The Link Newsletter _Issue 3 Winter 2008

8/14/2019 The Link Newsletter _Issue 3 Winter 2008

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magazine, or if you would like to be included on the mailing list,

please email [email protected]

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Foreword

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Contents

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Great care has been taken to ensure that this information is accurate,but the Regional Development Centre, including its subsidiaries does notaccept responsibility or liability for errors or information which is found

to be misleading.

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t | +353 42 9331161 F | +353 42 9331163

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The Regional Development Centre (RDC) is a centre to promoteinnovation, technology transfer and enterprise in the wider region and

is based on the DkIT Campus. The centre receives generous funding fromthe following organisations

i mc, RDC Manager

Written & edited by Hilary Knight Communications +44(0)28 3888 1368


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sToday the RDC provides over thirty incubation spaces in

Dundalk and Drogheda or technology and knowledge

based businesses in their early development phase. Butas some o these companies explain, the advantages

are ar more than just ofce space.

The Regional DevelopmentCentre (RDC) at DkIT,which was established in1989 as one o Irelandsfrst on campus BusinessIncubation Centres, hasbeen a pioneer in the

provision o support orearly start entrepreneursor almost 20 years.

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For further information about incubation

facilities please contact:

Sean MacEntee, Incubation Centre

Manager, Regional Development Centre,

Dundalk Insitute of Technology, Dundalk,

Co. Louth.

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..*(Source: Benchmarking of Business Incubators: Feb 2002)

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Feature: Incubating Success

LINK

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Issue3

Powerul Ideas

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The Go Europa Team are Seamus Crossan, Dundalk, Kevin Costello,Cavan, and Wojciech Kulesza rom Poznan, Poland.

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The business support here is very impressiveand the atmosphere of the centre with so many

technology based businesses and research facilities,

is very conducive to business development and

networking opportunities.

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Feature: Incubating Success

Vennetics

Calling

John Hamill, Director Vennetics


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The challenges now

facing SMEs are major

and innovating newways to do things faster,

cheaper and better is

what it is all about.

There is no one set o rules that

can address the diering needs

o these growing companies.

They all needed to tackle their

individual problems and they

appreciated the advice and

expertise that we could oer

them.

We made sure that the

tailored programme of

help that each company

received was highly

relevant to their needs.

Several o the companies have

now initiated collaborative

R&D projects as a result o

their involvement with the

programme, he added.

With the strong working

relationship and trust that

has developed betweenthe companies and the

RDC, we have been

able to channel in other

technical supports from

the wider Institute.

It is hoped to run a similar

programme or local SMEs in

2009.

Here we profle the stories o 3

o the participants :

Bellurgan Precision Engineering,

Dundalk, Brandt Technologies,

Dundalk and Amray, Drogheda.

Other companies that were

supported on the programme

were:

- Shabra Plastics, Castleblaney

- Eurolec Instrumentation,

Dundalk

- Royal Masterpeace, Navan

- APT-Saelink, Balbriggan

- Schiedel Chimney Systems Ltd,Carrickmacross

- Uniblock Ltd., Dundalk.

The Novation BusinessGrowth Programme(NBGP), run by theRegional DevelopmentCentre (RDC) at DkITand funded by FSunder their One StepUp initiative, hashelped local companiesto receive highlyindividual packagesof assistance.

Nine local owner-managed SME

companies in a variety o sectors

rom the North East Region

joined the programme, which

ran over a six month period.

The programme successully

helped them to deal with a

number o product, process and

market development challenges,

which were limiting their

potential to expand and grow.

It provided a menu o highlytailored individual assistance,

ocusing on the identifcation

and implementation o a

programme o change with real

outcomes or the company. The

emphasis was very much on

learning by doing. This wascarried out in-house or each

company by the RDC, along

with trainers and consultants

rom Scottish frm Targeting

Innovation.

Four hal-day workshops

addressed specifc management

issues including the Selling

Process, New Product

Development, Team Building

and Communications, and

Finding and Protecting New

Ideas.

Response to the programme by

the companies has been very

positive and all have welcomed

the resh approach adopted by

the RDC.

The mentoring and consultancy

which provided the one-to-one

working in the companys own

premises, was deemed to be

particularly helpul.

Sean MacEntee, Incubation

Centre Manager at the RDC

explained,

hLocal BusinessescAssisting local SMEs across the North East Region is integral to the economic brie o the RDC at DkIT

(ront let) Ken Marr,Targeting Innovation, Sean

MacEntee, Incubation CentreManager and Liz Dullaghan,

FS, with the participantsrom nine local SMEs in theNovation Business Growth

programme.


7/8

Among the companies who took part in the business growth

programme, were Bellurgan Precision Engineering, a Dundalk

company who specialise in the manuacture o precision machine

components employing 50 people and with sales o 6.5 million.

Suzanne Carroll, managing director spoke about how the programmehas helped her company. We embarked on the programme

thinking that we might develop a new Bellurgan product instead

o manuacturing or other companies. In act instead during the

programme, we spent a lot o time looking at what we do and we

reviewed and redefned this to really ocus on what our service is.

This was a really valuable process or us.

We looked at the sectors that had the most potential or growth

or our business. We identifed both the cabin interior or aerospace

customers and the medical components in which we already have

10 years experience, as the sectors most likely or growth.

Working with Arthur Slight rom Targeting Innovation, we built a

network o contacts in the UK and he carried out market research

with those prospects, she said.

We ound that the one-to-one approach was so valuable to us

in our busy business environment. Arthur worked with us at

our premises and helped us identiy a way to take our business

orward.

The workshops were a chance to meet the other participant

companies and the Idea Generation workshop was very helpul in

recognising what is a good idea and what isnt, she added.

