The University of Ulster is celebrating a major milestone after helping 200 companies to become more innovative through a hugely successful cross-border knowledge transfer project.
Clonarn Clover, a free range egg producing and packing company in Co Cavan, has become the 200th company from the Republic of Ireland to partner up with the University in InterTradeIreland’s FUSION programme.
FUSION is the first all-Ireland initiative to facilitate knowledge and technology transfer by linking companies in one jurisdiction with research institutions in another.
The University of Ulster’s Director of Innovation, Tim Brundle, said: “One of the most exciting aspects of the FUSION programme is that it links industry and academia, and helps the knowledge exchange between them – and it does that in a very efficient way.”
“It’s about unlocking the knowledge contained in academia and capitalising on it within industry, and is probably the most efficient and effective mechanism for knowledge exchange in Western Europe. It brings the best ideas together with the best brains together with the companies with the greatestneed for innovation solutions – that’s why it has been so successful across Ireland.”
Clonarn Clover has established the only egg breaking, pasteurisation and packaging facility in the Republic of Ireland and this second FUSION project aims to bring new liquid egg products to the Irish market and add value to egg shell waste.
A number of Irish bakeries are already loyal customers because of the added convenience and food safety of eggs in a liquid form, and without the hassle of having to dispose of eggshells.
The Fusion programme provides funding to allow companies to collaborate with universities and colleges to access the skills and expertise that will help them develop new products to increase sales, enhance existing products to improve profit margins, and streamline production processes to reduce costs.