New Director for UCC 4C

A new Director has been appointed to the University College Cork (UCC) Cork Constraint Computation Centre (4C).

The move comes after founding Director, Professor Gene Freuder, was appointed as Emeritus Professor at UCC. 

Professor Barry O’Sullivan has been appointed as his replacement. 4C is a computer science research laboratory whose mission is to aid computers in helping people make better decisions for more effective use of individual, industry and government resources.

4C has received numerous awards for its academic achievements and has been awarded close to €30m in research funding. It has worked with local industry, receiving two it@cork Awards for collaborative projects. It has also worked with multi-national industry, helping to attract three research labs to Ireland.

Professor O’Sullivan has served as Associate Director of 4C, and was recently appointed UCC Professor of Constraint Programming. He is President of the International Association for Constraint Programming, Co-ordinator of the European ERCIM Working Group on Constraints and Chairman of the Artificial Intelligence Association of Ireland. Professor O’Sullivan established the George Boole School Computer Laboratories project, which won an it@cork Excellence in Education Leaders Award for Scoil Chlochair Mhuire. 

“4C is extremely grateful to Professor Gene Freuder, who has helped it achieve so much as its founding director,” said Professor O’Sullivan. “It will be a challenge to live up to his legacy, but I'm looking forward it. I'll also enjoy working on the next phase of 4C's evolution with the wonderful team of academics, principal investigators, support staff, researchers and students at the centre.”

Professor Freuder said: “UCC is very fortunate to have one of the world’s top computer scientists in constraint programming to take over leadership of 4C. Professor O’Sullivan played a key role in building 4C from the start, and I am confident that 4C will go on to even greater success under his leadership.”

Professor Freuder will become Chair of the 4C Advisory Board. He came to Ireland in the autumn of 2001 as the recipient of one of the first Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Fellow Awards. 4C currently comprises around 50 academics, staff, and students, housed in the new UCC Western Gateway Building.