The Big Interview: ‘I grew up in Blanch, my life was playing football with the lads and I wasn’t thinking about global problems’ – Kevin O’Toole, co-founder of Exergyn

At school, Kevin O’Toole wasn’t really sure what a mechanical engineer did, but thought it sounded cool. Graduating from Technical University Dublin with an engineering PhD, he became fascinated with the broader potential of smart alloys, which led to the patenting of a cutting-edge heat pump free of refrigerant gases, which are one of the main causes of global warming

Kevin O’Toole. Exergyn, the company he co-founded, has patented a cutting-edge, emissions-free heat pump that contains no refrigerant gases. Picture: Fergal Phillips