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Biography

Jonathan is the Head of Computer Services for SETU's Waterford Campus. He manages the teams associated with IT systems, MIS applications and databases, Educational Services AV equipment, and Reprographics. Jonathan is the primary contact point for all IT enquiries in SETU's Waterford Campus working closely with colleagues in Carlow/Wexford to ensure the collaborative future of the TU for both legacy and emerging needs in the IT domain.

Prior to taking up the role of Head of Computer Services, Jonathan worked within the Office of Research, Innovation & Graduate Studies as the contact point for Research Analytics, Impact, and Systems Support. His role included the governance of business intelligence systems used for research data (CRIS, CRM) and the processing and analysis of this data. Identifying new ways of presenting our data, facilitating researchers with requests for statistics, and designing/distributing reports showcasing the University's research performance.

Having completed his undergraduate degree in Applied Computing (Industrial – Level 8), Jonathan pursued a career in research and education with WIT (now SETU). He has an extensive background in European and Nationally-funded IT research and over 16 years of lecturing experience in computer programming, mathematics, and statistics, including final-year project supervision up to Level 8 students.

In 2002, Jonathan pursued his Masters degree part-time by research focussing on the development of a component-orientated, distributable software-based solution for rating (i.e. calculating costs associated with) telecoms services in the internet era. His thesis has a specific focus on developing both arbitrarily complex algorithms and one fully-developed use case algorithm (ReFLEx) to illustrate the capabilities of the system and present a novel slant on cost calculations for internet service usage.

Throughout the years, Jonathan has maintained a research interest in these fields in addition to imparting expertise to undergraduates registered to the teaching programmes that he was charged with delivering. 

From October 2000 until January 2017, Jonathan lectured as a part-time member of the academic staff at WIT. Mostly lecturing to part-time education students via the School of Lifelong Learning but also delivering course material when required through the School of Science & Computing. Subject areas covered throughout that period include:

  • Mathematics;
  • Statistics;
  • Programming (Visual Basic, C++, Java);
  • Hypermedia;
  • Final year project supervision for Level 8 students.

Traditionally, Jonathan's research focus was on internet service development and specifically on rating algorithms and solutions for internet service provisioning. He has worked on projects related to these and many other areas throughout his career.

Recent funding awards include an allocation from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to host an Open Data Hackathon at WIT, promoting a national objective in relation to the reuse of open datasets.

Previously, through my work with the TSSG (now Walton Institute) I have co-authored many funded research proposals, including the IMenabled project that was ranked as the top-rated proposal in Europe in its eTEN funding round and competitively secured in excess of €1m in research funding for the Institute.

Jonathan has co-authored and worked on the implementation of many successful projects involving industry, through programmes such as the Enterprise Ireland Innovation Partnership scheme.

Jonathan has worked in both the commercial and academic worlds, in software-related disciplines, telecommunications research, and lecturing. His experience ranges from research systems support, data analytics, working with large spreadsheet-based datasets, casual graphic designer, software developer, technical lead, software architect, to delivery of course material to undergraduate students.

