Ireland’s premier Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality Suite, funded by Enterprise Ireland, Kerry County Council, as well as industry partners Dairymaster, McHale Engineering and Abbey Machinery hosted a virtual showcase of its facilities based on the Kerry Campus of MTU on Monday 19th of April. The ACE Suite is a purpose-built virtual and physical collaboration space with endless possibilities which hosts a huge array of the very latest augmented, virtual, and mixed reality platforms, enabling you to think differently whilst working in a unique technology-rich environment.

This virtual showcase is the first in a series of events taking place in April and May to launch three innovative projects across the National Centre of Agricultural Engineering which is based on the MTU Kerry Campus.
These projects have secured a budget of over €4.5million and have created 16 jobs in this highly skilled area.

Dr Sara Morrissey Tucker, ACE Centre Manager said “No matter what your business needs, the ACE Suite, including its support and consultation team, can create a custom-made solution tailored to your needs. This includes presentations and pitches, workshops and ideation, conferences, unique media events and filming locations, product launches, design thinking, and anything else you can imagine.”

Professor Joseph Walsh, Head of the School of STEM at MTU, stated “MTU has a very proud tradition of Agricultural Engineering Education and Research for over 40 years, we are delighted to be leading these innovative projects working with a wide range of the AgriTech companies nationally. At every stage across the entire agri-food supply chain smart agricultural technologies are used, from the planting of seeds to the harvesting of crops, breeding of livestock and treating disease, transporting goods and managing commercial sales. Agricultural technology is rapidly becoming one of the world’s fastest growing and exciting markets. It is driven by global challenges: a rising population, rapid development of emerging economies with western lifestyle aspirations and growing geopolitical instability around shortages of land, water and energy. These challenges need to be addressed through improvements in yield and efficiency with a reduced environmental impact, including carbon reduction and improved biodiversity. A technology revolution is also taking place. Breakthroughs in nutrition, genetics, informatics, satellite imaging, remote sensing, meteorology, precision farming and low impact agriculture mean smart agricultural technologies has huge potential for development. There exist great employment opportunities for graduates in this exciting area and Ireland is ideally positioned to become a global leader.”

Bríd McElligott, Vice President Research, Development and External Engagement at Munster Technological University congratulated Professor Joseph Walsh, Dr Sara Morrissey Tucker and the team on their achievements to date “MTU prepares students for a diverse range of careers in agriculture through the provision of a range of programme offerings. These programmes are delivered in a flexible manner with a practical focus whose content is targeted at the ever-changing needs of industry. It is testament to the team in the School of STEM led by Professor Walsh that MTU has added ACE to its agricultural strengths alongside a number of other exciting developments including the Reimagining Engineering Education in Ireland (REEdI), the AgriTech Cluster & the TAgMi project. Each development will be launching the services they offer over the coming months with virtual events showcasing the opportunities arising from the National Centre of Agricultural Engineering at Munster Technological University."

Cathaoirleach of Kerry County Council Cllr. Patrick Connor-Scarteen said "The AgriTech Centre of excellence will position Kerry and Ireland at the forefront of the international AgriTech Industry. Kerry County Council is proud to partner in this project, the first of its kind in Ireland, which will lead to not only to advancements in the sector globally, but also place Kerry firmly centre stage as a global leader in AgriTech excellence."

Enterprise Ireland Regional Director Jerry Moloney said “ACE’s primary focus is on providing a resource to AgriTech businesses across not only in Ireland but globally. On a local level, enterprises across a number of industry sectors in the region will have access to a state-of-the-art facility that will help them train, test and implement new products or services. Enterprise Ireland is proud to be partner to a project with such a high level of innovation.”