A CONNEMARA company has secured almost €2 million in European Space Agency research and development contracts.
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation Batt O’Keeffe is to announce details today at the headquarters of ÉireComposites Teo in Indreabhán, south Connemara.
Three new graduate engineering positions will be generated by the €1.9 million contracts to produce lightweight composite technologies for future space launcher and satellite structures.
The research and development work will also support seven engineering and technician positions.
The company already employs 55 staff at its Indreabhán base, where it designs, manufactures and tests advanced lightweight composite materials that can be used in aircraft, wind turbines, automotive and spacecraft.
It is supported by Údaras na Gaeltachta and Enterprise Ireland, and it has developed an international customer base in aerospace, wind energy, marine, Formula 1 racing and general automotive sectors.
The space agency contracts involve developing lightweight materials that can withstand the extreme environment of space flight, including extreme temperatures, pressures and turbulence, while also reducing spacecraft weight and the launch costs.
Mr O’Keeffe said the development “is an excellent example of how small Irish companies, with a rural base, can succeed in highly competitive markets, by employing the right skills and concentrating on highly innovative technology”.
ÉireComposites joint managing director Dr Conchúr Ó Brádaigh said that securing the space agency contracts “is an important factor in developing our company’s technical capabilities, and will position the company to grow in both the space and aerospace market”.
Údarás na Gaeltacht chief executive Pádraig Ó hAoláin said the venture is “a good example of enhanced collaboration between development agencies, which ensures that client-companies are given the best opportunities available”. ÉireComposites is the only aerospace-accredited manufacturer of composite products in the State, supplying aircraft programmes with Bombardier Aerospace (Belfast), Ratier-Figeac (France) and Eurocopter (Germany).
ÉireComposites Teo’s subsidiary, Composites Testing Laboratory, which is also based in Indreabhán, is a leading provider of accredited testing services to the international composites industry.
Both companies were originally spin-offs from NUI Galway and many of the staff are graduates of the university.
A second subsidiary, Greenblade GmbH in Brandenburg, Germany, employs 15 people and supplies thermoplastic composite wind turbine blades to the renewable energy sector throughout Europe.
Enterprise Ireland, IDA and the industry have funded a competence centre in composite materials at the University of Limerick, as the sector has been identified as strategic for Ireland’s industrial development programme.