Event Celebrates Culture of Innovation in the Mid-West

Dell EMC hosted an event at its campus in Limerick celebrating the high level of innovation that is taking place in the Mid-West region.

The event, delivered in partnership with the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland, also highlighted the role that Ireland’s talented creative and artistic community can play in strengthening the country’s competitiveness position as a location of choice for growth and investment.

Titled ’Full STEAM Ahead in the Mid-West – Celebrating Great Innovation,’ the inspirational gathering showcased the contribution that creative talent – typically associated with Ireland’s arts community – can play in driving innovation and progression in the world of business and technology.

Speaking about the reason for the event, Timmy O’Dwyer, VP Global Service Parts Operations and Limerick Campus Leader, Dell EMC, said: “At Dell EMC, creativity is central to what we do and how we approach our work. Whether it is in the approach we take to address a customer problem or how we develop an innovative new technology or solution we always strive to do things differently.

“Creativity is at the heart of the arts community in Ireland. By combining our already strong STEM skills with the skills of the artistic community we further strengthen the talent proposition from Ireland. We support the objective to integrate the arts more formally into the STEM agenda by changing the focus to STEAM. The event hosted today in Limerick is designed to broaden awareness of the opportunities that this approach can create and to ensure that as a country we harness the talents of all of our people to secure our leadership position in areas such as Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality as well as in AI and Internet of Things.” 

Mark Redmond, Chief Executive, American Chamber of Commerce Ireland said:

“There is more core R&D being done in the Irish operations of the US companies than ever before. This is resulting in significant innovation coming out of Ireland -a tribute to the ideas, innovation, teamwork, leadership and impact we see within our member companies every day. The event in Limerick this evening is helping to drive awareness and to educate people about the impact that focusing on STEAM can have on businesses and communities throughout the country.  By focusing on STEAM rather than solely STEM, we are putting the Arts at the centre of the skills agenda and ensuring that Ireland focuses on the multi-disciplinary skills we need to stay ahead of the game as global innovation leader.”  

Guests at the event were entertained by performers including the Irish Chamber Orchestra’s ‘Sing Out With Strings’ and the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance. Panellists including Brenda Romero, Course Director, MSc in Game Design & Deveopment @UL; Anthony Quigney, Dell EMC; Sandra Joyce, Director, Irish World Academy of Music and Dance and Flaithri Neff – Musician & Music Technologist (LIT) discussed the interconnection between the arts and technology under the umbrella theme – ‘Full STEAM Ahead’.