Brian Foley
Associate Professor
Electronic & Electrical Engineering
Trinity College Dublin
Ireland
Biography
A graduate of University College Dublin (BE 1972), the Technical University of Eindhoven (MEE 1974) and the University of Dublin (PhD 1988), my early teaching career was spent at DIT (1974-1981) and subsequently at Trinity College. While my teaching activities have been mainly in the area of digital and analogue electronics, my research interests include adaptive filtering for echo control and CMOS digital integrated circuits, especially low-power aspects. From 1999 to 2006 I served as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Systems Sciences, a period characterised by deep restructuring both within College and the faculty. I have been active in driving engineering curriculum reform and innovation, and was involved in the design and implementation of new professional accreditation procedures with Engineers Ireland. In addition I have served, mostly in the role of chair, of many EI Accreditation Panels at other institutions. In the period 2006-2011, I served as Academic Director of the Centre for Academic Practice and Student Learning and developed a keen research interest in the area of threshold concepts in higher education. Head of the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering (2012-2013), I then served a term as Head of the School of Engineering (2013-2016).
Research Interest
Adaptive signal processing for acoustic echo control and cancellation; developments to and enhancement of the LMS algorithm. Low-Power Digital CMOS; generation of transition sequences for the characterisation of activity factors in a digital system; the study of complete transition sequences; low-power logic design. Threshold Concepts in higher education; identification and characterisation of threshold concepts and functions; engineering problem solving as a threshold function; the role of metalearning.
Publications
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A. Th. Schwarzbacher, P. A. Comiskey, and J. B. Foley, Improving the power consumption in image processing algorithms, UK Low Power Forum, Sheffield, September 1998, 1998, pp4.1 - 5
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P. A. Comiskey, A. Th. Schwarzbacher, and J. B. Foley, The effect of input lattice structure in image processing algorithms, UK Low Power Forum, Sheffield, September 1998, 1998, pp11.1 - 6
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J. Timoney and B. Foley, Speech quality evaluation based on AM-FM time-frequency representations, ICSLP 2000, Beijing, October 2000, IV, 2000, pp472 - 475
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Advances on the growth and properties of N- and B-doped carbon nanotubes in, editor(s)H. Kuzmany, J. Fink, M. Mehring and S. Roth , Electronic Properties of Molecular Nanostructures, New York, American institute of Physics Conference Proceedings, vol. 591, 2001, pp212 - 216, [M. Terrones, P.M. Ajayan, X. Blasé, W.J. Blau, D.J. Carroll, J-C. Charlier, R. Czerw, B. Foley, N. Grobert, and R. Kamalakaran]
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R. Czerw, M. Terrones, J-C. Charlier, X. Blasé, B. Foley, R. Kamalakaran, N. Grobert, H. Terrones, D. Tekleab, P.M. Ajayan, W. Blau, M. Rühle, and D.L. Carroll, Identification of electron donor states in N-doped carbon nanotubes, Nano Letters, vol. 1, 2001, p457 - 460
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M. in het Panhuis, R.W. Munn, P.L.A. Popelier, J.N. Coleman, B. Foley, and W.J. Blau, Distributed response analysis of conductive behavior in single molecules, Proc. National Academy of Science, 99, (9), 2002, p6514 - 6517
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A. Grennan, C. Downing and B. Foley, Capacity variation of indoor radio MIMO systems using a deterministic model, Irish Signals and Systems Conference, University of Limerick, 1-2 July, 2003
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A. Grennan, C. Downing and B. Foley, MIMO capacity enhancement by adjusting element positions using the Metropolis algorithm in a deterministic model, Irish Signals and Systems Conference, Dublin Institute of Technology, June, 2006
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The threshold concept paradigm and student use of textbooks in, editor(s)J. Murphy and B. Higgs , Proceedings of the Second Annual Conference of the National Academy for the Integration of Research, and Teaching and Learning: challenging assumptions, Cork, NAIRTL, 2009, pp135 - 142, [Foley, B.]
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Foley, B. , Threshold concepts and disciplinary ways of thinking and practicing: modelling in electronic engineering, Third Biennial Threshold Concepts Symposium: exploring transformative dimensions of threshold concepts, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, 1-2 July, 2010
