AMBER collaboration leads to new market opportunities for KASTUS®

21 November 2018

Materials science research is not a term you hear too often in general conversation, but it’s an important area for the Irish economy and society.

The technologies that it supports impact some of the fastest-growing sectors globally, such as electronics, medical technologies, and pharmaceuticals. These are also some of the biggest areas of employment in Ireland and there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes.

Leading academics have been working in partnership with energy, healthcare and pharmaceuticals industries to find solutions to some of the most pressing problems of our time.

Research with AMBER, the materials science centre at Trinity College Dublin, has transformed companies based in Ireland, enabling them to increase their product portfolio and drive their research and development. KASTUS® has been fortunate to benefit from the support of AMBER.

Prof. Michael Morris, AMBER Director, says: “Our collaboration with KASTUS® has the potential to significantly impact how MRSA and other superbugs are controlled and prevented in hospital and community settings. Our researchers in AMBER are globally renowned for the quality of our materials science and we have a unique set of state-of-the-art infrastructures which will benefit this engagement.”

This leading research is one of the key factors that has encouraged nine of the ten top medical and pharma multinationals and nine of the world’s top ten leading ICT companies to set up in Ireland.

As a result of its direct and indirect activities, AMBER has generated over 14,000 jobs nationwide and, since its launch in 2013, has brought in over €40m in competitive European research funding.

As part of the research collaboration between AMBER and KASTUS®, two academic experts in science and engineering have joined Kastus in its fight against superbugs.

The two researchers, Aran Rafferty an expert in materials R&D and problem-solving, with specialist knowledge of technical glass and ceramic development and Dr Ehsan Rezvani, a post-doctoral researcher working in Trinity’s School of Physics are involved in a variety of research work with KASTUS®.

Dr James Kennedy, KASTUS® Director of Innovation and Operations says: “Utilising Kastus’ award-winning patented advanced photochemistry as both a chemical and commercial building block, collaboration between academic research and industry is key to major breakthroughs in technology and leads to further innovation. Through this collaboration, we can now access new markets for our smart antimicrobial technology, such as the roof tile, architectural, glass and water conservation markets. This has been a key part of our research strategy and we are very grateful for the support. Overall, it has been a successful project for us as an SME.”

The SFI Industry Fellowship Programme, which funded the collaboration between KASTUS® and AMBER which was valued at €280,000, aims to enhance industry-academia collaborations, and to stimulate excellence in knowledge exchange and training of engineers and scientists. The programme funds the temporary placement of academic researchers in industry, and of industry researchers in academia.

Appearing in the photo are:Dr James Kennedy-CTO ( Kastus), William Denning-Technical Specialist( Kastus), Dr Nigel Leyland-Senior Materials Scientist (Kastus), Dr Ehsan Rezvani-SFI Industry Fellow with Kastus (Amber-TCD), Dr Aran Rafferty-SFI Industry Fellow with Kastus (Amber-TCD)