2009 Press Releases
UCC Welcomes Smart Economy Drive
23.07.2009
University College Cork (UCC) welcomes the launch of the strategy “Technology Actions to Support the Smart Economy”, announced recently by the Energy and Communications Minister Éamon Ryan, and Minister of State responsible for the Information Society, Conor Lenihan.
23.07.2009
University College Cork (UCC) welcomes the launch of the strategy “Technology Actions to Support the Smart Economy”, announced recently by the Energy and Communications Minister Éamon Ryan, and Minister of State responsible for the Information Society, Conor Lenihan.
A number of researchers from UCC’s Tyndall National Institute, Ireland’s largest Research Centre, will be part of the initiative.
“UCC, and in particular, the Tyndall National Institute, have the expertise and state-of-the-art infrastructure to support the six actions set out in the Government strategy” said UCC President, Dr Michael Murphy. “InTune Network’s recent recruitment of a number of Tyndall PhD-level researchers is a practical example of UCC’s contribution to the Smart Economy. Mindful of its strategic regional and national roles, the University will continue to supply graduates of the highest calibre to this vital area of the economy,” he added.
Professor Roger Whatmore, CEO, Tyndall National Institute, said Tyndall’s role would be vital in delivering the expertise needed to support the Government-led strategy and added: “The expertise at Tyndall will be a key enabler of the Exemplar Smart Network, thanks to the critical mass of internationally recognised ICT researchers and state-of-the-art research infrastructure that has been developed by UCC with the support of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE) through Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and Enterprise Ireland, and the Higher Education Authority (HEA) through PRTLI, over the past decade.”
Internet traffic is growing at a rate of 50% per annum as more and more users are on-line, for longer, using new bandwidth hungry applications. As the internet becomes increasingly embedded into our everyday lives, an advanced robust and energy efficient telecommunications network is essential to compete and prosper in the global economy.
“Tyndall is developing a range of new optical fibre communication technologies that will address the needs of future Smart Networks both at the component and systems levels”, says Professor Paul Townsend, Head of Photonics at Tyndall. “These advanced technologies will lead to new networks that have significantly higher speeds and capacities with the added benefit of being more energy-efficient and lower cost than those that are deployed today” he added. In order to deliver on these challenges, Tyndall is working very closely with Irish photonic companies, such as Intune Networks, a leader in next generation optical network equipment, optical component suppliers Firecomms and Eblana and major multi-nationals such as BT and Alcatel-Lucent.
Tyndall’s Photonics Centre, which comprises a team of world-renowned researchers equipped with a sophisticated research infrastructure, is a recognised world leader in Next Generation Network development. Communications related research focuses on the development of new solutions in a range of key topic areas including:
• Systems for broadband access, metropolitan and core networks
• Sub-systems integration and packaging
• Optical components including lasers, amplifiers and detectors
• Light-emitting semiconductor materials
This work is funded by a range of agencies: Science Foundation Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, the Higher Education Authority and the EU under Framework Seven. Major programme titles include: Photonic Systems Research, Photonic Integration and the Physics of Photonics.
Tyndall has also established large-scale, strategic industry/academia partnerships in Sustainable Development based on its wireless sensor network capability. In the area of ICT for efficient building energy management Tyndall is a partner in Ireland’s flagship Research Cluster, ITOBO (IT for Optimisation of Building Operation). This €20m cluster is led by UCC and CIT and funded by SFI, EI, HEA, EU FP7 and industry. It has established a critical mass of academic and industry researchers focused on the development of next generation technologies for optimisation of energy usage in buildings. Today, buildings account for 40% of Ireland’s energy usage. The systems currently being developed through this Cluster to monitor and control energy usage in buildings could reduce this energy usage by between 20 and 30%. More recently, Tyndall is collaborating with Wirelite Sensor Ltd. to develop new wireless sub metering and energy management solutions for energy monitoring in commercial and retail buildings. This system is particularly easy to install into existing buildings while curtailing energy usage, energy costs and carbon emissions.
In the area of Environmental Sustainability, Tyndall is partnering with NCSR, EPA, Marine Institute, SFI and companies including IBM and Intelligent Data Systems in delivering autonomous wireless sensor solutions for the development of next generation remote environmental monitoring systems which will address the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive.
