National Launch of Marie Curie Programme in FP7
21st May 2007, Crowne Plaza Hotel and Conference Centre, Santry, Dublin 9
Aidan Kennedy
SIFCO Turbine Components Ltd, Carrigtwohill, Co Cork
SIFCO is a Cork based engineering company with about 100 employees. The company’s business is with the technology of gas turbine engines, in particular the repair, manufacture and coating of key components of these engines. It’s a high technology business, with customers constantly requiring improvements – in particular improved protective coatings for turbine blades which are exposed to extreme conditions of thermal and mechanical stress while in service in these engines.
SIFCO needs to keep up with or ahead of the latest technological advances in order to retain its customers and to attract new customers. To this end we wished to develop strong links with outstanding centres of research expertise in surface coatings of advanced alloys. Therefore we applied to the Marie Curie/Transfer of Knowledge Programme to support our proposal to build industry/academia partnerships with 3 Universities – Cranfield University (England), the University of La Rochelle (France) and Trinity College Dublin. The title of our project is “Development of Technologies for advanced Treatment of Metal Alloy Surfaces with applications in the Gas turbine and Medical Implant sectors”. The project will involve the cross secondment of 12 researchers between SIFCO and the 3 University partners to carry out agreed, relevant research projects over a 4 year period.
We expect the project will have a very positive impact on the company by exposing key members of our engineering staff to the latest research developments in 3 Universities all of whom have well established international reputations in relevant technical fields, and also by infusing new thinking into the traditional “in house” processes and approaches to technology development within SIFCO.
The project will provide jobs and advanced training in applied research for 4 researchers who already have > 4 years research experience. It will also provide technology transfer opportunities for 8 Senior Researchers from the 4 participant organisations. In the medium term it will help SIFCO to compete in a very competitive global market by enhancing the company’s image as a developer of new technologies. In this way it will help to secure the continued employment of about 100 people in Cork.
The Framework Programme is itself a very competitive market. The information, support and advice available to us from the team at IUA was a key factor in our successful application to Brussels for research funding support.
