Assoc ProfessorJames McDermott

My BSc was in computer science with maths, in UCG. After, I worked on supercomputing for Compaq/HP in Galway. I found my way back into university via my interest in computer music, which led to the Centre for Computer Music and Computational Musicology in UL. I did my PhD there, on the topic of Evolutionary Computation Applied to Sound Synthesis (2008), supervised by Dr. Niall JL Griffith and Dr. Michael O'Neill and funded by IRCSET. In 2008 I came to UCD for postdoctoral research in the Natural Computing Research & Applications group (NCRA), directed by Dr. Michael O'Neill and Prof. Anthony Brabazon. My research was on grammatical evolution, representations in evolutionary computation, and evolutionary design. It was funded by IRCSET Empower. In 2010 I moved to MIT funded by the IRCSET-Marie Curie Inspire scheme. I worked with Dr. Una-May O'Reilly and the EvoDesignOpt group on representations in evolutionary computation with emphasis on graphical representations. The collaboration with the NCRA continues since I moved back to UCD in February 2012. In September 2012 I started working as a Lecturer in the UCD School of Business. In September 2014 I was appointed as Programme Director of the UCD MSc in Business Analytics. My main outside interests are in music and running.