University to host
international solar
conference
N EWS
SOLID SOLUTIONS TO
ACCELERATE GROWTH
STRATEGY
Solid Solutions, a market leading
reseller of 3D design software, has
secured a minority investment from
mid-market private equity investor
LDC to accelerate organic growth.
As part of the deal, Solid Solutions’
existing backer, BGF, will exit its
minority stake.
Founded in 1998, Solid Solutions
is the UK and Ireland’s leading
reseller of SOLIDWORKS, the 3D
computer aided design (CAD)
package that is owned by Dassault
Systems and used by more than five
million people worldwide.
Solid Solutions provides software,
support and training to thousands
of engineers, designers and
manufacturing companies across
the UK and Ireland. This includes
providing 3D CAD, computer-aided
manufacturing (CAM) and product
data management (PDM) software
tools, as well as operating its 3D
printer business, Solid Print 3D.
Its 15,000-strong UK and Irish
customer base ranges from product
designers, mechanical engineers and
manufacturers, to entrepreneurs
and educational institutions, and its
software has supported a diverse
range of projects. This includes
being used by the Royal National
Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) to design
its latest vessel, the Shannon class,
all-weather lifeboat, and by Denby
to recreate hand thrown pottery.
Other customers include Stannah
Stairlifts, Oxford Space Systems
and contact lens manufacturer
Coopervision.
With headquarters in Leamington
Spa, Solid Solutions operates from
23 offices across the UK and Ireland
and employs more than 230 people.
Under the leadership of founder
and CEO Alan Sampson, CTO Simon
Turner and CFO Kathy Sampson,
the business has experienced
strong year-on-year growth and
now generates annual turnover in
excess of £50million. It has also
been recognised as one of the ‘75
best companies to work for’ in the
Midlands by The Sunday Times for
creating an engaging workplace.
WWW.MADEIN.IE « MARCH 2020 « 9
NUI Galway has continued to build on
its credentials as one of the world’s
leading centres on sustainable manufacturing
research having won a €4 million project,
funded by the European Union’s Horizon
2020 Research and Innovation programme,
to produce chemicals using solar energy.
Part of the project is to train 15 early stage
researchers as specialists in using water,
carbon dioxide and nitrogen to produce
solar chemicals such as hydrogen, ammonia
and methanol. The kick-off conference for
the researchers will take place at the end of
March in Galway.
At present, there is a gap in Europe in
the area of solar chemicals production and
their usage in industry and mobility. NUI
Galway has been working in this sphere
for some time and is already involved in an
exciting project to power public transport
using green hydrogen. An NUI Galway pilot
project to produce hydrogen from solar
to power the public transport fleet in the
Canaries will commence shortly.
The latest project, known as SOLAR2CHEM,
is led by Dr Pau Farràs Costa
of the School of Chemistry at NUI Galway
who is also driving the Canaries’ hydrogen
pilot. SOLAR2CHEM includes nine academic
organisations and three non-academic
partners to provide training programmes on
scientific, technical and personal development
skills. The programme includes
secondments to leaders in solar chemical
development including Japan and the United
States.
President of NUI Galway, Professor
Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, said: “NUI Galway has
committed itself to put Climate Change at
the centre of the agenda for the University.
We recently developed a five-year strategy
to drive radical change in how our economy
and society develops underpinned by values,
including sustainability, and SOLAR2CHEM
shows our capacity to deliver sustainable
technologies that deliver for Ireland’s
research and development sector, further
enhancing our ability to attract foreign
direct investment.”
Head of SOLAR2CHEM at NUI Galway, Dr
Pau Farràs Costa said: “I will be delighted to
welcome European colleagues here to Galway
on 27 March to begin work on this solar
chemicals project. It will help to further establish
NUI Galway as Ireland and Europe’s
leading university for sustainability. We plan
to work hard to deliver an intensive training
programme that explores new methods of
solar energy conversion to deliver a future
supply of sustainable chemicals for the
European Union. The EU needs to become
leaders in this field and our university will
be proud to work with the highest tiers of
academics and industry to achieve this.”
NUI Galway is involved in over 133
Horizon 2020 projects and has received
over €63 million in direct funding from the
programme. NUI Galway places a strong
focus on providing a supportive and exciting
environment for its researchers and was
awarded the ‘HR Excellence in Research’
logo by the European Commission.
/WWW.MADEIN.IE