Embracing R&D In The South East
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Dr. William Donnelly,
Head of Research, WIT |
Waterford Institute of Technology is at the forefront when it comes
to Research, Development and Innovation.
When it comes to supporting regional development and sustaining a competitive
economy, Dr. William Donnelly is definite about the strategy that WIT
is embracing for its own region.
"Fourth-level education and postgraduate research is the major educational
growth area for WIT. The Institute's strategic plan recognises the
unique role of the Institute as a catalyst for regional innovation and
economic development." Currently there are over 200 funded research
projects at WIT.
WIT holds many international partnerships with industry, academia and
commerce. Dr. Donnelly explains, "an area of particular interest
for the Institute has been the emergence of internationally recognised
research Centres of Excellence that are strategic to regional and national
economic development. The Institute has established a support infrastructure
to ensure that the Intellectual Property (IP) generated from its research
activity is fully exploited for economic development." At the heart
of this infrastructure is the Institute's Research and Innovation
Centre on its Carriganore Campus.
The Centre is the base for a unique combination of related activities;
the Institute's largest research group (the Telecommunications Software
and Systems Group or TSSG, with over 100 full-time research staff), a
number of high-potential start-up companies, the South East Enterprise
Platform Programme and the Centre for Entrepreneurship.
Working With Industry
The Institute has a proactive approach to working with industry on collaborative
research and is currently engaged in active programmes of research with
companies such as Waterford Crystal, NN Europe based in Kilkenny, Merck
Sharp Dohme, the Health Service Executive, Bausch & Lomb and Motorola's
research laboratories based in Chicago.
Another important way that the Institute's research community supports
regional economic development is through its international research links
with industry and academia. This allows the Institute to make available
to local industry international best practice and state-of-the-art ideas
and innovation. "We benchmark our research and innovation against the
highest international standards," concludes Dr. Donnelly.
| INTERNATIONAL CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE |
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The question is, can Ireland position
itself as an international centre of excellence in these research
areas? Dr. William Donnelly, Head of Research, WIT comments, "we
can clearly see from our own developments that it is realistic for
Ireland to develop a leading international role in a number of key
scientific areas. For our own position we see telecommunications software
and services, separation science, advance materials and macular pigment
as areas where we have established international centres of excellence.
It is important that the link is made between regional development
and economic development and investment in postgraduate research
and development in regional institutes such as WIT," says Dr.
Donnelly who ends on a positive note, "we have proven that
government investment in research at WIT provides a very large payback
in regional economic development."
For further information contact WIT's School of Research
T: 051 84 5501, E: info@wit.ie,
W: www.wit.ie
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