Dublin: Five years of commercial success for NovaUCD

University College Dublin’s Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre, NovaUCD, celebrates five years of commercial success reflected by its providing innovation services and incubation space to 44 high-tech and knowledge-intensive companies. Successful companies include 15 UCD spin-outs and client companies BiancaMed, Celtic Catalysts, ChangingWorlds, Duolog Technologies and Visor.

Since 1996 NovaUCD has run an entreprise support programme called Campus Company Development Programme (CCDP), helping 700 people to establish successful knowledge-intensive enterprises. Since 2004, and by the end of November 2008, 90 individuals and 66 projects will have been completed under the CCDP.

Pat Frain, of NovaUCD, said: “International experience shows that there is a long lead-time involved in commercialising the results of university research. NovaUCD’s growing success over the last 5-years clearly demonstrates that the public investment in UCD R&D is likely to yield a significant return to the Irish economy and society.”

Research emerging from UCD’s life sciences, engineering and information and communication departments has allowed NovaUCD to submit 170 invention disclosures, file 122 patent applications (69 priority, 29 patent cooperation treaty and 24 national/regional) and sign 24 licence agreements.

Frain added: “The ongoing growth in R&D funding and the strengthening of support for technology transfer is clearly having a positive impact on the commercialisation of UCD’s research output. The number of invention disclosures has already reached one per week and this augurs well for our future efforts to commercialise the innovative ideas arising from our research programmes, including the generation of high-tech spin-out companies which are so essential for highly-skilled employment creation.”