Technology Centres – updates from our industry-led research centres
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Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland jointly support 15 Technology Centres to develop next generation industry-led research solutions for companies in Ireland. Here’s some news from some of the Technology Centres:
Energy Integration Technology Centre – IERC:
Unlocking the Potential for Innovative Energy Services
Save the date: The International Energy Research Centre, Cork will host a conference on 1st May 2014 to explore the latest thinking in energy services to improve peoples’ lives and drive productivity. It will show how collaborative research will deliver cost effective, secure and low carbon energy solutions. Click here for more information.
Technology Centre for Financial Services – Governance, Risk and Compliance:
Appointment of Centre Director
Mr. Peter Cowap has been appointed Director of the Irish Technology Centre for Financial Services – Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRCTC). He took up employment at the Government-funded Technology Centre, which is hosted by University College Cork, on 6th January 2014.
The GRCTC is an industry-led centre for innovation and research for governance, risk and compliance in financial services and is one of 15 Technology Centres supported by the joint Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland Technology Centre programme. The centre is currently being rolled out as part of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs and will be formally launched along with announcement of further details on funding, work programme and industry partners in the coming months.
In his role as GRCTC Centre Director, Mr. Cowap will ensure that the aims and objectives of the centre, which was formulated by the industry members, is met by the research team, led by UCC and supported by UCD and NUIG.
The industry membership includes a mix of indigenous and Ireland-based MNC financial services and software companies.
Food for Health Ireland
Could milk proteins improve sports performance and healthy aging? UL researchers to investigate.
The University of Limerick will take the lead in Phase 2 of Food for Health Ireland’s (FHI) research programme to explore the role of milk proteins in healthy aging and performance nutrition.
Professor of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Phil Jakeman, who is the lead PI for FHI’s Healthy Aging and Performance Nutrition Health Pillar, explains the research;
“Our principal expertise is in human skeletal muscle. Healthy active aging and improving sports performance have a lot in common as far as muscle is concerned. As we age the amount of muscle and lean tissue mass begins to decrease. This can lead to frailty, disability and loss of independence in older adults. Conversely, high performance athletes generally try to increase muscle mass and muscle function that has to recover and adapt quickly to sustain and improve optimal performance. Many of the nutrient and metabolic regulators of these effects on muscle in ageing and performance overlap.”
Can milk, specifically the proteins within milk, help older people and athletes to rebuild their muscle and to recover quickly for the next race, respectively?
“Over the next five years the Healthy Aging and Performance Nutrition research team will be investigating whether milk proteins and their bioactive derivatives have the potential to be of benefit to these two population groups. This is an exciting Health Pillar within the FHI2 programme. Using a multidisciplinary approach we seek to develop and evaluate a range of naturally produced, milk-based, bioactive ingredients for incorporation into food matrices targeting the area of muscle health“.
Pictured below are UL researchers Prof Phil Jakeman and Prof Dick Fitzgerald
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