National College of Ireland, Dublin Institute of Technology, ITT Dublin, IT Blanchardstown and IADT Dun Laoghaire are holding a joint innovation showcase on 25th February, with the aim of promoting industry-academic R&D collaboration and technology transfer to industry.

The five institutions comprise the Enterprise Ireland funded Dublin Region Innovation Consortium (DRIC), established to maximise the impact of research in the member institutions. The consortium is supported by DIT Hothouse, the technology transfer office at DIT, which provides knowledge transfer and support to all DRIC partners.

The showcase will be officially opened by The Minister for Skills, Research and Innovation Mr Damien English TD and will be attended by the president of each of the five partner institutions.

The DRIC Innovation Showcase will display and promote the latest research technologies emerging from each institution across the areas of ICT, Engineering, Clean Tech and Food & Life Science. There will be a total of 23 exhibits, with researchers on hand to discuss collaboration, licensing and company spin-out opportunities.

Exhibitors will include the DIT Centre for Research in Engineering Surface Technology (CREST), the ITTD MiCRA (Microsensors for Clinical Research and Analysis) Centre, the IT Blanchardstown Magnetics and Security Research Laboratory (SRL), the NCI Cloud Competency Centre (CCC), and the IADT Centre for Creative Technologies and Applications (CCTA).

There will also be a series of talks held in parallel to the event to help inform and educate attendees on some of the key mechanisms available to fund R&D collaboration, technology development and campus company formation. Topics will include: SME Funding Opportunities through the EU Horizon 2020 programme; R&D funding through Collaborative Programmes; and Raising Investment for a University Spin-Out Company.

The winners of the DRIC Inventor Competition 2014 will also be announced and presented with awards for the best invention in the categories of ICT, Engineering, Clean Tech and Food & Life Science.

The event will take place from 3pm to 7.30pm at the Courtyard, DIT Aungier Street on Wednesday, 25th February. Places are limited so early registration is advised. Those interested in attending can register at www.DRICSHOW2015.eventbrite.ie.

Attendees can join the Twitter conversation around the event with the hashtag #DRICSHOW2015.