Prof. Peter O’Brien is Head of the Photonics Packaging & Systems Integration Group at the Tyndall National Institute. He also serves as Director of the European Photonics Pilot Line (PIXAPP), Leader of Advanced Packaging in the European Chips Act Photonics Pilot Line (PIXEurope), Director of the European Photonics Academy (PhotonHub Europe), and Deputy Director of the Research Ireland IPIC national photonics research centre. An internationally recognised authority in advanced packaging, he is a frequent keynote and invited speaker at major global conferences, and a visiting professor at Keio University (Japan), and the College of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona (USA).

He has built a world-class research group that is recognised as a global leader in advanced photonic and electronic packaging. He has assembled and mentored a multidisciplinary research team, established state-of-the-art infrastructure, and formed strategic, long-term partnerships with leading academic and industrial organisations worldwide.

Over the past decade, he has secured more than €55 million in competitive research funding for his group. His team of more than 30 highly experienced researchers, PhD students, project managers, and financial managers drives innovation across the full technology chain—from modelling and design through to prototyping and pilot-scale production—enabling real-world deployment. The team has published extensively in high-impact journals, presented at international conferences, filed patents, and contributed to semiconductor technology roadmaps. Their research underpins advances in communications, artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, quantum technologies, healthcare, sensing, space, and security.

He has received numerous prestigious honours, including the 2025 SEMI European Award, Science Foundation Ireland's Best International Collaborator Award, Enterprise Ireland's Champion of European Research Award, and University College Cork's Research Group of the Year Award. He also serves as a board member of, and as an advisor and evaluator to, major research organisations and funding agencies across Europe, North America, and Asia, shaping investment in next-generation photonics and semiconductor technologies.

Bridging academia and industry, he combines deep technical expertise with a strong track record in commercialisation. He has successfully translated cutting-edge research into industrial impact through strategic global partnerships. He pioneered the development of highly effective European Pilot Line operation models to rapidly transition research to commercial applications. He founded and led a start-up as CEO, developing speciality photonic systems for biomedical applications, which he successfully exited in 2009. Earlier in his career, he held senior roles in high-volume frontend semiconductor manufacturing, and conducted postdoctoral research at the California Institute of Technology and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he developed advanced submillimetre-wave devices and packaged systems for remote space sensing applications.

He received his degree and PhD in Physics from Trinity College Dublin and University College Cork, respectively.