Norman’s News: “And there’s more” For NI’s Great Innovators

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  • I think it is nearly criminal how we have let the great names of our scientists, engineers, explorers and medics past go hardly known and unnoticed.

    So a hearty well done to Andrew Whitaker, Queen’s University Belfast and the Institute of Physics for doing their bit at a recent event entitled “Physicists and Mathematicians of Belfast.”

    The talks included “Joseph Larmor” by Colin Latimer of Queen’s University; “Ernest Walton” by Brian Cathcart of Kingston University in London; “Dan Bradley” by Donal Bradley from Imperial College, London; and “Thomas Andrews” by Peter Ford of University of Bath.A wonderful look at the intellectual might this little place has created. 

    Science is one thing, innovation is another. We weren’t so good on that score and many in the past had to leave to find investment and opportunity.

    Indeed, it has unfortunately become such a truism in the UK that investors don’t believe we can ever turn our ideas into money. That makes the joy in finding the opposite even greater, and doubly so when it’s unexpected.

    We are (or should be) used to the triumph of the financial software industry here with some 35,000 employed, perhaps a factor of ten in employment terms over the past decade.

    The Gross Valued Added (GVA) is distributed throughout the big employers like CITI, NYSE Technologies and Allstate; so all we get to count are the salaries, but that makes it £1b.

    More astounding are the associated facts: one trillion dollars a day through the fibres in Belfast and one billion pounds of our goods sold through the internet sales platform of Export Technologies on the Science Park.

    But, as the late Jimmy Cricket used to say, “and there’s more”, and it has been recognised in the 2014 Derry-Londonderry Chamber of Commerce Business of the Year – and I for one have been gob-smacked by its story!

    From small beginnings four years ago, despite the recession, Sean McNicholl created Cornerstone Automation Systems (CASI), employing just four people. The engineering company designs and implements state-of-the-art material handling, packaging and warehouse automation. Or to you and me, robots that help companies coordinate the flow of materials and supplies through large manufacturing operations, warehouses, and distribution centres.

    CASI didn’t just survive the hard times; it flourished and has become one of the fastest growing companies in Ireland. In fact, it is the largest independent automation company in the UK and has names on its order book for which others would give their right arms.

    As a young graduate, Sean struggled to get a job where he could develop his skills. After a period of uncertainty, he found his metier in the Dutch company Benninghoven, where he was given a chance to fulfil his potential as a gifted engineer in control systems and automation.

    After a decade or so, he came home to translate his experiences and knowledge into his own business. He discovered his great leadership skills and inspired his staff and people around him. Sean believes that experience is something that you gain over time, but passion and creative minds aren’t something which you can learn easily.

    They are the abilities which can be developed in the right environment surrounded by the right people. He is building his team carefully, as his goal is to provide fresh visions and solutions across diverse sectors and in markets that span most continents, with innovation the principle common factor.

    It’s amazing to think that CASI wasn’t even formed when the last World Cup was on four years ago and I wonder what great things will happen with this innovative company over the next four years.

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