Theme 4: Digitalistion

The Digitalisation theme will identify and leverage opportunities for meat processors in the Digitalisation space. Through the Work Method Study, researchers will apply internationally-accredited processes including Smart Industry Readiness Index and review of international best practice to systematically assess the meat processing sector in Ireland and provide a detailed review of opportunities in enabling Industry 4.0 technologies, such as sensors, connected technologies, robotics, augmented reality and big data to digitalise beef and sheepmeat processing in Ireland. The objective is to deliver a detailed roadmap towards maximum impact in efficiency, resilience, quality, sustainability and minimising food waste. The Digitalisation theme includes technical research projects with a focus on application of sensor technologies and data analytics to innovate meat characterisation for the red meat sector and to conduct imaging and sensor research to provide a basis for future automation of key steps in the meat fabrication process. This unique collaborative project between Teagasc and Irish Manufacturing Research Centre will make use of in house technologies at the Irish Manufacturing Research Technology Centre and the Meat Process Analytics Digitalisation Testbed Teagasc Ashtown and develop new research linkages in the digitalisation space.

Programme Lead

Ruth Hamill is a Senior Research Officer working in the field of Meat Science in the Food Quality and Sensory Science Department at Teagasc Ashtown, since 2006. Previously, Dr. Hamill completed her Ph.D. in Population Genetics at the School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin and a Post-doctoral Research Fellowship at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. Her research focuses on understanding, prediction, and optimisation of meat quality. She has a particular interest in development of rapid methods (omics, sensors) for meat characterisation, including the on line or at line setting, and she has supervised a number of Ph.D. students in this area. Dr. Hamill’s externally-funded research programme has been supported by national and international agencies, including Department of Food, Agriculture and the Marine, the European Union and Enterprise Ireland. She was previously Research Lead for Meat Technology Ireland Pillar 4, Meat Characterisation Technologies. and she is co-ordinating the Teagasc Ashtown Meat Process Analytics and Digitalisation Testbed project. Her research to date has led to authorship of more than 80 peer-reviewed journal articles and she is a member of the Editorial Boards of four journals, including Meat Science.