The Link Newsletter _issue 4 Summer 2009

regional development centre

the link issue FOUR SUMMER 2009

A Shared Vision at RDC Baby dragon finds its feet Fergal McCaffery profiled Super seaweed

Foreword

SME Jobs

Credit Union

Time was, researchers did their thing and businesses the link did theirs and ne’er (or only rarely) did the twain meet. A Shared Times have changed. Today, Vision at RDC researchers know that if they want to get their research out there and in such a way that it can make a big difference to people’s lives, then they will need to work with commercial partners. Similarly, technology entrepreneurs understand that to have business acumen is no longer enough to succeed; ideas and innovation are needed, too, and where better to find them than in a third-level institute?

Fund for Startups

regional development centre

issue FOUR SUMMER 2009

Out of the

Dragons' Den

Baby dragon finds its feet Fergal McCaffery profiled Super seaweed

Focus on

Applied Research

SMRC Bonds

with Andor

Looking at the Big

Research Picture A Talent for Software:

Dr Fergal McCaffery

Turning Seaweed

into Energy

Africa's

Fresh Water Challenge

Calling All

Business Brains

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The Regional Development Centre (RDC) is a centre to promote innovation, technology transfer and enterprise in the wider region and is based on the DkIT Campus.

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The benefits of business and research working together, and the supportive role played by the Regional Development Centre (RDC), is the theme of this issue of The Link. The RDC is Dundalk IT’s innovation support and technology transfer organisation. The fact that it is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year says much about the progressive attitude of the Institute in relation to commercialisation activities. Over the past two decades, the RDC has incubated some 80 hi-tech startups and supported 430 entrepreneurs through technologytraining programmes.

Regional Development Centre Dublin Road Dundalk Co Louth

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W | www.rdc.ie

| +353 42 9331161



F | +353 42 9331163 E | [email protected]

Great care has been taken to ensure that this information is accurate, but the Regional Development Centre, including its subsidiaries does not accept responsibility or liability for errors or information which is found to be misleading. Written & edited by Brian Skelly, The Write Business, + 353 86 857-5829

At the same time, the Institute has continued to develop its research base through the creation of new research groups, the recruitment of quality research professionals and the supervision of the Institute’s first homegrown PhDs. The past five years in particular have seen a massive increase in research activity. And not just in scientific disciplines but also in areas of the humanities such as music and creative media where, under the visionary leadership of Dr Eibhlís Farrell, the Music and Creative Media Department is carving an international reputation for itself through the efforts of its large team of senior researchers. The coming months and years will see more and more research being conducted at DkIT, in all disciplines. At the RDC, we look forward to continuing to give our researchers the help and support they need to reap the reward their efforts deserve. We hope that you enjoy this edition of The Link. If you have any comments or suggestions regarding content, or would like to be included on the mailing list, please email [email protected]. Irene McCausland, External Services Manager, RDC Tim McCormac, Head of Research, DkIT

RDC to spearhead regional enterprise project

ICE project – key facts

Dundalk Institute of Technology to lead €2.5m project to create 90 sustainable jobs in SME sector

The Innovation for Competitive Enterprises (ICE) project aims to promote greater prosperity in the southern Border counties, Northern Ireland and western Scotland by helping small local businesses become more innovative, thereby boosting turnover and employment.

Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) is to lead a three-year project that will create 90 sustainable jobs in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in border communities in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and western Scotland. The project, called ICE (Innovation for Competitive Enterprise), will see the Regional Development Centre at DkIT partnering with the University of Ulster, University of Glasgow and Glasgow Caledonian and has been allocated €2.48 million in funding by Interreg IVA, the cross-border co-operation programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).

