The National Heat Treatment Centre (NHTC) began life in University College Dublin in 1993 as a funded research centre led by David Collins, a lecturer in Metallurgy in the Mechanical Engineering Department. To help finance the research operation, it offered contract heat treating services and metallurgical analysis to the engineering industry, predominantly the emerging tool-making sector.

Sophia is a weaving of holistic support to enable people who are homeless to make positive differences in their lives by becoming more aware of their own strengths and potential. As well as providing accommodation, Sophia will also offer a safe place where one can seek wisdom of mind, heart, soul and spirit. Sophia is an environment that welcomes people who want to step back from the many pressures of their daily lives and environments.