Cork’s Technology Network (CEIA) supporting and inspiring future tech entrepreneurs and innovators

By @SimonCocking. The CEIA represents ICT companies in the Cork region working in accord with the IDA, Enterprise Ireland, FÁS, CIT & UCC.

What’s your background?

The organisation was founded in 1984 by a number of CEO’s, primarily focused on lobbying improvement of the infrastructure of the region and to nurture growth. It has achieved major success since inception, and can be considered the significant Association representing the technology sector in the Southern region of Ireland. The CEIA currently comprises 55 members, including the 5 statutory members, CIT, EI, CETB, IDA,  & UCC; Membership is split evenly between FDI, (Multinationals) and indigenous industry.

Since 2004, the Skills and Education subgroup of the CEIA  has planned and run activities to  foster an interest in science and engineering in children and young adults from  10 to 18 years.

The prime motivation for this is to ensure that enough children are entering into the college system with both the interest to select and the ability to succeed in STEM related undergraduate programmes.

The programmes link industry partners, students and third level mentors to encourage students to take STEM courses at 3^rd level and find rewarding and challenging careers in industry.

This is achieved in a variety of ways such as running robotics workshops, robotics and satellite competitions, maths tutorials and teacher training programmes. The subgroup works closely with local academic institutes such as UCC, CIT, the Tyndall National Institute, as well as member companies, collaborating with other STEM programmes such as Discovery to achieve this.

What is the goal of CEIA, who is it supported by?

The vision of the CEIA is to:

1. Act and be recognised both regionally and nationally, as a highly professional representative of the technology sector in the Cork region; and furthermore is seen to reflect the needs and issues of the industry nationally.
2. Offer its members an invaluable source of business networking, best practice sharing, and a forum to collectively address individual member issues and general industry topics.
3. Continue to develop the range of Topic Specific Groups that provide informational and development opportunities for members at both business and functional levels.
4. Be the primary interface in the Cork region between the technology Sector and Education and Government Support Agencies.

The CEIA represents High Tech companies in the Cork region working in accord with the Industrial Development Agency (IDA), Enterprise Ireland, the Cork Education & Training Board, (formerly FÁS), the Cork Institute of Technology and University College Cork, to ensure a sophisticated technological infrastructure is in place to enable the industry to grow and prosper.

We are committed to encouraging young people to pursue STEM based careers to ensure the technology sector in Ireland has a pipeline for the future.

With the whole programme of free initiatives for schools to get kids interested in STEM including the robotics comp, CanSat, High Tech Elec transition year programme and free LC Higher lever maths tutorials!

How is this going?

Programme is going really well, over the course of the last 12 years we have seen increased interest and  participation in programmes, the High Tech Elec TY programme is particularly popular with students from across Munster participating.

 What successes in last year?

Introduction of BOOLE 200 game, Retro type game aimed at 10 – 13 year olds, based on the logic of George Boole developed and successfully run.

Cork Team successful in National CANSAT competition

What’s coming up?

SySTEM – Our new programme for 2016 which is building on our George Boole based project of last year, we will be working with TYs’ to develop a game based on the logic of George Boole which they can build as an APP

The group represents all of the major tech and engineering companies in the region, – can you list some of them? Any quotes about why they support the initiative(s)?

Some of the CEIA members who have collaborated with CEIA stem projects giving of their time & finances to ensure the projects are a success:

ALTERA, BOSTON SCIENTIFIC, EMC, FLEX, GENESIS CIRCUITS, HORNER, LOGITECH, MOOG, ROBIAC TECHNOLOGIES, SANMINA, TMC TECHNOLOGIES, TYCO,

ERNEST KEEFFE, GM MOOG,

“Ireland hosts some of the best High Tech companies in the world and in order for these companies to flourish there is a need to produce highly skilled, capable and innovative workforce”

SEAN MORAN, VP & GM SANMINA “As Ireland continues to recover economically it is extremely important we create the right environment for increased numbers of talented graduates needed to participate in the emerging industries”

A lot of the engineers donate their time freely to help the programmes. 

Quote by Denis Canty Lead Technologist – IoT/Data Science – Advanced R&D at Tyco.

“I have been volunteering for a number of years in STEM programs. I like to help as I remember being a young student and there are lots of barriers to overcome and hard decisions to make. These students are the future of our profession. Anything we can do as senior engineering ambassadors to ease the burden really makes a difference. Plus I end up getting outside my comfort zone and learning a lot from the experience, so everyone wins”.

Mark Murphy, Chartered Engineer, Mark Murphy Consultancy Ltd.

“Sharing the knowledge we have gained over the years in the field of engineering to the younger generation is not only rewarding, I believe it is one of our duties. Helping the Leaving Cert students in really understanding mathematics through the use of real life examples and real world problems is certainly rewarding for them but also the element of altruism is certainly gratifying for me too. It’s good to know we can help.”

Edmund Collins Chartered Engineer GSK pharmaceutical

“I freely give my time as a CEIA Maths Tutor to help a new generation of potential engineers develop an understanding of the fundamental principles of maths and associated problem solving. It’s also a way of giving something back from the knowledge that I have gained when studying engineering and applying engineering theory in the workplace”.

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If you would like to have your company featured in the Irish Tech News Business Showcase, get in contact with us at Simon@IrishTechNews.net or on Twitter: @SimonCocking