Atlantic Technological University Magazine - Issue 12

Editor: Anne Donnelly

Design: The Foundation

Photography: Alison Laredo, James Connolly, Jessica Priddy, Mike Shaughnessy, Clive Wasson, Aengus McMahon and ATU staff

Cover photo: ATU Alumnus, Funké Egberongbe.

Contributors: ATU Communications team, Maria Staunton, Ruth Moran, Keith Hopper, Caitriona Glesson, Lauren Reynolds, Eileen Larkin, Brian Coll, Dr Anushree Dwivedi, George McCourt, Eve-Anne McCarron, Deidre Byrne, Dr Richéal M. Burns, Dr Amaya Vega, Ceola McLynn, Denise Healy, Mark Willis, Stephen Aiken, Ellen McCabe and Celia Keenaghan.

LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK:

If there is anything you would like to see in future issues of this magazine, please email anne.donnelly@atu.ie

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- The US National Mentoring Summit

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Innovation and Engagement

- ATU rolls out a new College Skills and Career Planning Module

- ATU Plays Key Role in the Translational Medicine Alliance Ireland

- Tirlán Process Excellence Showcase

- ATU Innovation Centres’ Highlights 2023

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Sustainability News

- Atlantic Sustainable Tourism Observatory, Ireland

- ATU Collaborates on new Sustainable Tourism Project

- European Universities Collaborate to Foster Sustainable and Healthy Campuses

- Plans Progress for Future Living Laboratory and Digital Suite at ATU

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ATU Global

- ATU Colleagues Showcase our Skills Offerings

- ATU St Angelas Nursing Students’ ERASMUS + Mobility Experience

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ATU Celebrates

- A Door Opening: Sligo and the Legacies of Partition

- ATU Graduate Taim Haimet wins the RDS Taylor Art Award, 2023

- 110 Take Part in Inaugural University Fitness Games at ATU

- Success at Tata Consultancy Services Sustainathon

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ATU Conferences

- Second ATU Modelling and Computation for Health and Society (MOCHAS) Symposium

- 10th International Congress on Architectural Technology (ICAT) Conference

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N-TUTORR Updates

Welcome from the Editor, Anne Donnelly

Dear Reader,

I am delighted to welcome you to Issue Twelve of our ATU Magazine. 2024 got off to a great start with new funding announcements and Minister Simon Harris visiting our Donegal Killybegs and Letterkenny campuses, where he was given tours of our facilities and projects. He also witnessed the signing of two Memorandums of Understanding and launched the new Biomass Centre in Letterkenny. We have more details on his visits on pages 6-8.

Our cover photo for this issue is of ATU Alumnus, Funké Egberongbe. She talked to our Alumni Officer, Lauren Reynolds about her journey from living in direct provision to running her own restaurant. You can read more about her journey on page 10.

Our new Sexual Violence and Harassment Prevention and Response Manager, Caitríona Gleeson took time out of her busy schedule to talk to us about her new role and why universities need to have a Sexual Violence and Harassment Prevention and Response Manager in place. For more see page 13.

Our Innovation Centres and Hubs had another successful year in 2023 and on page 27 we bring you some of their highlights from last year.

“If there is anything you would like to see in future issues of this magazine, please email me at anne.donnelly@atu.ie”

In research news, ATU under the leadership of Dr Marion McAfee are set to co-lead a research project looking into how 3D printing can transform healthcare through personalised medicine, and Dr Maria Campbell and Dr Deirdre Harvey from ATU St Angelas write about their research into supporting the development of children whilst they are in hospital.

The purpose of this magazine is to keep you updated on our activities and initiatives. So, whether you’re a member of our student or staff body, or are one of our regional, national or international stakeholders, we hope you find something of interest here.

Best Wishes

Anne Donnelly

ATU Celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month

ATU Libraries celebrated LGBTQ+ History Month (February) with a special display of LGBTQ+ books in some of our campus libraries. Also in February, AURA, ATU’s LGBTQ+ Staff and Allies Network were finalists for the LGBTQ+ Inclusion Award at the National Diversity and Inclusion Awards at The Dublin Royal Convention Centre.

Dr John McGarvey (AURA LGBTQ+ Staff Network) pictured with ATU Donegal Library staff Edel Hession and Denise McCaul.

News in Brief

ATU on Nationwide

The Blue Point Project

On Monday 15 January Nationwide did a special on the Technological Universities in Ireland. They looked back on the history of the Regional Technical Colleges, how they came into being in the 1970’s and evolved over the years.

Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh, the presenter, visited our campuses in Galway, Mayo, Sligo and Donegal and talked to our students to find out about student life at ATU. To watch the show on the RTÉ player please click here.

“The oceans are our planet’s most precious jewel, and plastic pollution is threatening their health and biodiversity.”

To address the escalating crisis of plastic pollution in our oceans, ATU recently announced its participation in the Blue Point project. The collaborative project aims to retrieve and repurpose marine plastics found in the Atlantic Ocean. To find out more please click here.

Conference explores possibilities of AI while warning of upcoming risks

A conference on Artificial Intelligence (AI) has warned of the potential risks to humanity while also exploring the great benefits it will also bring.

Toju Duke (pictured right), Founder of Diverse AI and a passionate advocate for Responsible AI, discussed some of the challenges AI brings to society, at the 2023 AICS conference held at ATU Donegal Letterkenny.

Speaking to delegates, Toju said: “AI technologies are moving at breakneck speed and offer huge benefits; however, it is of great importance to test for societal and algorithmic risk and harm before, during and after deployment.”

To find out more about the conference please click here.

Irish Blue Point Partners left to right: Dr Geard Dooley, UL; Dr David Tormey, ATU; and Michelle O’ Rourke, South East BIC.

ATU Researchers win Funding to Collaborate on Transnational Sustainability Projects

Researchers in ATU have won funding of €210,000 under EU GREEN (a European university alliance for sustainability, responsible growth, inclusive education and environment), to foster collaborative research to further the sustainable development of the regions.

In November, ATU responded with alliance partners to the first annual seed funding call and in December learned that 23 ATU researchers’ joint research proposals were successful. They will collaborate with partners across the EU GREEN alliance to share skills and build capacity in these new projects spanning many of the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

For more information on the projects please click here.

Demand for Online and Flexible Learning increases at ATU

Ruairi McConville, graduate of the online part-time MSc in Computing (Data Science) at ATU.

ATU has seen an increase in applications and student numbers across the portfolio of part-time, online, flexible, and professional development programmes.

Commenting on the increase, Dr Billy Bennett, VP for Academic Affairs and Register, ATU said: “ATU is now one of the largest providers of flexible and online learning programmes in Ireland. As a university, we are acutely aware of the need to provide access to higher education, not just to those who seek full-time options, but also to those who seek to upskill, retrain or progress in their career. The models offered need to work for those in employment, using part-time and flexible learning delivery, be that online or blended online and on-campus.”

To find out more about our Online, Flexible and Professional Development programmes please click here.

ATU alumnus Evie Gaughan Writes a Bestseller

Evie Gaughan wrote her fourth novel The Lost Bookshop under the pen name Evie Woods, and it has sold 500,000 copies worldwide since its publication in June 2023.

The book tells a story across time of Opaline, a book dealer in 1920s London and Paris, and Henry and Martha in present-day Dublin. When a vanishing bookshop casts its spell, the three discover that their stories are every bit as extraordinary as the ones found in the pages of their beloved books.

Evie studied business at what was then the RTC in Galway (now ATU), followed by a diploma in marketing. To read more about Evie and her book please click here.

University Updates

ATU Receives Four Major Funding Boosts

ATU have received significant additional funding in recent months. These will enable us to further strengthen our impact on the region, as well as contribute to the wider higher education landscape.

€8.5 Million from €50 Million Technological Sector Advancement Fund

In December Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD, announced a €50 million investment through the newly established Technological Sector Advancement Fund (TSAF). ATU will receive an allocation of €8.5 million from this fund.

The TSAF marks a transition from the previous Technological Sector Transformation Fund, redirecting focus towards embedding the five Technological Universities (TUs) in the regions they serve. To find out more please click here.

€8.2 Million to Expand Apprenticeship Offerings

Also, in December Minister Harris and Minister of State Niall Collins announced €17 million in capital funding to respond to the growing demand for apprenticeships in the higher education sector.

ATU will receive €8.2 million of this funding and is investing

matched funding of just over €1.7 million, bringing the total ATU/ HEA investment in apprenticeship expansion and delivery to circa €10 million. This will see the delivery of 51 additional apprenticeship blocks in ATU from 2024. To find out more please click here.

€2.6 Million from a €4.5 Million Fund to Support Regional Campuses

In January Minister Harris announced €4.5 million to support higher education institutions (HEIs) that have multiple campuses in remote regional locations. ATU have received €2.6 million from this fund.

Minister Harris said: “Dispersed campuses often have higher costs

associated with delivering education. This funding ensures that regional higher education campuses like those in Thurles or Killybegs are supported in recognition of the fact they are regionally dispersed.”

To find out more please click here.

€19.6 Million, to Enhance Research and Innovation Opportunities

In February Minister Harris announced a €84 million investment in the Technological Universities, which aims to bolster research and innovation within the sector with ATU receiving €19.6 million from the new fund. The funding will provide us with the resources to grow our research capacity, foster regional, national and international collaborations and deliver impactful research. To find out more please click here.

Minister Simon Harris TD Visits ATU Donegal Killybegs and Letterkenny Campuses

Monday 22 January was a busy day for ATU Donegal. Minister Simon Harris TD visited both of our Donegal campuses to view our facilities, innovative projects and plans, and witness the signing of Memorandum of Understandings (MOU) with both the Health Service Executive (HSE) and Ulster University (UU).

Visit to ATU Donegal Killybegs Campus

After receiving a tour of the Killybegs campus, Minister Harris was shown plans of the new Ocean Innovation Centre, an initiative poised to become a flagship rural regeneration stimulus.

Minister Harris was also shown the commencement of the Electrical Apprenticeship Expansion project.

In conjunction with the Electrical Apprenticeship Expansion works, Phase 3c Refurbishment Works were

unveiled during Minister Harris’s visit. This program aims to upgrade existing buildings on the ATU Donegal Killybegs Campus to meet modern standards, maximising capacity and utilisation.

Karl Bonner, Killybegs Marine Cluster manager gave Minister Harris an update on the cluster, one of twelve clusters on the island of Ireland established as part of Enterprise Ireland’s National Cluster Programme and the only cluster dedicated to the Blue Economy.

For more information please click here.

“ It’s been inspiring to visit both the Killybegs and Letterkenny ATU campuses today where innovation and hard graft are coming together to create something very special in higher education. From plans to create a ground-breaking Ocean Innovation Hub, as well as the development of a much-needed electrical apprenticeship facility, and the ongoing upgrade of all the facilities in Killybegs, it is clear that the region has embraced the opportunities that having its own university can bring. I was also fortunate to see what can be done in the area of renewable energy with the new Biomass Heat Centre at the Letterkenny campus. ATU is showing once again that it is at the cutting-edge of innovation and creativity, while also considering and addressing the needs of the entire country. ”

Minister Simon Harris on his visit to ATU Killybegs and ATU Letterkenny

Left to right: Ciaran McCaffery, Head of Capital Programmes, HEA; Dr Orla Flynn, ATU President and Minister Simon Harris during his visit to ATU Kellybegs.

