Driving Innovation in Ireland’s Food and Agri Sector Food and Agriculture Sustainable Technology Innovation Programme (FAST-IP)
19th September 2024
University College Dublin (UCD) today announced that fifteen participants have been selected, following a competitive recruitment process from circa. 200 applications, for a new specialist food and agriculture entrepreneurship programme being delivered by the UCD School of Biosystems and Food Engineering in partnership with Teagasc.
The announcement was made in Enterprise Ireland’s Innovation Arena at the 2024 National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska, Co. Laois, and was attended by Peter Burke TD, Minster for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
Peter Burke TD, Minster for Enterprise, Trade and Employment said, “I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the fifteen participants who have been selected to take part in the inaugural 12-month Food and Agriculture Sustainable Technology Innovation Programme or FAST-IP.
The ambition of FAST-IP is to drive innovation in Ireland’s food and agricultural sector by supporting needs-led innovation, creating start-ups with the capability to scale and sell internationally, and generating new jobs for the sector in Ireland.
I wish the participants every success in the year ahead.”
FAST-IP will further enhance innovation in the food and agri sector by providing programme participants with the necessary skills to evaluate, select and validate ideas for new products and services in this sector and to accelerate the commercialisation pathway for the identified products and services.
FAST-IP is currently underway at the AgTechUCD Innovation Centre at UCD Lyons Farm in Co. Kildare and will be delivered annually until the end of 2029. FAST-IP is accredited by UCD at Level 9 on the National Qualifications Framework and participants who complete the programme will be awarded a Graduate Diploma in Agrifood Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Professor Kate Robson Brown, UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact, said, “We were delighted to receive nearly 200 applications for FAST-IP’s inaugural programme which is a strong indication of the demand for this exciting Innovators’ Initiative programme from across Ireland and indeed internationally. I would especially like to congratulate the fifteen participants who have been selected for the first programme following a rigorous interview process and I wish them every success over the coming year.
During the next year the participants will work together to discover real world needs in the food and agricultural sector through their immersive experiences in industry environments and bring innovative solutions to address the identified needs in a commercially viable manner with the aim of creating start-ups and generating new jobs.”
You can find out more about FAST-IP here>>
Pictured (l-r) are; Professor Frank O’Mara, Teagasc Director; Fiona Delaney, FAST-IP participant; Marina Donohoe, Head of Research and Innovation at Enterprise Ireland; Peter Burke TD, Minster for Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Natasha Page-Wood, FAST-IP participant; Brian Russell, FAST-IP participant, and Professor Kate Robson Brown, UCD Vice-President for Research, Innovation and Impact. (Credit: Orla Murray/Coalesce).
