Winners of the 2019 US-Ireland Research Innovation Awards announced

The presentations took place in the Clayton Hotel, Burlington Road in Dublin in the presence of former Taoiseach Mr Enda Kenny T.D.; President and Officers of the Academy, members of the US-Ireland business community and Academy guests. The awards are jointly presented by the Royal Irish Academy and the American Chamber of Commerce to recognise excellence in research innovation across three categories:

1. A Higher Education Institution (HEI)/ Research Centre or institute based on the island of Ireland with links to the US corporate sector
2. An Irish SME with links to the US corporate sector 
3. The Irish operations of a US headquartered and controlled multinational company

The US-Ireland Research Innovation Awards are sponsored by KPMG and Ulster Bank with media partner The Irish Times. 

The winner of the 2019 US-Ireland Research Innovation Award for an Irish Higher Education Institute or Research Centre with US corporate links

UNESCO Chair Institute of Technology Tralee

Winning research innovation:
UFIT (Universal Fitness Innovation and Transformation) an innovative capacity building programme, based on rigorous research that provides bespoke resources to enable the fitness industry to embrace diversity and provide a quality, accessible service to people with disabilities. UFIT is promoted by IHRSA, the Boston headquartered industry body for a sector that has grown rapidly over the past four decades. Together the UNESCO Chair at the Institute of Technology Tralee and IHRSA are transforming the sector into one that embraces inclusion and diversity for the benefit of business and society. UFIT facilitates human rights objectives, while delivering economic and social benefits evidenced by the research. Through UFIT, IHRSA is now driving an inclusive transformative change agenda in the industry, with more and more countries and sites on board.  The IT Tralee UNESCO Chair partnership with IHRSA via UFIT has elevated disability inclusion to the top of the industries development agenda. The World Health Organisation is now embarking on the UFIT journey with Tralee UNESCO Chair and IHRSA globally to implement UFIT. 

The winner of the 2019 US-Ireland Research Innovation Award for an Irish Microenterprise/SME with links to the US corporate sector in Ireland

Allergy Standards Limited 

Winning research innovation:
Allergy Standards, based here in Dublin, have developed the world’s first scientific standards for consumer products to determine their capability to improve indoor air quality and achieve asthma &allergy friendly® certification. The Certification Program is the only programme endorsed by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA). Allergy Standards Limited connects top brands to over 60 million Americans affected by asthma and allergies. Some of the world’s leading manufacturers, such as LG, Dyson, Procter & Gamble, 3M and De’Longhi have certified a large variety of their products providing a whole of home offering of healthier products to their customers. Other brands include Mercedes, Crown Paints, Hollander and Welspun and they have certified products in all continents.

The winner of the 2019 US-Ireland Research Innovation Award for the Irish operations of a US headquartered and controlled multinational company

FotoNation 

Winning research innovation:
Driver Monitoring System: a smarter driver experience. The Driver Monitory System is a safety product that uses modern artificial intelligence driven approaches combined with smart intelligent camera designs that determine the distraction/drowsiness/in appropriate posture of the driver based on their facial and partial body image. Driver monitoring is increasingly becoming a very important feature for the new cars, especially in the context of transitioning from no automation to autonomous driving so that the car knows when it is safe to yield control to the driver. As cars become more and more autonomous, DMS will transition into an in-cabin occupancy monitoring system (OMS), powered by a low power high performance chip designed to enable the system networks to infer in real time, with applications in safety, security, entertainment, social media and many others.


The call for expressions of interest in the 2020 US-Ireland Research Innovation Awards is now open. Please email awards@ria.ie to register your interest.