The atim cluster manager joined representatives from well-known manufacturing companies Prima Additive, CIE Automotive, NXP Semiconductors, Universal Robots and Ford Motor Company as a juror to the BoostUp Bridge competition in December. BoostUp Bridge is an EIT Manufacturing annual pan-European open innovation competition, bringing together industry leaders, innovative start-ups, and scale-ups to tackle real-world challenges facing the European manufacturing industry. 17 talented start-ups and scale-ups pitched their innovative solutions to solve manufacturing challenges. The winners of each industry challenge include:

Attracting and retaining talent continues to be a challenge for regional companies. To tackle this challenge, we have developed the Atim Accelerator Programme. This industry-driven accelerator programme will see 12 companies (minimum) across the four Midland Counties (Laois, Offaly, Westmeath and Longford) support students in their locality in advanced manufacturing apprenticeships and traditional engineering courses. This will run from 8th – 12th May 2023. This programme aims to promote the manufacturing and engineering sector in the region as a source

With increasing energy costs and an increasing number of member companies striving to change the sustainability performance of their business through decarbonisation, we want to highlight the grants from Enterprise Ireland to support companies with this goal. The Enterprise Emissions Reduction Investment Fund is targeted at companies of different sizes and stages of engagement in their decarbonisation journey: to put in place energy monitoring systems, thereby establishing the carbon footprint of their enterprise; to make investments in decarbonising their manufacturing

In 2022, we held and participated in a series of events and conferences, which engaged 1805 people directly. These events included 12 Innovation Circles, Clusters Exchange Series, Spotlight in Advanced Manufacturing and the hosting of the Grow Digital workshop. We also launched our Leading Change and Complexity in a Time of Digital Transition Programme. Finally, we sincerely thank all the companies who hosted site visits and contributed to our workshops and webinars. Membership of the cluster has grown to 66

We are excited to announce that we have rescheduled our social evening to give us a chance to thank all of our members for their support in 2022. Please join us for an evening of drinks and canapes on 12th January, starting at 7:30pm at Browne’s The Venue, Tullamore:  Columcille St, Tullamore, Co. Offaly, R35 XN95 We hope you can join this excellent opportunity to socialise and network with fellow members, celebrate the end of the year and kick-start 2023.

“As we approach the end of a challenging business year, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Caitríona Mordan for the ongoing work and coordination she has carried out in 2022 and to all the members of our cluster for their dedication and contributions. Together, we have achieved a number of significant milestones within our five strategic pillars. More importantly, members are connecting with each other and cluster stakeholders to progress their digital and green transition. Our shared