to over 600 kids.
Brid McElligott
Brid McElligott is the Vice President of Research, Development and External Engagement, Institute of Technology Tralee and since joining IT Tralee in 1996 Brid has assumed a number of roles in the areas of lecturing and management. Her current portfolio includes national and international student recruitment; research; lifelong learning, external engagement and Institute fundraising. Prior to joining IT Tralee Brid had extensive experience in the private sector and has a strong track record of enterprise development community activisim in the areas of sport and various NGOs.
Michael Scannell
Michael Scannell is the Director of Services (Actg.) Economic & Community Development at Kerry County Council. Michael is a senior member of Kerry County Council Management team. He has delegated overall responsibility for Economic Development and the Local Enterprise Office, as well as Tourism Development & Built Infrastructure, Community Services & Engagement and Planning & Sustainable Development.
Orla Coughlan
Orla (Chair of KerrySciTech HR Steering Group) is an international human resource executive who has operated at C-suite level in Europe, the United States, and Asia over 25 years. Her previous roles include EMEA HR Director at HP, Global Vice President HR at Activision Blizzard, and most recently Chief Human Resources Director at eir in Ireland. On leaving eir, she moved to Dingle, where she runs The Riasc Partnership, which works with a range of companies and not-for-profit organisations on organisation strategy, leadership coaching, and business planning.Their HQ is the Dingle Hub.
John Gannon
John Gannon, former Chairperson of KerrySciTech from 2016-2020, has over 25 years of international experience in Financial and Operations Management in the IT, Telecommunications, Financial Services, and Pharmaceutical sectors with globally recognized businesses to start-ups. Former CFO at Aspen Grove Solutions, John is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Certified Accountants (FCCA) and qualified in 1991.
Gearoid Kearney
Gearoid Kearney is CEO of MyAccessHub, a company using Virtual Reality & eLearning to educate leaders to become autism-inclusive ambassadors for their workplace. In the past year, Gearoid has participated on the New Frontiers Programme with Enterprise Ireland, represented MyAccessHub in Boston with the Bridge to MassChallenge Competition and also in Amsterdam with the ChangemakersXChange. Gearoid advises KerrySciTech on events and meetups to engage the wider KerrySciTech community, including the Kerry Data Science group and UX meetup groups.
Con O’Sullivan
Con joined Kerry ETB in 2017 after almost 20 years in the tourism, hospitality, and services sectors. Con is a graduate member of the Marketing Institute of Ireland and holds a Master’s Degree in Business. He leads a team of over 45 full-time staff in the Monavalley Campus, which produces 3,000-plus graduates across more than 110 full-time and part-time courses, apprenticeships, and community and industry upskilling initiatives every year. Kerry ETB’s newly established Business Support Unit is also managed from Kerry College Monavalley Campus. This unit works with business in addressing current short falls in their business process; in addition to anticipating future sectorial business needs.
Bridget Fitzgerald
Bridget is the Economic Development Officer, Kerry County Council. Central to Bridget’s role is the promotion and facilitation of job creation and economic development within the county and the implementation of the Local Economic and Community Plan which was adopted in 2016.
Government Agency Support
The Advisory Committee also leverages the expertise of Irish government agencies through representation from Enterprise Ireland via its Regional Director, Jerry Moloney, and the IDA via Regional Manager, Ray O’ Connor.
Executive
Aoife O’Brien
Aoife is the Cluster Manager of KerrySciTech. Aoife joined KerrySciTech from the SFI-funded Irish Photonic Integration Centre (IPIC) at Tyndall, where she worked as the EU Grants & Communications Manager and was responsible for driving IPIC’s strategy to secure EU funding and ensure success through the Horizon 2020 Programme. She also managed the Centre’s communications strategy, highlighting IPIC as a world leader in photonics research and maintaining strategic relationships with national and global stakeholders. A former Communications Manager with Kerry Group, Aoife also worked as a senior executive with ICT Ireland & the Irish Software Association (now Technology Ireland) at IBEC. There, she was responsible for Education & Skills, Environment and Trade Policy and led significant events and initiatives focused on promoting Ireland as a location of choice for technology companies.
