DCU Consortium awarded €2.3m in Government Disruptive Technologies Innovation Funding
The DLCool project is a collaboration between three partners DCU, HT Materials Science, and Exergyn Ltd who are also based at the DCU Innovate Hub. Dr Lorna Fitzsimons and Dr Darren Fayne are the Principal Investigators on the project. DLCool was the only project to receive an award in the “manufacturing & materials” category of this call.
The Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF) is a €500 million fund established under the National Development Plan (NDP) in 2018. The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment manages the DTIF with administrative support from Enterprise Ireland.
The purpose of the Fund is to drive collaboration between Ireland’s world-class research base and industry as well as facilitating enterprises to compete directly for funding in support of the development and adoption of these technologies. The aim is to support investment in the development and deployment of disruptive technologies and applications on a commercial basis.
Denis Kearney, General Manager (Ireland), HT Materials Science Ltd said:
"We are delighted that our project has been approved under DTIF7. This €3.7 million initiative, supported with €2.3million in grant aid, represents a major step forward in developing novel thermally conductive nanofluid additives for next-generation cooling solutions. As project lead, HTMS will drive innovation in direct liquid cooling for data centres, solid state heat pumps, and electric batteries - three critical sectors for Europe's energy transition. This award not only recognises the potential of our technology, but also underlines Ireland's role in pioneering advanced materials to deliver both sustainability and performance at scale."
Kevin O’Toole, Co-Founder and CTO, Exergyn said:
"This project brings together leading academic expertise and industrial know-how. We're excited to advance thermal management technologies, strengthen Ireland's manufacturing base, and open new commercial opportunities for our solid-state platform."
Prof John Doyle, Vice-President for Research at Dublin City University said:
"DLCool exemplifies the power of collaboration between academia and industry and the importance of location on a university Innovation campus such as DCU:Innovate Hub. By combining DCU’s research excellence with the innovation capacity of our partners, this project has the potential to transform sustainable cooling technologies and deliver real impact for Ireland and beyond.”