Máire O'Neill facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Máire O'Neill
O'Neill speaks at the Real World Crypto conference in 2018
Born	Máire McLoone Glenties
Alma mater	Queen's University Belfast
Known for	Encryption Data security
Awards	Royal Academy of Engineering Silver Medal Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists
Scientific career
Institutions	Queen's University Belfast
Doctoral advisor	John McCanny

Máire O'Neill (née McLoone) FREng (born 1978) is an amazing Irish inventor and a Professor of Information Security. She works at the Centre for Secure Information Technologies at Queen's University Belfast. In 2007, she was named the Female Inventor of the Year. She was also the youngest person to become an engineering professor at Queen's University Belfast. She was also the youngest person to join the Irish Academy of Engineering.

Early Life and Education

Máire O'Neill grew up in Glenties, a town in Ireland. Her father, John McLoone, was a maths teacher. He even built a small hydroelectric system near their home. This system used water power to give their family free electricity.

When she was a teenager, Máire moved to Belfast. She went to Strathearn School. There, she loved studying maths, physics, and technology. Later, she studied electronic engineering at Queen's University Belfast. A local company helped pay for her studies. She focused on keeping digital information safe, which is called data security.

After her first degree, she decided to get a PhD. This is a higher degree where you do a lot of research. Her PhD was about how to make data encryption faster. Encryption is like putting a secret code on information so only certain people can read it. She worked with her supervisor, John McCanny.

During her PhD, she worked at a company called Amphion Semiconductor. She designed special electronic parts for computers. Her project helped make a very fast way to encrypt data. This design was so good that a company used it in things like set-top boxes. Máire finished her PhD in 2002. She then received a special award from the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Research and Career

In 2004, Máire O'Neill became a lecturer at Queen's University Belfast. She taught about electronics and information technology. She worked on creating security systems. These systems help protect people from online dangers, like hackers. She became the leader of the Cryptography Research Team. Cryptography is the science of secret codes.

Máire works to make computer hardware more secure. Hardware is the physical parts of a computer. She also worked with the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute. They created a new security system for electric vehicle charging stations. A company called LG CNS used this new system.

She received important grants to develop new ways to keep data safe. She looked at how to protect information on mobile devices. She also worked on new circuit designs that use less power.

One of her inventions is called PicoPUF. This is a special device that helps check if a microchip is real. It makes sure the chip hasn't been copied or changed. PicoPUF won an award in 2015. In 2013, Máire wrote a textbook about designing semiconductor systems.

Protecting Against Fakes

Máire O'Neill has even helped with a problem in China. A region there makes most of the world's cultured freshwater pearls. But fake pearls were causing big problems for farmers. Máire found a way to tell real pearls from fake ones. She suggested putting tiny RFID tags inside each pearl. These tags could hold information about the pearl. A simple scanner could then read the tag to prove the pearl was real.

Just like fake pearls, hacked devices can be dangerous. Máire is also working on how to make connected devices safe. These are devices that talk to each other over the internet, like smart home gadgets. This is often called the internet of things. In 2017, she became the director of a new center in Belfast. This center focuses on secure hardware and embedded systems.

Currently, Máire is researching post-quantum cryptography. This is about creating new encryption methods that will be safe even when powerful quantum computers exist.

Academic Service and Leadership

Máire O'Neill became a professor of engineering at Queen's University Belfast when she was only 32. This made her the youngest person ever to get that title there. In 2018, she became the main leader of the Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT).

In 2019, she gave a TED talk at Queen's University Belfast. She talked about the future of security for the internet of things. She has also appeared on BBC World Service. In 2019, she was chosen to join the UK Artificial Intelligence council. In August 2019, she became the acting director of ECIT. This is the Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology at Queen's University Belfast.

Máire O'Neill cares about getting more girls and women into engineering. In 2006, she gave talks to hundreds of school children. She shared her work on data encryption with them. She also helped Queen's University Belfast win an award for supporting women in science. She looks up to Wendy Hall, another famous computer scientist.

Awards and Honours

Máire O'Neill has received many awards for her important work:

• 2003 Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship
• 2004 Vodafone Award at Britain's Younger Engineers Event
• 2006 Women's Engineering Society prize at the IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year
• 2007 British Female Inventors & Innovators Network Female Inventor of the Year
• 2007 European Union Women Inventors & Innovators Innovator of the Year
• 2014 Royal Academy of Engineering Silver Medal
• 2015 INVENT 2015
• 2015 Fellow of the Irish Academy of Engineering
• 2017 Elected to Royal Irish Academy
• 2019 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists
• 2019 Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering
• 2020 Regius Professorship

Personal Life

Máire O'Neill is married to an electronic engineer, just like her. They have three children. Her two brothers are also electronic engineers. Her two sisters are medical doctors.