Macroom innovator Ann honoured as an industry champion

Dr Ann Kelleher is presented with a prestigious award for her contribution to our foreign direct investment ecosystem

A MACROOM woman who has been a champion for Irish business has been honoured for bringing investment to Ireland.

At the Invest In Ireland awards 2024, held earlier this month, Intel’s Dr Ann Kelleher was honoured with a very special recognition – the FDI Hero award.

The Invest In Ireland Awards reward excellence in the inward foreign direct investment sector in the Republic of Ireland. The FDI Hero Award is a highlight of the event and is selected by a panel of judges to recognise an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the FDI ecosystem in Ireland.

Dr Kelleher is the executive vice president and general manager of Foundry Technology Development at Intel Corporation, where she is responsible for the research, development, and deployment of next-generation silicon logic, packaging, and test technologies.

The West Cork woman is a distinguished alumna of University College Cork, where she achieved first class honours degree and masters in Engineering. Dr Kelleher then made history by becoming the first woman to receive a PhD from the National Microelectronics Research Centre, the precursor to the Tyndall National Institute.

Intel is currently delivering on an ambitious goal of introducing five new process nodes in four years, aiming to achieve process leadership by 2025. This task relies on a strong global partnership between Intel’s Technology Development organisation in Oregon, headed up by Dr Kelleher, and Intel’s high-volume manufacturing facilities worldwide.

A key part of this partnership is the technology transfer. In the case of Intel 4, process development and early manufacturing were performed in Oregon, while Fab 34 in Leixlip focused on running diagnostics across segments of the production line.

The official opening of Fab 34 in September 2023 marked a critical milestone as the Intel 4 technology was officially passed from the team in Oregon to the high-volume facility in Leixlip, where production is now underway.

Dr Kelleher is viewed as an innovator and pioneer in the technology and manufacturing industries, and a proud representative of Ireland on the global stage.

The FDI Hero award was introduced and presented by IDA chief executive Michael Lohan. The IDA are a key supporter of the Invest In Ireland awards and Dr Kelleher was chosen as the FDI Hero award recipient based on her outstanding accomplishments in the technology industry.