Tag: Shannon

Lift-Off from Shannon Airport for NASA competition winning teen scientists

It’s lift-off for five Irish secondary school students flying from Shannon Airport to Orlando today having won a prestigious space design competition founded by NASA. The St Flannan’s College students from Ennis, County Clare, flew from Shannon to Chicago this morning before continuing on to Orlando, where they will present their design at the International Space Development Conference, an annual gathering organised by the National Space Society which brings together leaders and enthusiasts from all sectors of the space industry.

The student’s – Alex Furey, Damian Woros, Najib Haq, Gavin Shiels and Ahmed Ibrahim from St Flannan’s, together with Shreya Mariya Saju and Lexie McKenna from St Dominic’s College in Cabra, Dublin – designed a next-generation space habitat which they named “Inis Beatha” or “Island of Life”. This design uses artificial gravity and plants grown without soil to create a system capable of recycling the food, water and oxygen needed to sustain life in space.

Speaking from Shannon Airport ahead of their flight to Chicago, physics teacher John Conneely from St. Flannan’s College said: “Winning first place in the senior section of this year’s NSS Space Settlement Contest—against over 26,000 entries from schools worldwide—is an incredible achievement, and we couldn’t be prouder of our students! We’re also immensely grateful to Shannon Airport for their continued support, making this unforgettable trip to Orlando possible for our students.

I think Shannon Airport has always been inspirational when it comes to innovation —from welcoming the first transatlantic passenger flight 80 years ago to the recent debut of an Advanced Air Mobility aircraft. Remarkably, at one point it was also an alternate landing site for the space shuttle, making it the perfect launchpad for our students as they set out on this incredible journey to the International Space Conference.”

Welcoming them this morning Tim Ryan, Group Head of Brand & Marketing at The Shannon Airport Group said: “We are thrilled to welcome the team from St Flannan’s College to Shannon Airport today as they travel to such a prestigious event in the U.S. These innovative young minds are a testament to the exceptional talent and ambition coming from this region, making an impact on the world stage. We are immensely proud to support Alex, Damian, Najib, Gavin, Ahmed, and their dedicated teachers on this exciting adventure.”

Dell Technologies teams up with Technological University of the Shannon to develop new AI platform for advanced research

The Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) has joined forces with Dell Technologies to develop a new AI platform that will advance research in cybersecurity, sustainability, healthcare and robotics.

TUS established the Software Research Institute (SRI) with the goal to develop a leading national research lab, focused on driving innovation in the fields of cybersecurity, cloud-edge computing, robotic control, smart agriculture and healthcare. The new AI platform, powered by Dell PowerEdge servers, will help researchers gain real-time insights into large datasets and develop advanced AI models that power their research.

The new AI platform will also support a number of cutting-edge research projects undertaken by TUS and funded by Horizon Europe, the European Union’s key programme for research and innovation. This includes projects such as ResilMesh, which focuses on the cyber resilience of critical infrastructure and digital services. It aims to develop advanced tools and mechanisms to detect, prevent, and respond to increasingly sophisticated cyber threats and attacks.

Another key initiative is SoilCrates, which is dedicated to restoring and preserving soil health. Through improved soil literacy, real-time monitoring of soil structure, promotion of biodiversity, and optimisation of crop-growing conditions, the project aims to support a more sustainable and resilient agricultural ecosystem.

Additionally, the university is one of 17 research and development (R&D) centres in Ireland that runs research projects for the COMAND Technology Gateway Program that is set up in collaboration with Enterprise Ireland Innovation. Based at SRIs TUS Athlone campus, COMAND focuses on research and innovation in areas such as Augmenting User Interactions, End-to-end Applications and Intelligent Infrastructure. Under the COMAND program, the Dell-powered AI platform will be used to develop LLM-based chatbots to support programs around elderly care, automation of automotive assembly lines and robotics using imitation learning.

More broadly, the new AI platform will provide the university with powerful AI compute capabilities to support data-intensive research, helping to accelerate data analysis and automate repetitive tasks – boosting research productivity by up to 50%, according to studies. The high-performance Dell PowerEdge servers are purpose-built for demanding AI workloads, delivering exceptional computing power. The servers feature a Cyber Resilient Architecture that offers multi-layered security to safeguard systems, detect threats, and ensure end-to-end data protection. This provides researchers with an IT environment that can simulate complex attacks, identify weaknesses in IT systems more efficiently and provide more accurate analysis on emerging cyber threats for organisations.