Small and medium enterprises have tremendous potential to help lay the foundations for economic recovery

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The initiative will concentrate on counties Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Louth, Monaghan and Sligo in the Republic, all of Northern Ireland, and western Scotland. Focused on skills development in a network across the three areas involved, ICE will work with 90 companies in an intensive innovation programme aimed at increasing turnover in participating companies by at least 10 per cent. It is also intended that

an average of three people from each company will be involved in the innovation process so that the programme reaches 270 individuals. In total, 270 companies will attend 27 information sessions to be held between now and 2011 with 135 of these to undergo an innovation audit to measure progress. Irene McCausland, External Services Manager, DkIT said ICE was a timely and relevant initiative in the current economic climate. “Small and medium enterprises have tremendous potential to help lay the foundations for economic recovery and this is especially true in the border region as well as in Northern Ireland and western Scotland where there is an established culture of entrepreneurship. Their business prospects will improve as they gain a competitive edge by innovating across all their operations. “The businesses that participate in this programme over the next three years will be facilitated in introducing new or radically changed products and services as well as internal processes and changed business models. In addition, we will work with them on opening new market segments or niches,” she added. “The approach will be very much one of ‘learning by doing’ and the role of this Institute and our partners at partners at University of Glasgow, Glasgow Caledonian and University of Ulster will be one of supporting companies to grow a own in-house skills and build an innovation culture. With dayto-day pressures taking precedence, there can be a particular issue for smaller companies in finding the time and resources to engage in innovation but it is only by innovating that they can hope to survive and prosper."

The project will promote and encourage the development of an innovation culture through a dedicated in-house project-led approach focusing on commercial rewards and supported by a regional network (the Tri-regional Innovation Network). The four main supports delivered by the Network are:  A regional information resource and network of SMEs for sharing of information, resources and knowledge  Access to regional panel of experts  Access to technology transfer and licensing opportunities  Specialist SME innovation learning programme coupled with incompany mentoring and assistance with innovation planning and implementation The key project targets include:  The creation of 90 new sustainable jobs/placements  At least 15 technology transfer or licensing opportunities identified and investigated  A 10pc increase in turnover at participating companies  270 SMEs attend information workshops for the duration of the project  135 SMEs undergo an innovation audit and feedback results  90 companies to participate in an intensive innovation programme  50 new/modified products/ services/ process or business models developed for commercialisation The project is a three-year programme with a three-month set-up phase. For further information on Innovation for Competitive Enterprise (ICE), contact the Regional Development Centre at Dundalk Institute of Technology on (042) 937 0413.

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Fusing talents

Targeting

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Enterprise

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Contents

Enterprise

Sourcing Product Design’s pitch is very unusual. While some companies design a product for you and others will arrange low-cost manufacturing in China, Sourcing Product Design does both.

A new student enterprise intern, Emma Brabazon, has been appointed by Dundalk IT.

Dundalk CU's funding initiative for startups The internship, which will be given ongoing support and direction by the Regional Development Centre, will commence in September 2009 and run until June 2011. Emma will spend 18 hours per week in this role and combine it with attendance on a Masters programme in DkIT. Emma recently sat her finals for a BBS degree in Marketing & eBusiness.

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Dundalk IT is at the forefront of promoting enterprise among its student population.

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In May 2007, it appointed its first student enterprise intern for a twoyear term and in May 2008 create its second such position. In 2008, a three-year Higher Education Authority-funded project commenced, called ‘Accelerating Campus Entrepreneurship’ (ACE). It is a major cross-Institute programme to promote entrepreneurship among students and is led by Dundalk IT. The student enterprise internship is a key element of this programme.

“There are lots of companies out there that have ideas for products but no idea how to get them off the ground. We can design and engineer the product and then get it quoted and manufactured in China,” explains Woods.

Pictured, from left: Jim Kelly, Chairman, Dundalk Credit Union; Karen Doherty, student; Billy Doyle, CEO, Dundalk CU; Sean MacEntee, Incubation Centre Manager, DkIT; Dermot Ahern TD, Minister for Justice; Ronan Lynch, Student Enterprise Intern, DkIT; Tom D'Arcy, Treasurer, Dundalk CU: and Colm McElarney, student

