Intel Ireland Awarded Trinity College Dublin Innovation Award 2009
Posted on: 16 November 2009
Trinity College Dublin awarded the College’s annual Innovation Award to Intel Ireland (November 16th). Each year Trinity College presents an Innovation Award to an individual or organisation deemed to have made an outstanding contribution to the promotion of an entrepreneurial culture within Trinity College or Ireland in general.
This year the Award was presented to Intel Ireland, led by Jim O’Hara, to celebrate 20 successful years in Ireland.
TCD Provost, Dr John Hegarty and Jim O’Hara of Intel Ireland
Jim O’Hara accepted the Award on behalf of Intel Ireland, and highlighted some of the many successful collaborations with Trinity over the last 20 years.
– CRANN – Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices. Intel Ireland’s participation in CRANN demonstrates a commitment to nanotechnology research in Ireland towards the provision of high-end solutions to future industry needs.
– TRIL – Technology Research for Independent Living. Intel’s Digital Health Group is working with Trinity researchers in a multi-institutional consortium committed to supporting the research and development of technologies that will support independent ageing, ideally in a home environment. TCD’s involvement underpins programmes in the domains of social connection, cognitive function and falls prevention research.
– Havok – in 2007 Intel Corporation acquired Havok Inc. a spin out company from Trinity College Dublin which went on to become the leading provider of interactive software and services used by digital media creators in the game and film industries.
On presenting the award, TCD Provost, Dr John Hegarty stated: “The 2009 TCD Innovation Award is being presented to Intel Ireland in recognition of their unwavering support for research and development in Ireland over 20 years. It also acknowledges the dynamic partnership provided by Intel Ireland to educational, research and collaborative projects with the university sector in Ireland during that period. These engagements illustrate how Intel and Trinity have collaborated on technological and social challenges of fundamental importance to society, accelerating the success of partnering and bringing new products and services to the market place.”
“In addition to its community affairs, Intel has, through its significant growth, its training of Irish engineers and scientists and its renewal of facilities, portrayed to the global ICT industry a most favourable picture of Ireland as a location for technologically advanced and innovative manufacturing on a previously unattained scale.”
Intel Ireland became the sixth recipient of the TCD Innovation Award following on from:
– Dr Tom Mitchell, former TCD Provost, for his key role in securing the Trinity Technology and Enterprise Campus;
– Professsor Igor Chvets of TCD, physicist, entrepreneur and educator for the establishment of two campus companies, while maintaining his profile as an outstanding researcher in solid-state physics;
– Dr Chris Horn, computer scientist, for his outstanding and inspirational vision in leading Iona Technologies which led to over 20 spin-outs from that company;
– Dr Steven Collins and Hugh Reynolds, computer scientists of TCD in recognition of the courage and excellence of two academically trained researchers who created the new software company Havok, in a highly specialised but very competitive niche area;
– Identigen Ltd, a campus company spun out from the Genetics Department of TCD from a basic research project and which has grown to service international markets in ensuring the safety, quality and integrity of the food chain.
TCD’s Dean of Research, Dr David Lloyd concluded: “The Intel Ireland success story strengthens the image of Ireland as a leading environment in which to do business with good infrastructure, access to centres of excellence to engage in R&D, and a skilled workforce. I’m extremely pleased that we have this opportunity to recognise the significant input of Intel Ireland in the innovation ecosystem on this island, over the past 20 years. Trinity is proud to have such a strong relationship with an exemplary industrial partner and looks forward to many years of continued collaborative success.”
On receiving the award on behalf of Intel Ireland, Dr Jim O’Hara stated: “On behalf of my colleagues at Intel in Ireland, I would like to say how honoured we are to receive this prestigious award today. Over the past 20 years, we have had a long and productive relationship with Trinity College which extends from the many Trinity graduates who have worked with us at Intel to the advanced R&D across a number of disciplines in areas such as nanotechnology, digital health and digital media. I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely recognise the many thousand Intel Ireland employees, both previous and present, who have joined me on an incredible journey over the last 20 years. Through their hard work, ultimate flexibility and innovative abilities, we have excelled at our key mandate of world class manufacturing while growing a diverse and effective R&D business with our academic partners.”
The Innovation Award was crafted at the Trinity Technology and Enterprise Campus by Seamus Gill, one of Ireland’s noted silversmiths.