The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar TD has announced the successful applicants of the Capital Equipment Fund administered by Enterprise Ireland through the Technology Gateway and Technology Centre Programmes. 29 successful projects from across the third level sector have secured over €6million in funding to assist them in buying world-leading research equipment that will serve the Research and Development (R&D) needs of Irish industry.
The €6m fund will provide companies with access to critical, leading-edge equipment that will allow them to engage in R&D activities, pilot manufacturing capability for new products and process development, enhance technology validation and testing capabilities, test bed generation and enhanced training potential for key industry staff on emerging technologies in collaboration with the technology gateways and technology centres across Ireland.
The winners were selected through a rigorous evaluation process based on eligibility criteria for the call which included, but was not limited to, a strong track record of industry engagement, a significant industrial need for the new equipment, and space to service and maintain the equipment according to international standards.
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar TD said:
“This €6m Capital Equipment Fund will give 29 projects across the country access to world-class research equipment, helping them test new products and ways of doing things. We hope to see some exciting new ideas and breakthroughs as a result. Great things happen when companies collaborate with third level institutions. Recent data show that companies which collaborate with our universities have double the turnover of those that don’t. Third level institutions benefit too, by getting to work with creative, business-minded entrepreneurs, working on solutions to real life problems. Congratulations to all the successful applicants, I look forward to seeing the fruits of this collaborative effort.”
Gearoid Mooney, Divisional Manager, Research & Innovation at Enterprise Ireland said:
“This important investment coupled with the support and expertise of our technology gateways and centres will enable Irish industry to pursue their own innovation agendas particularly on challenges where they don’t have all of the resources “in house”. The successful projects announced today will provide equipment that is essential to serving the R&D needs of Irish industry and may give them an opportunity to try important assets before they invest in them.”
About the Capital Equipment call
Of 54 eligible applications reviewed, 29 have been approved for funding totaling €6,026,116. Funding was based on an extensive review process which looked at the number of companies that will benefit and the criticality of the equipment to servicing their R&D needs, how access to the equipment can be shared across the technology gateway and technology centres network and current capability gaps within the collaborative research system that can be alleviated by making this equipment available.
Successful applicants
| Gateway / Centre | Description |
| Dairy Processing Technology Centre (DPTC) – UCD | Particle Track |
| Shannon Applied Biotechnology Centre (Shannon ABC) – Limerick IT | Supercritical Fluid Extraction Suite |
| Telecommunications Software & Systems Group (TSSG) – Waterford IT | Botscan |
| MiCRA – TU Dublin | Multimode Microplate Reader |
| Nimbus – MTU-Cork | Cyber Range |
| Shannon Applied Biotechnology Centre (Shannon ABC) – Limerick IT | Controlled Environmental Laboratory |
| Pharmaceutical & Molecular Biotechnology Research Centre (PMBRC) – Waterford IT | Near Infrared Spectrometer |
| MCCI – Tyndall National Institute, Cork | Power Test System for High Voltage |
| Centre for Advanced Photonics & Process Analysis (CAPPA) – Cork IT | UV Raman and fluorscence spectograph |
| Applied Polymer Technologies (APT) – Athlone IT | Multilayer Extrusion Line |
| South Eastern Applied Materials Research Centre (SEAM) – Waterford IT | Micro x-ray Fluorescence Analysis System |
| Applied Polymer Technologies (APT) – Athlone IT | 2D Fourier Transform Infra Red Microscope |
| South Eastern Applied Materials Research Centre (SEAM) – Waterford IT | Coordinate Measurement Machine |
| South Eastern Applied Materials Research Centre (SEAM) – Waterford IT | White Light Interferometer |
| Applied Polymer Technologies (APT) – Athlone IT | Screw Driven Melt Reactor |
| DPTC – Teagasc | Automoated FAME Robotic System |
| MTI – Teagasc | X-Ray Computed Tomography Scanner |
| MiCRA – TU Dublin | Ion Chromatograph |
| Centre for Advanced Photonics & Process Analysis (CAPPA) – MTU Cork | Benchtop nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer |
| CREDIT- DkIT | Environmental Test Suite |
| CREST – TU Dublin | Invertered Fluorescent Microscope |
| Wireless Sensor & Applied Research (WiSAR) -Letterkenny IT | 90GHz Anechoic Chamber |
| CREST – TU Dublin | Servo-hydraulic Testing Machine |
| CREST – TU Dublin | Weatherometer |
| FHI – Teagasc | Sequencing System |
| DPTC – UL | Elemental Analysis suite |
| CREDIT – DkIT | Hemisphere Scanning LiDAR |
| Precision Engineering, Materials & Manufacturing (PEM) – IT Sligo | 5 Axis Milling Machine |
| Shannon ABC – MTU Tralee | Environmental Monitoring Suite |