SPIN ACTIVE APPLIED STI
together they form part of an adhesives research group at uCD. With this group, said Michael, there is lots of interaction with students, specialists, industry and the university’s polymer group. Adhesives are of big interest to this group as polymers are often bonded together as composites. these composites are often stronger than metal, lighter, and free from corrosion so they have become common, and we are going to see a lot more of them in new products. “I was always interested in finding out how things work,” said Michael, and at school in Belvedere, he was strong on mathematics, and as he remarked, “I was a bit of a handyman at home.” Deciding to study engineering at UCD, he said, was a natural progression. He found great satisfaction in working on computer modelling, and his aim is to stay in that field. Modelling, he said, is generic in that it can be applied across a number of disciplines, and while he is currently applying his skills to the behaviour of nanoparticles, his future career could lead him into other fields. Michael made a deliberate choice to work with open source software, and he explained that this keeps his overheads low while giving him a lot of flexibility in the application of programs. Whether or not Michael continues working on modelling adhesives is not a big issue, and he is not too concerned about crossing the academic-industry divide provided the work continues to be stimulating and interesting. One of the big benefits of conducting research under the Enterprise Partnership scheme is that Michael can feel at home in an academic or an industrial environment, and indeed had no problem with combining research with teaching. “Teaching and research go hand in hand,” he said. “If you don’t have one, you can’t have the other.” Michael Leonard is among the early career researchers being supported by IRCsEt’s Enterprise Partnership scheme. Anita McGuire from IRCsEt said that this has scheme has been highly successful in solving one of the problems facing both industry and young researchers. Post graduate researchers have often lacked industrial experience, and people running companies can have difficulty in coming to grips with an academic mind-set. Having the opportunity to study and conduct research in both environments means that students can stay connected to both throughout their career. Anita McGuire said since the launch of the Partnership scheme in 2004, 120 companies have become participants. In most cases, she said, this was the first time for companies to make contact with academic research teams, yet, the partnership almost inevitably continues long after the end of specific projects. As Anita remarked, the scheme has resulted in a significant cultural change. Tom Kennedy
Michael Leonard
Getting stuck with science
Nuts and bolts are becoming less common because adhesives are often a lot better at holding components together. Michael Leonard, who is working for his PhD at uCD, explained that unlike bolts and rivets, which act as a focus for strain, adhesives distribute the load evenly over an entire surface. under the IRCsEt Enterprise Partnership scheme, Michael conducts his research in partnership with Henkel, owners of the well-known Loctite brand. His aim is to find out how nanoparticles can boost adhesive performance. Incorporation of nanoparticles, he said, can increase bond strength from ten to thirty times, so they are of enormous interest to manufacturers and engineering companies. Michael’s expertise is in computer modelling, and this can show how the nanoparticles perform. testing of these novel adhesives is carried out by his colleague, DavidMcAuliff, and
Industry centres
WhIlE research centres are usually based in colleges, two new ones are more at home in industry. The Irish Centre for Manufacturing Research, ICMR, is based at Intel, and the Innovation for Ireland’s Energy Efficiency ,I2E2, is based at DePuy. The State backed collaboration involves a number of companies, and initiative aims to foster industry led collaboration in research. Companies involved with ICMR are Intel, DePuy J&J, Boston Scientific, Analog Devices, Seagate, Bombardier, Ceramicx, EMC2, and Pfizer. Partners in 12E2 include DePuy J&J, Analog Devices, Aughinish, Intel, Pfizer, Ceramicx, Crowley Carbon, Bombardier, Carbury, Boston Scientific, EMC2.
ThIS yEAR Enterprise Ireland gave support to 80 exporting start-ups. These are classified by Enterprise Ireland as technology led companies having a high capacity for growth through exporting. Out of the 80, 38 were listed as industrial or life science companies, 34 are software or services, and just eight are food and consumer enterprises. Most, at 85, are home-grown companies, 10 are research spin offs, and 5 were set up outside Ireland or established by returned entrepreneurs. Dublin based companies received most of the support and the Midlands the least. The break down for Dublin was 40, Mid East 7, South 11, Border areas 7, West 5, Mid-West 9, Midlands 1.
Backing the winners
SCIENCE SPIN Issue 47 Page 21