Earlier this month both Carlow and Waterford campuses held their annual Engineering Careers Fairs. Over 100 companies exhibited and were extremely impressed with the quality of the students and their willingness to engage. We are all too aware of the shortage of engineering talent in the region so it was great to see companies leaving with multiple follow-up actions in regards to full time and work placement opportunities. We even had a number of companies interview and hire right there on campus on the day.
We had some amazing multinationals present on the day but we want to see more of our SME’s take part next year. Home grown employers like Robotics & Control Systems and Kent Stainless were delighted to attend on the day as it put their company firmly on the radar of the students. If you would like to ensure you have a place at next years careers fair please contact geraldine.kelly@setu to reserve a place.
In conjunction with this event, SETU hosted it’s inaugural “Working in Offshore Wind” event at the Centre for Aerospace Engineering, with students engaging industry leaders from ESB, RWE and the Port of Waterford to explore career opportunities in Ireland’s growing offshore wind sector. See here for more information.
New 50/50 Fast Track Co-Funded PHD
Project Opportunity for Companies (€€€)
Do you have a potential research project that you have been holding off on? Would it be sizeable enough to merit a full time Masters or PHD researcher? If you were supported (with €50k+) to do it would you take it on? If you can say yes to those questions then you will be interested in our new Co-Funded (industry/SETU) research award.
Essentially, we will cover 50% of the costs for you to have a full-time researcher work on a relevant project. Note: This is a competitive application and the call is open to industry nationally and internationally. Engineering the South East will however provide a high level of assistance to companies from the South East Companies, therefore increasing their chances of success.
A major incentive to this opportunity is that the whole process (from expression of interest through to student commencement) can be completed in less than 6 months.
Click here to learn more info. If you feel you would like to talk to someone on it please email [email protected]
TCI Global Clustering Conference 2025
TCI is the main global clustering coordination entity, and last month cluster managers from all over the world attended their global conference in Dublin. Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD and Northern Ireland Executive First Minister Michelle O’Neill addressed over 200 delegates from over 25 countries to Endorse All-island Cluster Development.
At the event it was announced that the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment will provide €2.3 million over the next six years for an initial 3 national clusters as part of Programme for Government and Action Plan on Competitiveness. Regional clusters like ourselves are eagerly awaiting the governments policy on clustering that will hopefully address how funding strategies can sustain the clusters into the future.
On Tuesday, 18th November at the Arklow Bay Hotel the East Coast Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Network in partnership with Wicklow County Council held another successful event focusing on Skills, Policy and Supply Chain.
Engineering the South East feeds into the network and we remain committed to this emerging sector as it brings so much potential to the region in terms of engineering disciplines. There was great energy, discussion and engagement in the room on the day and it was great to have cluster member @FLI group exhibit on the day and of course to hear from our own Dr Frances Hardiman on the Skills panel.
While we are still some way away from having new turbines in the water it is clear that we need to continue to invest time and effort into events like this so we can ensure that local business and knowledge providers can maximise their role in the supply chain. Click here for more details
South East Lean Summit
It’s not too late to book a place at the upcoming South East Lean Summit this coming Wednesday in the SETU Arena.
This summit brings together leading speakers to reimagine future ways of working, process optimisation and digital transformation. There are multiple workshops to dip into on the day including the Lean Starter Lab, the Professional Simulation Lab and the Lean AI Lab.
Kilkenny Carlow ETB will be running another of its hugely successful Apprenticeship Expos in January 2026.
There has been incredible footfall at these events in the past (over 1,300 students and parents last year) so we would urge any prospective apprentice employers to make contact and exhibit on the night. The core focus will be on employers from the South East but others can avail of a space so please do get in quick. Details here
📅 Date: Thursday, 29th January 2026
📍 Venue: Carlow Institute of Further Education
🕡 Time: 6.30pm – 9.30pm
Please save the date — and if you would like the Cluster to keep you posted with more details please contact [email protected]
NUA Manufacturing (Carlow) Open Site Visit
Since coming to Carlow Nua have gone from strength to strength. They are continuing scaling up to produce the elements required to build 1250 timber frames and 500 light gauge steels for new homes annually and are currently looking for a number of new hires to help them.
NUA utilise a Modern Methods of Construction approach to manufacturing and on January 21st they are opening their doors to visitors to come along and learn from their innovation practices and to meet the team responsible for them. This event is organised by Carlow Kilkenny Skillnet and presents a great opportunity for anyone in manufacturing who would like to explore MMC.
Click here for more details and for eventbrite link to reserve a spot on the tour
Toys4Engineers 2025
Thanks to all the exhibitors, speakers and attendees who travelled to the Toys4Engineers Expo & Conference in the SETU Arena last month. This was again a really important event for the Engineering the South East Cluster as it’s a fantastic way for us to showcase the world class engineering and manufacturing capabilities of the South East as a region. As ever there was a great local feel to the event and plenty of new connections were made.
And congrats to cluster company Neg8 Carbon who spoke at T4E for us. The Irish Direct Air Capture (DAC) company, has signed a contract for Phase 1 of a major project in the UK to develop large-scale Sustainable Aviation Fuel (eSAF) production using a low-carbon energy source. This paves the way for economic production of eSAF at scale, which is critical for decarbonisation of the aviation industry. Click here to learn more about this win
Do you have any employees or colleagues eager to enhance their leadership capabilities and progress into middle management? If so this new programme offfered by SETU & Carlow Kilkenny Skillnet could be for you. Its a one year Level 7 BA in Applied Leadership & People Management programme and due to European Social funding we can offer it at 70% discount. It starts in Jan 2026. Click here for more details or contact [email protected]
The Engineering the South East cluster has a mission to see companies working together to address skills needs, promote careers in engineering and advance the engineering capabilities of the region.
