Posted 14 May 2014
UCD launches new enterprise gateway
Building on University College Dublin’s successful track record of partnering with business, the university has launched a new enterprise gateway to further streamline access for business to the university’s expertise, students, facilities, services and research outputs. The new UCD Enterprise Gateway will also enable the university to enhance its level of engagement and mutually beneficial collaborations with business.
Pictured far right: William Lyons, Chief Marketing Officer Shimmer, Professor Andrew J Deeks, President of UCD, and Professor Orla Feely, UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact
“University College Dublin already has a strong track record of working alongside business and has partnered with over 350 national and international businesses in the last decade alone,” said UCD President, Professor Andrew J Deeks.
“Through the UCD Enterprise Gateway we will take our level of engagement with business, social and cultural enterprises, government agencies and other enterprise stakeholders to a higher level; adding value, expanding networks and exploring new opportunities to deliver impact through partnership.”
Shimmer, a leading Irish technology company which provides clinical grade wearable wireless sensing technology, has been working in partnership with UCD since 2008. In March the company announced that it had secured a $10 million contract, over 3-years, with US-based Emerge Diagnostics.
Under this deal Shimmer will provide the core platform on which Emerge Diagnostics has developed a Class II portable and wireless medical device to provide a new, cost effective standard in the diagnosis and treatment of soft tissue injuries particularly in relation to occupational injuries. This deal was secured following collaboration with UCD’s Professor Brian Caulfield and his team which resulted in the successful validation of the Shimmer platform for clinical use.
Speaking at the launch of the UCD Enterprise Gateway, William Lyons, Chief Marketing Officer, Shimmer said: “Shimmer is successfully partnering with UCD as our preferred route to market for our products involves collaborating with true industry experts and people with deep domain expertise and such individuals are performing leading-edge research at University College Dublin. By working with UCD’s Professor Brian Caulfield, we have been able to develop commercial opportunities, with global potential, in the area of connected health, moving beyond data capture into understanding what the data really means.”
“Our recently announced $10 million deal with Emerge Diagnostics uses our Shimmer EMG and Motion sensing platforms. The platform was originally validated for clinical use through our collaboration with the TRIL Centre at UCD, and has been key in presenting our technology to our enterprise partners, and the subsequent development of commercial solutions in the areas connected health and clinical assessment,” he added.
“Shimmer has been greatly impressed by UCD’s business first, business friendly approach and by the understanding shown of our size, scale and requirements and the tuning of its approach accordingly.”
Professor Orla Feely, UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact, said, “There is much to be gained from closer collaboration between a world-class university, such as UCD, and a vibrant and ambitious enterprise sector. Research and education can be enriched through engagement with the opportunities and challenges of enterprise. Enterprise can benefit in turn from the insight and ideas of academia and through access to outstanding graduates at all levels. The UCD Enterprise Gateway will facilitate the development of rich and mutually beneficial collaborations between the University and enterprise, providing an essential underpinning for a vibrant economy and an informed society.”
The innovation ecosystem at UCD to support business has been enhanced over recent years through large-scale industry collaborative programmes such as Science Foundation Ireland-funded CSETs and Centres (e.g. Systems Biology Ireland and Insight) and 7 Strategic Research Clusters in areas ranging from Energy to Animal Production to Nanotechnology. In addition three Enterprise Ireland-funded and industry-led technology centres, one in data analytics (CeADAR), one in connected health (ARCH) and one in food for health (FHI), are now based at UCD.
In addition, last year, UCD officially opened NexusUCD, the Industry Partnership Centre which offers high-quality modern office space, with short, medium or long term occupancy arrangements, and associated services to established innovation-led companies who are collaborating, or wish to collaborate, with UCD’s world-class research base and who wish to locate in close proximity to this research base.
NexusUCD complements UCD’s support for early-stage companies through NovaUCD, which has been the University’s hub for new ventures and entrepreneurs at since 2003.
In the last 10-years over 125 companies, which have raised over €90 million in equity funding and have a current annual turnover of just over €70 million, have been based at this state-of-the-art incubation facility. These supported companies, which currently employ some 600 staff, expect to create over 850 new jobs in the next 3-years.
(Produced by UCD University Relations)
