CAPPA is delighted to announce the centre has received €700,000 worth of funding for new equipment through the Enterprise Ireland Capital Equipment Call. Today Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys TD, announced the successful 43 applications from the call. The Enterprise Ireland Capital Equipment Fund was open to all Institutes of Technologies in Ireland as well as the Technical Universities. The purpose of this fund was to increase the levels of interaction between the Institutes of Technology and industry in Ireland. This should enable more companies to engage in research and development and enhance the service offering of each of the Institutes of Technology. The fund will also enable pilot manufacturing capability for new product or process development, offer enhanced technology validation and testing capabilities and testbed generation.
The successful applicants were selected by a rigorous evaluation process based on the eligibility criteria for the call, which included a strong track record of industry engagement, and all applications were reviewed by a panel that included external independent experts. Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys TD said: “The successful applicants announced today are housing research projects and initiatives that are at the cutting edge of innovation and I am confident that they have the potential to make a real and lasting impact on enterprise development at both a regional and national level.”
CAPPA will be purchasing three new pieces of equipment with their successful funding. These include a Raman microscope, a Mid-Infrared microscope based on Quantum Cascade Laser technology and a supercontinuum (SC) laser and scientific-grade camera which contains a charge-coupled device (CCD). Raman spectroscopy is a widely used technique applicable in the study of Carbons, Nanomaterials, Forensics, Life Sciences, Minerals, Geology and Gems, Pharmaceuticals and Polymers. QCL is a novel technology in infrared and microscopy, with key customers at academic and government research institutions, as well as in pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The supercontinuum laser and scientific-grade camera combination allow for the construction of an abundance of tailor-made microscopy and spectroscopic set-ups, including cavity-enhanced absorption and fluorescence detection, for environmental, biological and process monitoring applications.
These three pieces of equipment will enable CAPPA to increase its engagement with companies in the pharmaceutical, medical device, photonics, food and beverage sectors as well as with companies in new sectors. This equipment will provide a modernized offering to their current industry partners with increased sensitivity and flexibility. The equipment will allow for the development and execution of a certain level of fundamental research on which future applied and industrially led projects will be built and allow CAPPA the capability to retain current industry partners as well as grow larger projects with these current partners.
The new equipment will enable CAPPA to engage in applications such as chemical detection and identification, materials testing and analysis, drug discovery, real-time reaction monitoring, pharmaceutical testing of tablets, powders, and liquids, cancer research, food quality control and safety, cleaning validation, toxicity testing of chemicals, biomedical imaging of tissues, cells and fluids.
You can learn more about the current facilities at CAPPA here and see case studies of the work CAPPA conducted with industries across different sectors here.