US multinational reaffirms research commitment in Ireland


28 Jan 2011

US multinational technology corporation Xilinx will be recruiting more PhD-level researchers to support its R&D initiatives in Dublin, the company’s senior vice-president and chief technology officer told a conference in Dublin today.

Dr Ivo Bolsens also reaffirmed Xilinx’s commitment to R&D operations in Ireland as it hosted the conference of Irish and international researchers and industry partners at its EMEA headquarters in Dublin. 

“Today forms a vital element of our global research programmes where Xilinx invests in supporting and sharing our technological advancements with the wider research community. The more that academics and researchers can engage with our advanced systems then the more potential there is to invent even more powerful and beneficial technologies for society in the future,” Bolsens said. 

“We are also dedicated to the establishment of partnerships with innovative companies across Europe who will be the early adopters of our emerging technologies in the future, particularly in the telecommunications, automotive and computing sectors.”

Xilinx, a company that designs and makes programmable microchips, employs 250 people at its EMEA headquarters. The HQ runs an IT, research, development and engineering centre, along with centralised HR, legal, finance and supply chain management functions.

Xilinx Research Laboratories, the division of the corporation tasked specifically with inventive and future-oriented research, also operates a team in Dublin.

Partnership potential

At today’s conference, researchers showcased their work in demonstrations and networking sessions aimed at knowledge sharing in the area of programmable logic design and at fostering potential research partnerships.

“I am impressed by the depth of research expertise and the calibre of work that is being undertaken by the Irish and European research institutes attending our Dublin meeting,” said Bolsens.  

“As a business, we are continually looking globally for new ideas and technologies. Ireland and Europe are recognised for their competency in the field of embedded systems, where microchips are designed to perform specific important functions within electronic systems, and also in mixed signal design which combines analog and digital circuits often into one complete system on an individual microchip.

“The future potential for new and innovative technologies is unlimited in terms of the inventive capacity that exists throughout our business and outwards among the global research community.”