Appliance of science in everyday gadgets to be showcased in Cork

The wonder of science and how it is being applied to everyday gadgets in homes, hospitals and other settings are being displayed this week.

A three-day showcase event in Ballincollig, Co Cork, is not just highlighting the big industry names with which Tyndall is already partnering on major projects, corporations like Henkel Corporation, Intel, Analog and Seagate, not all of which are big employers here.

The aim is also to put some of those companies in the same room as Ireland’s employment agencies and others to encourage investment in more than just research in Ireland.

“We work with seven of the 10 biggest medical devices companies in the country, but they are all big multinationals. There are companies here who we partner with and who agencies like IDA, Enterprise Ireland and others want the opportunity to meet about foreign direct investment,” said Tyndall National Institute business development executive Carlo Webster.

The centre generates 85% of its annual €32 million income from competitively-won contracts, although around 10% comes from taxpayers. Some of the biggest research centres in Europe are also attending as they consider wider collaborations with Tyndall, whose research capabilities were highlighted as being of particular interest by global technology firm which opened a 100-job IT solutions centre in Cork last week.

Research and Innovation Minister Sean Sherlock said the institute is having a big impact on job creation by working with industry to find ways of doing things in new and better ways, or to create new products.

“The philosophy here is simple, it’s about taking excellent research, bringing industry in with their challenges and designing technological solutions for those challenges and then commercialising that opportunity and creating jobs,” he said.

Tyndall National Institute has 460 researchers, engineers and support staff from 38 countries, working with 200 industry partners worldwide.

After focusing on healthcare and medical devices yesterday, leaders in the world of communications are attending to highlight research excellence, with energy and the environment under the spotlight tomorrow.