Getting access to finance in a cashstrapped economy is not easy so Dundalk Credit Union has launched a new scheme that it hopes will encourage budding student and graduate entrepreneurs. The Credit Union, which is celebrating its 40th year in business, has created the Dundalk Credit Union Student Innovation Fund at DkIT to mark its anniversary and to give something back to the community of which it has been a part for four decades. The €15,000 fund is the first of its kind in Ireland. Its aim is to provide essential funding for third-level student projects that show potential for commercial success. It will go towards marketing, prototyping and other related costs for approved projects. The fund was launched by the Minister for Justice Equality and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern TD, at the Dundalk Credit Union office. Speaking at the launch, Minister Ahern commented, “This most welcome and positive initiative by Dundalk Credit Union – the first of its kind in the country – should serve as a template for other organisations and Institutes to replicate.” Billy Doyle, General Manager of Dundalk Credit Union, expressed his Board’s

delight at being able to support student enterprise at DkIT. “This is a novel idea which we believe will result in many more students exploring new venture creation and ultimately self employment – something badly needed in these challenging times. As part of our 40th birthday celebrations we are delighted to be able to make this positive and meaningful financial commitment to both DkIT and Dundalk itself.” “With the downturn in the economy, the concept of self-employment is now becoming a real career option for thirdlevel graduates,” noted Sean MacEntee, Incubation Centre Manager, Dundalk Institute of Technology, at the launch. To be considered for funding, an applicant will need to show some evidence that a market exists for the product or service being promoted. To apply for funding support, students must be in full-time attendance on one of DkIT’s undergraduate or postgraduate courses. The Regional Development Centre in DkIT will administer the fund and significant interest is anticipated. The Dundalk Credit Union Student Innovation Fund will open in September 2009. Applications forms are available from Garrett Duffy ([email protected])

 Ronan Woods of Sourcing Product Design

A product design company that has appeared on Dragons’ Den is the latest graduate of the Regional Development Centre’s Novation EPP programme to make a name for itself. Starting a business is notoriously risky. Every year Ireland produces hundreds of startups and many of them are destined to fail. One that looks like making the grade, however, is Sourcing Product Design (sourcingproductdesign.com), an innovative technical services firm that is based in the RDC at Dundalk IT. Back in March, the company was catapulted to national attention when its co-founder Darren Louet-Feisser appeared on entrepreneur show Dragons’ Den and persuaded dragons Niall O’Farrell, Sean Gallagher and Bobby Kerr to each take a 15pc stake in the business. Industrial designer Louet-Feisser set up the company in January this year along with Ronan Woods, a product design engineer and fellow Carlingford native who worked with Irish electrical products manufacturer Glen Dimplex

It is currently designing 15 different products on behalf of various clients. Three of these products – the Kaylite handbag light, the Toilet Snake cleaning and disinfecting hose and the Tyligo tile-fitting device – were presented in prototype form on Dragons’ Den and now Sourcing Product Design has been asked to design a full working version. Other design projects it has been asked to work on include a teddy bear that speaks Irish and a medical pump. In addition to making products for other people, Sourcing Product Design also designs its own, the first of which – a soldering iron – was featured on Dragons’ Den. Sourcing Product Design recently signed up its first customer, a UK retail chain, for the product, which enjoys patent protection funded by a €6,000 grant supplied by the Leitrim County Enterprise Board. Sourcing Product Design is one of several startup and early stage companies based within the RDC. As a tenant there, the company has benefited from the Novation Enterprise Platform Programme (NEPP), a programme of support for graduate entrepreneurs with an innovative hi-tech business idea (see panel). The RDC is currently promoting the scheme with the slogan, ‘Follow your heart using your head’

The main objective of the Novation Enterprise Platform Programme (NEPP) is to develop the commercial and job creation potential of the participating businesses. The programme delivers comprehensive training in business and management to equip participants to successfully start up and manage a new business. It also helps participants achieve personal and business development goals and undertake market or technical feasibility studies and/or the preparation of a business plan. The programme is open to applicants with a good business idea for a hitech business, at least three years’ relevant experience and who are educated to at least diploma standard. The programme, which lasts nine months, takes place at the Regional Development Centre within DkIT and candidates are required to commit to it full-time. Eligible participants receive a consultancy/travel allowance of approximately €1,150. They may also apply for funding through Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation of Research and Development (CORD) grants. NEPP is funded by the Higher Education Authority under European Regional Development Funds – ‘Investing in Your Future’. Applicants should submit a completed application form with current CV and an outline of their proposed product or service (maximum of three typed pages). Shortlisted applicants will be invited to attend a panel interview. Places are limited and the decision of the interview panel is final. Applications should be sent to: Garrett Duffy, Enterprise Development Manager, Regional Development Centre, Dundalk IT, Dundalk, Co Louth. Tel: (042) 9331161. Fax: (042) 9351412. Email: [email protected]. Closing date for applications is Friday 11 September 2009.

