University’s track record in establishing industry partnerships grows

The University of Limerick (UL) has a long track-record of excellence in manufacturing industry collaboration. This is reflected in its success in establishing world-leading industry partnerships such as the Synthesis and Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre (SSPC); Lero, the Irish Software Engineering Research Centre; the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Technology Centre (PMTC); and most recently, the Dairy Processing Technology Centre (DPTC).

This success has become all the more important in recent years as manufacturing has come back on the radar as a driver of economic growth. "Manufacturing makes a huge contribution to the economy but it has moved away from people working on lines to much higher value advanced manufacturing processes", says UL's vice president of research Dr Mary Shire.

Manufacturing industry has undergone a profound change over the past few decades. Just 20 years ago the loss of manufacturing to lower cost locations was seen as inevitable by development agencies here but now the trend has slowed if not been reversed by advanced manufacturing technologies which have seen a far greater degree of automation been introduced into the process resulting in much lower levels of labour intensity.

This makes locations such as Ireland which can not only boast a good climate for business but a highly skilled workforce and a research sector capable of meeting the needs of these manufactures very attractive once more.

“You need a much higher skill level in companies today”, Shire explains. “At UL we are focusing on the manufacturing process and ensuring it is designed properly. We can create a virtual copy of the process and look at what can go wrong and the consequences of different events. This enables us to put the controls in place which will prevent problems before they occur.”

The university is already working with over 90 multinationals and SMEs in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, microelectronics, agri-food, software, and materials on the development of solutions to problems they face in their day-to-day businesses. “These partnerships anchor R&D activity firmly within the Irish enterprise landscape which leads to job retention and creation, skills enhancement, increased competitiveness and ultimately helps secure Ireland’s future as a knowledge-based economy”, Shire adds.

Research foundation

A major strength of UL in this respect is its ability across several disciplines. “We are able to bring together multi-disciplinary teams from within UL and combine them with industry and other universities”, notes Prof

Edmond Magner

, dean of the faculty of science and engineering. “This allows us to tackle problems relevant to industry as well as relevant to research. It is not just about solving industry problems, it is about fundamental problems as well. It is important that we have a strong foundation in research.”

There is a strong synergy between industry and academia in these partnerships, he says. “We wouldn’t be able to do this work without the support of industry. They bring us the problems that we would not be aware of and they do not have the skills in-house to tackle them on their own.”

Prof Magner cites UL’s expertise in crystals as an example of this synergy at work. “One of our students did his PhD on understanding how crystals can change form. If a pharmaceutical company gets approval for a drug delivered in a certain form of crystal there can be no change to that. Our work helps them prevent changes from occurring. Infant milk formula may be a very different product from pharmaceuticals but some of the process steps are very similar. You are making a powder and you are doing it at a multi-tonne scale. We help both the milk processors and pharma companies ensure they get the same powder each time from the process – a tiny difference in the process can make milk powder come out as a solid block when the package is opened after a few weeks.”

Certain aspects of the manufacturing process will remain distributed around the world but it is where these are controlled from that is becoming increasingly important according to Shire. “It’s not just about what is happening in Ireland”, she says. “Ireland can position itself as an epicentre and a global hub for global supply chain management. Dell manages a lot of its supply chain and logistics from Ireland and they are 2,000 people working here on that. The higher value part of the supply chain is managed from Ireland. We developed a Masters in Global Supply Chain Management with Dell and this is offered to Dell employees around the globe. It is a great thing to be able to say that US companies are coming here to have courses like this designed for them.”

She also points out that UL worked with Intel to upskill its workers when they were moving into a new Fab in Leixlip. "They came to us because of our expertise and our experience of working closely with industry to meet its needs. We have worked very hard at breaking down the barriers between industry and education."

Another example of where the line between industry and education has become blurred at the university is the UL Enterprise Corridor which brings together enterprise activity from the Kemmy Business School with the computer science and information systems department and the Nexus Innovation Centre. It is now home to a software development centre established by Johnson & Johnson which has generated 100 high value jobs.

This track record has made UL an academic partner of choice for many multinational firms engaged in advanced manufacturing processes. “We offer them tremendous ease of access to all of our expertise”, Shire adds. “There are no siloes between departments or subject areas so we can bring different disciplines together to meet the needs of our industry partners. We can also give people the education and skillsets they need to work in modern advanced manufacturing settings; this is very important for Ireland as it means that the companies know they can find the people with skills they need here.”