Winners announced 2022 US-Ireland Research Innovation Awards

The awards were presented in the presence of the President and Officers of the Academy, representatives of the Irish operations of US Multinational Companies, Higher Education Institutions in Ireland, SMEs. and other distinguished public figures. Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris, T.D. gave the keynote address.

These awards recognise excellence in research innovation, creation, process and invention by multinationals as well as SMEs, higher education institutions and research centres with links to the US multinational sector. The 2022 US-Ireland Research Innovation Awards are proudly sponsored by BT Ireland and EY Ireland, and the Irish Times is the media partner.

Three awards were presented on the night in the categories of Innovation in Sustainability, Innovation in Talent Development and Innovation in Enabling Technology. 

The companies shortlisted for the awards were:

• Bank of America Europe,
• Boston Scientific,
• Xperi,
• Janssen Sciences Ireland,
• Maynooth University with Microsoft Ireland,
• Pfizer,
• Stryker
• Microsoft Ireland.

Watch highlights from the award presentation event

AmCham Annual Dinner 2022 Highlights.mp4 from American Chamber of Commerce on Vimeo.

Winners 

Innovation in Sustainability Award

Winner: Maynooth University with Microsoft Ireland for ‘Terrain – AI’

The award for Innovation in Sustainability recognises a team demonstrating transformational change in environmental, economic, or social sustainability.

Maynooth University’s ‘Terrain-AI’ is jointly funded by Microsoft and Science Foundation Ireland. The project aims to help understand the impact of human activity on land use to enable more sustainable land use.

The research team found that we currently lack the level of detailed information required to enable the implementation of policies to address challenges including climate change and the need for sustainable food and natural resources production to meet future population demands. Terrain-AI aims to address these multiple interrelated, challenges in an integrated manner and sensitive to time and geographical contexts. 

The multidisciplinary research collaboration develops new cloud-based, automated workflows and machine learning data toolsets for profiling and characterising environment types for more effective and precise carbon mitigation policies and practices. 

Terrain-AI is advancing the standards of measurement, monitoring, verification and reporting of carbon stocks and emissions across complex environments. We are developing innovative AI solutions and technologies, integrated with computational models, to provide more accurate estimates of carbon fluxes across scales, and a deeper understanding of the effects of human activities, to enable decision makers to develop more effective climate mitigation strategies. 

Watch a video on the winning project:

Maynooth University Innovation Awards Shortlist 2022 from American Chamber of Commerce on Vimeo.

Innovation in Enabling Technologies Award

Winner: Janssen Sciences Ireland for ‘Solving the buffer solution bottleneck through process intensification’

The Award for Innovation in Enabling Technologies recognises a team that shows outstanding innovation in technologies that drive digital engagement.

The winning project allows for a faster, more sustainable and more cost-efficient production of biological materials.

The manufacturing process requires 170,000L of buffer solutions, which are primarily comprised of water. The traditional approach uses large vessels to prepare and store these buffers, which would have required a larger facility footprint, leading to more expensive running costs.

Janssen’s innovative project means that individual, high concentrated buffer stock solutions are prepared, blended together and then mixed with water from the distribution loop at the chromatography skid, leading to the real time manufacturing and release of the buffer at point of use in the process.

This resulted in a storage reduction capacity of approximately 80 percent. It also led to a cost reduction of €1.25 million per year and had a positive sustainability impact using 50 percent less plastic.

Watch a video on the winning project: 

Janssen Innovation Awards Shortlist 2022 from American Chamber of Commerce on Vimeo.

Innovation in Talent Development Award

Winner: Stryker for the Stryker engineering apprenticeship program   

The Innovation in Talent Development award recognises an organisation for their outstanding performance in managing and promoting creativity and collaboration in the development of talent.

The winning project by Stryker, the Stryker engineering apprenticeship program was developed to meet the diverse engineering requirements at Stryker and to futureproof the talent pipeline.

Providing alternative pathways to develop engineering talent is a key focus area for Stryker. This led the team to develop this apprenticeship training model in partnership with Ibec.

The industry and academic partnership, course content and the mentorship structure in this apprenticeship program are all focused on developing a pipeline of talent to meet the needs of the industry today and into the future.

Watch the video to find out more about Stryker,

Stryker Ireland Innovation Awards Shortlist 2022 from American Chamber of Commerce on Vimeo.