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in China before resigning to co-found the new venture.

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Tech startup follows its About Novation EPP heart using its head

Student enterprise intern appointed The role of the intern is to actively support, promote and develop a spirit of enterprise and self-employment amongst all of the students attending DkIT.

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Enterprise

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Applied Research

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Getting research to market Creating a space where research and enterprise can work together for the benefit of both is a key part of the Regional Development Centre’s mission Much has been written about the massive national investment in R&D through such vehicles as the PRTLI, Science Foundation Ireland and the HEA. But this investment will be of limited value if the intellectual property created in the lab does not find its way into commercial products that improve quality of life and generate wealth, employment and the funds to sustain further research work. DkIT has long recognised the crucial role applied research plays in creating sustained economic and social value. In recent years, through the research and developmental endeavours of its academic staff, it has developed a strong applied R&D reputation in software development, electronics and engineering design, applied humanities, cultural studies and enterprise development and innovation, with growing strengths in the fields of renewable energy, assistive technologies and digital media.

Commercial centre

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Established in 1989, the Regional Development Centre is the Institute’s innovation support and technology transfer organisation. The Centre acts as a commercially oriented interface between DkIT and the industrial, commercial and business life of the region, and makes available the expertise, facilities and resources of the Institute for the wider benefit of the regional economy.

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The RDC has both on- and off-campus incubation facilities to accommodate new or start-up technology or knowledge-based businesses in their early developmental phases. Since its creation the RDC has incubated 80 knowledge-based businesses and supported over 430 entrepreneurs through technology training initiatives. The RDC also engages with industry through a range of applied research initiatives and to date has undertaken

over 80 major research projects with industrial partners. One such initiative is the Enterprise Ireland Research Voucher Scheme, which provides companies with the opportunity to engage in small research projects with the third-level sector through a voucher system. The Institute is currently involved in seven research vouchers schemes with industry. The Institute is also engaged in a number of Fusion projects. Funded through InterTrade Ireland, companies from Northern Ireland partner with universities and Institutes of Technology in the Republic of Ireland to hire a research assistant to work on a technical project over a 12-month, 18-month or two-year period. The Institute is currently involved in nine such projects. A third initiative is Enterprise Ireland’s Innovation Partnership programme. Here, the Institute is involved in a major innovation partnership with the National Centre for Freshwater Studies and has just completed a project with the School of Engineering.

Smooth operators In addition to the applied research programmes co-ordinated by the RDC, the various research teams within the Centre have developed and nurtured their own fruitful partnerships with industry. One of the most successful is that between the Smooth Muscle Research Centre (SMRC) and a fastgrowing Belfast-based technology firm called Andor Technology. With 20 researchers including four principal investigators (PIs), seven PhD students and several postdocs, the SMRC represents the largest group of researchers investigating the control of smooth muscle function in Ireland and the UK. The centre was established in 2005 when Dr Mark Hollywood, along with colleagues Drs Noel McHale, Keith Thornbury and Gerard Sergeant were recruited from Queen’s University Belfast.

Its research focuses on the cellular mechanisms underlying physiological function and how this is modified in a range of conditions including urinary incontinence, erectile dysfunction, lymphoedema, arthritis and ureteric obstruction. "The objective of the research is to find out how different smooth muscles behave in health and disease. That’s our end game,"says Hollywood. The Centre has secured approximately €5 million in research funding since 2005 from competitive international and national sources including NIH (USA), Wellcome Trust (UK), Science Foundation Ireland, the Health Research Board and Enterprise Ireland. The Centre has also produced over 190 publications in high impact peerreviewed journals and five of these have been with Andor Technology. Its relationship with Andor began about five years ago when Andor, a manufacturer of high-end scientific cameras to the physical sciences and astronomy markets, invited the staff at the SMRC to evaluate the potential biological applications of a new camera it had developed. The academic staff at the SMRC jumped at this opportunity because they realised that these sensors could be utilised to offer an insight into how cells maintained and modulated intracellular ions such as calcium and sodium. “Imagine you had a piece of tissue or a single cell and were able to take an optical bacon slicer to it and take very thin slivers – that’s what confocal microscopy in essence allows you to do. You take a very thin optical slice through the tissue and this permits you to gaze inside the cells and find out what’s actually happening to them,” Hollywood explains. The sensitivity of the Andor camera was spectacular, Andor was told, but the company would need to improve

