The latest episode of the fourth season of The Leaders’ Room podcast features Rathnait Long, senior technology associate at Macom Technology Solutions. This series has been created in partnership with IDA Ireland.
And in the fourth season of The Leaders’ Room podcast, we get to know some of the world’s most influential leaders in technology, life sciences and innovation, as well as get insights into their leadership styles and the high-tech trends they see coming down the line.
In this latest episode, we talk to Rathnait Long, senior technology partner at Macom Technology Solutions, about his distinguished career in engineering, and now in leadership at a semiconductor company from Lowell, Massachusetts with operations in Cork, Ireland. It’s an interesting and wide-ranging discussion about the transition from academia to industry, the imperfect but evolving tool that is AI, and the future of technology.
Macom designs and manufactures semiconductors for many different sectors – including telecommunications, data centers, industrial and defense – so Rathnait has a bird’s eye view of how technology companies continue to innovate amid rapid technological change.
Macom has an important center in Cork, which is mainly focused on design, but is also central to other aspects of Macom’s international operations, so we discuss how Ireland fits into the larger international Macom story.
He has long shared his struggles at various stages of his career, whether it was sticking to studies or entering the industry – he succeeded in both. He tells us how it felt to finally be involved in the application of research in an industrial setting.
He obviously benefited greatly from the opportunity he got to spend his postdoc years at Stanford, and I was pleased to hear him say that many of today’s engineering students may not feel welcome in the US in the current climate, which is unfortunate.
It is also a reminder of how important it is for Ireland to build excellent postdoc opportunities and experience here at home and in Europe. As I recently spoke to Minister James Lawless, TD and the new head of Research Ireland Diarmuid O’Brien on this subject, that is Ireland’s ambition.
Long’s identity as an engineer is central to everything he does. He focuses on solving problems, and seeing his ideas and research translated into real-world applications. What is clear throughout this discussion is how that translates neatly into his leadership style.
A big thank you to everyone we interviewed again this season, for taking time out of their busy schedules to come to the studio and share their insights and wisdom with us. And a big thank you to our partners IDA Ireland who made this series possible.
The Leaders Room podcast is released twice a week and can be found by searching for ‘Leaders Room’ wherever you find your podcasts. For those who prefer their audio visual, taped versions of all podcast interviews are available here on SiliconRepublic.com.
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