Sligo IT science centre the first in State

Iodine tablets are just one of the medicines being produced by students at a new pharmaceutical science centre in the Institute…

Iodine tablets are just one of the medicines being produced by students at a new pharmaceutical science centre in the Institute of Technology in Sligo, the first facility of its kind on any campus in the State.

Despite all the problems some politicians found themselves in over iodine tablets, it appears they are not all that difficult to make.

A £50,000 tablet press is one of the main pieces of equipment in the new centre, which also includes a cleanroom with liquid filtration equipment.

The facilities are exactly as they would be in the pharmaceutical industry, meaning students can work to the standards required in the workplace, according to lecturer Seamus Lennon.

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Investment in the new centre, similar in size to a school laboratory, totalled £200,000, but it is seen as money well spent, given the importance of the healthcare sector in the north west.

Abbott, already the biggest employer in Sligo, is building a new pharmaceutical plant in the town and is also expanding in Donegal.

The pharmaceutical centre in the college is being offered to local companies for process development work and for staff training.

In trying to entice Science-shy second-level pupils into the degree course now being offered in Sligo, Seamus Lennon says he tells them that no major pharmaceutical multinational has ever closed down in Ireland. The healthcare sector is also largely unaffected by economic downturns. The Institute of Technology in Tallaght will shortly join Sligo in offering a degree in Pharmaceutical Science and a similar facility is to be built there.

Seamus Lennon says graduates from the course in Sligo have ended up in various jobs, from quality assurance to getting new medicines onto the market. He stresses to second-level pupils that they don't have to end up in "the white coat brigade" because this, seemingly, is a major turn-off.

Students, he says, have been very well-received during work placements because of the practical nature of the course. The new centre will mean students can now formulate and test a range of medicines to industry standards.