 Dr Mark Hollywood in the SMRC's electrophysiology labs

the rate of imaging for the device to be really useful to the team. So began a remarkable, symbiotic development partnership between Andor and the SMRC which has lasted to this day. There are a number of aspects to the partnership. One is that the SMRC tests new equipment and provides feedback to Andor – in effect becoming a beta testing site for its latest technology. Another is that the SMRC uses Andor technology in its experiments and publishes papers supported by data obtained using this equipment. Thirdly, the SMRC acts as a demonstration facility for Andor equipment, which means that potential Andor customers can come to the SMRC and try out the equipment for themselves. Finally, using Andor technology the SMRC offers a variety of services to pharmaceutical companies. “If a biopharma firm has a candidate drug at the pre-clinical stage and they have don’t have the expertise to do these experiments, we can do it for them,” notes Hollywood.

Five years on, and the SMRC has just this month taken delivery of the latest generation of confocal microscope from Andor. The Andor Revolution, which is housed in labs newly converted from offices within the RDC, consists of a motorised microscope attached to a confocal head, a bank of four lasers, a number of scientific cameras and various couplers, plus associated software. The equipment is sufficiently powerful to allow the simultaneous imaging of up to four wavelengths of light. The equipment will be used to further SMRC’s research efforts into studying the role of a variety of ions, such as Ca2+ within cells and how these are affected by modulating ion channels. These channels are proteins, which act as molecular switches to permit various ions such as sodium, calcium and potassium to flow in and out of cells. The influx and efflux of the ions modulates the activity of the cells and therefore can influence their contractile state. One focus of the SMRC research is to examine if diseases such

as urinary incontinence or Hirschprung’s Disease, a condition that causes bowel obstruction in infants, may be treated by targeting ion channels. In the SMRC’s electrophysiology labs, researchers record ion channel activity and then in the adjacent Cellular Imaging Labs, they use Andor technology to create visual images of that activity. In time, Hollywood is hopeful that through gaining a better understanding of ion channel behaviour it may be possible to develop drugs that can manage such conditions. And in his view, Andor has played an invaluable role in the research effort by supplying technology that allows his researchers to gaze into cells and tissue and understand their inner workings. “It’s been a fantastic journey with Andor; we’ve really enjoyed it,” he says. It is a journey that has proven not only that can academics work well with industrial partners but that the partnership can have significant benefits for both sides..

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Research

Institute’s established research themes. One of our strategic aims is to increase the number of registered PhD postgraduate researchers to 100 by 2014, in addition to increasing the number of Principal Investigators and Postdoctoral Fellows across the Institute. These strategic research targets will require an annual research income of €10-12 million, a target that is already being reached.

A better experience

Research at DkIT – a question of priorities

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One of the big changes that have taken place at Dundalk IT over the past five years is the amount of research that’s conducted here. But it has not just been a question of greater output: the research being done at the Institute is now highly focused, too.

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Realising that it would be far better to excel in a small number of research disciplines rather than be just average at a large number, we decided to invest in strategically important growth areas of research that were aligned with our emerging strengths in specific areas. As a result, the Institute has established a strong reputation in several research areas, including ageing and health, energy and the environment, software engineering, music and entrepreneurship. The research activity is spearheaded by six research centres, one of which,

the Smooth Muscle Research Centre, is profiled on the previous page. The other five are Netwell (Social Networks, Environments and Technologies for Wellness and Ageing-in-place); the National Freshwater Research Centre; the Centre for Renewable Energy; the Software Technology Research Centre; and the Centre for Entrepreneurship Research (CER). The Institute has also recently established three research groups in Creative Media, Electrochemistry and Organic Resource, which also contribute strongly to the overall research output.

