The Athlone-based Midlands Innovation and Research Centre (MIRC) at Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) – a location of ESA Space Solutions Centre Ireland – provides incubation, technology transfer and business development supports to knowledge-based start-ups and makes available the resources and expertise of TUS to support client companies. TUS is home to strategic research institutes such as Materials, Bioscience, Software, ACADEmy, LIFE and ACORN, along with three Enterprise Ireland funded Technology Gateways – Applied Polymer Technologies (APT), Connected Media Application Design and Delivery (COMAND), and Shannon Applied Biotechnology Centre (SABC).
TUS is a partner in the SFI funded CONFIRM Smart Manufacturing, ADAPT Digital Technologies, AMBER Advanced Materials, SSPC Pharmaceutical and CÚRAM Medical Device Centres. Space Industry Skillnet, a national learning network that supports Irish enterprises involved in the development and delivery of technology and services to ESA, and Irish Space Industry Group, a national industry group representing space companies in Ireland, are both based in the MIRC.
