Silicon Republic - R&D

Growcorp yields €7m harvest on sale of biotech firm

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:28:00 +0000

Investment vehicle Growcorp will earn over €7m following the acquisition of Irish biotech firm Neutekbio by Danish company Biomonitor.

European Investment Bank invests €75m in TCD science facility

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 06:00:00 +0000

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has financed the construction of a €75m biomedical sciences research and training facility at Trinity College Dublin (TCD).

IBM invests in new supercomputing and green IT R&D operation

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 13:30:00 +0000

IBM is to create 40 top-quality research positions at its operation in Ireland, as well as in Irish universities, to focus on the future of supercomputing and green data centres.

Dublin wins European City of Science bid

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:57:00 +0000

Dublin has emerged victorious against other European cities for the coveted title of European City of Science.

Watch out iPhone: new geo tech now available for other phone makers

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 10:33:00 +0000

A new start-up has created a new geo-tagging social networking technology that uses a wireless positioning system (WPS) to allow accuracy to 15 feet indoors; up until now only available on the iPhone 3G.

Queen's gets �25m sterling to counter malicious cyber attacks

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:00:00 +0000

Queen's University Belfast is to become the UK's leading centre for the developing technology to counter malicious cyber attacks, after receiving a �25m sterling funding boost from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

2010: A space tourist odyssey

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:11:00 +0000

In space, no one will serve you drinks - or at least not while you're in zero gravity. Besides, the little cocktail stick would float away and the martini would bounce off the walls. Apart from this, Richard Branson wants to make space tourism as normal as hopping on a plane.

Storm delivers semantic web business opportunity for Nortel

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 06:00:00 +0000

A collaboration between technology firm Storm and the National University of Ireland Galway Digital Enterprise Research Institute has resulted in a semantic web system revolutionising catalogue and document management for communications giant Nortel.

Nintendo Wii used in psychology experiment

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:37:00 +0000

A psychology expert is using the Nintendo Wii to investigate how people think and make decisions. He has so far found that people who use the device have a 'truth bias'.

Irish teacher top of the world class for innovation

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:35:00 +0000

An Irish school teacher has come third in the 'Innovation in Content' category at Microsoft's 2008 Worldwide Innovative Teachers Forum (ITF) in Hong Kong.

Microsoft and Dell to help bring 150 tech start-ups to full bloom

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 06:00:00 +0000

Microsoft has unveiled an ambitious new approach to working with start-ups by providing them with free developmental tools and discounts on the purchase of hardware and hosting to free them up to win business and raise venture capital.

UCD tech transfer centre spins out 15 companies

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:28:00 +0000

Some 44 knowledge-intensive companies have occupied incubation space at NovaUCD, including 15 University College Dublin (UCD) spin-out companies commercialising research undertaken in the university.

Wind-energy investment funds tipped to raise €5m

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:41:00 +0000

A specially themed Business Expansion Scheme (BES) aimed at wind-energy technology is to raise €5m from investors, while the equity firm behind it plans to invest a further €7.5m in promising tech start-ups, it emerged today.

Microsoft and LG in mobile and console patents pact

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:06:00 +0000

Microsoft and Korean technology giant LG Electronics have entered into a patent cross-licensing agreement to boost both companies' future product lines in the areas of mobile devices, computing and games consoles.

Mobile internet leader to locate R&D centre in Belfast

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:00:00 +0000

Mobile internet solutions leader Bytemobile is to open a new R&D and customer support centre in Belfast as part of an investment supported by Invest NI.

Green energy tech strategic to Ireland's economic future, says Minister Ryan

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:00:00 +0000

Global investment in clean energy reached record levels of US$148bn, and the Irish Government has plans to position Ireland at the centre of innovation in this field, it emerged yesterday.

Intel global IT R&D director joins university academic staff

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 06:00:00 +0000

The global director of IT Innovation and Research at Intel has been appointed to the academic staff of NUI Maynooth to spearhead the university's industrial collaboration efforts.

High-potential start-up locates software R&D centre at IT Sligo

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:44:00 +0000

A promising young tourism marketing software company has opened a software development centre at Institute of Technology (IT), Sligo. Three software developers from the company will be awarded student status, which will allow them to avail of a tax-free salary.

Green tech could spark third industrial revolution

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:26:00 +0000

Ireland's potential to become a Silicon Valley of green technology is an opportunity that cannot be ignored, and could spell 18,000 jobs for the country, venture capitalists have been told.

Science and technology spending by Govt to increase 3pc in 2009

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:09:00 +0000

The Irish State's investment in science, technology and innovation will be €335m in 2009, up 3pc on 2008 and nine times the expenditure on the field in 2000.

Step into the Matrix - NI to be one of world's successful high-tech economies

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:26:00 +0000

A progressive action plan codenamed MATRIX has been put together with the aim of propelling Northern Ireland into the position of being one of the world's most successful high-tech economies.

Games guru is in 'stealth mode' on new project

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 06:00:00 +0000

Dr Steve Collins, co-founder of Havok, a leading global provider of interactive software and services for digital media creators in the games and movie industries, launched the 11th NovaUCD 'Entrepreneurs Live!' seminar series at University College Dublin (UCD) this afternoon.

€500k investment in life sciences firm will be catalyst for global growth

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:29:00 +0000

A €500,000 investment in a University College Dublin (UCD) spin-out company will allow it to go to market with a technology to help global pharmaceutical firms manufacture drugs in anti-viral and anti-cancer therapeutic areas more cost-effectively.

23andMe to create online breast cancer support network

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 06:00:00 +0000

In acknowledging this October as the 23rd anniversary of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, personal genetics firm 23andMe, in which Google has invested US$3.9m, will be forming a DNA-based network for women who have been impacted by breast cancer.

Microsoft in major European R&D drive - spends US$600m pa on R&D

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:16:00 +0000

Microsoft is to establish three centres of excellence in Paris, London and Munich to support the 40 other R&D operations the company has deployed elsewhere in Europe, on which the company spends US$600m a year in R&D.

Nanotechnology deployed in textiles to fight global MRSA bug

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:40:00 +0000

A novel approach of deploying nanotechnology in textiles to reduce MRSA infection rates in hospitals has resulted in an Irish university team winning funding of €5m to carry out the necessary R&D.

SchoolBots seeks and destroys maths fatigue

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 06:00:00 +0000

If a transition-year student was told they had to learn basic mathematical and computing concepts, how excited do you think they'd be? But what if they were asked to design their own custom robot and pit its moves against other students' robots, ultimately blasting them to pieces? Now you're talking!

Recession makes education a top priority for web surfers

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 06:00:00 +0000

Over 40pc of internet users in this country are using the internet to search for information on courses, classes and college research.

SpaceX makes history as world's first private space vehicle to reach orbit

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:39:00 +0000

SpaceX Falcon 1 space flight
Falcon 1, the launch vehicle developed by Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) has successfully launched and achieved Earth orbit - the first privately developed fuel rocket to orbit the Earth.

RFID and GPS tracking to revolutionise waste recycling across US

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 06:00:00 +0000

An innovative waste-tracking technology employing radio frequency ID (RFID) and global positioning system (GPS) technology developed by a Limerick firm is set to double community recycling rates across the US.