Posted 14 February 2014
Three UCD spin-out companies make shortlist for Irish Times InterTradeIreland Innovation Awards
Three of the eighteen companies shortlisted for the 2014 Irish Times InterTradeIreland Innovation Awards are University College Dublin (UCD) spin-out companies: APC Ltd, Equilume Ltd and Oxymem Ltd.
The Awards showcase excellence in innovation, across a range of groundbreaking products and services from all sectors and company sizes across the island, North and South. In recent years the overall winners have created innovations as diverse as drug delivery systems and state-of-the art network switching, to anti-allergy pillows and new technologies for cleaning and disinfection.
“One of UCD’s key innovation themes is to grow and support new high-tech and innovative businesses which have global impact. The fact that three of the eighteen shortlisted companies for these Awards have emerged from UCD demonstrates the quality of our start-up companies all of whom have been supported through NovaUCD, our Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs,” said Professor Peter Clinch, UCD Vice-President for Innovation.
APC Ltd was co-founded by Professor Brian Glennon and Dr Mark Barrett in 2011 as a spin-out from the UCD School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, based on over 15 years of research into chemical and bio-process design, optimisation, scale-up and transfer.
APC provides streamlined chemical engineering solutions and technologies to large and small pharmaceutical companies to ensure the delivery of robust and scale-independent processes.
Equilume Ltd, established in 2012, has developed a light therapy solution to assist global Thoroughbred breeders to maximise the reproductive efficiency and performance in their horses.
The company’s Equilume Light Mask is a novel automated mobile lighting device which fits comfortably under a horse’s head collar. The Mask has been scientifically proven to provide the optimum level of blue light to a single eye of a mare to successfully advance her breeding season.
The Equilume Light Mask has been developed as a result of ground breaking research carried out by company founder, Dr Barbara Murphy in the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science in collaboration with Professor John Sheridan, an optoelectronics researcher, in the UCD School of Electrical, Electronic and Communications Engineering.
OxyMem Ltd, which has developed a breakthrough technology for wastewater aeration, was co-founded in 2013 by Professor Eoin Casey and Dr Eoin Syron as spin-out from the UCD School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering.
Until now wastewater aeration has been a very energy intensive process which has relied on ‘forced’ or ‘bubble aeration’ to deliver oxygen to the bacteria that breakdown the wastewater. Pumping and treating wastewater typically accounts for up to 2.5% of all electrical power produced in a developed country and the aeration process comprises, on average, of 60% of this energy.
OxyMem’s patented technology does not rely on a bubble to deliver oxygen to the bacteria. Instead its use a gas permeable membrane to deliver oxygen directly to the micro-organisms resulting in up to 99% oxygen transfer efficiency, as no oxygen is lost to atmosphere. The company’s ‘bubbleless’ aeration system is typically four times more energy efficient than best in class solutions available today.
The finalists in each category were selected by an independent panel of judges.
Winners in each of the six award categories, and an overall winner, will be announced at an awards ceremony in Dublin on 9 April 2014.
(Produced by UCD University Relations)
