Commercialisation
The APRG are continually exploring the commercial potential of our research. To date, under Igor Shvets, three companies have been spun-out of the APRG. All the companies are based on research performed in the group. To ensure independence of the group's campus companies once a company is spun out all related research within the Applied Physics Research Group ceases. This ensure there are no conflicts of interest between the company and the research group and that each is an independent entity in their own right.
In recognition of his entrepreneurial activities Prof Shvets was awarded the Trinity College Dublin Academic Entrepreneur of the Year Award for 2005/06.
A subgroup within the APRG is currently working on what we hope will be the fourth spin-out company from the APRG. We hope to provide more information when our devices are close to being market-ready.
Labcyte
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Prof Shvets' first campus company was Deerac Fluidics (also trading as Allegro Technologies). This company was subsequently taken over by Labcyte in 2008. Today the Labcyte Europe Limited Managing Director is Dr Jurgen Osing, a former student of Prof Shvets' and one of the founding members of Deerac Fluidics.
Labcyte has won numerous awards, including Winner of the TiE50 Awardm at TiEcon 2014, the 2012 North American Award for Product Innovation, National EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2013 Life Sciences Finalists, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2013 Award in the Life Sciences category in Northern California, the Frost and Sullivan 2012 North American Award for Product Innovation. For more information, see News Releases on the Labcyte website.
Cellix
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Prof Shvets' second campus company is Cellix Ltd, which operates in the medical devices sphere. It is currently located at the Trinity Centre for Health Science in St James's Hospital. Both the CEO, Vivienne Williams, and the COO, D'mitri Kashanin, are former students of Prof Shvets. Specifically, Cellix aprovide Microfluidic systems for drug discovery and cellular diagnostics.
In 2014, Cellix co-founder and former member of APRG Vivienne Williams was awarded the The Trinity Innovation Award. This is an annual prize presented to an individual or company that has made an outstanding contribution to the promotion of an entrepreneurial culture within the University and society (link).
Miravex
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Miravex is the successful culmination of research of a 3D imaging device that can measure skin damage and has both cosmetic and dermatological applications. The device has the singular advantage over similar competitors in that it is hand-held and portable. Dr Roman Kantor and Dr Guido Mariotto, both previously of the Applied Physics Research Group, worked with Prof Shvets on the project.
Miravex won the Best in Class award at the 2009 Industrial Technologies Commercialisation Awards in Dublin.
Electrical Analytics
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Electrical Analytics is the latest spinout from the Applied Physics Research Group, founded in 2017. The team, led by group member and CEO Dr Barry Murphy, have developed a system to monitor electrical transformers on the power grid. This system uses custom hardware and machine learning algorithms to perform real-time analysis on the health of the transformer, electricity usage downstream, and the quality of the power being supplied. This analysis allows power grid operators to prioritise maintenance and upgrades, better model their networks, and helps improve efficiency of the electrical grid.
Electrical Analytics have been shortlisted for major innovation awards including Enterprise Ireland’s “One to Watch 2017” and Energy Solutions Business Accelerator’s “EnergySpin Spring 2018”, and they were a finalist in ESB Ireland’s “Spark of Genius 2017” competition, and Dublin Business Innovation Centre’s “Futurescope One2Watch 2018”.