2010 press releases
Posted 30 March 2010
Small Companies Urged to Apply for Innovation Vouchers
Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) is encouraging small companies of all descriptions to apply for a €5,000 Enterprise Ireland innovation voucher during April.
The call for applications for the vouchers opens on 1 April 2010 and will remain open until 5pm on Friday 30 April.
To be successful in an application for an innovation voucher, the company’s project must require an innovative solution, provide additional value for the company and have on-going benefits
AIT was among the top three knowledge providers nationally for completion of innovation voucher projects during 2008 and 2009 – undertaken by AIT’s research institutes in software (SRI), materials (MRI) and biosciences (BRI) and AIT’s schools of business, engineering and science.
Patrick McKeown of ProPaving in Mullingar used an innovation voucher at AIT to develop prototypes of a drainage system he hopes will have applications in both domestic and commercial settings.
“AIT were fantastic,” said Mr McKeown, “they did CAD [computer-aided design] work on my designs and made up models and put prototypes together. I didn’t need a huge amount of development money – just enough to get the idea into a form that one could show potential customers or investors.”
Mr McKeown hopes to bring his product to market shortly and says that AIT and the innovation voucher provided the support necessary to bring his idea from paper to reality.
According to Michael Lonergan, Manager of the Midlands Innovation and Research Centre at AIT, “If you own or manage a small company and have a business opportunity or problem that you want to explore, why not apply for an innovation voucher worth €5,000? The innovation voucher will allow you to concentrate on running your business while AIT comes up with a solution that could take your business to the next level.”
For more information on the upcoming innovation voucher call (including to apply), visit www.innovationvouchers.ie or contact Michael Lonergan, Manager, Midlands Innovation and Research Centre on telephone 090 647 1882 or by email to mlonergan@ait.ie.
