About LirOptic: An Optics Spin-Out from UCD

LirOptic, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is an innovative spin-out from University College Dublin (UCD), born from groundbreaking research in the UCD Physics Department.

Our core technology—solid-state, shapeshifting, and tunable lenses—was developed by Professor Dominic Zerulla and his highly skilled "ultra-fast nano optics" team. The cutting-edge work at UCD laid the foundation for LirOptic’s future in revolutionizing optics and imaging.

Our Path from UCD Labs to Real-World Applications

The journey from research to industry was further strengthened when Simon Forsyth joined Professor Zerulla as part of a UCD initiative to commercialize this breakthrough technology. Soon after, serial optical entrepreneur Joe O'Keeffe became a key player in LirOptic following a serendipitous meeting at a UCD event.

Thanks to the support of UCD, Enterprise Ireland, and the European Space Agency (ESA), LirOptic has gained significant traction and interest across various industries. Our technology is poised to transform applications ranging from CCM lens design for consumer electronics to space and defence applications, bringing the future of optics into sharper focus.

At LirOptic, we are passionate about pushing the boundaries of what’s possible utilising our technology, and we’re very excited about the future ahead.

Our team.

Simon Forsyth

CEO, Co-Founder

Simon began his career in financial services, working with National Australia Group and later with the Royal Bank of Scotland in a lending capacity until 2009. Since then, he has been actively involved in the Irish startup ecosystem, serving as an executive director in both the high-tech engineering and medical device industries. During this period, he played a key role in securing substantial funding from private and institutional investors, as well as European grant funding.

Prof. Dr. Dominic Zerulla

CTO, Co-Founder

Dominic is a Professor of Physics at University College Dublin, with over 25 years of experience working with the Plasmonics & Ultrafast Nano Optics group. He has received multiple accolades, including UCD Innovator of the Year 2022, Enterprise Ireland Big Ideas 2021, and the Science Foundation Ireland Future Innovator 2020 award.

Joe O’Keeffe

Co-Founder

Joe is a serial entrepreneur and former Vice President of Research (Augmented Reality) at META. He successfully led InfiniLED as CEO, achieving its acquisition by META, and also served as CEO of SensL, which was successfully acquired by ON Semiconductor.