| 2003 |
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YEAR BOOK |
University College Dublin
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NovaUCD - The Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre at University College Dublin
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NovaUCD developments
Building and reconstruction work of Phase I of NovaUCD, University College Dublin's (UCD) exciting new Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre, were completed earlier this year. This purpose-built centre offers supportive environment and incubation facilities to assist innovators and entrepreneurs in taking their ideas from proof of principle to full commercial success.
NovaUCD promotes innovation and technology transfer by:
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� Supporting entrepreneurs, campus companies and other knowledge-based ventures
� Protecting and exploiting intellectual property arising from UCD research � Promoting contract research and other forms of university-industry co-operation. |
The first Phase of NovaUCD is 2,850 sq.m. in size and consists mainly of purpose-built incubation facilities for entrepreneurs and knowledge-based companies, with over 40 incubation units, ranging in size from 15 sq.m. to 64 sq.m. In addition to incubation space, NovaUCD clients will have access to a range of facilities including 'hot desks', seminar and meeting rooms, conference facilities and, where appropriate, other specialist facilities on the University campus. Support services for business development include a mix of advice, mentoring, continuing professional development, and access to seed funding. With the support of Enterprise Ireland, NovaUCD will also significantly strengthen the support available to UCD for technology transfer, particularly for the protection and commercialisation of intellectual property arising from the University's research programme.
The founding sponsors of NovaUCD are AIB Bank, Arthur Cox, Deloitte & Touche, Enterprise Ireland, Ericsson, Goodbody Stockbrokers, UCD and Xilinx Ireland. NovaUCD is committed to working with the founding sponsors and other organisations, such as patent agents FR Kelly & Co., to ensure the successful development of the NovaUCD support programme.
'The Journey of the Entrepreneur' from research to commercial success
New ventures arising from University-based research programmes are increasingly critical for developing and sustaining a knowledge-based economy. Earlier this year, NovaUCD organised a series of seminars, in association with Frank Roche, UCD's Berber Professor of Entrepreneurship, aimed at helping researchers to realise their entrepreneurial potential by increasing their awareness of a range of issues relating to the commercialisation of their research. This novel series of seminars was run over 11 weeks and was entitled 'The Journey of the Entrepreneur'.
The seminars followed the 'Journey of the Entrepreneur' from the preparation of a research proposal, through the identification and protection of resulting intellectual property, on to the implementation of successful routes to commercialisation. Speakers at these seminars included entrepreneurs from UCD campus companies, researchers involved in commercialisation of UCD's research output, along with professional advisors and external experts.
Campus Company Development Programme
The seventh Campus Company Development Programme (CCDP) awards ceremony, which is a major event in the NovaUCD calendar, took place in November 2002. The objective of the CCDP, which is a joint initiative of NovaUCD and Enterprise Ireland, is to assist academic entrepreneurs to develop their business ideas, through a series of workshops, intensive coaching, mentoring, and practical business assignments. The annual awards ceremony is the culmination of nine-months of intensive work by university entrepreneurs in the planning and establishment of their new ventures.
An innovative engineering company, BiancaMed Ireland, whose promoters are Dr Conor Heneghan and Dr Philip de Chazal of UCD's Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, were declared the overall winner of CCDP 2002. BiancaMed Ireland develops smart medical signal analysis products. The company's core focus is in the areas of sleep medicine, diagnostic cardiology, and critical monitoring. Their first product will enable the diagnosis of sleep apnea using home-based electrocardiogram recordings.
Significant developments for Spectral Signatures Ltd
Spectral Signatures Ltd was founded in the early 1990s by Dr E�n O'Mong�in of UCD's Department of Experimental Physics as the commercialisation route for the extensive research programme in his Applied Physics Research and Remote Sensing Groups. The company provides products and services related to environmental monitoring, particularly of water quality.
In a significant recent development, three Environment Agencies - The Environment Agency of England and Wales, The Scottish Environment Protection Agency, and The Irish Environment Agency - have adopted a product invented by Spectral Signatures to monitor their water quality. The ChloroFlow product is used to analyse water quality in seas, bays, estuaries, rivers, and lakes. A sample of water can be analysed for its water quality, in just one minute, by the ChloroFlow product, giving monitoring agencies a quick and accurate assessment of the chlorophyll levels in water. High chlorophyll levels, indicating the development of algal blooms, are a sign that the water sampled has become over-rich with nutrients, and that the water is in danger of losing its dissolved oxygen levels which are essential for maintaining high water quality.
Contact: Mic�al Whelan, Project Manager, Communications, NovaUCD;
Tel: +353 1 716 3712; Fax: +353 1 716 3709;
E-mail: [email protected] ; Web: http://www.ucd.ie/nova