Facility leverages local collaborations and illustrates Lucent's commitment
to European operations.
DUBLIN, IRELAND, March 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Lucent Technologies'
(NYSE: LU) Bell Labs today officially opened its new research centre, located
in Lucent's Blanchardstown, Dublin, facility. The new centre leverages Bell
Labs' extensive global collaborative efforts with local universities and
research institutions, and also illustrates Lucent's commitment to Ireland as
a central component of our European operations.
The Centre's opening was celebrated with an event hosted by Ireland's
Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, T.D., and Bill O'Shea, president Bell Labs, and
executive vice president Corporate Strategy and Business Development.
Led by Lou Manzione, the Centre's Executive Director, researchers at the
facility will focus on advancements in product realization, engineering,
manufacturing and value and supply chain techniques, tools and technologies.
Bell Labs' researchers will work in collaboration with nine leading Irish
universities, technical institutes and the Irish government to advance the
fields of product realization and supply chain technologies. One example of
such work is today's announcement that the Centre will head a new research
project that aims to use nano-textured surfaces to solve the extreme thermal
management challenges of advanced electronic and photonic systems.
Already, the Centre has produced results, including: four patent
applications underway with Irish universities; collaborations with corporate
research organizations on projects in areas such as nanotechnology, electronic
devices and mathematics research; more than a dozen visits from Irish faculty
members to Bell Labs locations in the United States; and technical exchange
visits here in Ireland with more than 40 Bell Labs scientists and engineers
from locations around the world.
"At the very heart of Bell Labs is our mission for creating knowledge,"
said O'Shea. "This endeavor in Ireland will not only build another chapter in
Bell Labs' rich tradition of knowledge and innovation creation, but, more
importantly, will greatly benefit Irish industry, academia and its people, by
establishing new research programs that will directly address the core
foundations for modern global competitiveness."
The Centre also unveiled a new museum that commemorates Bell Labs'
contributions to telecommunications technology, highlighting specific
innovations in wired, wireless and optical communications. Exhibits include
replicas of the first transistor and the Telstar communications satellite, the
earliest FAX machine and the first cordless phone.
The Centre supports Lucent's global efforts to position research and
development efforts close to our customers and leverage employee talent in
local markets around the world. Bell Labs anticipates that the centre will
employ approximately 40 researchers when it is fully staffed, adding to
Lucent's current total of 575 employees in Ireland. At the same time, it will
complement existing Bell Labs development efforts in Nuremberg, Germany;
Madrid, Spain; Bydgoszcz, Poland; Swindon, England; and Hilversum, the
Netherlands. Lucent has in total about 5,000 employees across Europe; and is
represented in all of the major European countries.
"Bell Labs is admired throughout the world for its groundbreaking
achievements in science and research that have truly shaped the way we live,"
said Mike Devane, managing director for Lucent in Ireland. "Locating a Bell
Labs Research Centre in Ireland reflects the confidence we have in this
country and further underpins Lucent's investment in Ireland."
About the Bell Labs centre in Ireland
The Bell Labs centre in Dublin will account for more than euro 43 million
of the investments being made jointly by Bell Labs and IDA Ireland. It acts
as a corporate research headquarters that carries out its own programme of R&D
and has a corporate mandate as a centre-of-excellence for value-chain-driven
research. It researches and delivers in-depth knowledge and advanced
technologies for the development of new product designs and manufacturing
strategies for Lucent Technologies, a global leader in communications systems,
services and software. The centre concentrates on several strategic
areas -- the creation of highly configurable hardware and software platforms
for quicker time-to-market, supply chain flexibility and lowered development
costs; manufacturing and engineering research in photonics, electronics and
wireless technologies and systems; and research on advanced value-chain
modelling and optimisation for next generation manufacturing operations.
About Bell Labs and Lucent Technologies
Bell Labs is the leading source of new communications technologies. It
has generated more than 30,000 patents since 1925 and has played a pivotal
role in inventing or perfecting key communications technologies, including
transistors, digital networking and signal processing, lasers and fiber-optic
communications systems, communications satellites, cellular telephony,
electronic switching of calls, touch-tone dialing, and modems. Bell Labs
scientists have received six Nobel Prizes in Physics, nine U.S. National
Medals of Science and eight U.S. National Medals of Technology(R). For more
information about Bell Labs, visit its Web site at http://www.bell-labs.com.
Lucent Technologies designs and delivers the systems, services and software
that drive next-generation communications networks. Backed by Bell Labs
research and development, Lucent uses its strengths in mobility, optical,
software, data and voice networking technologies, as well as services, to
create new revenue-generating opportunities for its customers, while enabling
them to quickly deploy and better manage their networks. Lucent's customer
base includes communications service providers, governments and enterprises
worldwide. For more information on Lucent Technologies, which has
headquarters in Murray Hill, N.J., USA, visit http://www.lucent.com.
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