Qualcomm Recognition Awards 2026

5 May 2026

In 2026, three academics from the School of Engineering and Architecture, University College Cork (UCC) are being honoured with prestigious “Qualcomm Faculty recognition awards”. 

The award recognises university academics for their remarkable contributions to advancing research and fostering innovation in key technology areas. Each award comes with a philanthropic gift to support the academic’s teaching, learning and research initiatives. 
 
QT Technologies Ireland Limited (Qualcomm Ireland) and UCC have a long  track record of collaboration, resulting in innovative new technologies and solutions, pushing the boundaries of what is possible.  
 
The 2026 UCC Academics being honored with Qualcomm Faculty Recognition Awards include:   

• Dr Kevin McCarthy, Lecturer at the School of Engineering and Architecture, UCC 
• Professor Dimitra Psychogiou, Professor of Microwave Communications at UCC, SFI Research Professor, and Head of the Advanced RF Technology Group at Tyndall National Institute 
• Dr Colin Murphy, Lecturer at the School of Engineering and Architecture, UCC. 

Qualcomm University Relations  invest in university research projects conducted by faculty and students at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate levels to drive innovation for a better future. 

Dr. Kevin McCarthy has been a Lecturer in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at UCC since 2000. He previously held senior research roles at the National Microelectronics Research Centre (now Tyndall National Institute) and worked in product and CAD engineering at Analog Devices. His research spans semiconductor device modelling, design for manufacturability, and analogue and RF circuit design, resulting in over 100 peer reviewed publications.

He has served on technical programme committees for several IEEE conferences. Dr McCarthy teaches widely in electrical engineering, with a recent focus on analogue and RF design, and is actively engaged in Learning and Teaching innovation. He hopes the Qualcomm award will allow him to explore more innovations in the Learning and Teaching area. 

Prof. Dimitra Psychogiou’s research focus is Microwave Communications at UCC and Head of the Advanced RF Technology Group at Tyndall National Institute. She was the first woman to secure a highly competitive “SFI Research Professorship”. 

She holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from ETH Zurich and Dipl.-Eng. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Patras, Greece. Her  world-leading excellent  research focuses on reconfigurable microwave and  millimetre‑wave RF systems, including filters, frequency‑agile antennas, and advanced additive manufacturing for antenna subsystems.

Prof. Psychogiou has published over 300 papers and is the recipient of  numerous  international honours, including the 2023 IEEE MTT‑S Outstanding Young Engineer Award and the 2020 NSF CAREER Award. She currently serves as President of All‑Ireland URSI and holds senior editorial and leadership roles across IEEE committees and journals.  

Dr. Colin Murphy is Director of the First Year Engineering programme at UCC and teaches Engineering Mechanics and Digital Communications. Colin’s current research focus in on how generative AI can be leveraged to enhance his teaching and research workflows, while actively engaging in collaborative research through the platform enablement programme. He has actively helped facilitate the establishment of the award-winning, Qualcomm supported module ‘Introduction to Electrical & Electronic Engineering’. Colin co-supervised two PhD students in collaboration with Dr.  Andriy Temko (Director, Engineering, Qualcomm Ireland & Adjunct Professor of Machine Learning) and Prof. Emanuel Popovici (Qualcomm Chair and Director of Embedded Systems Group @UCC) and co-authored six papers on cybersecurity for the Internet of Things. 
 
Paul Kelleher, QT Technologies Ireland Limited (Qualcomm Ireland) Site Lead and VP, Engineering, remarks, "We're delighted to support Kevin, Dimitra and Colin with a token of our appreciation for their support, research, efforts and time in driving Qualcomm's presence at UCC. The efforts they help drive and support grow Electrical and Electronic Engineering on campus, support our pipeline and research, and support the growing technology sector in Cork and Munster." 
 
Dr. Alan Morrison, Head of UCC's School of Engineering and Architecture commented:  "Congratulations to Kevin, Dimitra and Colin on their awards, which will support impactful research and foster innovative practice across their learning and teaching portfolios. We are grateful to Qualcomm for their continued support and look forward to further collaboration".