Funding growth DkIT researchers have secured an impressive €23 million in research funding in the past five years through national funding bodies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, the Health Research Board, Science Foundation Ireland, the Higher Education Authority and Enterprise Ireland. Funding secured from the latter agency, primarily through the Commercialisation Fund, represents nearly one-quarter of the total research funding secured in the past five years, thus highlighting our researchers’ ability to secure funding for technology transfer activities as well as actual research. Their

success, too, in attracting considerable funding from sources outside the State, such as the Wellcome Trust, the European Union Framework Programmes and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the US, is also worth noting.

Research Funding €M

The Institute’s strategy of focusing research efforts on a small number of key areas where there is critical mass, sustainability and relevant expertise has been an unequivocal success, writes Dr Tim McCormac, Head of Research at DkIT

PhD priority There are currently more than 50 registered postgraduate research students at DkIT. This represents almost a 250% increase since 2003. The increase can be directly attributed to the creation of the Institute’s research centres and groups, and their immediate impact on its research activities. At present, approximately half of all research postgraduate students work within the six research centres, with close to 90% involved in research consistent with the

We strongly believe in enhancing the learning experience of our postgraduate PhD research students. We have therefore begun the rollout of structured PhDs in priority research areas. This will ensure that not only will the Institute produce the well motivated and highly trained researchers that are required for Ireland’s economic revival but that it remains an attractive research destination for undergraduate students wishing to pursue a research career.

Code shark Dr Fergal McCaffery joined DkIT in February 2008 as an SFI-funded Stokes Lecturer within the Department of Computing & Maths and a researcher within the Software Technology Research Centre (STORC) When interviewed for The Link, Dr Fergal McCaffery had just come back from a week-long conference in Vancouver and was just about to head off to another big international event in Helsinki. Who said researchers’ lives aren’t glamorous and exciting?

The principal mechanisms that will drive the development of structured PhD programmes include leveraging the expertise available through the Research Alliance within the IOT sector, which is funded through the Strategic Innovation Fund, and the Institute’s existing strategic partnerships with universities. In addition, the Institute is preparing to roll out, in September 2009, a series of generic skills training modules for all researchers across the Institute.

Well, probably McCaffery himself for one. The quietly spoken Co Armagh native is much more concerned about furthering his research interests than he is living a jet-set lifestyle. Those interests centre on software process improvement for medical devices. He heads up an international project called MediSpice, which is working to develop an international software improvement assessment standard for the medical devices industry.

In conclusion, over the past five years Dundalk IT has dramatically upped its game in relation to research by focusing its efforts on a number of specific areas. In doing so, it has developed a reputation that in some cases truly merits the description “world class”. This is a very welcome development for the Institute whose standing within the national and international research community is greatly enhanced. It is good news from a national perspective, too, because it clearly shows that the Institute and its researchers are playing their part in creating the smart economy that is needed to set the country on a course of sustainable growth and prosperity.

In recognition of his work, McCaffery was recently invited to join the prestigious SPICE Academy which currently consists of 15 of the world's leading software process researchers and is the main player in relation to developing international software standards and research themes.

For more information on the Institute's research activities please contact Dr Tim McCormac [email protected]

The development of such a standard will, he believes, incentivise more Irish software firms to move into the medical devices space by providing them with a means to develop safer software of a more consistently high quality and more quickly than they can at present. He argues that if can Ireland can demonstrate that it has expertise in the development of highquality medical device software, then global medical device firms – many of which are already present in Ireland

in a manufacturing capacity – would also be prepared to make Ireland their software development hub as well. The work being done by McCaffery and his colleagues will, therefore, act as a crucial bridge between two major industries in Ireland – medical devices and software development. In addition to this work, McCaffery is heavily involved in STORC, whose research work is focused on two main areas: software process improvement and software spreadsheet engineering. STORC’s five-person team comprises director Dr Gerry Coleman, Dr Kevin McDaid, Ronan McRuairi and Frank Keenan as well as McCaffery himself. Since joining DkIT, McCaffery has wasted no time seeking additional sources of funding for his research. In April, he was awarded €385,000 under the EU Framework Programme 7 Artemis programme for Charter, a panEuropean research project aimed at improving the software development environment for safety-critical embedded software. Before coming to DKIT, McCaffery worked as a Senior Research Fellow at UL. Prior to that, he worked as a software engineer and architect with Nortel Networks in Belfast. Outside of work, he has been just as busy. Married to Caitlin, he has five children under ten years of age. So, whether at work or at home, there’s hardly a dull moment for this high achiever.

