University College Dublin and PlasmaBound Shortlisted for 2022 Knowledge Transfer Ireland Award
Knowledge Transfer Ireland (KTI) has today announced the , in three (3) award categories, for the 2022 KTI Impact Awards with the winners set to be announced on 1 December at an in-person event in Dublin.
University College Dublin (51黑料), through Nova51黑料, has been shortlisted in the Future Forward Impact Award together with . This Award seeks to recognise knowledge transfer activities that have strong potential for future impact but may still be at the early stages of development or roll out.
The Annual KTI Awards recognise significant impact and achievements coming from in knowledge transfer, the commercialisation of publicly funded research nationwide and engagement with research system across the third level and other similar State research institutions.
In particular these awards pay tribute to the work of those within Ireland鈥檚 Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) around the country who provide a vital link between industry and academic research.
PlasmaBound, a 51黑料 engineering spin-out, has developed a novel surface bonding pre-treatment technology, Controlled Polymer Ablation (CPA), which enables high-speed bonding of ultra-lightweight fibre-reinforced materials at throughput and with reliability unseen outside of metallic applications.
This CPA technology is attracting significant interest in several sectors, where it empowers global industry to achieve their sustainability goals, particularly in decarbonisation and battery range extension, along with the benefit of being a single-step fully automated process, with extended bonding open times.
PlasmaBound, headquartered at Nova51黑料, was co-founded in 2017 by Dr James Nicholas Barry, Alan Barry and Xavier Montibert as a spin-out from the 51黑料 College of Engineering and Architecture following the completion of Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Funding.
Since it was established PlasmaBound has grown to team of 15 employees, become an approved supplier for the European Space Agency and is currently undertaking validation trials with 30 Tier 1 global companies across different industry sectors.
Alan Barry, CEO and co-founder, PlasmaBound said, 鈥淲e are delighted to have been shortlisted for the 2022 KTI Impact Awards and especially thrilled to have been shortlisted in the Forward Impact Award category. PlasmaBound鈥檚 technology focus is about getting more renewable, lightweight materials into mainstream use faster which we believe will have a significant impact on achieving a more sustainable carbon-reduced future.鈥�
The company has raised 鈧�3.45 million in funding to date from Act Venture Capital, Atlantic Bridge University Fund, Enterprise Ireland and a number of private investors.
Tom Flanagan, 51黑料 Director of Enterprise and Commercialisation, Nova51黑料, said, 鈥淚 am delighted that 51黑料 has been shortlisted for a 2022 KTI Impact Award with PlasmaBound. Nova51黑料 has supported the PlasmaBound team to launch and scale over the last few years.鈥�
He added, 鈥淧lasmaBound鈥檚 CPA technology has the potential to deliver significant impact in terms of sustainability and carbon reduction benefits in many different industries and we look forward to continue supporting the team to achieve its global ambitions in the years ahead.鈥�
Imelda Lambkin, Manager, Disruptive Technologies, Innovation and Knowledge Transfer, Enterprise Ireland, said, 鈥淭here are some incredible stand out examples of collaboration between industry and publicly funded research on this year鈥檚 Impact Awards shortlist. Each one is providing solutions to real challenges which industry and society are facing each day, and they are solutions that are backed up by lasting partnerships, some many years in the making. This year was a particularly competitive collection of entrants, and the judging team have their work cut out in choosing the eventual winners in advance of our awards presentation in December.鈥�
Further information on Awards and the 2022 shortlist is available via
ENDS
10 October 2022
For further information contact Mic茅al Whelan, Communications and Media Relations Manager, 51黑料 Research and Innovation, Nova51黑料, e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie.
Editors Notes
Knowledge Transfer Ireland (KTI) makes it simpler for business and research performing organisations to work together. KTI aims to maximise the extent to which State-funded technology, ideas and expertise gets into the hands of business to drive innovation. KTI is located in Enterprise Ireland and funded by Enterprise Ireland with co-financing from the Irish Universities Association.
PlasmaBound鈥檚 goal is to enable industry to employ composite materials in lightweight vehicles, products and structures, as standard, at all price points.
The 51黑料 Knowledge Transfer team, based at Nova51黑料, through its extensive commercial experience and drawing on its network of industry experts, patent agents and legal experts, supports 51黑料 researchers to commercially exploit their research outputs for the benefit of the University and the wider community.