Dr Yuansong Qiao, Senior Research Fellow, Software Research Institute at TUS, said: “Harnessing the power of AI has become increasingly important to advancing research in critical areas such as cybersecurity and robotics, which require analysis of increasingly large data sets. That’s why it’s crucial that TUS has the right infrastructure to manage the intensive workloads of advanced AI-powered research. Our collaboration with Dell Technologies delivers these capabilities and ensures that our researchers can now build highly complex AI models to examine and test more effective defense systems in cybersecurity and other domains.”

Jason Ward, EMEA North Vice-President and Managing Director of Dell Technologies Ireland, said: “As a global leader in compute, Dell Technologies is at the forefront of enterprise AI adoption, providing the cutting-edge technology and expertise that organisations in Ireland and worldwide need to adopt, scale and thrive with AI. This work represents a good example of Dell’s dedication to expanding Europe’s AI ecosystem, through our AI solutions and expertise making a real difference in critical industries like healthcare and sustainability. This high-performance AI infrastructure will accelerate groundbreaking research and empower innovation that shapes the future. .”

 As part of its long-standing relationship with TUS, Dell has provided a range of cloud computing, data centre and infrastructure solutions to the university, as well as laptops and endpoint devices.

Award winning Shannon Teen to Represent Ireland in the Technovation Global Semi Finals with Dementia Support App

Chloe O’Loughlin, a 2nd year student in St. Patrick’s Comprehensive School in Shannon, won the Junior category award at the Technovation Ireland Regional Pitch Event (RPE) in AMD’s Headquarters CityWest Dublin. Chloe has been working on an app to help people with dementia since she started the Teen-Turn afterschool program in January. Twelve weeks of mentoring and support led to the big event, with Chloe winning the Junior category. 65 projects from 8 counties and more than 20 schools were submitted to Technovation from Ireland this year. Chloe will now represent Ireland in the semi-finals of the global competition.

This project was particularly personal to Chloe who had a dream to help people suffering with dementia in a simple and easy way. She said: ‘I have relatives with dementia. I see firsthand the effects that it has on them.  I wanted to think of something that would help them.’

It was this initial thought that led her to create and develop her app called Brain Track. “The app features a to-do list, calendar, to keep track of different appointments and allows relatives and caregivers to keep an eye on them.” An additional feature of the app is a profile page where the user or their relatives can input profiles of the people around them including photos and key details about that person. Chloe believes that to be a very important feature for the wellbeing of the person with dementia and a reassurance to their loved ones. “If someone with dementia were to forget someone’s name, they can go into the app and remind themselves of their name, which would save them the frustration of having to ask the person directly.”

Chloe committed to 12 weeks of staying after school with more than 10 other girls in the group to learn to code, develop a business plan and pitch to judges. Her mentor Donna O’Sullivan, who is also a teacher at the school, applauded Chloe for her commitment and dedication to the project and app. “Chloe has shown tremendous dedication and commitment to attending our Teen-Turn sessions after school each week and made superb progress during that time. We are so proud of what she has achieved and grateful to Teen-Turn for their continued support in developing tech skills for our girls.”

Chloe really enjoyed participating in Teen-Turn’s afterschool program and said “I really enjoyed working with everyone in the group. We got tons of different ideas and opinions when putting it all together and it’s great to see how the others projects were coming along.” Chloe also benefited from extra sessions held by Teen-Turn over the midterm in partnership with PayPal and on two Super Session Saturdays where the girls had the opportunity to gain in person mentorship in University of Limerick from academic staff and Immersive Software Engineering students.

On the day of the RPE Chloe said that she was a little apprehensive to pitch to the judges but that she found the experience to be a very powerful one.  “I was very nervous, but the judges were really nice and once I started, I was more excited than nervous. They genuinely wanted to find out more about the app and how it works.” Chloe was overjoyed to take first place on the day, winning a laptop with AMD chip technology, and is looking forward to the next stage of the competition.

So what does the future hold for Chloe and Brain Track? I definitely want to continue with Teen-Turn and with Project Squad and Technovation in the future because I really enjoyed it.’ says Chloe who is very excited at the thought of possibly bringing the app to the market in the future. “I think the app will help people  and I want to continue improving it.” Chloe hopes that she can make the future a little brighter for those with dementia and their loved ones.

Technovation is a tech education nonprofit that inspires people around the world to believe in themselves as leaders and become more confident, curious problem-solvers. Technovation offers interactive learning programs in which young people ages 8-18 and adults in their community learn how to use technology to solve real-world problems. Technovation partners with leading organisations like UNESCO and UN Women, and with mentors from companies like Google, NVIDIA, and Adobe to reach children and families in more than 100 countries. To learn more, visit technovation.org.