Visit to ATU Donegal Letterkenny Campus

New Memorandum of Understandings

ATU and the HSE

During his visit to ATU Donegal Letterkenny campus, Minister Harris launched a new partnership between ATU and the Health Service Executive (HSE).

ATU and the HSE including Community Healthcare Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan, Sligo, Community Healthcare West, Public Health West and North West, Saolta and National Ambulance Service

have formed a new partnership aimed at advancing education, skills development, research and innovation to build a healthier future.

Strategic priorities of the partnership include regional service development, addressing health inequalities, excellence in education and training, collaboration in research and innovation, and stakeholder engagement.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlines a five-year agreement between ATU and the HSE. The partnership aims to strengthen the existing relationship between the two organisations and provide a platform for developing stronger health and academic links into the future. For more information please click here.

Seated left to right: Tony Canavan, CEO, Salota University Health Care Group; Dermot Monaghan, Chief Officer CH CDLMS; Minister Simon Harris; Dr Orla Flynn, ATU President and Prof Jacqueline McCormick, Professor of Biomedical Sciences, ATU.

Back from left are Dr Áine McNamara, North West Area Director, Public Health, HSE; John Fitzmaurice, Chief Officer CHO 2; Virgina Reid, Senior Planner, HSE and JJ McGowan, General Manager Operations NAS West signing the MoU between the HSE and ATU.

ATU and Ulster University (UU)

Minister Harris also witnessed the signing of the new MOU between ATU and UU. The new MOU will see closer cooperation between ATU and UU and is part of a plan to strengthen the North West Tertiary Education Cluster.

The MOU highlights the mutual benefits of collaboration, promoting the exchange of faculty members and technical staff, joint academic programs, student initiatives, cultural exchanges, and research and consultancy collaborations.

ATU President Dr Orla Flynn said that the new MOU means that the cooperation that already existed with ATU Donegal will now be extended to all ATU campuses.

Vice Chancellor of Ulster University, Professor Paul Bartholomew said that there is huge potential for the education institutions to play an important role in the development of the North West City Region. For more information please click here.

Launch of New Biomass Centre

Minster Harris also launched the new Biomass Heat Centre (BHC) and district heating network on the ATU Donegal Letterkenny campus.

The retrofit works included improvements such as new tripleglazed windows, external wall cladding, roof finishes, heat recovery ventilation, LED lighting upgrades,

and the installation of photovoltaic panels. The objective was to enhance the Building Energy Rating (BER) of the buildings and reduce energy consumption significantly.

The combined projects, with a total cost of €4.8 million, are estimated to reduce ATU Donegal Letterkenny’s building energy-derived carbon emissions by 24%. This significant reduction aligns with the national target of achieving a 51% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030.

The new Biomass Heat Centre will generate hot water using woodchip as a renewable heat source. This system is projected to meet 80% of the heating needs for the teaching and learning building, contributing substantially to the university’s carbon reduction goals.

For more information, please click here.

Left to right: Prof Paul Bartholomew, Vice Chancellor, Ulster University; Minister Simon Harris and Dr Orla Flynn, ATU President at the MOU signing in ATU Donegal Letterkenny

Pictured at the opening of the Biomass Centre at ATU Donegal Letterkenny, front row left to right: Paul Hannigan, Head of College, ATU Donegal; Mary Daly, Head of Estates, ATU Donegal (Retired); Dr Orla Flynn, ATU President; Minister Simon Harris; Cllr Martin Harely, Cathhaoirleach of Donegal County Council; Henry McGarvey, VP for Finance and Corporate Services, ATU Donegal; Dr Joanne Gallagher, Head of Faculty of Science of Health, ATU Donegal and Barry Breslin, SU President ATU Donegal.

ATU Sponsor Award at the 60th BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition

ATU marked its first-time participation at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition by sponsoring the award for the “Best use of technology for sharing understanding of a subject or issue”.

The award went to Seán O’Sullivan, a secondary school student from Coláiste Chiaráin, Croom, Co Limerick. Seán was also the overall winner at the exhibition.

Seán’s winning project titled ‘VerifyMe: A new approach to authorship attribution in the post-ChatGPT era,’ explores the development of artificial intelligence (AI) to expose if a writer is using AI software such as ChatGPT. Seán’s innovative work stood out in the senior age category (17-19 years old) of the BT Young Scientist event.

“ We are delighted to give this award to Seán O’Sullivan for his exceptional project. The BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition aligns perfectly with ATU’s vision and values, and it’s an honour for us to support and celebrate the next generation of innovators and scientists. ”

Dr Orla Flynn, ATU President

Fiona Kelly, Marketing Manager at ATU said: “ATU’s participation and supporting sponsorship role at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition marks a new direction for the university. ATU’s reach goes beyond our regional borders and having a presence at this event demonstrates the national interest in the university.”

ATU President Dr Orla Flynn presents ATU’s sponsored award for the “Best use of technology for sharing understanding of a subject or issue” at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition to Seán O’Sullivan.

Alumnus Spotlight

Funké Egberongbe’s Journey from Direct Provision to Restaurant Entrepreneur

For every student who achieves an undergraduate degree it is a major milestone and significant accomplishment that deserves to be celebrated. For those who endure adversity to get to this point, it is an even more special achievement.

Funké Egberongbe graduated with a BSc in Nutrition, Food, and Business Management from St Angelas in 2021. In her forties she undertook a full-time degree while managing a busy home with four children as well as running a small food business. Remarkably, all of this followed nearly 10 years of living in Direct Provision.

Turning Aspirations into Triumphs

Funké travelled to Ireland from Nigeria, as an asylum seeker in 2005. She was 27 years old and made the journey while she was pregnant with her youngest child. She lived in Direct Provision for almost 10 years, moving from one to place to another. It was during her time at Globe House in Sligo that she first began envisioning a brighter future for herself.

For a lot of residents in Globe House, dinnertime was something to look forward to, however cultural differences in cooking and taste preferences meant that it could often cause some disappointment. It was a challenging situation for everyone.

Funke saw this as an opportunity to try and improve the menu on offer to the residents, and decided to ask if she could she lend a hand in the kitchen.

This was a real turning point for Funké, she fell in love with the big commercial kitchen, and she found great satisfaction in cooking food which people enjoyed.

In 2014, Funké and her family received their papers with the Irish Residency Permit. This was life changing for them and Funké describes the moment as liberating for her family. Leaving Direct Provision, Funké and her family had to rebuild their lives, for Funké this meant realising her dream of opening a restaurant.

Learning a New Life

Funké recognised the importance of integrating herself into the Irish system and the necessity of acquiring new knowledge. She built a strong educational base, equipping herself with the knowledge and skills needed to understand how to establish and run a successful business.

She says: “I have always believed in continuous learning; knowledge is power. As an asylum seeker, starting from scratch was the only option for me to get to where I wanted to be. Going back to study, from completing Level 3 FETAC courses to a Level 8 Honours Degree helped me see what was possible to achieve even at my age, in my forties! I knew what I wanted to do, open a restaurant and alongside my academic programmes, I did other courses in cookery, cake baking and decoration, and HACCP. I also worked in a deli shop as well as a bakery to gain more experience in food business.”

As a business owner, Funké believes in continuous development and lifelong learning – in whatever capacity that is, formal academic learning or on the job learning.

“ Funké’s remarkable journey has led to the establishment of Funké Afro Caribbean Restaurant situated in the heart of Sligo Town. This entrepreneurial venture stands as a testament to Funké’s dedication, resilience, innovation, and other valuable skills she cultivated during her time at our institution. We take pride in celebrating the success and accomplishments of inspiring graduates like Funké, showcasing the tangible impact of their academic pursuits at St Angelas. ”

Ronan McArt, Joint Programme Director in BSc Nutrition, Food and Business Management at ATU St Angelas

She says: “Being a business owner, I wear so many hats at the restaurant such as the Cook, Chef, HR, Accountant, and Manager. Although juggling different roles can be tough, what has greatly helped is my willingness to learn new things and the determination to succeed. And of course, resilience through difficult times is another one.

“ To believe is not enough when you have a dream, you must also take practical actions towards achieving your dream. Simply putGo for it! ”

Funké Egberongbe

Building a Community of Support

Funké has a network of people who champion, advise, and guide her. They also act as a sounding board for any ideas she may have for her restaurant.

It was during her final year in St Angelas that she began to commercialise her passion in food. As part of her final year project Funké created ‘Jollof Sauce’, which is now sold in selected SuperValu stores and Asian stores.

Her children came up with the idea of setting up a website to test the market. Funké offered cooking services and sold African food online. The website attracted more orders than she anticipated. After several people knocked on her front door in the hope of eating at a restaurant, she felt confident about opening her own restaurant.

She says: “Throughout my journey, my husband and our four boys have been a huge support. My husband’s words of encouragement and belief in me helped strengthened my desire to get an honours degree. It is difficult enough to get a third level education as a mature student who left secondary education 21 years ago, but also as a wife and mother of four made it more challenging.

Achieving my degree would not have been possible without the support of my lecturers (Ronan McArt, Hilary Jordan, Michelle O’Leary, and Roisin Lydon) who were all so supportive and always available to listen and encourage me throughout my four years of study. I’m so thankful for the support system in St Angelas.”

Believe in Yourself

Funké’s story is inspiring, and her determination and relentless work ethic enabled her to create the best opportunities for herself and her family. She has instilled her educational and professional ambitions within her own family and has matched her husband’s encouragement and support when he returned to education as a mature student. He is an ATU graduate of Cloud Computing and Networking. Her son, Jeremiah Egberongbe, is studying Mechanical Engineering, and is the current Student Union President at ATU Sligo.

“ Back yourself and seek help from those around you, there are always people in your network willing to help if you ask. ”

References

Kumari, N. (2023). From 10 years in Direct Provision to opening her own restaurant in Sligo this week. Irish Independent, 18 October. Retrieved January 30, 2024, from https://www. independent.ie/regionals/sligo/news/from-10-years-in-direct-provision-to-opening-herown-restaurant-in-sligo-this-week/a1607214396.html.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Meet our new Sexual Violence and Harassment Prevention and Response Manager

About Caitríona

Gleeson

Caitríona has worked for 25 years as a transformational leader advancing human rights and gender equality in communities across Ireland. As CEO of Women for Election, and as a Senior Manager with Safe Ireland for 12 years, Caitríona’s leadership has helped deliver innovative specialist services, culture changing national awareness campaigns, radical law changes including the criminalisation of coercive control in Ireland and the delivery of programmes which have inspired and equipped women to enter and succeed in politics. Caitríona is a graduate from University of Galway achieving a B.Comm. and an M.A. in Women’s Studies. Caitríona is married to Máire, and they live in West Sligo with their two daughters.

