Tánaiste Opens Applied Research Centre at Letterkenny IT
“Reach out to regional enterprise and deliver more value for State investment in research”, Tánaiste tells Ireland’s 14 Institutes of Technology
Letterkenny IT got a major boost today (Monday 8th December 2008) when the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Mary Coughlan, T.D. performed the official opening of the Enterprise Ireland funded Wireless Sensor Applied Research laboratory (WiSAR) at the Institute.
The WiSAR Lab has been given ¤1.25 million by Enterprise Ireland to create a centre of excellence in wireless sensor technology at Letterkenny IT. The WiSAR research team will look at how these sensors can be worn on the body to monitor old people living alone or sick people who are outside the hospital. They will also work on using these wireless sensors to increase the energy efficiency of buildings by monitoring temperature, light and people movement.
It is hoped that the North West will make a name for itself as the home of wireless sensor technology and that a cluster of companies will form around the research expertise at the new WiSAR lab bringing new job opportunities to the area.
The Tánaiste chose the 8th of December to open the research centre as it coincides with Global Business Incubation Day. The number of people employed in campus incubation companies managed by Ireland’s Institutes of Technology has broken through the 1,000 mark. Letterkenny IT’s campus incubator for start-up companies in the North-West is due to open in 2009.
“Creating 1,000 new jobs is no easy feat, but we must see more of this type of activity. It is no coincidence that the opening of the WiSAR Lab coincides with Global Business Incubation Day – I chose this date and event to highlight how much can be achieved when researchers and companies work together. I am calling on every Institute of Technology to ramp-up their activities with local enterprise and to seek out opportunities for collaboration which add value to companies in regional locations” said the Tánaiste.
Paul Hannigan, President of Letterkenny IT said that the ultimate goal of WiSAR is to enable Ireland, and particularly the North West region to reap the economic and technological benefits of wireless sensor technologies. He said that LYIT’s research teams are actively engaged with companies not just in Donegal but in surrounding counties, north and south of the border. “The WiSAR research team is collaborating with a number of Donegal based companies that will directly benefit from our research on wireless sensors. Our door is always open to companies that wish to use research and innovation to adapt and grow their business” said Mr. Hannigan.
Feargal Ó Móráin, Executive Director of Enterprise Ireland said that the WiSAR Lab was successful in its funding application because of its strong industry focus and links with local companies. “Regional enterprise is vitally important, now more than ever, and the Institutes of Technology have a unique and critical role to play by delivering new technologies and innovative solutions to companies in their locality. Letterkenny IT and the other 13 Institutes of Technology are key partners in our effort to increase productivity, exports and jobs in towns around Ireland” he said.
ENDS/ETE1987a
Notes for the Editor:
About WiSAR
- Dr. Jim Morrison and his team in the WiSAR laboratory have been funded through Enterprise Ireland’s Applied Research Enhancement Programme to focus on two key areas of research that will produce useful technology solutions for companies in this sector.
- The first research strand will look at wireless devices that can be worn on the human body, whether in medical devices, for remote health monitoring, disability assistance, or entertainment.
- The second is on the use of these devices in the built environment to allow large modern office and industrial buildings to be as environmentally efficient as possible through monitoring of temperature, light, humidity and people movement.
- The range of companies in which LYIT have already engaged with and will directly benefit from the presence of a WISAR ARE centre include Donegal companies Itronik Ltd, AERNAV Ltd and Eointec Solutions Ltd. Other companies which WiSAR will work with include Needham Research & Development,ChipSensors,Betatherm Ltd, Paceset Ltd. which is a start-up company and Painban.
About Campus Incubation and Global Business Incubation Day
- One of the most important initiatives that support companies that spin-out of third level research, or indeed, spin-in as a result of local entrepreneurship, is the Campus Incubation Programme.
- It is 10 years since Enterprise Ireland launched the Campus Incubators programme and since then 22 business incubation centres have been built at Institutes of Technology in which 240 companies are located around the country.
- In recent weeks the number of people employed in Irish campus incubators has pushed through the 1,000 mark.
- Global Business Incubation Day is a significant milestone for the 240 new companies which are thriving in the safe environment offered by Irish campus incubation centres.
- Celebrations are going on in incubation centres around Ireland today –including incubation centres in Castlebar, Blanchardstown, Cork, Dublin, Limerick and Dundalk - with open days, business breakfasts and guest speakers all forming part of the effort to get more start-up companies and making use of the facilities that are available to support new enterprises in the 22 campus incubators around the country.
- The Campus Incubators provide a range of supports to start-up companies such as mentoring on key aspects of business development, including market research, finance and technology licensing, access to the R&D expertise of the host institution as well as a well-known business and an available pool of students looking for work placement.
Last modified: 08/12/2008
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