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Dr Caroline Gilleran, Lecturer, DKIT and Dr Paul MacArtain, Credit

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west coast of Ireland. Seaweeds can grow quite fast and you can get a lot of biomass out of them. The aim of our research is first of all characterising what’s in them and, secondly, investigating their potential for energy use. This will involve fermenting them for biogas and experimenting with bioethanol production from seaweed.” The latter will be done using the biofueltesting laboratory at DkIT. One of the ultimate objectives of the project is to find a more sustainable way to meet the energy requirements of remote, dispersed communities, which currently rely heavily on fossil fuels being transported to them. Developing a sustainable local source of energy would help offset this reliance. In addition, with the European Parliament calling for 10% of road transport fuel to come from renewable sources by 2020, sustainable, industrial-scale biofuel production has become an urgent challenge.

Turning seaweed into energy Using seaweed to power your car may seem far-fetched but DkIT researchers are involved in a project which is exploring this and other possibilities for the humble marine plant.

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“The focus of the project is to harness bioenergy available from the marine environment,” explains Dr Paul MacArtain, Research Manager at Credit. “The two major areas we’re looking at are macroalgae – otherwise known as seaweed – and microalgae, which are micro-plants.”

BioMara is being led by the Scottish Association for Marine Science (Sams), an independent marine research institute whose particular expertise is in microalgae. Credit’s focus, on the other hand, is on macroalgae (seaweed). “They grow relatively quickly, depending what part of the world you’re in, and they’ve been exploited for food use since the second world war,” says MacArtain, who adds that Ireland, particularly its craggy west coast, is extremely rich in the marine plant. “There is a lot of seaweed around the

The BioMara team will also be initiating joint projects with companies with the aim of developing commercial applications from the research.

Fresh water is something we all take for granted but in Uganda the lack of potable water is one of the biggest developmental challenges it faces. Now a team of scientists from DkIT is heading up a major research project looking at ways in which water quality can be permanently improved throughout the continent of Africa

The €6 million BioMara research project was launched in April and is expected to last four years. It has received €4.9 million from the EU’s Interreg IVA programme, with additional funding coming from Highlands & Islands Enterprise, the Crown Estate, Northern Ireland Executive and the Irish Government. DkIT’s research partners on BioMara are Sams, the University of Strathclyde, Queen’s University Belfast, the University of Ulster and the Institute of Technology, Sligo. The four-person research team at DkIT will include two PhDs and two postgraduate researchers, along with a cross-border education officer whose job will be to produce educational material for schools, communities and businesses to make them more aware of the bioenergy area and the opportunities afforded by it. More information: [email protected]

Last year a consortium led by DkIT and including NUIM, DCU, TCD, DIT, RCSI, UCD and QUB secured €1.5 million in funding under the Irish Aid and HEA Programme for Strategic Co-operation between Irish Aid and Higher Education and Research Institutes (2007-2011) for a project called ‘Water is life’.

Seaweed photograph courtesy of Sams

DkIT’s Centre for Renewable Energy (Credit) is one of the six academic partners involved in Sustainable Fuels from Marine Biomass (BioMara), a new UK and Irish joint project that aims to demonstrate the feasibility of producing third-generation biofuels from marine biomass.

DkIT researchers take on clean water challenge

According to Dr Suzanne Linnane, Director of the National Centre for Freshwater Studies at DkIT, the project is about building research capacity in sustainable water resource management in Ireland and Africa. She says that water resource management is seen as the “catalyst for future sustainable social development and economic growth” in Africa and other underdeveloped and developing regions.

The project is extremely broad in its scope. Research being undertaken ranges from technical aspects of water management, such as water sourcing, pump design, rainwater harvesting and solar disinfection of water, to the social impact of water – the effect clean water provision has on women and children for example – and participation in the governance of local water supplies. “It’s very broad but at the centre of it all is the village pump. Everything just ripples out from there to the wider community,” she says.

