United Technologies invests €1.5 million in Insight UCC
The Insight Centre for Data Analytics at University College Cork has received a significant investment worth €1.5 million from Connecticut-based United Technologies Research Center (UTRC).
The investment will consist of €500,000 in cash along with a €1 million in-kind contribution that will assist the Insight Centre to focus on four key areas: artificial intelligence, data analytics and machine learning, human machine interaction, and optimisation in collaboration with UTRC staff.
Insight Director Professor Barry O’Sullivan says: “With the investment that UTRC has announced today, researchers in Cork will be able to build on a decade of world-class artificial intelligence research. Our work here in Insight will play a key role in the delivery of smart services and supply chain management across a number of sectors.”
The Insight Centre at UCC is the largest of 12 Science Foundation Ireland research centres in the country, and features 400 scientists working across a range of data fields. UTRC has worked with Cork scientists since 2010, and this investment is the company’s largest to date in Ireland.
UTRC is the research and innovation arm of United Technologies Corporation, which employs around 200,000 people worldwide and provides technology systems and services to the building and aerospace industries.
Dr David Parekh, Director at UTRC, said: “There is great value attached to university collaborations that promote research and curriculum development in our technology areas. By establishing relationships with the world’s foremost engineering schools, such as UCC, we are accelerating developments within our portfolio and positioning ourselves to recruit the next generation of innovators who are already committed to topics of interests to UTC.”
O’Sullivan added: “This is a serious vote of confidence in the Irish research community and demonstrates that the SFI strategy – to consolidate and support Irish research in targeted fields – is working. We are attracting investment of the highest calibre, moving Irish-based research up the value chain.”
