Eimear O’Carroll
CTO and Co- Founder of Lios
Based in Dublin, Ireland Lios was founded in 2009 by Rhona Togher and Eimear O’Carroll. Over a decade, the business has developed real-world solutions which address the problem of noise pollution.
The award-winning product, SoundBounce, is at the cutting edge of metamaterial science, disrupting the traditional materials sector.
As an acoustic metamaterial, SoundBounce is Lios’ game-changing innovation, which tackles the issue of noise at the source, helping to create new technology and facilitating a quieter world. SoundBounce provides superior noise reduction and is a cost-effective way of attenuating harmful or unwanted noise for automotive, aerospace, construction, and power generation industries.
A typical day for Eimear:
It’s a cliche but no two days are the same when bringing a new material to market. In a typical week I spend a lot of time working with our product development team, checking in on their latest progress with experiments and simulations. We discuss results and I decide the next steps for the team.
The other side of my job focuses on our customers who are mainly in automotive, aerospace, home appliances, and construction. I work with them to understand their acoustic and product needs, how our technology can help them make quieter products, and figure out how best to collaborate on developing these products. That spans everything from writing proposals, presenting our products or results, negotiating contracts, and visiting labs in different countries.
Top tip from Eimear for those interested in a similar career:
I think being a CTO requires a technical background for sure, but mainly the ability to find the best in people and encourage them to collaborate and excel – whether that’s your own team, or potential customers. And running a startup takes a lot of perseverance and passion, it’s important to believe in yourself and your mission as this is your main source of motivation sometimes.
I would encourage someone interested in being a CTO to get a variety of experience and work with lots of different types of people. And really hone your communication skills.
