Building materials specialist Kingspan will spend €3 million backing academic research aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions from construction, the Co Cavan-based group announced at the weekend.
Kingspan, a world leader in the insulation industry, is joining forces with the State- and industry-backed doctoral research programme Innovate for Ireland to support multiple PhD scholars.
The group has pledged €3 million to the programme, part of an effort to position the Republic as a centre for doctoral research and innovation, a statement said.
Support will focus on PhD researchers who are taking on “real-world industry challenges in areas including climate action, sustainability, green materials” and construction.
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Indian-born materials science researcher Abhishek Kaitheri Edathil will be the first academic to benefit from Kingspan’s deal with Innovate for Ireland.
[ Kingspan sees ‘strong’ order intake after tough start to year for constructionOpens in new window ]
Working at Technological University of the Shannon, Athlone, and in Kingspan’s Ikon Innovation Centre in Kingscourt, Co Cavan, he is researching recycling solutions for waste from plastic and rubber materials used in insulation.
Edathil‘s work deals with polyurethane, a type of rubber, and polyisocyanurate, a plastic.
According to Kingspan, both are “widely used” to boost buildings’ energy efficiency, but are difficult to recycle.
Edathil‘s research will use advanced materials engineering and chemical processing to explore how they can be reused in industry at the end of their lives.
This will help to create a “more circular supply chain of high performance building materials”, Kingspan explained.
The investment is part of Innovate for Ireland’s broader remit to lure “exceptional research talent” from this country and around the world to work on projects in the Republic’s universities.
Other backers include the Department of Further Education, Research Ireland, the ESB, AIB, Tesco and aircraft leasing giant Avolon.
The areas on which they will focus include recycling, sustainable aviation fuel, clean energy and advances in chemotherapy.
Sandra Del Bove, Kingspan’s group of head of innovation, said it was a long-term investment for the Irish business.
Access to world-class research would be critical to decarbonising construction, she said.
“By connecting research excellence with industry, we can help transform breakthrough ideas into practical applications with global impact,” Del Bove added.
The programme is designed to give researchers the chance to deal with challenges that matter to industry, society and policymakers, explained Dr Simon Boucher, chief executive of Global Innovators Ireland, which works with Innovate for Ireland.
He dubbed Kingspan’s pledge “an important partnership” for the programme.
“By combining world-class industry expertise with a strong focus on sustainability, this collaboration will help develop the next generation of research leaders while strengthening Ireland’s innovation ecosystem for the years ahead,” Boucher added.
Kingspan has businesses in more than 80 countries. Its revenues hit €2.1 billion in the first three months of this year.
