Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) has launched a new scholarship programme, the JL Goor Polymer Engineering Scholarships, in response to a persistent shortage of polymer engineering talent in Ireland. The scholarships will enable two CAO applicants to pursue a polymer degree qualification while receiving a bursary of €1,000 for each of their three years of study. There is currently a shortage of polymer graduates in the industry and this shortage has been highlighted in both the Forfas/Expert Group on Future Skills Needs report on the Future Skills Requirements of the Manufacturing Sector to 2020 and the Action Plan for Jobs 2013. Career opportunities for graduates in the sector’s 250 companies are exceptionally strong, given that 18 of the world’s top 25 medical device companies are located in Ireland, alongside a thriving indigenous base. The scholarships, announce by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3), Polymer Group South, Ireland, are open to entry for first year students planning to pursue a polymer degree qualification. “The IOM3 Polymer Group is delighted to enable these scholarships. The polymer processing industry is one of the few manufacturing sectors that is really thriving and it is in need of high calibre students coming through to fill the demand from companies. AIT has a long tradition of supplying well qualified polymer students and we want to continue to foster and recognise this excellence,” said Joe Wall, sales director at JL Goor Materials. Mechanical and polymer engineering is one of the most popular courses in the Faculty of Engineering and Informatics at AIT due to the high industry demand for graduates at the end of the  programme. The polymer/medical devices sector in Ireland is thriving and is recognised as one of the fastest developing in the world. In excess of 250 companies are currently developing and manufacturing a diverse range of medical devices and diagnostic products. The sector employs a highly skilled workforce – over 45 per cent of employees in the medical device sector are qualified to graduate or postgraduate level. “The scholarships provided is further endorsement of the importance that graduates of this programme are to the plastics and polymer industry. It is clear that AIT is a national leader in both graduate and post-graduate polymer education and I hope that such endorsement will alert Leaving Certificate students to the opportunities available to graduates,” said Dr Austin Hanley, Dean of Engineering and Informatics at AIT. He went on to say that the mechanical and polymer engineering honours degree programme is tailor made for the expanding medical device and polymer processing industries and that graduates are in very high demand. The programme, which has extremely close ties with industry, also enables students to undertake an eight month placement commencing in January of year three. The placement will facilitate students in gaining an insight into industrial practices in their area of specialisation.