Programmes for Industry
The TEC Centre has successfully completed over 50 projects with its industry partners. These projects have included Enterprise Ireland funded Innovation Vouchers, Fast Track Innovation Vouchers, Innovation Partnerships and Proof of Concepts. The Centre has also completed directly funded applied research projects. The Centre has worked with clients ranging from start-ups, SME’s through to multinational companies. The Centre actively encourages linkages with company at all levels and is happy to facilitate visits to the Centre to view the facilities and meet its research teams.
The Centre’s main objective is to create a one-stop-facility for Industry R&D support in the region. This is being achieved by communicating state-of-the-art in research to industry, creating partnership activities, engaging researchers in industry relevant initiatives and providing effective prototyping facilities. The main areas of interest include wireless systems, wireless sensor networks, miniaturised hardware, software development and intelligent user interfaces.
The development of valuable intellectual property (IP) is essential to the sustainability of the Centre. We have won funding from numerous agencies, including in particular Enterprise Ireland, to develop IP in areas of energy management, smart facilities management, smart sensors and novel electronic systems. In this context the Centre is also part of a larger institutional picture. CIT already has significant knowledge transfer activities. The Genesis Programme, an industry start-up programme, was established by CIT, UCC and EI in 1997 and has supported 95 start-ups. In 2006, CIT opened its Incubation Centre, the Rubicon, which hosts and currently supports over 40 start-ups; it is now the second most successful such Centre in the country. The determination and exploitation of intellectual property (IP) is being actively leveraged within this setting.