Dec 20, 2024

Image: © Radha Rani/Stock.adobe.com As the year draws to a close, it’s time to reflect on some of the greatest accomplishments from across the science and technology sectors. It’s been quite the year for the sci-tech industry, from the ups and downs that came with AI model launches (remember when Google suggested putting glue on a pizza ?) to a major Crowdstrike outage that resulted in the ‘blue screen of death’ for millions of operating systems. But for many within the sci-tech sector, it has also been a year for celebration. This year saw both fresh-faced founders and industry veterans honoured with a variety of prestigious awards throughout the year. While we couldn’t hope to cover every single one, we decided to bring you the highlights with a list of 10 impressive award winners, along with a few honourable mentions to the companies that also had a chance to shine. Seán O’Sullivan Kicking off 2024 was an annual highlight for Ireland with the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition. As we head into the 25th anniversary of BT being the custodian of the event, the 2024 winner Seán O’Sullivan was a must-mention. The 17-year-old student took home the top prize for his highly topical project, VerifyMe: A New Approach to Authorship Attribution in the Post-ChatGPT Era. This project was inspired by the emergence of OpenAI’s ChatGPT AI bot and the challenges of sorting real from fake content in the context of the sophisticated communication capabilities of large language models (LLMs). Dr Alessandra Sala Esteemed AI expert Dr Alessandra Sala is the senior director of AI and data science in Shutterstock and has been dedicated to bridging the gap between innovation and real-world applications over her career of more than 15 years. Therefore, it’s no wonder that she received the Grace Hopper Award at this year’s Diversity in Tech Awards. Sala is the global president of Women in AI, working with a strong community of women to foster diversity, inclusion and equality for women and minorities while encouraging a global ethical approach in AI. Geoffrey Hinton In April of this year, Geoffrey Hinton, a renowned pioneer of AI research, was awarded the Ulysses Medal by University College Dublin (UCD) for his contributions to society. Hinton’s research paved the way for the rise of generative AI, as these techniques allow models like ChatGPT to be trained on massive amounts of data to interpret prompts and generate responses. He is known as the godfather of AI for his work in these fields and was awarded the highest honour UCD can bestow for his various achievements. Shorla Oncology founders Sharon Cunningham and Orlaith Ryan gone from strength to strength with their pharma company Shorla Oncology. Headquartered in Clonmel, Co Tipperary,  Shorla Oncology  was founded in 2018 to develop and commercialise innovative oncology drugs for orphan and paediatric cancers. Having  raised $35m in a Series B funding round  last year, the founders went on to be named the named the 2024 EY Entrepreneurs of the Year . Cunningham and Ryan were also named as winners in the emerging category at this year’s ceremony. Dr Eamonn Keogh and John Hartnett As both of these men won the Science Foundation Ireland annual St Patrick’s Day medal this year , we’re counting them as one entry on the list. The award is given to recognises the awardees’ support in developing the research ecosystem in Ireland and beyond. Keogh is a distinguished professor at the Department of Computer Science in University of California and a global expert in data mining and machine learning. Hartnett is a veteran in the technology industry from Limerick who supports companies as they transition from education and research to start-up. Now based in California, Hartnett also founded the Irish Technology Leadership Group, a network of global Irish technology leaders that fosters links between the US and Ireland. Olivia Humphreys The University of Limerick graduate won the prestigious award for her product Athena – a mobile scalp-cooling invention for patients undergoing chemotherapy. The idea for Athena came as Humphreys witnessed her mother’s struggle with cancer in 2019. Cooling the blood vessels in the scalp can limit blood flow to the area. However, the treatment is expensive and sparsely available in Ireland. Avi Wigderson This year’s winner of the ACM AM Turing Award – also known as the ‘Nobel Prize of computing’ – was awarded to Avi Wigderson for helping to reshape our understanding of the role of randomness in computation. His landmark work in this area revolutionised our understanding of randomness in both computer science and mathematics and has been key to the development of several advancements in computing, from cloud networks to cryptography methods. As well as his groundbreaking contributions to computing, Wigderson is recognised as a mentor and colleague who has advised many young researchers. Evanna Winters The Mary Mulvihill Award is given out in honour of the late science journalist and author Mary Mulvihill. The award was established to encourage third-level students to embrace science communication and foster their creativity. This year’s awardee was Mayo native Evanna Winters, who wrote an illustrated essay on the theme of intelligence, entitled ‘A Walk in the Woods’. Her work explored the subterranean fungal network that extends beneath the forest floor and how this extensive system exhibits a vital form of interconnectivity and communication, challenging our conventional understanding of intelligence. Prof Colm Mulcahy As part of Maths Week in October, Prof Colm Mulcahy became this year’s recipient of the Maths Week Ireland Award for his contribution to raising public awareness of maths. The internationally recognised mathematician is a professor emeritus of mathematics at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, where he has lectured for more than 30 years. Over the course of his career, Mulcahy has used innovative ways to educate, including ‘mathemagical’ presentations that blend maths concepts with the fun of puzzles and card tricks – he even goes by  CardColm on his own blog . Dr Sheila Donegan of Maths Week Ireland said Mulcahy is a “shining example” of enthusiasm for maths. “His unwavering commitment to making maths relatable and accessible sets him apart,” she said. Heidi Davis Heidi Davis is the co-founder and CEO of Peri, which develops an AI-powered wearable device to help manage perimenopause symptoms. With an academic background in nutrition and molecular medicine, Davis also has extensive experience bringing products from concept to launch. On her win, Davis shared that she is “deeply honoured” to receive this award, particularly as the nominees are selected by founder-peers. 6 company honourable mentions Freundenberg Medical Freudenberg Medical, partners with businesses to offer medical device manufacturing services including catheters, implantable medical devices, drug coating and electrically conductive silicone which protects medical wearables from dirt and water. The company won the title of the 2024 Medtech Company of the Year for “transforming healthcare” through gamified training. Wayflyer Having reached unicorn status in 2022 and landing $1bn in capital last year, Wayflyer has gone from strength to strength. The e-commerce financing start-up, which provides revenue-based funding to start-ups, bagged the top prize at this year’s Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Awards . Alkimii Alkimii, which specialises in B2B software for the hospitality industry was named as the Digital Technology Company of the Year at the annual Technology Ireland Industry Awards. According to the judges, the business demonstrated “a deep understanding of their business domain and competitive landscape”. XOcean XOcean, which uses robots to collect ocean data, has had a really strong year, having scored €30m in a Series B funding round led by Venturewave Capital. The company then went on to win the Innovation of the Year Award at the 50th Business & Finance Awards, in association with KPMG Ireland Fexco Founded in 1981, Fexco was the first to get a foreign exchange license as a non-bank in Ireland. It operates in more than 50 countries and employs more than 2,900 people worldwide. Earlier this year the McCarthy family behind the brand were the recipients of the Tech Person of the Year Award at the 2024 Tech Industry Alliance Leaders Awards and the company also won the Irish Times Innovation of the Year award. Equal1 Last but by no means least is Equal1, a superstar quantum start-up that has had a massive year of success. Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the  Daily Brief , Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.