The Irish research partners are working with Makerere University in Uganda and a number of NGOs on the ground in that country, including the Medical Missionaries of Mary. Each of the partner institutes

provides a lead supervisor in Ireland. There is also a co-supervisor based in Makerere University who oversees the fieldwork of the researchers. It is envisaged that most of these will be African but there will be some Irish researchers working there as well. All of them will be qualified to honours degree or masters level in an appropriate discipline such as geology, mechanical engineering or social studies. In addition to ‘Water for Life’, the National Centre for Freshwater Studies is also involved in a number of other major projects including the National Source Protection pilot project, whose focus is rural water provision; an EPAfunded project on waste management; and the National Onsite Waste Water Treatment Systems study, of which it is project leader.

RDC News

Calling all enterprising graduates As part of a wider response to the economic downturn, Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) is encouraging enterprising graduates with professional experience to return to the campus to develop their business ideas. The President’s Enterprise Development Programme for Alumni is likely to be of particular interest to Institute graduates keen to develop their own businesses having experienced changed circumstances arising from the ongoing recession. The programme will offer participants three months of free business training and mentoring from July to September and they will also have free access to shared office space and funding to develop their business concept. While priority will be given to applicants who have graduated from the Institute and worked for five years

Pictured launching the President’s Enterprise Development Programme for Alumni, were, from left: Aidan Devenney, Programme Mentor; Garrett Duffy, Enterprise Development; Denis Cummins, President; and Sean MacEntee, Incubation Centre Manager (all DkIT)

or more, any surplus places will be allocated to those planning to locate their new enterprise in the northeast region. It is also envisaged that several participants from the programme will go on to join the nine-month Novation Enterprise Platform Programme commencing in October. Novation EPP has helped foster over 60 new businesses employing more than 300 people over the last eight years.

The Institute has also introduced a taster programme in business for those currently out of work while a new year-long graduate diploma is allowing those with a Level-8 primary degree to gain a postgraduate qualification in information and communications technology. Also on offer is a Higher Diploma (HDip) in Small Enterprise Support, which will be available on a part-time basis for the first time from September.

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Issue 4

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Music conference hits right note

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An electro-acoustic concert, singing, a creative media and film exhibition, an eclectic mix of academic sessions – all these and more were part of a varied and thought-provoking programme at the recent Foras Feasa conference held at Dundalk IT earlier this month, in association with the Institute’s Department of Music and Creative Media. The conference theme was ‘Humanities: Challenging the Future’, a premise that reflects the growing impact of digitisation on the arts and humanities. Keynote speaker and guest of honour Dr Christopher Cahill, Executive Director of the American Irish Historical Society (AIHS), New York City, stressed the ongoing importance of the arts and humanities and of preserving cultural legacies, particularly in tough economic times when the arts can be marginalised and starved of funding.

A number of speakers were DkIT researchers who presented papers on recent research work they had done. They include Foras Feasa Postdoctoral Fellow Ian Wilson who discussed the merits of combining traditional music performance practice with new technology and Gerry O’Connor who gave an insight into Luke Donnellan’s Dance Music of Oriel. The strong emphasis on research was not a coincidence. Since it was established in 2004, the Department of Music and Creative Media has made research a core activity, according to departmental head Eibhlís Farrell. “It’s important for students to know that you’re not just teaching in a vacuum: you’re part of a wider research community and contributing something to your art-form.”

There are some 15 researchers in the Department and it is soon to boast the Institute’s first two PhDs in the persons of Aylish Kerrigan and Linda Butler, who respectively have done doctorates on ‘Schoenberg’s The Book of the Hanging Gardens’ and ‘Young People’s Community Theatre Practice’. Foras Feasa (Irish for ‘foundation of knowledge’) is otherwise known as the Institute for Research in Irish Historical and Cultural Traditions. Based in NUI Maynooth and comprising staff from humanities and computer science departments in four institutions – DCU, DkIT, NUI Maynooth and St Patrick’s College Drumcondra – it supports individual and collaborative research projects in the areas of humanities and technology. It received funding of €5.8 million in 2006 under the Government’s PRTLI Cycle 4 programme.