Who Are We?

Louis Goor is a Bachelor of Engineering from University College Galway, graduating in 1991.
He has since served in JLGoor & JLGoor Materials in Sales, Operations, Managing Director, and now Chairman’s roles.

Louis is currently Chairperson of the IPG.

Catherine Collins is Network Manager with First Polymer Training Skillnet in Athlone, a training network promoted by Ibec. She studied Polymer Engineering in AIT (TUS) graduating in 1989. She joined Millipore Ireland, where she worked as a process engineer, before moving to Medtronic Athlone in 1992. She held various technical roles in the industry before joining First Polymer Training Skillnet in 2001, where her role includes programme development & accreditation, industry engagement and centre management. Catherine is a member of the Governing Body of TUS (Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands and Midwest), Institute of Materials IOM³ Committee (IOM3 Polymer South), Midland Regional Skills Forum, Polymer Processing Apprenticeship Industry Consortium and Programme Board, MRI Industry Steering Committee and also represents Polymer Technology Ireland(Ibec) on various industry working groups.

Joe Wall has worked in the Petrochemical industry for over 40 years mostly in Polymer sales. His Degree in Management was followed by a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Strategy & Innovation.

After nearly 20 years with ExxonMobil, including jobs in Shipping, Business Analysis, Finance and Sales – Joe joined JL Goor Materials as a Director and Shareholder and moved to Dublin in 1999.  Joe retired from JL Goor Materials in 2018 and has more recently joined JL Goor Ltd as a Non Executive Director.

Joe is currently the Hon. Treasurer of the IPG.

Dr. Michael Hopkins is the Managing Director of Ross Polymer Services Ltd, a single-source contract manufacturing partner specialising in injection moulding projects and the processing of complex polymer materials, including drug-loaded polymers, resorbables, and shape-memory polymers. With extensive experience collaborating with leading medical, pharmaceutical, and semiconductor manufacturers in Ireland, Michael has played a key role in New Product Introductions (NPI), material characterisation, and process optimisation across these industries.

Michael graduated from Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) in 2013 with an Honours Degree in Polymer Engineering, after which he joined the National Polymer Research Centre, Applied Polymer Technologies (APT), where he worked for several years. He earned his Doctorate in Polymer Engineering in 2019, contributing to peer-reviewed publications and securing multiple patents within the field. Since 2018, he has been an active committee member of the Irish Polymer Group and currently serves as its Vice Chair.

Lorna O’Gara has a B.Sc. in Polymer Technology from Athlone IT, now TUS and has many years’ experience working in the polymer industry. After graduating, she started her career working with Irish Custom Extruders, then spent time working in the UK and Europe in Technical sales roles for Polyurethane systems and Conductive Coatings for plastics. She then worked for Trend Technologies as Key Account manager working with global OEMs of computers, telecoms, consumer goods and healthcare products. After a career break to spend time with her family, including a relocation to Brazil for 4 years, she joined the Ultrapolymers team in 2015. Her current role is European Business Development Manager for Healthcare.

Paul Bryan is Managing Director of P3 Solutions Ltd, focusing on Product & Process Development , NPI & Industrialisation. He has more than 30 years of experience, having started out as a Polymer Apprentice and progressed through various technical, project & programme management roles, to become Technical Director of one of the largest device and technical packaging manufacturers in Europe.

He then turned towards Operations and General Management, leading a number of small and medium sized polymer processing companies and was most recently Director of JL Goor Ltd.

As well as the IPG Committee, Paul is a member of the First Polymer Training Skillnet steering group and is a keen advocate of polymer education and training.

Caitríona Mordan is Manager for the ATIM (Advanced Technologies in Manufacturing) Cluster where she plays a pivotal role in accelerating industry digital and sustainable transformation of 70+ companies. With a diverse career spanning roles such as EU Project Officer at the ADAPT Centre (The Irish Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence) and Dublin City University, Caitríona boasts a proven track record of facilitating collaborative projects and implementing impact frameworks. She previously worked as Communications and Public Engagement Manager at Engineers Ireland where she led national educational outreach programs and promoted STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) initiatives. Caitríona sits on a number of boards including Applied Polymer Technology (APT), Irish Polymer Group and CircVET (circular economy practical training tools for manufacturing industries).

Pat Whyte is CEO of InverMed, formally Irish Micro Mouldings, since 2007. He has more than 40 years of business experience, and an in-depth knowledge of the medical devices industry and in particular the use of plastics. Pat trained as a Plastic Engineer in Athlone RTC, now known as Technological University of the Shannon. He has established, developed and worked with a number of successful manufacturing companies in the medical device industry. Pat continues to work closely with educational institutions to ensure graduates have the necessary skills and core competencies to succeed in the polymer industry.

Jacqueline Tyrrell is co-owner of Embankment Plastics, one of Ireland’s largest and leading injection moulding specialists. She worked in global tourism marketing before joining Barry Armstrong at Embankment Plastics in 2007. Since then, their team has grown to 45 staff who sustain 24hour manufacturing, satisfying international clients across production areas of injection moulding, blow moulding and assembly. Jacqueline has spent 15 years in manufacturing and is a well known female business-owner in the plastics industry.

Alan Harrington is Technical Training Specialist at First Polymer Training Skillnet, where his key objective is to develop and deliver training to industry members. He graduated from Athlone I.T. in 1998 with a Diploma in Plastics Engineering and then went onto North London University and graduated with a B.Eng. in Polymer Engineering.

In 2000 he joined Solplax in Tralee, Co. Kerry, as R & D technician, developing water soluble plastic solutions. In 2003 he joined Medtronic (formally Covidien) as an Injection Moulding Technician, within this role Alan was involved in process improvements, new machine/equipment installations and managing tooling repairs/upgrades and project management for new mould builds and injection moulding machine replacements.