Research and Innovation Industry Collaboration at the National Construction Summit 2024

Published: 6 Mar, 2024

The Innovation and Knowledge Transfer Office in TU Dublin will be showcasing Industry and Research collaboration in Construction and connected areas at the National Construction Summit 2024. Join TU Research and Innovation Speakers Dr. Shawna Johnston and Dr Mark Mulville to see how we support and develop R and I in Ireland and beyond.

Dr. Shawna Johnston – Innovation & Knowledge Transfer Manager at TU Dublin Innovation

Shawna is the Innovation and Knowledge Transfer Manager for TU Dublin Innovation, supporting collaboration between industry and TU Dublin researchers and assisting with funding opportunities for these projects. Shawna joined the team in 2019 and has an extensive background in industry, academia, and collaborative projects in both Ireland and Canada. She has a PhD in Environmental Sciences from the University of Calgary, Canada, and an MBA from TU Dublin.

Presentation Overview

"Innovation through Collaboration: Open Labs at TU Dublin"

TU Dublin Open Labs is a pioneering Research and Development outreach initiative from TU Dublin Innovation and has supported over 150 start-ups and SMEs to develop new products and services since it was established in 2018. During that time, it has generated over €1.5m in research income and has provided industry sectors that are critical to the Irish economy with access to over 600 researchers and to high-tech facilities to support early-stage research and innovation. Open Labs is TU Dublin's market focused initiative to lower the barrier for industry engagement, thereby opening up the world leading facilities and expertise to companies. Open Labs assists companies working in or interested in Construction, Food Innovation, Product Prototyping, Virtual Reality / Augmented Reality, Innovative Surface Coatings, Cyber Security, Timber Technology, Sustainable Infrastructure and Data Analysis for Business / Artificial Intelligence. Open Labs provides excellent results delivered at the pace and quality expected by industry. The Open Labs process is designed to be business-friendly, with each SME assigned a dedicated TU Dublin Innovation case manager to assist them throughout. The Open Labs case manager works with a company to identify and prioritise their immediate innovation needs, connecting them with suitable research expertise and equipment and determining which funding option is most appropriate - state, private or collaborative options. For example, a smaller project may be well suited to an Innovation Voucher from Enterprise Ireland, which will fund product development up to €5,000, allowing the company to retain any intellectual property. A larger enterprise may need to raise capital in other ways, such as the InterTradeIreland Boost programme.

Dr. Mark Mulville – Head School of Surveying and Construction Innovation at TU Dublin.

Mark is Head of the School of Surveying and Construction Innovation in TU Dublin. A Building Surveyor and Architectural Technologist, Mark’s research interests include the delivery of long term building performance in the context of a changing climate, energy efficiency, comfort, health and wellbeing in buildings and the optimisation of construction processes utilising digital technologies. Mark is currently principal investigator on the DTIF funded A-EYE project developing a construction visualisation platform to support construction productivity. Mark is also principal investigator on the SEAI funded CC-DORM project examining overheating risk in dwellings in the context of large scale retrofit and climate change. Mark previously led the Building Performance research cluster in the University of Greenwich (UK).

Presentation Overview

"Dwelling Overheating in Cool Climates: Key Factors in Ireland"

In the context of large-scale retrofit and the predicted impacts of climate change, overheating risk in dwellings in cool climates is an increasing cause for concern and issues have been raised both by practitioners and dwelling occupants. This presentation reviews the situation in Ireland, exploring the magnitude of the potential risk by typology, configuration and specification. The presentation will highlight key contributory factors and potential mitigation and adaptation measures. The presentation is aligned with the SEAI funded CC-DORM project (Grant No. RDD855) which will seek to provide industry with a robust overheating risk assessment tool and, in turn, to inform policy making in the space.

Stop by the TU Dublin Innovation stand and speak with team to learn more.