John Barrett

Founder & Director of Nimbus Centre at Cork Institute of Technology

John Barrett is a Founder and a Director of the Nimbus Centre at Cork Institute of Technology, Ireland, where research and application development focuses on real-world uses of the Internet of Things and related emerging technologies. He has been involved in international research for 35 years and his current research focuses on smart systems reliability, particularly in embedding of electronics in reliability-critical applications such as medical implants, structural monitoring, and industrial machinery. He is active around the world in communicating the potential and the challenges and the business, personal, and social impacts of emerging technologies to a wide variety of audiences.

The Rise of Factory-built Housing: Episode 2

Modular builders have taken the art of prefabrication to an entirely new level, where entire rooms with insulation, plumbing, and electric wiring are made in a factory. These rooms (called “modules”) are transported to a building site and then stacked next to and on top of one another to form a home in days. In the Hamptons, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and other major cities, it’s now possible to build a beautiful modern home modularly for as much as 50% the cost of building with local contractors.

Image & video courtesy of John Barrett

Predicting Our Future