Robotic dog Dexter on hand to help launch new TUS strategy

A robotic dog designed at the Software Research Institute (SRI) at TUS Athlone was on hand last week to help launch the TUS Research Development and Innovation Strategy 2025 to 2029 last week.

Dexter, the robotic dog which was created at the COMAND Technology Gateway in TUS Athlone, was instructed by researchers via remote to do flips and tricks - some powered by artificial intelligence.

Achieving €100million in research contracts was among the ambitious goals contained in the new long-term vision announced by TUS at the university's Coonagh Campus in Limerick last Thursday.

Other targets outlined in the strategy include increasing the number of spin-ins, companies who work with TUS on research, by 30%; delivering a 20% rise in postgraduate research student enrolments; and doubling the knowledge transfer outputs and research publications, outputs and disseminations.

At the launch, President of TUS, Professor Vincent Cunnane, said: “This strategy marks a new chapter in how we envision, deliver, and expand our research culture. Our goal is to grow research capacity, expand the pipeline of postgraduate researchers, and enable inclusive, cross-cutting collaborations.

“We know that impactful research is not created in isolation. It is fueled by partnerships - by strong engagement with our communities, with industry, and with fellow institutions. It is shaped by the real-world challenges we face, and by the collective knowledge we bring together to address them. This strategy is designed to amplify that applied knowledge and ensure that our research speaks directly to the needs of society, both locally and globally.”

Dr Liam Brown, Vice President, Research, Development Innovation, TUS, said: “As leaders in higher education and research, we stand at the forefront of addressing society’s most urgent challenges. Through our Research, Development, and Innovation Strategy, TUS reaffirms its commitment to rigorous, responsible research that advances knowledge, fosters inclusive progress, and delivers meaningful impact.

“By nurturing talent, collaboration, and accelerating innovation, our strategy will empower TUS to be a catalyst for transformative change rooted in inquiry, driven by purpose, aligned with the public good while benefiting our staff, students and our external industry and community stakeholders.”

The launch took place as part of the Manufacturing Solution exhibition, which attracted more than 1,000 attendees and saw firms from across Ireland and the UK showcase displays of cutting-edge industrial precision over two days, June 11 and June 12.

There were also stalls from research facilities such as the IDEAM Research Institute, based at TUS’s Moylish campus in Limerick as well as the COMAND Technology Gateway, based at the TUS Athlone campus, where robotic dog Dexter was developed.

COMAND, based at the SRI TUS Athlone campus concentrates on the research and development of prospective interactive media technologies focusing on augmenting user interactions, end-to-end applications and intelligent infrastructure. These technologies are complementary and will combine to create the opportunity for new and innovative forms of "connected media" applications in a wide range of commercial fields including telecoms, gaming, TV, e-health, e-learning, e-tourism, e-retailing, entertainment and digital marketing.

Following the research strategy launch, there was a panel discussion on “resilience in an evolving global trade landscape”.

During the discussion, the potential of AI was highlighted by Jenny Melia, CEO (designate) of Enterprise Ireland, and Professor Stephen Kinsella, the economics adviser to Tánaiste Simon Harris.

Addressing industry reps, Jennie Melia said: “We are behind on AI in our established companies and SME.

“So many of the start-ups coming through now are with an AI product or service they are delivering or they are using AI to improve their USB, improve their competitive advantage. I am not seeing that as strongly in the SMEs and this is something where we really want to lean on the ecosystem that we’ve built.

“We want to lean on the technology centres, they are the research and the AI-firing power that you need, that you mightn’t be able to afford inhouse but is right down the road from you.”

Prof. Kinsella also spoke about the potential of AI, saying: “You are dealing with a rapidly evolving technology that’s altering both the relationship of labour to employment and capital to employment and of output. This is revolutionary but it is not the revolution people think. To me what we are going to see are really boring process improvements, be it invoicing and stuff like that. Instead of five hours every week, it is ten minutes, that is the difference.

“The interesting thread is in the 70, 80s and 90s firms had to come to universities because that’s where the knowledge was. In the 2020s knowledge is in the firms and often codified in the universities. We are not teaching Stripe about AI. However, if we develop the talent they need that will improve their AI work. We need to think about that carefully, the mission for the public good and the private sector mission to improve profit and output. It generally works out pretty well and TUS is a model for that.”