97 years after Siemens was contracted to help build the Ardnacrusha power plant, the tech giant is once again investing in Ireland’s mid-west.
Siemens Digital Industries Software is to establish a software R&D group in Shannon, Co Clare.
The multimillion-euro investment will focus on High Performance Computing (HPC) in the Cloud for semiconductor design.
“Due to Shannon’s central location in the mid-west between Limerick and Galway it has always attracted top talent”
This division is expected to create more than 25 new and highly impactful R&D roles in Shannon over the next three years, focused on delivering cutting edge cloud HPC environments for Siemens EDA workloads.
The project, which is supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland, is the first ‘Cloud EDA’ R&D group to be established by Siemens Digital Industries Software globally, and enhances Ireland’s already strong reputation of in Cloud Software Development and HPC R&D.
Joe Sawicki, VP, Engineering, Siemens EDA, said: “We are excited about the new R&D division in Shannon focusing on Cloud development. The cloud represents a step change in capability for our Electronic Design Automation (EDA) customers and harnessing its potential will be key for our continued success.”
Powering innovation: A legacy
The investment goes full circle to the days when Ireland was first electrified. At the beginning of the 1920s, large areas of the Irish Free State were without electricity. This situation changed only in 1929, when the Ardnacrusha hydroelectric power plant went into operation. As general contractor and supplier of electrical equipment, Siemens-Schuckertwerke was commissioned by the Irish government in 1925 to plan and build the three-phase run-of-river power plant on the River Shannon.
That was the start of a long association between Ireland and Siemens spanning almost 100 years of engineering, technology and most recently, cloud and digital transformation.
“This is great news from Siemens, investing €7m in Shannon and creating 25 new highly skilled jobs over the next three years,” Tánaiste & Minister for Enterprise Trade & Employment Leo Varadkar, TD, said.
“It really demonstrates the skill and reputation of the company’s existing staff here that such a significant investment would be made in such an area of importance for the company. The very best of luck to the new team.”
Siemens EDA (formerly Mentor Graphics) has had a significant presence in Shannon for over 20 years, delivering key financial and business operations worldwide. The Shannon operation of Siemens Digital Industries Software currently employs 150 people and is continually growing.
The rapidly expanding software R&D group is commencing recruiting for roles related to a multi-cloud hybrid PaaS/SaaS project including Cloud Infrastructure, Software Development, Application Security, DevOps, HPC & EDA.
“It is excellent to see Siemens demonstrate its continued commitment to Shannon as a strategic location by locating its first software R&D division in Ireland here,” said Martin Gennery, senior director for Siemens Industries Software Limited.
“Due to Shannon’s central location in the mid-west between Limerick and Galway it has always attracted top talent. This expansion offers an opportunity to work on the latest technologies while benefiting from the work life balance delivered by hybrid working based in the mid-west.”
Denis Curran, IDA Ireland’s Head of Property & Regional Development added: “Siemens is a longstanding employer in the Mid-West region. The addition of this new R&D function and the associated transformational impact on the position of the Irish site within the global organisation is significant. I wish to congratulate Siemens on this expansion and wish them every success.”
Main image at top: Anne-Marie Tierney le Roux, IDA Ireland; John Bolger, director of Engineering, Siemens EDA; and Robert Byrne, IDA Ireland