A highly skilled work force in ICT is one of the characteristics of a knowledge society. Currently, Tyndall is training over 120 post-graduate students, mostly to PhD level, and a similar number of post-doctoral staff. “This is providing indigenous Irish companies with highly trained and highly skilled talent” explained Professor Whatmore. “It is widely recognised that a high performance telecommunications network is a pre-requisite for establishing a Smart Economy in Ireland. Capitalising on our existing national resources to create an Exemplar Smart Network will accelerate this development.”
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“UCC, and in particular, the Tyndall National Institute, have the expertise and state-of-the-art infrastructure to support the six actions set out in the Government strategy” said UCC President, Dr Michael Murphy. “InTune Network’s recent recruitment of a number of Tyndall PhD-level researchers is a practical example of UCC’s contribution to the Smart Economy. Mindful of its strategic regional and national roles, the University will continue to supply graduates of the highest calibre to this vital area of the economy,” he added.
Professor Roger Whatmore, CEO, Tyndall National Institute, said Tyndall’s role would be vital in delivering the expertise needed to support the Government-led strategy and added: “The expertise at Tyndall will be a key enabler of the Exemplar Smart Network, thanks to the critical mass of internationally recognised ICT researchers and state-of-the-art research infrastructure that has been developed by UCC with the support of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE) through Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and Enterprise Ireland, and the Higher Education Authority (HEA) through PRTLI, over the past decade.”
Internet traffic is growing at a rate of 50% per annum as more and more users are on-line, for longer, using new bandwidth hungry applications. As the internet becomes increasingly embedded into our everyday lives, an advanced robust and energy efficient telecommunications network is essential to compete and prosper in the global economy.
“Tyndall is developing a range of new optical fibre communication technologies that will address the needs of future Smart Networks both at the component and systems levels”, says Professor Paul Townsend, Head of Photonics at Tyndall. “These advanced technologies will lead to new networks that have significantly higher speeds and capacities with the added benefit of being more energy-efficient and lower cost than those that are deployed today” he added. In order to deliver on these challenges, Tyndall is working very closely with Irish photonic companies, such as Intune Networks, a leader in next generation optical network equipment, optical component suppliers Firecomms and Eblana and major multi-nationals such as BT and Alcatel-Lucent.
Tyndall’s Photonics Centre, which comprises a team of world-renowned researchers equipped with a sophisticated research infrastructure, is a recognised world leader in Next Generation Network development. Communications related research focuses on the development of new solutions in a range of key topic areas including:
• Systems for broadband access, metropolitan and core networks
• Sub-systems integration and packaging
• Optical components including lasers, amplifiers and detectors
• Light-emitting semiconductor materials
This work is funded by a range of agencies: Science Foundation Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, the Higher Education Authority and the EU under Framework Seven. Major programme titles include: Photonic Systems Research, Photonic Integration and the Physics of Photonics.
Tyndall has also established large-scale, strategic industry/academia partnerships in Sustainable Development based on its wireless sensor network capability. In the area of ICT for efficient building energy management Tyndall is a partner in Ireland’s flagship Research Cluster, ITOBO (IT for Optimisation of Building Operation). This €20m cluster is led by UCC and CIT and funded by SFI, EI, HEA, EU FP7 and industry. It has established a critical mass of academic and industry researchers focused on the development of next generation technologies for optimisation of energy usage in buildings. Today, buildings account for 40% of Ireland’s energy usage. The systems currently being developed through this Cluster to monitor and control energy usage in buildings could reduce this energy usage by between 20 and 30%. More recently, Tyndall is collaborating with Wirelite Sensor Ltd. to develop new wireless sub metering and energy management solutions for energy monitoring in commercial and retail buildings. This system is particularly easy to install into existing buildings while curtailing energy usage, energy costs and carbon emissions.
In the area of Environmental Sustainability, Tyndall is partnering with NCSR, EPA, Marine Institute, SFI and companies including IBM and Intelligent Data Systems in delivering autonomous wireless sensor solutions for the development of next generation remote environmental monitoring systems which will address the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive.
A highly skilled work force in ICT is one of the characteristics of a knowledge society. Currently, Tyndall is training over 120 post-graduate students, mostly to PhD level, and a similar number of post-doctoral staff. “This is providing indigenous Irish companies with highly trained and highly skilled talent” explained Professor Whatmore. “It is widely recognised that a high performance telecommunications network is a pre-requisite for establishing a Smart Economy in Ireland. Capitalising on our existing national resources to create an Exemplar Smart Network will accelerate this development.”
1182MMcS