University of Limerick

Faculty Member, Computer Science and Information Systems

Lecturer

Science and Engineering

About

Mikael Fernström studied Electronic Engineering and Telecommunications at the Kattegatt Technical  College in Halmstad in Sweden, graduating 1975. He then worked in industry as inventor, electronics engineer, industrial designer, manager, composer and company director, principally in Sweden. He worked with AVAB Electronics in Gothenburg, from 1976 to 1979 building and designing sound and light equipment for theatres.
He started ILF Innovation and developed the business between 1980 and 1989. During this period he developed a number of patents for Signal processing of EMG-signals, Heat-pump control-system, Optical Interconnects, etc. In 1989 the company was taken over. He stayed on until 1991, when he took the opportunity to move to Ireland to work as a freelance consultant. 
From 1996 he worked as a Research Officer in the Interaction Design Centre at the University of Limerick, primarily on the development of Multimedia Browsing Systems and the use of sound in human-computer interfaces. In 1998 he was awarded an M.Sc. by research by the University of Limerick and tenured as Lecturer. Since 1998 he has been the Technical Manager of the Interaction Design Centre (IDC) at UL and also affiliated with the Centre for Computational Musicology and Computer Music. 
Subsequently he spearheaded the development of a new taught Masters degree in Interactive Media at UL and was appointed Course Director. He is one of the co-designers of the LiteFoot interactive floor. His research interests cover Computer Science, HCI, Electronics, Sound, Music, Multimedia, History, Archaeology and the Performing Arts.

In 1999 he was commissioned by the Irish Pavilion at EXPO2000 in Hanover, together with Mr. Sean Taylor of the Limerick School of Art and Design, to create Bliain Le Baisteach, a multimedia artwork, which was also sponsored by the Art Council and Met Eireann. Bliain Le Baisteach has also been exhibited in the Limerick City Arts Gallery in 2005 and in the Museum of Arts and  Sciences in Macon, GA, USA in 2008.
In 2001 he organized and chaired the EU COST-G6 Conference on Digital Audio Effects (DAFx) at the University of Limerick.
Between 2001 and 2003 he was awarded research grants for collaboration with Dr. Joe Paradiso of MIT Media Lab to develop new interactive surfaces in conjunction with Media Lab Europe in Dublin and an EU Future and Emerging Technologies grant within the Disappearing Computer initiative on new object models for sound on computers.
In 2002 he co-organised the international conference New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) at MediaLab Europe in Dublin.
In 2002 he collaborated with Sean Taylor and developed musical composition software that resulted in a multimedia work Coisir an tSionnan, performed an recorded at ESB’s Ardnachrusha turbine hall in October 2002. Both the Irish Chamber Orchestra, the Berlin based Brul Chor and Daghda Dance were involved in delivering the piece. In 2005, again in collaboration with Sean Taylor, he was commissioned to create the multimedia performance work TXTULTR for RTE Lyric FM.
Between 2004 and 2007 he collaborated with Prof. Liam Bannon on the SFI funded project Shared Worlds.
Between 2004 and 2006, he was the PI on an Innovation Partnership, MetaMusic, resulting in a start-up company abaltat.com in Spiddal, Co. Galway.
In 2005, he organized and chaired the International Conference on Auditory Display at the University of Limerick. He was subsequently elected to the Board of ICAD.
During 2005 and 2006 collaborated with colleagues in the Computer Science and Information Systems at UL, developing two new undergraduate programmes, a B.Sc. in Digital Media Design and a B.Sc. in Music, Media and Performance Technology. Both these two programmes have proven to be successful and the first cohorts are graduating in 2010. 
Between 2006 and 2007 he collaborated with Dr. Annette Aboulafia (UL Research Scholar) and Cork University Hospital on the project Design-based Medical Training, developing a novel immersive haptic workstation for training medical students in spinal anaesthesia.
Between 2007 and 2009 he collaborated with the Tyndall National Institute in Cork developing two systems based on Tyndall’s Wireless Intertial Measurement Units: Celeritas for tracking dancer’s full body movements and a new haptic data glove for medical training in immersive environments.

In 2008 Gairmsccoil Chu Uladh in Co. Donegal commissioned him, together with Mr. J.J. Hegarty, to  develop an Interactive Sound Sculpture as a centrepiece for the newly built secondary school in Fintown, Co. Donegal.
In 2009, the national Science Gallery at Trinity College in Dublin commissioned him in collaboration with Mr Sean Taylor to create a multimedia work for the INFECTIOUS exhibition. The resulting work Nobody Leaves ‘til the Daphnia Sing included life cycle of Daphnia Magna being sonified and visualized in real- time. 
In 2009 he received the UL Alumni Award for Outstanding Contribution to Science & Technology.
In 2010, Donegal County Council commissioned him together with Mr. Sean Taylor to develop an interactive multimedia work in the context of climate change, based on hydrological and marine life data from the Irish Marine Institute. The working title for the project is Lovely Weather: Dead Zones.
He has been the Irish delegate in three the European COST Actions: G6 on Digital Audio Effects; Control of digital audio effects from human gesture; and currently Sonic Interaction Design IC0601. He is a Member of the Audio Engineering Society; Member of the International Society of Ecological Psychology; Member of IEEE; and Lifetime Member of the Electronic Music Foundation.

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