Caitríona Gleeson was recently appointed as ATU’s first Sexual Violence and Harassment Prevention and Response Manager.

Welcome to ATU, Caitríona, could you tell us about your role as Sexual Violence and Harassment Prevention and Response Manager at ATU?

Thank you, I’m working collaboratively with students, staff, and external partners to develop and implement ATU RESPECT which stands for Responding to and Ending Sexual violence through Protecting and Empowering our Community Together.

It is an exciting and important leadership role as ATU seeks to cultivate learning and working environments where respect, safety, dignity and inclusion are the norm and where people feel confident to act effectively and safely to help prevent all forms of sexual violence.

You’ve been very busy since you joined ATU. Could you tell us about what you have done to date?

There has been so much learning and relationship building over the past six months; nearly every day I meet someone new. I’m starting to feel the momentum building and my work has benefited from the important foundational work that the EDI team, Student Services and the Students’ Unions have initiated across all the campuses over the past few years.

Most weeks I hear from students or staff about their own direct experience of sexual violence or sexual harassment or of their need for advice for a colleague, student, or friend.

With low levels of reporting, it’s heartening to hear people reaching out for support. It is so important that we can respond effectively and that we are always learning from people’s lived experiences. That’s why the Speak Out anonymous reporting platform is also such an important resource for guiding the programme. There is so much potential to do great things here. Key to the success of this role is working collaboratively with the diverse ATU team including students, staff and key external community partners in the region. From policy and procedure drafting, to training events, to securing funding from TSAF and N-TUTORR, taking part in information stands and awareness events and participating in many important discussions there has been plenty of variety since I started last summer. Looking back, it’s amazing to see how many people I have worked with on various projects.

Have there been any stand-out moments for you since you started work at ATU?

A big highlight has been the ‘Orange the World Day’ back in November which marked the start of the 16 days of action global campaign towards ending gender-based violence. It was heartening to witness so many people arrive onto the various campuses wearing orange and gathering from Letterfrack to Letterkenny to raise the Orange the World flag, standing resolute in a commitment to actions towards ending gender-based violence.

Why is this role so important in ATU and other universities in Ireland?

It means that there is a dedicated leadership role driving the implementation of a comprehensive programme to prevent and respond to sexual violence in higher education. The national evidence makes for stark reading. In 2020 a USI national study found that 29% of females, 10% of males, and 28% of non-binary students had been raped.

Last April the CSO published a national prevalence study on sexual violence in Ireland which has shown that 52% of women and 28% of men have experienced some form of sexual violence in their lifetime. Quite shockingly, 1 in 5 women indicated that they had been raped at least once in their lifetime. Disclosure rates by younger female and male adults being

significantly higher than the average – 65% of young female adults and 39% of young male adults reported experiencing at least one form of sexual violence in their lifetime.

These headline figures alone paint the harsh and very hidden reality of sexual violence in Ireland. Students in higher education are at greater risk of experiencing sexual violence. Consequently, the Higher and Further Education settings critically offer the opportunity to embed prevention and response mechanisms.

The opportunities for early intervention, community wide trauma awareness, active bystander interventions, appropriate referrals and strong accountability offer an incredible opportunity to help not only change the experience of staff and students in ATU but to be at the root of changing the high prevalence of sexual violence in Ireland.

Why did you decide to join ATU?

It was a no brainer when I saw the job description. The opportunity to help support Ireland and the world’s future with a transformational prevention and response programme convinced me to give up the job I loved with Women for Election and join the ATU community.

“ Promoting a culture of consent, safety, dignity, and respect is key to helping reduce and eliminate sexual violence both in ATU and in wider society. ”

What are your plans for the Sexual Violence and Harassment Prevention programme for 2024?

My initial focus has been to strengthen and build key pieces of infrastructure to ensure we can sustain and grow programmes to meet the emerging needs across ATU. This focus will continue in 2024 working very closely with the ATU Advisory Group, Dr Sharon Mc Laughlin (EDI Lead for ESVSH), Professor Jacqueline Mc Cormack and Dr Michele Glacken to carefully navigate the design and implementation of the programme.

We will be mapping out a new evidence-based action plan, establishing core working relationships and collaborations, hiring new staff, supporting the ATU wide working group, developing policies and procedures, strengthening specialist support services and establishing widespread communication channels, designing and delivering training programmes to staff and students while establishing a core team with resources.

I hope that this time next year we will have responded effectively to students and staff in need by further strengthening support services and trauma awareness. Core to this is equipping a core community of trauma informed staff and allies with skills and the confidence to support effective prevention and response actions with clear reporting and investigation procedures established to deter and respond to inappropriate behaviours.

Further Information

To find out more about the RESPECT programme please contact respect@atu.ie and to contact Caitríona via email caitriona.gleeson@atu.ie or phone 071 9305995

For information about training, support services and Speak Out please click here and also any of the following:

Speak Out Donegal

Speak Out Galway-Mayo

Speak Out Sligo

Left to right: Sarah Mohan, ATU Galway-Mayo SU President, and Dr Orla Flynn, ATU President raise the Orange Flag at ATU Galway city campus.

Raising the Orange Flag at ATU Mayo are left to right: Loretta McDonagh, MRCC; Mary Nestor, ATU and Siobhan Sheils, Castlebar Soroptimists.

The US National Mentoring Summit

About the US National Mentoring Summit

Convened annually by MENTOR during National Mentoring Month, the Summit is a gathering of mentoring practitioners, researchers, funders, youth leaders, government and civic leaders to learn from one another, form new connections, and explore best practices for strengthening and expanding the youth mentoring movement. With over 1000 participants the event was action packed with plenaries, workshops, networking opportunities and included a focus on self and collective-care to support participant wellbeing.

Dr Celia Keenaghan, Education Mentoring Co-ordinator, WNW Connect recently attended the US National Mentoring Summit in Washington DC in January. She tells us about some of the learnings she came away with.

Everyday Mentoring

MENTOR’s CEO Jermaine Myrie opened the event by highlighting how central a part of life mentoring is. He said: “Every day, mentors and mentoring practitioners show up for young people as agents of opportunity and catalysts for change… Mentoring is not an option, it’s an opportunity”.

Thought Leadership

Drs. Matthew Hagler, Sarah Schwartz, and Elizabeth Raposa from The Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring delivered a workshop on “Degrees of Success: Best Practices and Innovations for Mentoring Underrepresented College Students”. The workshop presented research demonstrating the challenges underrepresented students face in understanding colleges’ “hidden curriculum” and the key role mentors can play in demystifying it. Best practices and cutting-edge innovations in this area were highlighted, such as using mobile technology and

youth-initiated mentoring strategies to facilitate mentee engagement and help-seeking.

Desireé Robertson, Director of Training and Product Design for MENTOR, led a plenary session about the new Black and Brown Girls’ Mentoring Movement including storytelling, performance, and an exploration of how mentoring can support, uplift and celebrate black and brown girls.

Beth Fraser and Rosie McMahon from Mass Mentoring Partnership spoke about expanding a view of trauma informed practice to encompass the importance and presence of healing. A healing centred approach is explicitly political, culturally grounded, asset driven – focusing on wellbeing and supports providers in their own healing. They recommended focussing on building up young people’s ‘resilience portfolios’ – a variety of psychosocial strengths and skills, tailored to the needs of individuals, to cope with common adversities. Mentoring relationships can be a key element in building those resilience portfolios.

Technology Enhanced Mentoring

Dr Jean Rhodes, Director of the Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring and Professor of Psychology at UMass Boston had a last-minute

change of plan and couldn’t attend the event but honoured a commitment to meet with me at the Summit through an online call.

She was keen to hear about developments in and opportunities to collaborate with WNW Connect and she shared the experience of developing MentorPro, a Student Success Platform where learners and mentors connect through an app that enables mentees and mentors to chat, set goals, check-in about their student experience and learning.

The app also enables programme management, monitoring and evaluation. As well as peer mentoring and staff-student mentoring, the app allows Flash Mentoring ‘time-limited’ exchanges where mentees search for, connect with and gain insights from targeted alumni, industry leaders and other pre-screened mentors from various fields and backgrounds.

Quality Mentoring Systems

Dr Veronique Church-Duplessis, shared how Mentor Canada having spent many years researching an appropriate quality system opted for one that has seen a shift from “Best Practices” to “Effective Principles”. They have developed a Quality Mentoring System (QMS) to support organisations in demonstrating, contextualising, and advancing the quality and impact of their mentoring programmes and initiatives. It is based on five core principles: Be intentional; Be context oriented; Be outcomes focused; Be diligent and ensure wellbeing; Be realistic and accountable. The principles approach offers flexible guidance to assess quality within a programme’s unique context.

Advocacy

One of the most impressive aspects of the Summit was the advocacy work that was supported through ‘Capitol Hill Day’ where hundreds of participants from across the youth mentoring movement, including mentoring programme staff, volunteer mentors, funders and researchers got to meet with their elected representatives in Capitol Hill.

Each state had a group delegation, and they kindly adopted a European Summit participant to shadow their delegation. I attended with the Rhode Island delegation who were impressive in the focused nature of their messaging and the level of research they had done in advance of the meetings.

Delegates were well prepared from their advocacy work through online training before the Summit and inperson training at the Summit. The training included key messages and priorities to focus on.

Some useful advocacy tips I picked up included: Always have a clear ask, research your elected officials, and communicate persuasively. The training pointed out that there are progressive, conservative, and everything in-between arguments for youth mentoring. Everyone can point to someone in their life who helped to get them to where they are today. One member’s feedback was illuminating:

“There are two types of groups I meet with…ones that come prepared I listen to them. Ones that don’t come prepared…they listen to me.”

Ireland at the Summit

Finally, there was much learning in the hosting of my own workshop “Youth in the Lead in Europe” co-facilitated with Szilvia Simon, co-ordinator of Mentoring Europe.

Using a world-café methodology we shared experiences of mentoring across Europe with a particular focus on Ireland, the Netherlands and Bulgaria. Participants particularly appreciated the space we created for reflection on ways to improve practice in relation to co-creating mentoring programmes with target groups.

Upcoming: Launch of WNW Connect Research

Dr Joellen Spacek from MENTOR, the Summit organisers is coming to ATU Galway city campus to launch Mentoring for Access, Retention and Student Success: A review of practice in the West-North West Cluster of HEIs on Wednesday 28 February. To book to attend in person or online please click here.

Pictured left to right: Celia Keenaghan, Education Mentoring Co-ordinator, WNW Connect; Kamilla Gorczynska, MentorProgramma Friesland NHL Stenden University; Lena Karnalova, Executive Director Big Brothers Big Sisters of Bulgaria Association; Joost Bijma, Student Intern, Firda, Netherlands and Szilvia Simon, Mentoring Europe.

ATU’s WiSTEM Society Empowers Women in STEM

In a bid to address the global gender gap in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields, ATU’s WiSTEM Society, spearheaded by Dr Anushree Dwivedi, has been actively supporting female students since its inception in September 2023. Led by PhD student Madhuri Angel Baxla, the society aims to bridge the gap and empower women pursuing STEM disciplines.