SK tes Launches New Circular IT Facility in Shannon- Boosting Ireland’s Sustainable Tech Sector

SK tes, a global leader in sustainable IT asset disposition (ITAD) and technology lifecycle services, has announced plans to open a new 36,000 square foot purpose-built facility in Shannon, marking a major vote of confidence in Ireland’s thriving data and technology sector.

The new facility will deliver comprehensive ITAD, data center decommissioning, and technology lifecycle management services to some of Ireland’s largest enterprises, including hyperscale data center operators, while supporting national sustainability and circular economy goals. It will also create over 25 skilled jobs in one of the country’s fastest-growing tech regions.

“Ireland is at the forefront of Europe’s digital economy, and our investment in Shannon reinforces our commitment to helping Irish companies manage technology securely, sustainably, and at scale,” said Eric Ingebretsen, Chief Commercial Officer at SK tes. “This facility will allow us to meet the unique needs of Ireland’s tech sector, especially large data centers, with world-class services delivered locally.”

Strategically located in Shannon, County Clare, the new site positions SK tes to offer rapid, secure, and compliant services for every stage of the IT lifecycle—from equipment deployment and maintenance, to decommissioning and certified data destruction. With its ability to quickly scale operations, the facility is built to meet the evolving needs of both indigenous Irish companies and multinationals operating within the country.

“This isn’t just another facility—it’s a statement of intent,” said Thomas Holberg, Chief Operating Officer at SK tes. “We’re here to support Ireland’s technology leaders as they build a more sustainable digital future. Our Shannon site will support Irish businesses in achieving their reuse and sustainability targets while creating meaningful employment and strengthening the region’s role as a technology and innovation hub.”

SK tes’ investment comes as Ireland continues to attract major global data center infrastructure and tech companies, while placing increased emphasis on sustainability and resource recovery. With its ability to extend the lifecycle of technology assets, securely destroy data, and responsibly recycle materials, the new site directly supports the goals set out in Ireland’s Climate Action Plan and Circular Economy Strategy.

The Shannon site joins SK tes’ growing global network, which includes over 40 owned facilities across 22 countries, providing consistent, secure, and sustainable IT lifecycle solutions to customers around the world.

HID Opens New Logistic Center in Shannon, Ireland

HID, a worldwide leader in trusted identity solutions, is pleased to announce the opening of its new Logistics Center in Shannon, Ireland. The new facility is HID’s second largest Logistics Center, supporting 55 countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

The occasion was marked with an official ribbon-cutting and a visit from local government and business leaders, as well as HID’s operations leadership team. The new 4157 m2 Logistics Center is double the size of HID’s previous facility and employs 60 people with a goal of expanding headcount in the years to come.

“The new Logistic Center is strategic in sustaining the global growth HID has experienced, and it demonstrates our commitment to fostering innovation and product availability across the region,” said Josh Freeman, HID’s Senior Vice President and Head of Operations.

“Congratulations to HID on the opening of their new Logistic Center in Shannon. Since 2006 HID’s growth and expansion here in Ireland is truly a great success story, and the new Center will allow for an even better service to their European customers. I’m delighted that HID has chosen Shannon and the Mid-West Region for this new expansion, and welcome all growth opportunities, especially in regional areas. Shannon is thriving in the technology space and having a global leader such as HID open in the area is a very welcome addition. I wish all the team the best with this new expansion and continued success,” said Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation Dara Calleary.

“I wish to congratulate HID for the establishment of its second site in Ireland, and its second largest Logistics Center. A leading technology solutions company operating in several fast-growing markets, HID is a welcome addition to the Midwest established Technology cluster. I wish HID and its team in Shannon every success with this expansion,” said CEO of IDA Ireland, Michael Lohan.

Operating in Ireland since 2006, HID has steadily expanded its manufacturing, R&D, supply chain customer service, IT, finance, human resources, and other business functions in Ireland to support a growing customer base across EMEA.

HID first established itself in the country in Tully, County Galway in 2006. The company is best known in Ireland for providing the enabling technology for Ireland’s revolutionary passport card program, which was the first of its kind to allow travellers to cross borders in Europe with an electronic passport card rather than a traditional passport booklet. In 2022, HID opened an award-winning Center of Excellence in Galway city, employing about 500 people.

Image caption From left to right: Will Corcoran, Regional Manager Mid-West IDA Ireland; Björn Lidefelt, Executive Vice President and Head of HID; and Eoin Gavin, President of the Shannon Chamber of Commerce participate in the ribbon-cutting ceremony of HID’s newest Logistics Centre that will support 55 countries across the region.