Research sector embraces collaboration

US-based Irish scientist is helping to foster range of productive transatlantic link-ups, writes Jamie Smyth, Technology Reporter

Mr Joe Marks joined a queue of Irish emigrants waiting to board a plane to the US in 1979 in search of a world-class education and, ultimately, the American dream.

Accepted by Harvard University for a course in applied mathematics and computer science, he received economic assistance from the college to undertake his study. Now, 25 years on, the dream is taking shape for Mr Marks, a global expert on computer graphics and video devices.

This week, he returned to his native Dublin as vice-president and director of the Boston-based Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories (MERL) to deliver a keynote speech at an international technology conference at Dublin City University.

"I grew up one-and-a-half miles from DCU and left to attend college in the US and now I'm back speaking here," says Mr Marks, who is staying with his parents at this same family home on his trip back to the Republic.

Since leaving Irish shores, Mr Marks has carved out an impressive scientific career in the public and private sector, which has taken him from Harvard University to Digital Equipment Corporation and then to Bolt, Beranek and Newman, the US company that designed the Arpanet, the precursor to the World Wide Web.

After a brief spell back in Harvard to complete his PhD, he moved on to MERL, the US research laboratory set up by Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi Electric Corporation.

"In the 1970s there was a huge difference in the research base between the two countries and the US was really the place to be for computing," he says. "It is only recently that Ireland has come on strongly in these areas."

Like many Irish emigrants, Mr Marks is proving to be a useful link between Ireland's ambitious research and development agencies and MERL. University College Dublin and DCU are working with the Boston research laboratory on a project to model the way people behave when they use the Web.

"We work very closely with DCU and UCD because they are now world-class research centres and have benefited from funding from Science Foundation Ireland \," says Mr Marks. "We collaborate with universities around the world and we do so because they are competitive - certainly not for any sentimental reasons."

Mr Marks is a strong supporter of the Government's policy on aggressively promoting researchand-development activity and praises the collaborative model.

"What I see here [in the Republic\] is pretty unique, as the emphasis of SFI has been enabling collaboration with overseas research laboratories.

"I can't think of any other examples in the US, Canada or anywhere else, of colleges being so willing to set up collaborations as the Irish universities."

MERL is working with UCD and DCU on the SFI-funded Adaptive Information Cluster to develop computer systems that will adapt to a user's preferences. About €5.5 million funding has been provided by SFI to the project, which has also attracted attention from Ericsson, IBM and the small Irish-based firm ChangingWorlds.

"At MERL, we've concentrated on bringing applied computing to devices such as the washing machine, elevators and cars by embedding chips and sensors to enable them to anticipate human activity," says Mr Marks, who recently co-authored a report entitled Explorations in Engagement for Humans and Robots.

This type of artificial intelligence technology is being used to enable elevators to scan how many people are waiting for a lift and even predict people's regular usage patterns, he adds.

At this week's third international conference on image and video retrieval, which finishes today, Mr Marks delivered a speech investigating the different devices and display mechanisms for video content that will be available in the near future.

The talk focused on several innovative devices, such as 3D camerasthat capture and display video in 3D format without the need for special glasses, and an image browser desk that enables people to view documents and content from a table surface.

Irish researchers at DCU and UCD should be able to tap into MERL's resources in these areas and begin to develop their own innovations and devices.

It is these types of collaborations with foreign laboratories that are likely to play a key role in helping Ireland to create a new generation of scientists capable of undertaking cutting-edge research, according to Mr Marks.

The collaborative model being promoted by SFI should lead to self-sufficiency as more researchers choose to stay in Ireland.

It is also likely to lead to investment from private industry in Irish research laboratories, says Mr Marks, who cites the recent decision by Bell Laboratories to set up a hub for development in Dublin.

Irish investment agencies and educational institutes have done well to realise that they must concentrate on a few areas of particular expertise.

By doing this, the State can be a world-class centre for research and development in a few areas rather than an also-ran in many fields, he says.