Globalstar satellite hotspot hotline to home
Leader in satellite messaging and emergency notification technologies, Global Europe Satellite Services Ltd, is focussing on the commercial fishing industry to provide affordable communications on existing smartphone or tablet devices.
Globalstar Sat-FiTm is 'the world's most powerful satellite hotspot' that allows up to eight users to simultaneously send texts, emails and make calls, hundreds of miles offshore.
Beaufort on course for summer opening
The 'topping out' ceremony marking a construction milestone of the Beaufort Centre in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork, keeps the project on target to open later this year.
As home to the world's largest team of dedicated marine researchers, the centre is set to be an "international leader" and postions Ireland at the "epicentre of research and innnovation in the marine energy industry. This building is a world-class development in the Irish Maritime and Energy Resource Cluster (IMERC)," remarked UCC Beaufort Director, Prof Conchúr Ó Brádaigh.
Prof Conchúr Ó Brádaigh, Director, Beaufort, UCC; Alex White, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and Prof Anita Maguire, Vice-President for Research and Innovation, UCC
Alex White, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, said Ireland had the potential to become the "international focal point" of the marine renewable industry.
Horizon 2020 funding goes to Irish marine researchers
Irish marine researchers have won €5.5m in the latest EU Horizon 2020 competitive funding for ‘blue growth’ and ‘sustainable food and security, representing 4.7% of total EU budget awards and 5% of ‘blue growth.
Craig McClean, NOAA, Peter Heffernan, Marine Institute, Stephen Locke, Geological Survey of Canada, John Bell, Director Bioeconomy, DG Research and Innovation
This is a much higher success rate than the ‘normal’ ratio for Ireland in competitive European funding calls, according to the Marine Institute.
Robots navigate underwater obstacle course
A one-day course to design, build and test underwater robots attracted students from Cork Institute of Technology, the Irish Naval Service and University College Cork to the Hydraulic and Maritime Research Centre.
Sponsored by the Doyle Group and Wavin, and facilitated by IMERC and MaREI, students used their engineering knowledge to build robots to navigate an underwater obstacle course. The competition challenged students to be creative by using basic materials such as wavin piping, small motors, tape cable ties and glue.
Gauntlet thrown down for marine development
Dr Peter Heffernan, CEO the Marine Institute told delegates attending the first annual conference of Our Ocean Wealth that the financial impact to Ireland’s recovering economy from its expanding maritime sector will be maximised only if we learn to think beyond the existing barriers and learn to do things differently and by focusing more on international collaboration in technology and research.
Inshore Ireland spoke to Dr Hefferan and asked him to assess the progress to date of the government’s integrated maritime policy and where it has taken us so far.
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Guest Writer2014-07-06 09:31:202019-02-14 15:57:14Cabinet recognition of Ireland’s marine resource potential
Seabed mapping applications across many disciplines
Fabio Sacchetti, Vera Quinlan and Thomas Furey, Marine Institute
INFOMAR was centre-stage in the exhibition area of the first annual Ocean Wealth Conference at Dublin Castle on June 18 which recorded progress since publication of Harnessing our Ocean Wealth, Ireland’s Integrated Marine Plan (2013).
INFOMAR outputs were referred to by several speakers in different sectors as ‘critical’ to facilitating their successful development.
Tommy Furey, Fergal McGrath, Fabio Sacchetti and Vera Quinlan, Marine Institute
The conference, attended by An Taoiseach and five government Ministers, addressed fisheries plans; development of a new tax regime for offshore petroleum exploitation; roll-out of the Wild Atlantic Way Failte Ireland initiative and moves towards implementation of a new Marine Spatial Planning system.
Seabed mapping data to deliver added-value across marine tourism and business sectors
Tommy Furvey and Archie Donovan, joint INFOMAR managers
In 2013 INFOMAR (INtergrated Mapping For the Sustainable Development of Ireland’s MArine Resource) undertook a review to establish progress since 2008 across the three primary programme areas of activity; surveying, data provision, and encouraging associated research and development, or adding-value to the survey, infrastructure and data.
Unsurprisingly, performance was very strong in survey and data handling; however it was acknowledged that the reduced resources available to the programme (funding and staffing), impacted most on the latter area of value-added exploitation. To address this, INFOMAR is now working with the Dublin Business Innovation Centre to develop public awareness of the programme, and encourage new sectors to access and utilise the data for business development purposes.The long-term objective is to generate jobs and economic growth and leverage the maximum return on State investment in the seabed mapping initiatives.
INFOMAR continues to play a key role in supporting strategic and research-related, national and EU, marine survey and data related initiatives. In addition to operational activity, INFOMAR acts as a researcher, research coordinator, and research funder, and strongly encourages industry research partnerships. In parallel however, specific focus not centres on a number of key targeted areas that will have significant long-term impact on a broad array of marine sectors.
Four-part series looks beneath the waves off Ireland
Ireland's Ocean is a major new four-part ocean wildlife series for RTÉ One television beginning Sunday June 22 which explores diverse creatures from dolphins and sharks to plankton and the myriad of tiny colourful creatures that live in offshore and shallow waters around Ireland.
The seas around Ireland are rich in marine and plant life. Photo George Karbus www.emerald-vision.com
The series looks at the history of man's relationship with and response to the sea, and exams common perceptions of dolphins and sharks:
Are dolphins highly intelligent, sensitive creatures capable of healing sick children? Why are worrying numbers of dolphins washing up dead on our Atlantic coast? Are sharks terrifying animals waiting below the sea surface to eat us?