Weekend Takeaway: Looking for a venture?


12 Apr 2019

Image: © Drobot Dean/Stock.adobe.com

Essential weekend sci-tech reading, including Norman Crowley’s new e-cars venture, engineering for tomorrow at Jaguar Land Rover and groundbreaking research.

Can Norman Crowley’s Electrifi bring car manufacturing back to Ireland’s future?

Two men in suits stand in front of a pair of classic cars.

Entrepreneur Norman Crowley with Health Minister Simon Harris, TD. Image: Paul Sherwood

From Ford to DeLorean, Ireland’s heritage in car manufacturing is about to be revived thanks to a new venture that will manufacture high-performance electric cars.

‘I want to bring the perception of an engineer into the modern era’

Orla Murphy smiles and holds a piece of in-car acoustic equipment as she stands in front of a Jaguar Land Rover.

Orla Murphy, Jaguar Land Rover. Image: Engineers Ireland

Engineering ‘superhero’ Orla Murphy is on a mission to tell the world how rewarding it is to have an engineering mindset you can match with any other interest.

AIB’s Tim Hynes: ‘95pc of engagement with our customers is digital’

Dark haired smiling man in dark suit with a blue tie.

Tim Hynes, AIB. Image: Orla Murray/SON Photographic

For Tim Hynes, excelling in the 21st century’s digital revolution is not about technology. It is about effective leadership and purpose. He talks with John Kennedy ahead of Inspirefest 2019.

Norwegian firm plans to build 11MW Irish battery facility in €1.5bn plan

Aerial view of wind turbines surrounded by grass against a blue sky.

Image: © MNStudio/Stock.adobe.com

As part of a €1.5bn plan, Norwegian company Statkraft is looking to roll out wind farms and a renewable battery facility in Ireland.

Photos of the last moments of Israel’s Beresheet moon lander revealed

Illustration of the surface of the moon against a black background.

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In what was the first privately funded mission to the moon, the Israeli lander Beresheet crashed not far from its destination.

Navan fintech PFS granted e-money licence by Ireland’s Central Bank

Central Bank of Ireland on Dublin's quays with old buildings and a boat in front of it.

Central Bank of Ireland in Dublin. Image: Klodien/Depositphotos

Granting of fintech licence makes one of Ireland’s largest issuers of payment cards Brexit-ready.

12 established researchers bag almost €12m for groundbreaking projects

Irish Research Council members and researchers posing for a photo in front of Leinster House.

From left: Dr Eavan O’Brien; Prof Michael Zaworotko; Prof Christine Casey; Joe McHugh, TD; Prof John Atkins; Peter Brown; and Liz-Anne Worrall. Image: Marc O’Sullivan

The Irish Research Council is to fund 12 researchers to the tune of almost €12m under the 2019 Advanced Laureate Awards programme.

Bake a cake blindfolded? A multisensory recipe for safe autonomous vehicles

Multicoloured graphic showing LiDAR signals emitting from a vehicle and bouncing off a nearby car.

Image: © temp-64GTX/Stock.adobe.com

Mohammad Musa, co-founder and CEO of the start-up Deepen AI, gives a unique insight into the future of autonomous vehicle sensors.

New Facebook tech to fight ‘fake news’ inspired by age-old Google ranking

Person holding a tablet logging into Facebook.

Person using Facebook on a tablet. Image: Mactrunk/Depositphotos

Facebook has revealed its latest playbook in the fight against misinformation, with its new tech inspired by how Google ranks pages.

How a bad communications strategy at work affects employees

An elevated view of a group of employees in an office boardroom using different methods of communication.

Image: © Vasyl/Stock.adobe.com

Communication from leadership in Ireland is low, with nearly 45pc of employees saying their CEO actively discourages them from dropping into their office.