Dr Stephen O’Driscoll
Head of Research Centres, Research Ireland
Investment in advanced manufacturing has helped develop Ireland’s talent pool, generate enterprise partnerships and drive economic competitiveness.
Over 200 years ago, American inventor Eli Whitney introduced a concept that would change manufacturing forever: interchangeability. Today, swapping out a lightbulb or a car wheel is done without a second thought. In Whitney’s time, the idea that parts could be easily replaced was revolutionary. Interchangeability would make assembly faster and set the stage for mass production lines.
As interchangeable parts became standard, a new challenge emerged: tolerance. In manufacturing, tolerance is the small, allowable difference in a part’s size or shape that ensures even slightly different parts will still fit and work together. This makes it possible to assemble products from parts made at different times or places, ensuring everything fits and functions as intended.
Making smaller things
Today, our drive to master tolerance (and related precision) means we are working at incredibly small scales down to nanometres and molecules. In microelectronics, making devices smaller and more powerful means building parts just a few atoms wide. This requires tight tolerance and high precision (making each part as close as possible to the required size or shape).
Research Ireland’s investment in advanced manufacturing has helped develop Ireland’s talent pool, generate enterprise partnerships and drive economic competitiveness.
As interchangeable parts became standard, a new challenge emerged: tolerance.
Transformation
At IPIC Research Ireland Centre for Photonics and Tyndall National Institute, researchers are creating advanced devices that underpin everything from fast internet to modern medical tests. The pharmaceutical world is also being transformed, with tailoring medicines to individual patients becoming a reality.
SSPC Research Ireland Centre for Pharmaceutical Research is an international leader in this area, developing manufacturing processes that control molecules and crystals with remarkable precision. By blending chemistry, engineering and data science, SSPC is making precision medicine possible.
Digital and additive manufacturing are rewriting rules again. Modern factories now use 3D printers to build complex components layer by layer, guided by digital models and real-time data. I-Form Research Ireland Centre for Advanced Manufacturing is driving this transformation using AI, advanced sensors and materials science to push boundaries of customisation and efficiency, achieving things that Whitney could never have imagined.
