Some 25 new technology jobs are to be created in Cork by Swiss 4G component maker U-blox as part of a €1m investment in a new R&D facility.
The Cork facility will be U-blox’s fourth R&D centre in the world focusing on chip design for embedded 4G wireless communications.
The new centre complements U-blox’s 4G/LTE baseband design activities located in Thalwil, Switzerland; Melbourn, UK; and Leuven, Belgium.
“We anticipate a huge demand for LTE connectivity driven by next-generation applications that rely on machine-to-machine communications,” said Andreas Thiel, head of the wireless products development at U-blox.
“To achieve our goal of market leadership in this sector, we have invested in Cork, a city renowned for its high concentration of engineering talent, especially in the area of signal processing. We welcome our new team of industry-leading RF specialists,” Thiel said.
The new centre opened today and is already staffed and operational with plans to grow the headcount to a full complement of 25 people.
The Cork facility will be contributing to U-blox’s objective of producing off-the-shelf 4G chips and modules serving the automotive, industrial and consumer markets.
The news has been welcomed by the Minister for Research and Innovation Sean Sherlock, TD.
“This investment by U-blox is a statement of intent in relation to their commitment to their new operations and helps build on an exciting strong base of high-technology companies in the Cork region and adds to a growing cluster of thriving, innovative companies, which are providing a solid base for future job creation in the city,” Sherlock said.
“This announcement follows a significant job expansion by the EMC company very recently, and shows that there is a growing talent pool of skilled employees to satisfy the needs of discerning multinational companies seeking to set up or expand their operations here,” he added.
4G image via Shutterstock
