Ultan is currently a lecturer in the Department of Land Management at South East Technological University (SETU). He holds a Ph.D. in Biosystems Engineering from UCD which investigated the feasibility of Ultra High Frequency RFID as an Automatic ID Data Carrier for Food Supply Chain Traceability. Following this, his MBA focused on electronic traceability as a Competitive Tool toward an organisational Sustainable Competitive Advantage. Before joining SETU Ultan spent a number of years as a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of South Florida, USA and as a research centre manager at IMaR Technology Gateway.

He currently serves as associate Vice president of finance for the IEEE CRFID 2023 2025. Ultan has been awarded IEEE CRFID distinguished Lecturer, an award for global renowned experts to support them in efforts to  share their knowledge, expertise, and insights into the future of "The Electronic transformation of AgriFood Systems ".

Current areas of Interest focus on Supply chain and cold chain management related to food security. His research to date has involved the development of improving supply chain management applications using a variety of technologies (Radio Frequency Identification, Wireless sensor networks) in combination with analytical tool s and techniques to improve processes and reduce waste.