Dr Dwivedi, drawing from her industry experience, emphasises the importance of a strong connection between academic institutions and industry to provide students, especially girls, with a clear vision of their future careers.

In November, the society participated in Johnson and Johnson’s (J&J) STEM Fest at Thomond Park in Limerick as part of the Women in Science Technology Engineering Mathematics Manufacturing and Design (WISTEM2D) initiative. Attended by students from universities across Ireland, the event facilitated valuable networking opportunities and offered insightful workshops on career guidance. Key figures from J&J, including Anna Rafferty, Director of Strategy, delivered inspiring talks.

Masoumeh Razaghi Pey Ghaleh, a second year PhD student, found the STEM Fest particularly enriching, citing a stroke demonstration by Cerenovus as fascinating. She mentioned gaining substantial knowledge and developing an appreciation for those making a difference in people’s lives through innovations like stent retrievers.

Nora Keavney, a second year student, found inspiration in the experiences

shared by past J&J WiSTEM2D program students now employed by J&J. She said: “It was really interesting to hear thoughts and experiences of past J&J WiSTEM2D program students who were now working in J&J. It gave me a lot of inspiration and encouragement to hear about what I could do to make a difference to my career.”

“The J&J WiSTEM2D event was very inspiring; I am so glad I got an opportunity to network and connect with students and staff from other universities along with J&J representatives.”

Barbara Verbovska, Accounting student, ATU

Left to right: Masoumeh Razaghi, Barbara Verbovska, Dr. Anushree Dwivedi, Nora Keavney, Oreoluwa Johnson and Babatosin Ashiru.

Research News Revolutionising Healthcare with 3D Drug Printing

ATU will co-lead a research project looking into how 3D printing can transform healthcare through personalised medicine, writes Ivana Hanjs, ATU Digital Communications Officer.

The PROCEED 3D (Process Control for Extrusion-based 3D-printing of Personalised Medicine) project is co-led by ATU lecturer, Dr Marion McAfee, and Dr Rabah Mouras and Prof Gavin Walker from University of Limerick (UL) and is funded by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI).

As the world’s population ages and the one-size-fits-all approach to medicine is often inadequate, 3D printing of personalised medicine could be a game-changer in tailoring healthcare solutions, particularly for the elderly population, as it offers a new level of precision and personalisation in treatment by including several drugs in a single tablet at customisable doses.

This approach improves treatment outcomes and empowers healthcare providers to create patient-centric solutions to enhance overall wellbeing.

Dr Marion McAfee says: “Personalised medicine is all about tailoring therapy to the individual patient’s specific needs, taking into account their age and gender and their body mass, and the fact that they might have multiple conditions that all need treatment.”

“With 3D printing, we can print the pill and combine all the drugs that a patient needs in a single pill that they take once a day, making it safer and easier for them, instead of taking multiple different pills each day and trying to remember which pill to take and which could result in several problems for the patient.”

Dr Marion McAfee, ATU Senior Lecturer and Researcher

She adds: “3D printing could be the key technology in such cases because it allows us to develop a pill or medical implant specific to that patient’s needs, available to them in their local pharmacy or hospital.”

To watch Dr McAfee, explain the project please click here.

Shining a Light on Hospital Schools: Supporting the Development of Children

Dr Maria Campbell and Dr Deirdre Harvey from ATU St Angelas talk to us about their research into supporting the development of children whilst they are in hospital.

What did you examine in your research?

The restrictions posed by Covid-19, highlighted that schools provide more than academic learning, they also enable children and young people to develop socio-emotional skills, lessening the anxiety and stress that isolation from peers can cause. For some children and their families, ill-health, temporary and long-term medical conditions mean separation from peers, teachers, and friends.

What happens in one developmental domain (e.g. physical, cognitive, affective) influences what happens in the others. Our research examines the role of the hospital school in supporting the academic and socioemotional development of learners who find themselves in hospital, for various lengths of time. It is structured over several phases, where the views and experiences of stakeholders including student teachers, hospital schoolteachers, mainstream teachers, parents of hospitalised children and other hospital staff are examined.

Why did you choose to research this area?

The holistic development of children in hospitals is underresearched internationally, with

medical interventions and related developments taking precedence. We want to support and prepare student teachers and practicing teachers for teaching in hospital school settings or where children from their classes and schools may be absent due to illness. Recognising the complex needs of learners who are distanced from peers in this way and the expanded role of the teacher, as member of a diverse team, is our focus.

What are the findings so far?

We gathered data from interviews with sixteen hospital schoolteachers, in three hospital schools in the Republic of Ireland. The findings indicate that the hospital school provides a safe space and sense of normalcy for the learner and their families.

The hospital schoolteacher’s role is complex, as they are considered integral members of diverse teams, whose focus is addressing the health conditions the child presents with.

Building trust and connections among staff and families is essential if the teacher wishes to gain access to and develop child-centred and child-driven instruction in the hospital school. Teachers in this setting need to be responsive to the dynamic and ever-changing medical needs of the child and adapt their scheduling, resource use and creation and pedagogical practices accordingly.

Have you shared your findings with international colleagues?

Yes, we have, we presented the findings from phase one of our research at the Hospital Organisations of Pedagogues in Europe (HOPE) conference in Milan on 8-12 May 2023. This allowed us to establish key collaborative links with international counterparts in Norway, Italy, Australia, and New Zealand. The findings from phase two will be presented at two international conferences in 2024.

Left to right: Dr Maria Campbell and Dr Deirdre Harvey at the HOPE conference in Milan on 8-12 May 2023.

Innovation and Engagement

ATU rolls out a new College Skills and Career Planning Module

A five credit, level six module, titled, College Skills and Career Planning is currently being piloted with students on the ATU Donegal Access Programme (2022-24). The Access programme is designed for students who have limited or no formal education qualifications. The goal is to provide a pathway for these learners to continue their education at third level.

The new College Skills and Career Planning module provides students with access to a customised online learning platform where they undertake a transformative journey of self-discovery and career planning actively utilising mycareerpath.ie which was developed by ATU under the Higher Education 4.0 Project.

On this module, students embark on a four-stage developmental process that holistically addresses self-awareness, career exploration, student supports, and career development activities. The module is seamlessly incorporated within the existing Learning Skills & Personal Development module, led by John Kearns (Assistant Lecturer, ATU Donegal), who emphasises the practical elements of the curriculum and supported by the dedicated team at The Curve Learning Support Unit at ATU Letterkenny campus.

John says: “In facilitating practical advice, such as job search, curriculum vitae and letter writing skills in a supported manner the College Skills and Career Planning module allows students approach their career journey, whether it be entry level or beyond, in a manner that reflects their abilities, strengths and aspirations.”

Delivery Mode

The module is delivered through a series of in-person sessions and online resources with students in each class engaging for 1.5 contact hours per week. Students engage in self-directed learning through mycareerpath.ie with ongoing support and guidance by dedicated career and learning pathway advisors (CPLA’s) and teaching staff.

Getting the most from this experience

Students are encouraged to approach the programme with an open mind, embracing intentional self-exploration. Approaching this programme with curiosity, openness, and a willingness to learn more about themselves, leads to discussion about their goals and aspirations aligning to their strengths and talents - empowering students to visualise a fulfilling and successful career path. Additionally, the development of a robust career plan enables students from this programme to act in planning their future.

What students are saying about the College Skills and Career Planning module

Students overwhelmingly recommend the College Skills and Career Planning module, praising its ability to foster self-discovery, provide valuable information about college life, and offer a supportive learning environment. They emphasise the module’s ease of use and the availability of helpful resources, making it an invaluable tool for students navigating the transition into higher education.

In a recent feedback survey on the module, when it came to utilising the platform’s self-understanding and self-awareness e-learning activities, 93% of participants found the selfawareness reflection useful with 96% reporting that they found the personal development and strengths profiling activities useful. When it came to developing their college skills and career planning skills, over 90% of students responded that they found the CV and cover letter building tools useful along with other resources on developing a personal brand and making better career decisions. Similarly, when it came to identifying their needs and finding supports, feedback was universally positive, with 100% of respondents finding resources on confidence-building, USI and SU supports and fees and student assistance funding useful.

On completion of the module 89% of respondents felt ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with timetabling and 82% felt ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with module contents.

The team involved in this programme are: Mark Willis (current lead CLPA 2023-present), Sinead Campbell (lead CLPA during development and initial roll-out phase), Bridie Killoran (Careers and Learning Pathways Manager), Patrick Calvey (Chief Administrator, Higher Ed 4.0 Project), John Kearns (Assistant Lecturer, ATU Donegal), Brian McGonagle (Access Co-Ordinator, ATU Donegal), Rory McMorrow (Registrar, ATU Donegal)

An overview of the College Skills and Career Planning pathway on mycareerpath.ie

“Do it! You can learn things that will be helpful throughout your college career.”

“It’s helpful when starting college. I learned a lot about what to expect in my first year.”

“I believe this module really helps someone who isn’t very confident about going into university directly into first year. It really makes you aware of how university works and how to deal with everything.”

“This module is very useful and interesting because they put all the material for us on Blackboard [the student learning management system used in ATU Letterkenny] even if we fail to understand it in class, we can go on Blackboard to review everything and revise.”

“This is a great time to discover yourself and learn more about your career aspirations.”

“I recommend the student to do the course to have a better understanding of the school’s academic programme, activities, “and personal strengths.”

“Do it! You can learn things that will be helpful throughout your college career.”

What our students say about the College Skills and Career Planning module at ATU Donegal

ATU Innovation Centres’ Highlights 2023

ATU Sligo Innovation Centre

The Innovation Centre at ATU Sligo provides high potential entrepreneurs and innovative startups with the skills, networks, space and supports necessary to navigate the business start-up process from concept to successful commercialisation.

New Centre Clients

In 2023, the Centre welcomed two new client companies both renting dedicated offices with the intention of further expansion and growth.

The new new companies are Dulann and BVD Consulting. Dulann is an Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) consulting company that assists SMEs with the demands of ever-evolving environmental compliance and

legislation. BVD Consulting works directly with clients in the construction industry to navigate the execution and delivery of large projects. Both businesses complement the Centre’s client base in engineering and technology and are positive additions to our community.

Events

In 2023 several events took place including regular social and informal gatherings that presented networking opportunities for Innovation Centre client companies to mingle with ATU academics and research staff.

For Local Enterprise Week in March the Centre teamed up with the Local Enterprise Office, Sligo and hosted renowned guest speaker, Padraic O’Maille. The theme of the energetic and insightful talk centered on business growth and development with an audience made up of academics, students and local business owners.

Later in the year the Sligo Innovation Centre collaborated with Platform94, a Galway-based incubation centre, and hosted a lunch and learn on the Innovation Exchange, an initiative of Skillnet whereby a large industry partner is matched with an SME to address a business challenge.

The Innovation Centre’s clients also participated in the ATU Sligo Be Career Curious open day, availing of the opportunity to showcase their company to students and prospective graduates exploring local employment prospects. This reinforced the defining benefit of a company located on a university campus which is access to talent and opportunities for academic engagement.

