Fostering Successful R&D Collaborations at Amplitude 2019
The relentless pressure firms face to innovate and stay one step ahead of their competitors is incomprehensible to previous generations. We wouldn’t be where we are today without entrepreneurs taking risk to research and develop their business ideas. The world’s leading entrepreneurs and most successful companies didn’t succeed on their own - they reached out to form teams of experts and people they could trust.
This is the premise of Amplitude, the South East’s only dedicated conference promoting innovation through collaboration. The 2019 Amplitude theme is Disruptive Innovation and took place in Lyrath Estate, Kilkenny on 6th November.
The annual event is led by the Technology Transfer Offices of Waterford Institute of Technology and Institute of Technology Carlow with the support of EI Technology Gateways and Research Centres and is the perfect example of how collaboration works.
When like-minded people are put in a room together, magic happens! The team in WIT and IT Carlow recognised that the South East is lacking an event dedicated to facilitating collaboration opportunities between entrepreneurs, start-ups, multinationals, academic researchers and state agencies. Between both Institutes, almost every industry can gain from collaboration to grow, develop and improve their product, processes or services - no matter the size.
Amplitude 2019 focused on four key streams; Design/Manufacturing/Engineering, Smart Energy, Future Health and Precision Agri. Delegates learned how to approach a research centre and foster a successful, collaborative R&D relationship. Academic experts also outlined how enterprises can access funding from National and EU sources and offer advice on how to submit a successful proposal.
Among the invited guest speakers were experts from UPMC International and Smart Agri Hubs Ireland, as well as Horizon 2020, VHI, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and the National Development Research Centre (NDRC).
Amplitude offers a unique opportunity for companies, particularly multi-nationals and SME’s, to understand how relatively easy it is to collaborate with an Institute of Technology (IOT) partner in the areas of research, innovation support and the sourcing suitable funding streams.