  • Analysis of research data to produce reports for internal (e.g. Heads of Schools/Departments), external (e.g. HEA), and public dissemination.
  • Conversion of data between database and spreadsheet formats; production of graphical presentations of the same via charts, infographics, tables.
  • Project management of concurrent tasks, reworking timelines in a fluid way to ensure priority is given when required to specific activities.
  • Working with strategy team on tasks involving research data.
  • Taking the lead on technical projects such as GDPR implementation, acquisition of new systems to support the research community (e.g. funding databases such as Research Professional, and research information systems to enable management of profile data).
  • Code-based implementation of guides/utilities for the Research website.
  • Working on Enterprise Ireland and European Commission funded projects, often involving many collaborating partners.
  • Moving freely between projects; frequently managing my time between multiple, concurrent projects.
  • Constant familiarisation with new technologies outside my primary interests, combined with regular up-skilling.
  • Writing reports and project proposals for national and European funding agencies. 
  • Key software and research skills: software development, software architecture, databases, website creation and maintenance, presentation delivery, report and proposal writing, and a full literacy of the best known office application suites.
  • Development of course material, student supervision, and the full examination lifecycle from creation to correction of exam papers.
  • Prior to the existence of Moodle, created and maintained an eLearning portal for students to access course content offsite.
  • Lecturing, up to Bachelor Degree level students (full-time and part-time), in various computer science-related disciplines, including mathematics, statistics, programming, hypermedia, and final year project supervision.
  • Dempsey, S., Jennings, B., Brazil, J. and Madigan, J. (2011). Using Ambient Intelligence to Infer Availability and Meta-status in a Picocell Environment. In: Seventh International Conference on Intelligent Environments. Nottingham, pp.25-31. doi: 10.1109/IE.2011.74
  • Mullins R., Richardson R., Madden E., Brazil J., and Dempsey S. (2008) IMS ARCS - An Industrial Academic Cooperative research program for IMS. In Collaboration and the Knowledge Economy: Issues, Applications, Case Studies (Proceedings of eChallenges 2008) . IOS Press.
  • Pfeifer T., Savage P., Brazil J., Downes B. (2006) VidShare: A Management Platform for Peer-to-Peer Multimedia Asset Distribution Across Heterogeneous Access Networks with Intellectual Property Management. In: Autonomic Management of Mobile Multimedia Services. MMNS 2006. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4267. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg doi: 10.1007/11907381_11
  • Brazil, J., Pfeifer, T., Donnelly, W. and Downes, B. (2006). Managing Peer-To-Peer Multimedia Asset Distribution and Intellectual Property Across Heterogeneous Networks. In: 4th International Conference on Advances in Mobile Computing and Multimedia. Yogyakarta, Indonesia, pp. 189-198.
  • Clarke, J., Butler, S., Dempsey, S., Crotty, M., Brazil, J., Blazic, A, Hauser, C., and Neubauer, M. (2004). Challenges of Identity, Authentication, and Discovery Management in a Ubiquitous Environment: The DAIDALOS perspective. In: Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Communications Interworking (INTERWORKING - 2004); Ottawa, Canada.
  • Brazil J., de Leastar E., Ryan C. and O Foghlu, M. (2002), Workbook approach to algorithm design and service accounting in a component orientated environment. In: IEEE Workshop on IP Operations and Management. Dallas, TX, pp. 44-48. doi: 10.1109/IPOM.2002.1045754
  • Ryan C., Brazil J., de Leastar E., and Cloney J. (2002), A Rating Bureau Service for Next Generation IP Services. In: Proceedings of IT&T Tecnet Conference. Waterford.
  • Dempsey, S., Jennings, B., Brazil, J. and Madigan, J. (2011). Using Ambient Intelligence to Infer Availability and Meta-status in a Picocell Environment. In: Seventh International Conference on Intelligent Environments. Nottingham, pp.25-31. doi: 10.1109/IE.2011.74
  • Mullins R., Richardson R., Madden E., Brazil J., and Dempsey S. (2008) IMS ARCS - An Industrial Academic Cooperative research program for IMS. In Collaboration and the Knowledge Economy: Issues, Applications, Case Studies (Proceedings of eChallenges 2008) . IOS Press.
  • Pfeifer T., Savage P., Brazil J., Downes B. (2006) VidShare: A Management Platform for Peer-to-Peer Multimedia Asset Distribution Across Heterogeneous Access Networks with Intellectual Property Management. In: Autonomic Management of Mobile Multimedia Services. MMNS 2006. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4267. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg doi: 10.1007/11907381_11
  • Brazil, J., Pfeifer, T., Donnelly, W. and Downes, B. (2006). Managing Peer-To-Peer Multimedia Asset Distribution and Intellectual Property Across Heterogeneous Networks. In: 4th International Conference on Advances in Mobile Computing and Multimedia. Yogyakarta, Indonesia, pp. 189-198.
  • Clarke, J., Butler, S., Dempsey, S., Crotty, M., Brazil, J., Blazic, A, Hauser, C., and Neubauer, M. (2004). Challenges of Identity, Authentication, and Discovery Management in a Ubiquitous Environment: The DAIDALOS perspective. In: Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Communications Interworking (INTERWORKING - 2004); Ottawa, Canada.
  • Brazil J., de Leastar E., Ryan C. and O Foghlu, M. (2002), Workbook approach to algorithm design and service accounting in a component orientated environment. In: IEEE Workshop on IP Operations and Management. Dallas, TX, pp. 44-48. doi: 10.1109/IPOM.2002.1045754
  • Ryan C., Brazil J., de Leastar E., and Cloney J. (2002), A Rating Bureau Service for Next Generation IP Services. In: Proceedings of IT&T Tecnet Conference. Waterford.