Inaugural Professorial Lecture by Professor Jim Harkin

Re-imagining Computation: Neuromorphic Approaches to Reliable and Sustainable AI

Jim joined Ulster University as an undergraduate in electronic engineering in 1993 and completed his formal graduate education with an MSc in Signal Processing and PhD in Embedded Systems at Ulster. He took up a 3-year post-doc position in embedded systems before commencing his academic career in 2004. He is currently Professor of Computer Engineering and Head of the School of Computing, Engineering and Intelligent, having previously held the leadership role of Associate Head of School and was a member of University Senate.

He is a leading researcher in neuromorphic and biologically inspired embedded systems, his work focuses on developing highly efficient, secure and resilient computing architectures that emulate the fault tolerance and repair mechanisms of the human brain. He is a key developer of the brain-inspired EMBRACE architecture and has made significant contributions to Networks-on-Chip reliability, self-repairing hardware systems, and neural-network–based congestion and security models.

Over a research career spanning more than two decades, Professor Harkin has secured over £25 million in funding from UK Research Councils (EPSRC, MRC, BBSRC), Innovate UK, US-Ireland R&D partnerships, InvestNI and from industry collaborators. He contributes to the research community via the EPSRC Peer Review College, EPSRC eFutures Network steering committee, and Technical and Skills Advisory Board of AICC, and serves as Associate Editor for several journals including the peer Frontiers in Neuroscience (Neuromorphic Engineering) journal. He is a long-standing technical committee member of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society of ‘Neural Systems and Applications’ and more recently ‘Machine Learning Circuits and Systems’.

His publication portfolio includes more than 150 research outputs in neuromorphic engineering, embedded systems reliability, and bio-inspired computation. He currently has leading roles at Ulster on several strategic projects: Semiconductor Photonics Education and Research (SPEAR) centre, the National Land Use for Net Zero Hub, and the Northern Ireland High Performance Computing Facility.

His research has led to patented technologies and forays into commercialisation, including co-founding AirBrio and Respiratory Analytics Ltd, previous winner of InventNI’s “Life and Health” Startup of the Year. Professor Harkin’s collaborations are interdisciplinary across the fields of computational neuroscience, silicon photonics, and neuromorphic engineering. He continues to advance the field of sustainable and intelligent electronic systems through research, teaching, innovation and strategic leadership.