Student Entrepreneurship

The Innovation Centre’s staff continued the tradition of assisting and facilitating several entrepreneurship programmes for second and third level students. These included third level programmes, iDays and StudentInc and the second level NFTE programme run by Foróige.

After a four years absence, 2023 saw the return of the Bright Spark entrepreneurship summer camp. 16 students, all Ukrainian nationals and recent arrivals to Ireland, aged 14-16 years were brought through their paces at the week-long camp. The week was heralded as a success for the participants who brought new energy and diversity and showcased their adaptability and resilience.

New Frontiers North West Programme

Enterprise Ireland’s New Frontiers programme is delivered in the north-west through ATU Sligo and Donegal. Participants have access to co-working spaces at Sligo’s Innovation Centre or Letterkenny’s Co-Lab, one-on-one mentoring, masterclasses and up to €22,500 in financial support to accelerate their startup.

Phase 2 of programme started on 1 September 2023 and will finish at the end of February 2024. The 13 participants come from both counties Sligo and Donegal with businesses ranging from SaaS to consumer goods.

To find out more about ATU Sligo Innovation Hub please click here.

Enterprise Ireland’s New Frontiers ATU – Sligo Donegal participants for 2023

ATU Innovation Hub (iHub) Mayo

The iHub is a centre that offers space to startup businesses and runs two entrepreneurship programmes, New Frontiers and the EMPOWER Programme. 2023 proved to be very busy for ATU iHub in Mayo, celebrating its 17th birthday this year.

Empower Cumasú Programme

The year kicked off with the Empower Cumasú programme run jointly between ATU iHub Mayo and Údarás na Gaeltachta. The aim of the programme is to fast-track female-led businesses based in the Gaeltacht areas of Galway and Mayo by offering free training, mentoring, support and peer to peer learning. Thirteen women completed the programme with a further five going on to do an extension programme later in 2023.

New Frontiers Programme

This year New Frontiers celebrated 10 years across the country. Some former New Frontiers clients in Mayo include Sorcha O Grady and Jens Hellberg, Truckscience; David McIntyre, Cubbie; Mark Corrigan, Marine Cable Services; Liam Feeney, Spottrack; Anne Walsh, Allergy Lifestyle; Fergal O Connor, Buy Media and Eoin Heverin, Foodie Savie.

Four new participants joined Phase two of the programme in August 2023. These include Bhibhinn McKenzie, Jamie Clabburn, Martin Parsons and Noel O Malley.

Funding

In funding news, Cytidel a client company of iHub Mayo, recently got approved for €1.35 million in seed funding which was led by Elkstone Ventures with participation from Enterprise Ireland. The Cybersecurity startup has built a risk management platform that offers real-time

vulnerability intelligence to help companies prioritise fixing the most important flaws in their systems.

Paul Walsh with his team in Tarracor Robotics recently received €100,000 from the Pre Seed Start Fund (PSSF) from Enterprise Ireland. They have developed a robot to replace manual tractors in golf driving ranges and golf courses. Paul participated in New Frontiers 2022. His first customer in Florida will be one of many to take advantage of this technology.

Fergal Dunne from Ellaro recently obtained Agile Funding for their new product invoicechecker.ie and Full Health Medical also obtained Agile Funding. Agile funding enables innovative businesses to transform their ideas into impact and shape the future of business, technology and society.

New Centre Clients

New clients who came to the centre in 2023 include Neuronic who develop wellness devices that send out near-infrared light. Clinical research has shown that near-infrared light positively impacts memory, movement and mood stability. The company develops light therapy equipment, specifically a helmet-like device that has 256 Near-infrared LEDs inside.

Two more new clients include Onawave Medical who are developing technology in the area of women’s health, and Ingenium who work in the area of engineering and project water services who are researching the use of AI for the water sector.

Entrepreneurship

ATU iHub Mayo hosted their annual Spirit of Entrepreneurship evening in September with Harry Hughes from Portwest taking centre stage along with Colm O Brien, Carabola; Tracey Sweeney, Tracey Sweeney Fine Art; Helen Nolan, Spraoi agus Spórt; Matthew Conlon, Cytidel and Noreen Hackett, Advanced Cosmetics.

iHub Mayo works closely with ATU Mayo Campus and this year welcomed a lovely bunch of budding Transition Year (TY) students under the Young Entrepreneur Programme. The TY students got to meet and chat to two other entrepreneurs in the building during their visit.

To find out more about ATU iHub Mayo please click here.

ATU Galway Innovation Hub (iHub)

The iHub at ATU Galway City and Mayo incubators provide high potential entrepreneurs and innovative start-ups with the business skills, networks, space and supports necessary to navigate the business start-up process from concept to successful commercialisation.

2023 was another very successful year for ATU Galway’s Innovation Hub.

Funding

Investment funding raised by client companies increased by €28M in 2023 to €291M, the third year in a row where investment funding raised topped €25M. The number of jobs supported reached 1450+ and one acquisition in 2023 brought the total number of acquired iHub companies to eight.

Clients who raised significant funding include Bluedrop Medical, Smart Reactors, Byowave, Crannmed, Symphysis Medical, Endowave, Cytidel, Precision Sports Technology and Tarracor Robotics.

iHub Clients Successes

Funding was secured by several client companies during 2023 with three examples indicated below along with the technology they are developing:

• Smart Reactors who are developing the world’s first nanomaterial “nanocellulose” for use in artificial lung devices as a bridge to lung transplantation. €3M EIC Funding.

• Endowave who are developing a novel robotic-enabled microwave ablation catheter with integrated position sensing and ablation imaging technology for metastatic lung cancer with ATU MET Centre as a research partner. €5.4M DTIF 6 Funding.

• Crannmed who will develop and validate a differentiated and reversible liquid embolic treatment for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH). €3M DTIF 6 Funding.

New Frontiers Programmes

Phase 2 of ATU New Frontiers in Galway-Mayo is currently underway with 15 participants. Applications for the 2024-2025 Phase 1 will open in Spring 2024.

New Frontiers participants from Galway-Mayo, Donegal and Sligo, along with programme mangers Tony O’Kelly and Geraldine Beirne came together in November 2023 for a joint workshop, “Activating you Network and the Entrepreneurial Mindset”. Events

ATU iHub Galway hosted 18 events in 2023 with workshops and seminars in areas such as Digital Disruption, European Institute of Innovation, International Women’s Day, Career & Learning Pathways, Investment Funding, Student Entrepreneurship, Intertrade Ireland Seedcorn Competition, STEM Passport Project, Legals & M&A, Medical Device Regulation, Research Expertise with Enterprise Ireland’s funded Gateways and a Client Demo Day.

ATU iHub iPubbers and iGrubbers who participated in Galway Corinthians Tag Rugby Tournament.

Winner of Galway Chamber Sustainability Award

ATU Galway iHub was a winner at the 2023 Galway Chamber Business Awards, securing the coveted Sustainability Initiative Award, generously sponsored by Shannon Airport in collaboration with the Shannon Airport Group.

This prestigious win signifies ATU’s unwavering commitment to sustainable development, solidifying its position as a leader in fostering innovation and driving positive environmental and social change. The award recognizes the outstanding success of various sustainability measures implemented within the iHub.

As part of ATU’s development plan, the iHub has integrated a range of sustainability initiatives. This includes the adoption of energy-efficient LED lighting, the installation of solar panels that generated over four thousand kilowatt hours of renewable energy in 2022, and the incorporation of two electric vehicle charging stations. The recently completed extension, designated a ‘Nearly Zero Energy Building,’ and the addition of nest boxes for endangered Swifts exemplify ATU iHub’s holistic approach to sustainability.

To find out more about ATU Galway iHub please click here.

ATU iHub Galway at the Galway Chamber Business Awards, left to right: Tony O’Kelly, Mary Considine, Dr Orla Flynn, Evanna Ryan, George McCourt, Michelle Lee, David Lee and Turlough Rafferty.

CoLab at ATU Donegal Letterkenny

CoLab is an Innovation Centre based on ATU’s Donegal Letterkenny campus. It provides flexible office space and outstanding facilities for high-potential start-ups.

It is the largest campus-based Incubator in the Technical University sector. With over 45,000 square feet of workspace, companies and start-ups can choose from a variety of move-in ready office space, hot desks or lab space.

The Centre currently has fortyseven companies based there, employing 270 people and over 30% actively recruiting in 2024. Eleven

of the companies are either HPSU companies or IDA Client companies.

The companies operate in sectors such as Software, Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Ecommerce, Fire Technology, Edtech and Apps Developers.

The Centre is also home to the Research Office and postgraduate research students. WISAR LAB, an Internet of Things strategic research centre is also based there.

Entrepreneurial Training

CoLab is home to the New Frontiers Programme where Phase 2 participants have desk space and where the participants attend the best practice workshops.

The LeadTech – Impact Through Leadership Programme currently has 10 participants attending monthly in person workshops in Vision and Strategy, Communications, Team building, and Time Management with Barry O’Sullivan.

Update on Companies based in CoLab

FinTrU is a technologically enabled Regulatory Solutions company, specialising in the areas of KYC, Compliance, Legal, Risk & Control and Operations. They announced in 2023 that they were establishing a European Delivery Centre in Letterkenny with the creation of 300 jobs.

CoLab was able to offer FinTrU quality office accommodation, highspeed broadband and through ATU the graduate pipeline they required. They are currently employing 65 graduates and intend to move out in the Summer of 2024 to a refurbished office in the IDA business park with the intention of growing their work force to 300 people.

Druva is an Indian based company that provides a secure SaaS-based platform for data backup, disaster recovery and cyber resilience. Employing 35 people they arrived in the centre in 2018 when they acquired a start-up company whose founder had gone through New Frontiers at ATU and then went on to receive Competitive Start funding and finally HPSU funding.

They unveiled a new AI product in October 2023. Called Dru, it is the industry’s first AI copilot for backup that revolutionises how companies engage with their data protection solutions.

ITUS Secure Technologies Ireland, a past participant in the New Frontiers Programme and Regional Winners of the InterTrade Ireland Seedcorn competition have announced that they are working with the National Cyber Security Centre in the UK on a start-up programme.

WISAR LAB are an Internet of Things strategic research centre at ATU Donegal and are based in CoLab. They occupy over 2250 square feet of lab and office space.

Other Organisations at CoLab

CoLab is also home to two Skillnet Business Networks, Retail Ireland Skillnet and Tech Northwest Skillnet. Between them they have a combined training budget of over €2,000,000 per year.

ERNACT is a European Digital Transformation Service agency managed by Donegal County Council and Derry and Strabane District Council. They currently manage 12 European Projects with a Regional Investment value of €20 million Euros. ATU are partners in several of these projects.

The Garda Continuous Professional Development Department has an Office in the Centre and provide CPD training for all Garda Staff in the Donegal Division.

For more information on CoLab please click here.

ATU Plays Key Role in the Translational Medicine Alliance Ireland

ATU has become a member of the newly formed Translational Medicine Alliance Ireland (TMAI), which was officially launched in December by MEP Frances Fitzgerald at the Trinity Centre at St James’s Hospital in Dublin.