.b.

Engineering w F

Drogheda based company

Amray who specialise in

providing radiation protection

products or the medical sector,

supply everything rom lead

aprons to ull room protection.

When we joined the NBGP

programme, the frst thing

that Sean MacEntee asked

was, What do you need or

your company? Within the

frst session, we had looked at

the levels o innovation in our

company, established what it

was we most needed help with

r Success A ShadowingSolution

Dermot Hannon, director with

Brandt Technologies heard

about the NBGP programme

rom the RDC team and ound

this programme a very helpul

experience in a number o ways.

The company have developed

an innovative sotwareapplication, Shadow which

is a unique tool to test new

sotware simultaneously across

multiple machines, creating cost-

eective solutions or sotware

Profle: Three Local Businesses

and outlined an action plan,

said William Johnston, director

at Amray.

We are in a period o growth

and our growing pains

highlighted many procedures

that were not working well,

including customer relations to

administration.

Our fnancial accounting

systems and reporting needed

updating and we recognised

the need to appoint a fnancial

controller, who is now in place.

The programme gave us an

experienced ear to listen to our

challenges and help us fnd the

practical solutions to improve

these, added William.

Because the time was well

spent and ocussed specifcally

on our needs the solutions were

really relevant too.

.y.

development companies.

The NBGP programme helped

Dermot to examine market

opportunities and help the

company to make decisions

about whether to integrate a

number o services and products

oered to customers, or

whether to market Shadow as

a stand alone product.

The management training

and seminars were excellent,

the additional expertise o

the Targeting Innovation

consultant to help identiy

market opportunities was very

welcome.

Most o all the report that

the consultant has produced

will really help us to makesome difcult and ar-reaching

decisions about uture directions

or the business,

www.brandttechnologies.com

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Dermot Hannon, Director

Brandt Technologies


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Dr Tim McCormac has recently

joined DkIT as the new Head

o Research. Tim will be urther

developing the research remit

o the Institute. This will be

achieved by supporting the

existing Research Centres

and also enabling emerging

researchers to initiate their

research careers. The Research

Ofce has recently announceda number o internal support

measures to achieve these aims.

Previously with the Institute o

Technology Tallaght (ITT Dublin),

Tim played pivotal leadership

roles in the development o

Research within ITT Dublin, in

particular he was the project

leader or ITT Dublins PRTLI

Cycle 4 award o 10 million or

the Centre or Applied Science

or Health (CASH). Through

this experience he will assist

researchers across the our

schools within DkIT to secure

research unding rom both

national and international

sources, with an emphasis on

any uture HEA PRTLI cycles.

News in Brie

n h r dkit

Thirteen new participants

were accepted onto this years

Novation Enterprise Platorm

Programme (NEPP) at the RDC.

The graduate entrepreneurs are

all developing business ideas

in innovative and knowledge

based high tech and IT areas.

They will receive training, one-

to one coaching, advice andgain extensive networking

opportunities.

Participants have access to ofce

space and specialist acilities

at the RDC and some fnancial

assistance is available through

the Commercialisation o R&D

(CORD) Fund rom Enterprise

Ireland.

Over 70 entrepreneurs have

participated in NEPP, since

2001. 54 businesses have been

established by participants

resulting in total employment

o 311 people and sales o27million per annum. The

NEPP programme is unded by

the Department o Education

and Science under the National

Development Plan.

.y@k.

n nepp e

The aim o the Paperclip

Challenge was simple. Every

student who entered received

a paper clip and 3 weeks to

trade up, using their sales and

communication skills.

The winner was Conor Moore

who achieved a canoe in 7

trades. He traded a reezer bag

sealer, 3 highlighters, luminous

light-up pen, tin whistle, scooter,

two collector edition LPs and

fnally a canoe. Conor won aNintendo Wii.

The challenge is based on the

amous story o Kyle MacDonald

who succeeded in trading one

red paperclip or a house.

Paperclip challenge links students

and enterprise

s e dkit

pc c ob.

Check out Kyles story at www.

oneredpaperclip.blogspot.com/

A second Student Enterprise

Intern Ronan Lynch, has joined

existing Intern Mary Larkin.

Together they will promote

enterprise and entrepreneurship

to students at DkIT through

a series o un challenges,

inormation events and

seminars.

In the next edition, we will

overview our initial researchfndings o a number o groups

o frst year students attitudes

to starting a business rom

across the institute.

.k.

Ardee based MCOR

Technologies, participants on

the RDCs Novation Enterprise

Platorm Programme 2007/08

won the Intertrade Ireland

All-Island Seedcorn Business

Competition - Emerging

International Category.

At the ceremony on Nov 27th

held in Belasts Ramada Hotel,

MCOR swept the top prize

o 100,000. The company

developed a 3D Printer, a device

that builds three dimensional

models rom 3D computer

drawings using standard reams

o A4 paper, a process that is

entirely unique, and one that

is getting huge attention rom

around the globe.

Following the recent launcho the MCOR Matrix, MCOR

received over 1 million hits on

their website .

MCOR Technologies joins a

growing list o regional and

national seedcorn winners who

Thirteen new participants on the 2008 NEPP programme take the plunge as

they prepare or a boatbuilding challenge as part o a residential at the Four

Seasons Hotel, Carlingord

Dr Tim McCormac

Head o Research DkIT

m nepp Seedcorn Winners

were participants on the NEPP

programme, including: Sean

Gallagher, Smarthomes, Micheal

Armstrong, Armac and David

Gillen, Blue Acre Technology.

..

Our congratulations to Conor, Fintan and Deirdre MacCormac

MCOR Technologies

The Link Newsletter _Issue 3 Winter 2008

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