Posted 29 May 2013
37 researchers complete first UCD Commercialisation Bootcamp
The first University College Dublin Commercialisation Bootcamp has been completed by 37 researchers who have a specific piece of research or technology they believe is suitable for commercialisation.
One of the participants on the first UCD Bootcamp was Dr Peter Richardson, a postdoctoral researcher in the UCD School of Electrical, Electronic and Communications Engineering.
Pictured far right: Dr Peter Richardson, UCD School of Electrical, Electronic and Communications Engineering
Dr Richardson, along with his colleague Dr Andrew Keane, participated on the Bootcamp to further develop their commercial ideas for smart grid applications in power systems.
The goal of their project is to develop software tools which will enable power systems to successfully incorporate new technologies and energy resources, such as wind generation, on existing electricity networks.
Providing power system operators, planners, and analysts with novel simulation software tools, together with new analytical techniques for studying and optimising power system operation will, they believe, play an important part in the delivery of sustainable and secure power systems and will form an integral part of developing smarter grids.
“After completing the UCD Commercialisation Bootcamp at NovaUCD we now have a deeper awareness and understanding of what it takes to build a commercialisation plan around our research outputs,” said Dr Peter Richardson.
According to Caroline Gill, Innovation Education Manager, who co-devised the five-week Bootcamp, participants gain insight into key commercialisation issues such as clearly identifying the market problem or need and how their proposed solution or technological innovation solves this problem. They will also better understand commercial exploitation routes, the people they need on their team, and their funding requirements.
Participants on the first UCD Commercialisation Bootcamp, represented a total of 19 potential commercial projects emerging from research currently taking place at UCD (32 participants and 16 projects) and at NCAD (5 participants and 3 projects), a recognised college of UCD.
“Demand to participate on the first Bootcamp was so strong that we are planning on running another Bootcamp later this year and we plan to run at least two Bootcamps annually,” said Brendan Cremen, UCD Director of Enterprise and Commercialisation.
“Some of the projects from this inaugural Bootcamp may go on to participate on VentureLaunch, our new 3-month accelerator programme which commences this September and which replaces the NovaUCD Campus Company Development Programme.”
The UCD Commercialisation Bootcamp was devised and delivered by staff of the UCD Office of the Vice-President for Innovation. It included guest presentations by Dr Ruth McMahon, Enterprise Ireland; John O’Sullivan, ACT Venture Capital; and Edward Fidegon Kavanagh, Clear Presentation Design.
NovaUCD, the hub for new ventures and entrepreneurs at University College Dublin, provides purpose-built, state-of-the-art incubation facilities for knowledge-intensive companies alongside a comprehensive business support programme for client companies.
NovaUCD nurtures new technology and knowledge-intensive enterprises. NovaUCD has been funded through a unique public-private partnership that includes AIB Bank, Arthur Cox, Deloitte, Enterprise Ireland, Ericsson, Goodbody Stockbrokers, UCD and Xilinx. www.ucd.ie/innovation
(Produced by UCD University Relations)