TMAI is a collaboration among ten Irish universities and is dedicated to overcoming the challenges associated with translating scientific breakthroughs into tangible healthcare applications and medical interventions. The alliance members are Atlantic Technological University, Munster Technological University, University of Galway, Queen’s University Belfast, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Technological University Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork, University College Dublin and University of Limerick.

Organised as a decentralised collaborative alliance, TMAI leverages the strengths of its member universities, each having established specialised centres in the field of translational medicine.

“ All the university partners have been working over the last two years to develop the translational medicine alliance across the Island of Ireland and we are delighted the launch was so well attended, igniting a collaborative spirit and fostering opportunities for knowledge exchange. Through our individual areas of expertise and resources, our alliance provides a strong platform for developing world class research in translational medicine that can provide effective solutions to current challenges at the national and the global levels. ”

Dr Richéal Burns, Lecturer in Health Information Technology and ATU lead for the TMAI

At a regional level being a partner of the TMAI affords ATU access to collaborate with a wider network of leaders in transitional medicine across the Island of Ireland, providing additional resources, opportunities for growth and cross-pollination of ideas and furthering the university’s ambitious research development strategy.

ATU has research strengths across the wider spectrum of translational medicine research including biotechnology, nanomaterials, biopharmaceutical science, neuroscience, medical technology, data analytics and economic evaluation. To find out more about the alliance please click here.

Tirlán Process Excellence Showcase

Lecturers Caroline Mullan and Brian Coll were invited to attend the Tirlán Excellence Showcase at their Abbey Quarter hub in Kilkenny. This annual event is held to recognise and celebrate outstanding achievements of teams from across all sites and functions within Tirlán in driving excellence and Lean Six Sigma initiatives. Awards were presented across several categories including Cost Reduction, Strategic Impact, Sustainability, Quick Wins, Continuous Improvement and Customer Impact.

Caroline and Brian said: “We were delighted to attend the Tirlán excellence showcase and to meet the Tirlán employees that completed their Lean Six Sigma Green Belt training with us at ATU Sligo. It was great to see how the tools and techniques students studied during the course are used to drive quality and cost reduction initiatives in Tirlán.”

About Tirlán

Tirlán is a world-class food and nutrition business, with a diverse portfolio of quality ingredients, leading consumer and agribrands. Tirlán’s portfolio includes many of Ireland’s best known and most loved Irish dairy brands, such as Avonmore, Kilmeaden, Premier, Wexford and international brands such as GAIN Animal Nutrition, Truly Grass Fed, Millac and Solmiko nutritional milk proteins. For further information or to view career opportunities with Tirlán, please click here.

Left to right: Dr Liam Lewis, MTU; Dr Pilib Ó Broin, UG; Prof. Patricia Maguire, UCD; Ms. Frances Fitzgerald MEP; Prof. Aideen Long, TCD; Prof. Mark Lawler, QUB; Dr Martin O’Neill, ATU; Dr John Mulvihill, UL and Dr Mary Deasy, TU Dublin.

“We selected ATU Sligo as they are the leading provider of accredited online Lean Six Sigma and OpEx programmes in Ireland. Their online learning systems allow our employees to access the course material anytime, anywhere. It provides us with the unique ability to train over 2,000 of our employees in a cost-effective way across 10 sites working on multiple shifts. Many of the projects shown here today were completed by Tirlán employees that undertook their Lean and Operational Excellence Yellow and Green Belt certification with ATU Sligo.”

Michael Phelan, Head of Operations & Supply Chain Excellence, Tirlán

ATU Sligo have provided White, Yellow and Green Belt training to over 300 Tirlán employees across Ireland. Several of the projects at the showcase were supervised by ATU Sligo lecturers which Tirlán employees completed as part of their ATU Green Belt award.

The ATU Sligo Lean Sigma Green Belt provides participants with enhanced problem-solving skills, using the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control) model. Participants are required to

undertake a Green Belt project with a minimum target savings of €15,000 annually. To find out more about the online Certificate in Lean Sigma Quality (Six Sigma Green Belt), please click here.

ATU are Ireland’s largest provider of online Lean Six Sigma White, Yellow, Green and Black Belt courses. Over 2500 students enrol in these courses annually to obtain their certification. Our next free White Belt course commences on 4 March 2024. To find out more please click here.

Left to right: Caroline Mullan, Lecturer, ATU Sligo; Michael Phelan, Head of Operations & Supply Chain, Tirlán; Brian Coll, Lecturer, ATU Sligo and Jim Bergin, CEO Tirlan.

Sustainability News

Atlantic Sustainable Tourism Observatory, Ireland

The Atlantic Sustainable Tourism Observatory, Ireland, hosted by ATU, has become the newest member of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation’s (UNWTO) International Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories (INSTO). The announcement was made during the 2023 Global Meeting of INSTO held at the UNWTO Headquarters in Madrid.

INSTO is a global network of tourism observatories dedicated to monitoring the economic, environmental, and social impact of tourism at the destination level. This initiative aligns with UNWTO’s commitment to fostering sustainable and resilient growth in the tourism sector through robust measurement and monitoring practices.

As Ireland’s first INSTO observatory, the Atlantic Sustainable Tourism Observatory will collaborate closely with tourism destinations along the Atlantic coast, Ireland’s islands, and heartlands. The successful acceptance into INSTO is the culmination of two years of dedicated efforts led by ATU’s Dr James Hanrahan and PhD researcher Fiona McKenna.

Dr Hanrahan expressed the observatory’s long-term vision, saying: “We hope to see the observatory become a source of high-quality, transparent, and regularly updated data, playing a leading role in the scientific, political, and socio-cultural sustainable tourism development for destinations in Ireland.”

The impact of tourism on climate change requires data that will inform sustainable change built on established, evidence based sustainable tourism indicators. Tourism destinations require the tools and skills to monitor their transition towards sustainable living and facilitate destination comparison, for evidencebased planning and management.

Ms McKenna emphasised the impact of data collection and said: “This collection of data, measuring and monitoring against indicators, has equipped the destination with the information it needs to transition to a more sustainable destination.”

In welcoming the new members, UNWTO said: “These destinations have demonstrated their work towards sustainable tourism through participatory approaches, evidence generation, and transparency - essential requirements for INSTO membership.”

About the Atlantic Sustainable Tourism Observatory

The Atlantic Sustainable Tourism Observatory, Ireland (ASTO) aims to help tackle the social, cultural, economic, and environmental challenges facing the tourism industry across the island of Ireland.

The Sustainable Tourism Observatory (STO) is a collaboration between three campuses within ATU. It aims to build on new and existing partnerships with key stakeholders in local authorities, state agencies, tourism industry, enterprises and communities across the observatory and internationally to address local challenges and collaborate with national and international researchers on global solutions.

The vision of the observatory is to inform the development of a suite of actions to promote sustainable tourism.

Dr Breda McTaggart, Head of Faculty of Business and Social Sciences, and Dr James Hanrahan, along with Fiona McKenna, represented ATU at the acceptance ceremony. The ceremony was led by Zoritsa Urosevic, Executive Director of UNWTO, and Dr Dirk Glaesser, Director of Sustainable Development of Tourism at UNWTO. The Atlantic Sustainable Tourism Observatory, Ireland, joins new INSTO members from Gifu Prefecture,

Japan; Centro de Portugal and Cali, Colombia.

ATU Collaborates on new Sustainable Tourism Project

On Monday 27 November, Dr James Hanrahan and Dr Deirdre Byrne from ATU met nine partners from the Interreg Atlantic Area at the Cultural Centre in Ourense (Galicia, Spain) for the kick-off meeting of Polycentric Sustainable Tourism (POST).

The project lead is Eixo Atlantico, a cross-border association of municipalities from Galicia (Spain) and North Portugal. The partnership includes representatives from France and the lead partners in Ireland are the Department of Business and Social Science at ATU and Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council.

The meeting was chaired by the President of Ourense City Council and attended by all partner regions to work on a new strategic concept for sustainable tourism aimed to increase territorial cohesion and avoid the negative impact of mass tourism.

Unlike large cities where heritage and cultural attractions are concentrated the POST partners have many attractions dispersed throughout their regions. The project aims to identify and develop the concepts of signature tourism and polycentric tourism that will help distribute tourism flows and expenditure among the territories.

At the administrative level, the project will have a total budget of €1,547,964.45 to develop its activities over four years, 75% cofinanced by the Interreg Atlantic Area 2021-2027 programme. The Interreg Atlantic Area is a European

Dr James Hanrahan,

Business and Social

Funding programme that covers the western part of the Atlantic Ocean and includes all regions of Ireland and Portugal, as well as several French and Spanish regions close to or on the Atlantic coast.

James Hanrahan and his research team from ATU looks forward to working closely with the team from Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown as well as the universities, destinations and municipalities across the Atlantic areas in the development and delivery of a model for polycentric tourism.

Department of Marketing Tourism and Sport, School of

Science, ATU and Dr Deirdre Byrne, Department of Research, ATU attended the meeting hosted by Exio Atlantico in the Cultural Centre in Ourense.

European Universities Collaborate to Foster Sustainable and Healthy Campuses

ATU hosted the EUGREEN Staff Week from 15-18 January, bringing together partners from nine universities alongside collaborators from Healthy Campus and the National Student Engagement Programme (NStEP).

ATU Donegal hosted day one and two and ATU Sligo hosted day three and four. The events included presentations from EU partners on the status within their universities, focusing on successful initiatives and the challenges they face. The participants also had the opportunity to attend workshops, engage in discussions, and enjoy a dinner accompanied by live music at the Mount Errigal Hotel.

The second day featured parallel sessions, including workshops for students and staff, as well as joint presentations of workshop results. The program then moved to Sligo for a site visit at the Organic Centre and free time for participants to explore the area. On the third day, the focus shifted to climate challenges and reimagining green and blue spaces for a resilient campus. Participants engaged in systems mapping, thematic analysis workshops, and discussions on actionable goals and next steps.

Jowita Pyszczek an attendee from Poland said: “It’s a marvellous experience, where I met passionate EU GREEN people. The workshops are productive, and they will surely improve realisation of WP8 tasks at each university.”

The program concluded with parallel sessions for students and staff, including workshops and action plan activities and presentations of workshop results and conclusions.

“ The workshops, attended by 50 delegates from across the EU GREEN alliance, focused on the dual aspects of healthy and green campuses. ATU staff and external partners delivered insightful presentations on student health and wellbeing, complemented by a world caféstyle workshop envisioning a climate-resilient campus. ”

Prof Frances Lucy, ATU lead for the EU GREEN University Alliance

Plans Progress for Future Living Laboratory and Digital Suite at ATU

Plans are progressing for a new building project in ATU under the Technological Sector Strategic Projects Fund (TSSPF). The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD, announced the project during a visit to ATU Galway City on Monday 12 December 2023.

The investment will provide for the addition of a living laboratory encompassing cross-disciplinary facilities focused on sustainability and a digital technology suite, including classrooms, to significantly increase ATU’s capacity to design and deliver online/blended learning.

