Enterprise Ireland Hosts SMART EUREKA Cluster Proposers’ Day 2025: Promoting Innovation in Advanced Manufacturing

Enterprise Ireland and Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) recently hosted the SMART EUREKA Cluster Proposers’ Day 2025 in Dublin, bringing together leading innovators, researchers, and industry stakeholders from across Europe to accelerate collaboration in smart manufacturing.

David Flood, National Project Coordinator of the EUREKA programme Enterprise Ireland, provides an overview of national R&D supports.

Held over two days, the event included an information and networking day at Enterprise Ireland and a site visit to the IMR facility in Mullingar. The Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) team at Enterprise Ireland promoted the event through their channels and provided support to delegates preparing success stories. The gathering served as a launchpad for new project ideas ahead of the next SMART Cluster call for proposals, with a deadline for Project Outline (PO) submissions set for 22nd January 2026.

SMART Eureka delegates visit the IMR facility in Mullingar.

What is SMART EUREKA?

SMART EUREKA is one of the EUREKA Clusters, an industry-led set of five programmes that focus on strategic technology areas such as advanced manufacturing, next-generation communication, low-carbon energy, software innovation, and electronic systems.

SMART Eureka enables cross-border R&D collaboration to enhance competitiveness and sustainability in European manufacturing. Companies and research performing institutions can participate through a two-step process: submit a joint project proposal for international evaluation, followed by a national funding application to participating national agencies, such as Enterprise Ireland, by eligible partners in approved projects.

Event Highlights

The event opened on 14th October with a keynote from Javier Arenas López, President of the SMART Cluster, who underscored the importance of building a strong, connected community around smart manufacturing.

During the morning session, delegates heard from key figures in the SMART and EUREKA ecosystem:

Sonia Nour, Eureka Clusters Coordinator, Patricia Tamés Ortega, Office Director at SMART Eureka and Aritz Arteche, Programme Coordinator at SMART Eureka took time to share information on the SMART Cluster, emerging manufacturing trends and the SMART EUREKA technology roadmap. David Flood, Eureka’s National Project Coordinator in Ireland, highlighted the alignment of SMART with national priorities and gave details of the supports available to programme participants at local level. Fergus Quilligan gave his insights to the project evaluation process along with some useful tips and hints on what makes a good application.