Innovation Bus Tour
Wednesday 7th August 2024
Queen’s University Belfast x Venture Folk
The Titanic Quarter / Museum of Innovation / Portview Trade Centre
Our Innovation Bus Tour will take you from the industrial heritage of Belfast to some of the key local “movers and shakers” in the world of innovation to some of the brilliant new businesses making Belfast their base. We hope our Innovation Bus Tour sparks some new ideas in your mind and we are sharing some resources below for you to look at during and after the tour.
Enjoy!
The Titanic Quarter
The Titanic Quarter is one of Europe’s largest waterfront regeneration project attracting approx. 3.6 million visitors each year. For two centuries, the area was known for its shipbuilding industry building ships including the Olympic, the Oceanic and the HMS Belfast and the quarter is named after its most famous but ill-fated ship - the RMS Titanic.
More recently, the Titanic Quarter has become a hub of innovation and creativity. With development from Northern Ireland Screen, Titanic Studios have played host to several local and international film and television projects including Game of Thrones and Dungeons and Dragons.
Catalyst and the NI Science Park have been incubators and enablers of small and large scale innovation across science, technology and design. Recent startups supported by their Co-Founders programme include WearMatter - a clothing brand for people with disabilities who have challenges accessing fashionable, functional and comfortable clothing and Staffly - a digital platform that empowers hospital trusts to find and hire temporary doctors, eliminating the use of expensive agencies.
Belfast Metropolitan College (Titanic Campus) works in collaboration with Queen’s University and Ulster University to support emerging innovators to skill up, develop new products and services and gain expert advice.
Titanic Belfast is the world’s largest Titanic visitor experience, telling the story of the famous ship through interactive exhibits. This has become a “must-see” attraction for local and international tourists and has been accredited with a 5* rating. The Victorian-era drawing rooms of Harland & Wolff are “the only surviving example of this type of shipyard architecture in the world” and have more recently been carefully restored and developed into The Titanic Hotel.
The Museum of Innovation
The Museum of Innovation tells the stories of Irish and Northern Irish innovators and entrepreneurs and how they came up with their game-changing ideas. It also aims to demonstrate that achievements from throughout history can still inspire and impact all of us today to “think big.”
Many of the individuals featured were “ahead of their time”, pushing boundaries and expectations to come up with something truly revolutionary. From the stories of Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell (Astrophysics) to Lilian Bland (Aviation) to Harry Ferguson (Agriculture) and beyond - there’s lots to discover and be inspired by in the museum.
https://www.ulstertransportmuseum.org/whats-on/museum-innovation
Portview Trade Centre
In the 1900s, Portview Trade Centre in East Belfast was a linen spinning mill - part of Belfast’s prosperous linen industry. The area surrounding the mill used to have a thriving, connected community but has since become one of the most deprived parts of Northern Ireland.
In the 1980s, Portview was chosen to be developed into a space for businesses to grow and more recently it has become a hub for creativity and innovation with local companies including beer co-operative Boundary Brewing, jewellery design brand Lines & Current and the Banana Block venue playing a key part in Belfast’s events scene with accessible and inclusive programmes to support the wider community.
Recently, East Belfast has seen investment to develop projects including CS Lewis Square, EastSide Arts and EastSide Greenways. The nearby Strand Arts Centre (formerly Strand Cinema) is currently undergoing a multi-million pound refurbishment to protect its Art Deco heritage for future generations and continue serving as a community hub.
More to explore
Northern Ireland is full of opportunities, if you know where to start! Here are some resources to support your innovation journey alongside all of the excellent support provided by the team at Queen’s University Belfast:
GO Succeed Resources
The Prince’s Trust Resources
Catalyst Programmes
Innovate UK R&D Resources
Futurescreens NI R&D Programmes
Digital Catapult R&D Resources
Arts Council NI Funding
Food for thought
“You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”
— Maya Angelou
“Teamwork makes the dream work, but a vision becomes a nightmare when the leader has a big dream and a bad team.”
— John C. Maxwell
“I’d rather regret the risks that didn’t work out than the chances I didn’t take at all.”