The proposed building is to be constructed in the north-eastern quadrant of the Galway campus near the Ballybane road entrance. It is planned to extend to approximately 4,100 square metres in area, over three storeys.

Minister Harris said: “The funding will allow ATU Galway enhance the digitalisation capability especially in relation to more flexible offerings such as micro credentials, serving the needs of a dispersed learner population in the region they serve. It is through multi-million euro investments such as this that we will truly change the student experience for the better, by providing the highest quality of infrastructure. ATU is transforming education for its region. It is expanding its presence, growing its student numbers and making a significant impact here and abroad. This project ensures it continues to be a driver of regional and national development.”

Dr Orla Flynn, ATU President welcomed the announcement and said: “We are extremely grateful to the Minister, to the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, and the

Higher Education Authority, for their support in bringing this project to fruition. My thanks also to everyone across ATU for their collegial engagement on this project, and we look forward to work commencing as soon as possible.”

“ We are delighted to hear that we can progress to the next stage of our proposed new Future Living Lab – this crossdisciplinary new facility will build on global themes of sustainability and digitalisation. It will also address significant constraints on our Galway City campus, in relation to space and quality of infrastructure for teaching and learning. ”

Dr Orla Flynn, ATU President

Concept image of the new building project at ATU Galway city.

ATU Global

ATU Colleagues Showcase our Skills Offerings

On Friday 1 December, Dr Michael Hannon and Ruth Moran from ATU along with colleague Lorna Walsh from TUS spoke about “ATUs skills offerings from an Irish context,” to EU parliamentarians and European Association of Institutions in Higher Education (EURASHE) board officials.

This was a fantastic opportunity to showcase our skills offerings to researchers, staff, and the cohort of students with Lorna Walsh from TUS doing the same.

Michael and Ruth are both active members of the EURASHE Skills Community of Practice (Skills CoP) and Ruth is also an active member of the EURASHE Research Community of Practice (Res CoP).

The EURASHE Communities of Practice (CoPs) are spaces where members, academic staff, experts and students gather to exchange good practices, share experiences, contribute to capacity building, and

shape the future of Professional Higher Education.

A key objective for the Skills CoP for the coming period is the development of a Skills Strategy for Professional HEIs across Europe. The architecture of this strategy will be presented at the next annual EURASHE conference in Austria in May 2024.

“ We, as representatives of ATU are delighted to be involved in an International crosscollaborative skills community where we share best practices with other European HEI’s and where we in ATU can act as catalyst for the skills communities across Europe as we currently chair and co-chair a subgroup that will formulate a roadmap for Skills from a European context. ”

Ruth Moran and Dr Michael Hannon, ATU

Left to right: Jon Altuna, Montragon University,Portugal, current chair of the EURASHE skills steering committee; Ruth Moran and Dr Michael Hannon, ATU.

ATU St Angelas Nursing Students’ ERASMUS + Mobility Experience: Blended Intensive Programme in Belgium

Recently, four lecturers and seven students participated in a Blended Intensive Programme hosted by the University of HoGent, Belgium. The theme of the programme was ‘Start Locally, Debate Globally’.

Lecturers Denise Healy, Dr Dympna Walsh Gallagher, Siobhán Healy McGowan and Siobhán O Dowd participated in the programme. Five students from the Bachelor of Nursing Science (BNSc) General programme, Erin Beirne, Deirdre Curran, Sophie Hughes, Erin Russel, Kate Lyons also participated as did two students from the Bachelor of Nursing Science (BNSc) Intellectual Disability programme, Niamh Corcoran and Hanz Amizona.

The Blended Intensive Programme involved working alongside 42 students from different educational programmes including students from Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, ISELInstituto Superior De Engenharia De Lisboa, Akademia Tarnowska, Poland, Xamk-South Eastern Finland, University of Applied Sciences and University of Hogent, Belguim.

During the week students had the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to develop intercultural communication through meaningful engagements with diverse cultures; to develop knowledge, skills, and attitudes on intercultural competence; to gain insight into social dominance at a European level and to critically

analyse the concept of social dominance and how this relates to health care in an Irish context. Students moved out of their ‘comfort zone’ and worked alongside students from a diverse range of universities. They attended a variety of lectures on topics such as Dominance in Artificial Inquiry, led by the Politécnico de Lisboa,

Social Dominance in Healthcare, led by Ho Gent University, and History and Historical perspectives, led by Akademia Tarnowska, Poland. They also engaged in groupwork, research, discussions, debates, interviews and presented on a wide range of topics.

During the programme students also had the opportunity to attend a lecture at the EU Parliament in

Left to right: Ellen Goossens , University of HoGhent; Siobhán O Dowd, ATU St Angelas; Denise Healy, ATU St Angelas; Dr Dympna Walsh Gallagher, ATU St Angelas; Maarten Michiels,University of HoGhent and Siobhán Healy Mc Gowan, ATU St Angelas.

Brussels and meet with political representatives.

The students met with Mr Mark Higgins, an Intern to MEP Barry Andrews. Mark shared his experience of working in the EU Parliament and he explained the process involved in applying for an internship in the parliament.

Students also visited the Flemish Parliament in Brussels where they were provided with a guided tour. They also participated in a lively and insightful debate in the Flemish Parliament which was facilitated and led by the lecturers from ATU St Angelas on the topic ‘The benefits of being part of the European Union far outweigh the drawbacks’. This was a thought provoking, insightful and a fun way of learning debating skills and provided a valuable opportunity for the students to engage, research, learn and share their views on this challenging subject area.

Since the Blended Intensive Programme ATU St Angelas have welcomed a colleague from the University of Frankfurt in Germany, Theresa Maierhof-Obeng to the School of Nursing, Health Sciences and Disability Studies. She visited the clinical skills laboratory, where the focus was on sharing expertise in teaching nursing skills, through simulation. Theresa also met with students from Bachelor of Science in Nursing/Midwifery International programme where they shared their experiences of their programme and of studying in Ireland.

The Blended Intensive Programme has proven that collaborative learning experiences, fosters an international and interprofessional community, where the fusion of local and global insights shape the future of tomorrow. ATU will continue to work alongside our European colleagues in

developing further Blended Intensive Programmes.

In a previous international collaboration with several European third level institutions including the University of HoGhent, lecturers Dr Edel Mc Sharry, Siobhán Healy Mc Gowan and Denise Healy from the School of Nursing, Health Sciences and Disability Studies engaged in an ERASMUS+ funded strategic partnership research project.

Since this research project, General Nursing students, participated in an eight week clinical placement in Aalst, Belgium, and Intellectual Disability nursing students participated in an eight week placement in Ghent Belgium. As part of the Erasmus exchange, ATU At Angelas also welcomed nursing students from Ho Gent University, to complete an eight week clinical placement in Sligo University Hospital.

“ From a global perspective this Erasmus experience exposed us to different educational systems and practices which will prove beneficial when designing programmes and conducting research going forward. The Blended Intensive Programme provided us with opportunities to teach students and facilitate learning from several higher educational institutions across Europe. ”

Denise Healy, Lecturer & Blended Intensive Programe Lead, ATU St Angelas

ATU Celebrates A Door Opening: Sligo and the Legacies of Partition

Dr Keith Hopper, who lectures on the Writing and Literature Programme at ATU Sligo, was recently involved in the launch of a new book, A Door Opening: Sligo and the Legacies of Partition, which he co-edited with journalist (and now Press Ombudsman) Susan McKay.

The book was launched at Sligo Central Library on Wednesday 29 November with readings, music, and a panel discussion with Dr Marion Dowd (ATU Sligo), and poets Mary Branley and Jean Bleakney.

The anthology marks the culmination of the Legacies of Partition project and Sligo County Council’s Decade of Centenaries 2012 – 2023 programme.

This volume comprises thirty contributions ranging across a variety of forms and genres including poetry, fiction and essays. Several ATU staff and alumni are included in the anthology. It also features writing by well-known authors such as Dermot Healy, Carlo Gébler, Victoria Kennefick and Louise Kennedy.

A Door Opening: Sligo and The Legacies of Partition is available for free to pick up from your local Sligo Library branch. To find out more about the launch and to watch a YouTube recording please click here.

Pictured at the launch: Cathaoirleach Cllr, Gerry Mullaney, along with Decade of Centenaries Coordinator Donal Tinney, Editor Dr Keith Hopper, Mayor of Sligo Cllr. Declan Bree, Cllrs., Michael Clarke, Arthor Gibbons and Marie Casserly, with Sligo County Council Chief Executive Martin Lydon and Director of Services, Dorothy Clarke. Photo credit: Carl Brennan.

ATU Alumnus Taim Haimet wins the RDS Taylor Art Award, 2023

Taim Haimet, recent graduate of ATU’s School of Design and Creative Arts, received the RDS Taylor Art Award at the Royal Dublin Society Visual Art Awards ceremony held at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in December. Taim specialised in 3D studies which encompasses Sculpture, Digital Media and Ceramics.

Taim, who is a French student of Syrian descent, is now enrolled on the MA in Creative Practice at ATU Galway city. Her work is about the migrant sea-crossings to the shores of Europe. It is based on the haunting stories she heard as an Arabic interpreter for asylum seekers in Galway, as well as the conversations with her Syrian family members who have experienced this journey.

The Taylor Art Award (€10,000) is given annually to a graduate of an Irish art college or an Irish art student graduating from an art college abroad to assist them with the development of their career as a visual artist.

The 2023 RDS VAA judging panel commenting on Taïm’s practice said: “Her work is very conceptually complete; it is clear and resolved. Evokes strong emotional response. Addresses pertinent issues in a deeply pertinent and visceral way. We felt it was a very complete installation and deserving of the RDS Taylor Art Award.”

Gerard Leslie, lecturer in Sculpture, School of Design and Creative Arts, ATU Galway city said: “We are very proud that again one of our students has achieved such high recognition for their work. Taim’s work stood out as exceptional alongside the other 14 nominees selected.”

“Awards of this nature help reinforce the significance and importance of creativity and ambition. Awards help sustain successful graduates in the primary ventures of their practice. Fundamentally and most importantly they underpin graduate confidence in asserting their role and identity as an ‘artist’ addressing the social frameworks of where we exist.”

To watch Taim’s work on YouTube please click here.

“It is an incredible honour to receive the Taylor Arts Award. If you had told me a year ago, I would be blessed with such an opportunity I would have never believed it! I am delighted to be bringing it home to Galway. It is also a recognition for our college and the incredible work our lecturers do with us. I am immensely grateful to my lecturers Ger Leslie, Louise Manifold and Katherine West, who supported and encouraged me when I doubted myself. They went out of their way to facilitate my work coming to life. Being a smaller art college, we have this closeness between students and lecturers. We can cross between disciplines and find support when we need it. I hope we get to see many more ATU students in the RDS in the coming years!”

Taim Haimet, ATU graduate and winner of the RDS Taylor Art Award

110 Take Part in Inaugural University Fitness Games at ATU

The first ever University Fitness Games, organised by ATU in Donegal, attracted nearly 110 participants who competed across various categories, showcasing their fitness and determination.

