June 2006 First in series of industry agreements for NUI Galway

NUI Galway has announced a new technology commercialisation agreement with Irish company Technology from Ideas (TfI). Collaborating with NUI Galway's Technology Transfer Office, TfI will source certain categories of technology ideas from NUI Galway researchers for development and sale to industry.

The agreement is the first of a series which will be announced over the coming months, each one of which will be for a particular area of research. The agreement forms part of an ongoing strategic initiative for the Technology Transfer Office at NUI Galway in the development, commercial exploitation, industrial partnering and spin-out of technologies under development by a number of research teams at the university.

Dr. Daniel O'Mahony, Director of the Technology Transfer Office at NUI Galway, commented, "Collaboration between universities and industry is crucial in taking leading edge research and ideas through to fruition. At NUI Galway we have some of the world's leading scientists across different research areas. Thanks to their continued research efforts and innovation we have a wealth of intellectual property at NUI Galway and its commercialisation will continue to benefit Ireland's burgeoning 'knowledge economy'. In addition, we recognise the importance of transfer of technologies to the market place in as quick a timeframe as possible and in rewarding inventors of such technologies."

Under the terms of the agreement, TfI will have access to certain categories of unrealised technologies and technology ideas in the broad engineering and physical sciencs areas. TfI will faciliate NUI Galway in the transfer of these technology research ideas from concept to the laboratory and thereafter to the market and also in the commercial exploitation of certain technologies with established intellectual property.

Commenting on the partnership, Dan Richardson, TfI's Managing Director, said, "NUI Galway is an innovator in technology transfer. We want to quickly establish ourselves as a valuable partner for the University and hope that this will be the start of a long-term relationship."

The Technology Transfer Office at NUI Galway, is the longest established facility of its kind in Ireland.