Saturday, 11 October 2025
South East Technological University (SETU) has received a significant funding boost from Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund to support two innovative projects addressing some of Ireland’s most pressing societal challenges: housing compliance and food security. The total funding of €1.1 million will advance two AI-powered technologies currently in development by SETU researchers, with the goal […]
South East Technological University (SETU) has received a significant funding boost from Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund to support two innovative projects addressing some of Ireland’s most pressing societal challenges: housing compliance and food security.
The total funding of €1.1 million will advance two AI-powered technologies currently in development by SETU researchers, with the goal of creating commercially viable solutions that deliver both social and economic impact.
The first project, named HAL, is led by Dr Patrick Lynch, co-founder and director of the RIKON Research Centre within SETU’s Department of Business. HAL is a digital compliance platform that leverages artificial intelligence to support housing inspections and reporting.
The platform digitises inspections and generates real-time reports for landlords and local authorities, helping streamline compliance processes. Acting as a kind of “compliance passport,” HAL supports the delivery of safer and more sustainable housing.
Dr Lynch specialises in innovation management, market analysis, and the growth of early-stage companies, bringing deep expertise in commercialising research into scalable products.
The second project, Eye-Q, is led by a team from SETU’s Department of Land Sciences: Dr Ultan McCarthy, Dr Anastasia Ktenioudaki, and Dr Yuanyuan Pu. Eye-Q is an AI-powered solution designed to reduce food waste across the agrifood supply chain.
By enabling smarter monitoring and decision-making, Eye-Q helps businesses, retailers, and consumers reduce waste, enhance food security, and contribute to global sustainability goals. The technology aligns with SETU’s wider mission to support sustainable agriculture, biodiversity, and environmental stewardship.
In Ireland, and globally, poor housing standards and food waste are more than just logistical challenges, they’re significant sustainability and public health issues.
Housing that fails to meet compliance standards can contribute to energy inefficiency, higher emissions, and poor indoor air quality, affecting both the environment and tenant well-being.
Meanwhile, food waste accounts for nearly 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In Ireland alone, over 1 million tonnes of food are wasted annually, much of it preventable.
By targeting these areas, HAL and Eye-Q address not only economic and regulatory pain points, but also contribute to climate action goals outlined in Ireland’s Climate Action Plan and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The focus areas of HAL and Eye-Q closely align with national and European policy objectives:
Ireland’s Housing for All strategy outlines the importance of safe, sustainable, and energy-efficient housing. HAL’s digitised compliance system supports this by improving oversight and accountability in housing provision.
On the agri-food side, Ireland’s Food Vision 2030 and the EU Farm to Fork Strategy both prioritise reducing food waste, enhancing supply chain efficiency, and supporting sustainable food systems—precisely the aims of the Eye-Q project.
These projects not only advance academic research but directly support Ireland’s commitments to environmental stewardship and circular economy principles.
According to Dr James O’Sullivan, Head of Innovation and Commercialisation at SETU, these projects showcase SETU’s strength in uniting interdisciplinary teams across business, science, and technology to tackle complex real-world problems.
“With Enterprise Ireland’s support, we are advancing innovations that address urgent societal challenges while creating commercial opportunities, spin-outs and high-value jobs,” he said.
Nakul Wali, Senior Commercialisation Specialist at Enterprise Ireland, noted that both HAL and Eye-Q exemplify how Irish innovation can deliver dual value:
“HAL and Eye-Q demonstrate how innovation can deliver both economic growth and societal impact, positioning Ireland at the forefront of housing technology and sustainable food systems.”
The funding is part of Enterprise Ireland’s mission to help third-level researchers transform their work into market-ready products, services, or start-ups through its Commercialisation Fund.
This announcement comes shortly after SETU celebrated having five researchers named in the 2025 Stanford/Elsevier World’s Top 2% Scientists list, further cementing the university’s role as a leader in impactful research and innovation.
The HAL and Eye-Q projects represent how cutting-edge research at South East Technological University is being translated into real-world solutions with the potential to make a lasting difference. With support from Enterprise Ireland, these AI-powered innovations aim not only to improve housing standards and reduce food waste in Ireland, but also to create new commercial opportunities and support sustainable development. As these projects move forward, they highlight the growing role of technology in addressing societal challenges and position SETU as a key player in Ireland’s innovation ecosystem.
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