The event aimed to engage individuals who are avid gym goers and do not necessarily participate in traditional team sports.

The competition featured diverse categories, including the fittest male, fittest female, adapted athlete, male student, female student, male pairs, and female pairs.

Athletes were put to the test with a challenging set of workouts, and they had a tight 60 minute window to demonstrate their strength, endurance, and overall fitness.

Among the winners of each category were, Ciaran Quinn who won Fittest Male with an impressive time of 00:36:10. The Fittest Female was won by Karen Gallager with a time of 00:40:06.

The Top Female Student went to Grainne Pracht, from Swinford, Co Mayo, a student at ATU Sligo and Top Male Student went to Ruairi Crealy currently studying at St Mary’s University, London.

In the Adaptive Athletes category, the overall winner was Charlie McDaid with an impressive time of 00:22:50.

“ We are very proud of our strong sporting reputation here at ATU, and this event was yet another way of demonstrating our capability in this area. Thank you to everyone who volunteered on the day, and congratulations to all the participants. It was a fantastic spectacle. ”

Nicola Dunnion, Head of Department of Tourism and Sport, ATU Donegal

Winners in the Fittest Females category: Karen Gallagher - 00:40:06; Clodagh Skelly - 00:43:43 and Grainne Pracht - 00:43:46.

Winners in the Adaptive Athletes category: Charlie Mc Daid - 00:22:50; Brigid Mc Ginley - 00:23:33; Nikki Bradely - 00:36:52 and Mark Smith00:41:25.

Winners in the Fittest Males category: Ciaran Quinn - 00:36:10; Paul McGowan - 00:38:02 and Colum Monahan - 00:38:20.

Success at Tata Consultancy Services Sustainathon

Students from ATU recently participated in the latest Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Sustainathon which attracted over 180 students from Ireland and the UK.

The cross-university Team Alchemy representing a collaboration of postgraduate students from ATU Galway city and University College Dublin (UCD), secured their place in the finals and emerged as the overall winner under the category ‘Innovating Financial Education for Young Adults’. The team comprised of ATU students Dhanushi Rodrigo (Leader), Maria Malik, Shazray Khan, Chethaka Gamage and Akila Wickramasekara from UCD.

The TCS Sustainathon Challenge 2023 involved a three-week design sprint calling for innovative solutions for a set of sustainability challenges through the application of innovative digital technology, creative thinking, and collaborative teamwork.

The competition aimed to nurture creative problem-solving among university students, witnessed diverse teams from esteemed institutions across the UK and Ireland.

Team Alchemy conceptualized a gamification-based app tailored for Allied Irish Banks (AIB). The app’s

core purpose is to promote financial literacy among young adults, fostering a conscious approach to financial consumption, and encouraging sustainable investment practices.

The key differentiation of this solution amongst other entries was the tie into ‘education for sustainability’ whilst pursuing the goal of financial education. This ensured that the proposed solution not only showcased technical ingenuity but also addressed a critical aspect of promoting responsible

financial behaviour, aligning with the overarching theme of sustainable development.

Dr Amaya Vega, one of the PhD supervisors at ATU said: “The PhD supervisors were very impressed when we heard that the students were working together in the ‘TCS Sustainathon Challenge 2023’. We were delighted with the news that they got so far in the competition, but we are not surprised. They are a talented group of researchers, and we are very proud of them”.

“ Overall, the experience enabled Team Alchemy to harness innovative, critical thinking and collaboration to address today’s challenges effectively and creatively. ”

Dhanushi Rodrigo, ATU PhD student and leader of Team Alchemy

ATU Conferences

10th International Congress on Architectural Technology (ICAT) Conference

International Architectural Technology academics and students from colleges across Ireland gathered in ATU Galway city for the 10th International Congress on Architectural Technology (ICAT) Conference on 18-20 January.

The student event on the first day, Thursday 18 January, saw Ireland’s top Architectural Technology students work in groups to develop a detailed project and presentation as part of the inaugural national student competition in consultation with CIAT and O’Neill O’Malley (ONOM).

ATU students were declared overall winners of the student event. First year architectural technology students Charlie Lufniak and Fabricio Rocha, second year student Emma Neale and third year student Lucas Goncalves won the award for their detailed design of a workable, sustainable buildable solution.

The students’ design was of a sustainable two-storey building focusing on technical accuracy coupled with the best use of sustainable materials and demonstration of the buildability of assembly. The award was sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT), Republic of Ireland (C2) Centre aspirATion Chair funding, and local Architectural company O’Neill O’Malley (ONOM).

On the second day, the Congress showcased new and emerging research within the discipline of Architectural Technology worldwide.

Keynote speaker Deputy Sean Canney, TD, presented arguments bringing the technology of architecture into focus with the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021, leading the construction industry into a new carbontransparent built environment landscape, and The Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022, both of which aim to help develop an accountable, futureproof, sustainable built environment landscape.

On the final day the coveted Dr Niels Barrett Award for Best Conference Paper was awarded to Technological University Dubin (TUD) alumni Cal Henderson and Dr Malachy Mathews, for their paper titled “Augmented Reality in Deconstruction: Assessing the Potential for Advancing Circular Methods”. To find out more about the conference please click here.

“The three-day event gave us a unique opportunity to afford conversations and networking opportunities between Irish students and Irish and European alumni and academics alongside architectural technology professionals and Irish construction industry and professional body representatives. We shared ideas and solutions and were privileged to be presented with the findings from 23 cutting edge architectural technology research outputs from across Ireland, England, Scotland, Denmark, and Spain.”

Irene Hayden, ICAT Conference Chair and lecturer in Architectural Technology, ATU

ATU student winners being presented with their award, at the ICAT Conference.

Left to right (back row): Emer Maughan, lecturer in Architectural Technology; Irene Hayden, Conference Chair and ATU lecturer; John O’Malley, Director O’Neill O’Malley Architects and judging panellist; Charlie Lufniak, 1st year ATU student; Emma Neale, 2nd year ATU student; Fabricio Rocha, 1st year ATU student; Emma Hayes, MCIAT Managing Director Digital Built Construct and judging panellist; Mike O’Keefe, Chairperson of CIAT Republic of Ireland (C2) Centre.

Left to right (front row): Eddie Weir, President of CIAT and Principal Partner of Architectural Design Partnership and judging panelist, and Lucas Goncalves, 3rd year ATU student.

Left to right: Dr Orla Flynn, ATU President; Seán Canny, TD; Dr Malachy Matthews and Irene Hayden, ATU lecturer and ICAT Conference Chair at the 10th International Congress on Architectural Technology (ICAT) Conference hosted by ATU Galway city campus.

Second ATU Modelling and Computation for Health and Society (MOCHAS) Symposium

The 2nd ATU

on Modelling and Computation for Health and Society brought together researchers, industry experts, and academics to address the UN Sustainable Development Goals through mathematical and computational modelling, data

Machine

Sustainability,” sharing the challenges and opportunities in sustaining initiatives in the long term.

The third keynote speaker, Dr Gavin McArdle from UCD School of Computer Science, tackled the intricate dynamics of building smart city platforms in his presentation titled “Praxis, Politics, and Consequences of Building Smart City Platforms.”

This year’s symposium, held at ATU Sligo, was officially launched by ATU President, Dr Orla Flynn and featured keynote speakers who shared their insights on various topics.

Dr Stephen O’Driscoll, the National Challenge Fund Manager at SFI, explored the theme of “Challenge Research – A New Opportunity for Impact,” shedding light on how a focus on societal challenges can enhance the impact of research work.

The event also featured the participation of 15 PhD students from the Postgraduate Research Training Programme in Modelling and Computation for Health and Society (MOCHAS PRTP). The students showcased their groundbreaking research through poster presentations, covering a wide range of topics from disaster response radio networks to advancements in skin grafts.

Mandana Kariminejad received the Best Overall Presentation award for her work on the “Development of a Digital Twin for Polymer Injection Moulding Process.” The runner up in this category was Audrey Fayne.

Prof Frances Lucy, the ATU Lead of EU GREEN,

a compelling

on “Sustainable

In the poster presentation category, Mahrokh Jamshidvand claimed the title of Best Poster for her outstanding contribution and Nanshin Nansak was the runner up. To find our more please click here.

delivered

presentation

Symposium

analytics, sensor technologies,

Learning, and AI.

Front row left to right: Prof Frances Lucy, ATU Lead EU Green; Dr Orla Flynn, ATU President; Dr Stephen O’Driscoll, National Challenge Fund Manager, SFI; Gavin McArdle, UCD; Dr Marion McAfee, ATU Sligo and Úna Parsons, Head of College, ATU Sligo.

Back row left to right: Dr Eoin Cullina, Head of Research, ATU GalwayMayo; Dr Eoghan Furey, ATU Donegal; Dr Chris O’Malley, Vice President, Regional Development and Engagement and Dr Liam Morris, ATU Galway.

N-TUTORR Updates

N-TUTORR Christmas Showcase

On 18 December, against a breathtaking backdrop of the Atlantic, N-TUTORR Champions and Fellows came together to share their achievements in the project thus far and set the foundation for future collaborations.

The Champions and Fellows play a pivotal role in the N-TUTORR project and ensure its positive impact on the university and the region. The Champions are dedicated advocates and mentors for the N-TUTORR themes, while the Fellows are working in collaboration with students to develop a diverse range of innovative projects.

The day began at the state-of-the-art National Surf Centre in the seaside village of Strandhill, Sligo with a range of live, video and poster presentations.

Staff and students from across our nine campuses gave insights into a varied array of projects and activities, including developments in digital badges, wellbeing resources, peer mentoring and Lego workshops to name but a few.

The afternoon involved a lively and engaging World Café workshop, beautifully captured by Sligo based lecturer and graphic facilitator Dr Tamsin Cavaliero and moderated by N-TUTORR Teaching and Learning Coordinator Dr Ellen McCabe. Throughout this session participants reflected on the impact of their work within the ATU community so far and set out a series of ambitious, constructive plans to sustain and expand what has been achieved.

With such exciting progress after only one semester, we look forward to the great achievements of the N-TUTORR Champions and Fellows during the next stage of the project.

N-TUTORR Staff Development

Last Semester a Training Needs Analysis survey invited ATU staff to provide their views on Training and Development. Most staff responded saying they would like more formal training plans and are interested in further development and further education to enhance and develop their capabilities and careers.

Time and funding were highlighted as the two most common constraints across all staff groupings. The staff development team in N-TUTORR have prioritised these areas in their efforts to alleviate.

The team are planning to create focus/consultation groups with staff to explore the findings of the Training Needs Analysis and to dive deeper into what a voluntary training plan would look like and what would be the priorities.

The staff development team are also looking at creating a central hub for staff to approach for training. This will a one stop shop for staff looking to access the training provision within ATU and it will showcase the training offerings currently in place internally for staff.

ATU Donegal Letterkenny

ATU Sligo

ATU Donegal Killybegs

ATU Mayo

ATU Connemara

ATU Mountbellew

ATU Galway City

ATU St Angelas