August 2011
Ke e p in g you in to uc h w i t h de v e lo p me n t s in S c ie n c e , ENGin e e r i n g a nd Fo od s c i e n ce at UCC
Annual Graduate Newsletter & Report College of Science, Engineering & Food Science
Issue No. 4
Contents Head of College’s Foreword 03 Head of College’s Foreword 06 SEFS at a Glance Research Developments 07 Department of Biochemistry What do the Human Placenta and Snake Venom have in Common? 08 School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES) 08 Valorizing Andean Microbial Diversity through Sustainable Intensification of Potato-Based Farming Systems 09 Genetically-distinct Breeding Populations of Bottlenose Dolphins in Irish Waters 10 Research at the Aquaculture & Fisheries Development Centre responds well to changes in Funding Opportunities 12 Department of Microbiology 12 Reconstructing Plague Pandemics 14 Pathogenic Fungal Infections with Bacteria 15 Modified Bacteria to replace Oil Derived Products 16 UCC Students selected for International Research Training Project 17 Tyndall National Institute 17 Intel signs $1.5 Million Advanced Research Programme with Tyndall 18 IERC and UTC incorporating set up in Tyndall new Research Facility 19 Tyndall Licence Deal from new Materials for see-through Electronics 20 Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre 20 A Gut Feeling about Pain and Childhood Stress 21 New Treatment for Hospital-aquired Superbug, C. difficile 22 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering/ Environmental Research Institute UCC Research informing Ireland’s Climate Policy 24 School of Engineering IRUSE Researchers contribute to ICT for EnergyEfficient Buildings Research Roadmap
Teaching Highlights 25 Teaching Highlights UCC Partners in BioInnovate Ireland Msc in Bioinformatics with Systems Biology 26 Teaching Awards, UCC Postdoctoral Showcase 2011, Notre Dame Connection 27 School of Engineering MEngSc ITinAEC – A more Interactive Learning Experience Awards, Honours, Prizes 28 Graduate of the Year and Undergraduate Scholarship Prizes 29 Department of Biochemistry SFI Awards 30 School of Biological, Environmental and Earth Sciences 30 Professor John Gamble, Geology 30 Student Awards 31 Department of Microbiology 31 Two Awards for Heather McLaughlin 31 Microbiology Academics elected to the Royal Irish Academy
32 NUI Travelling Studentship 33 International Award for Microbiology and APC Scientists 34 School of Engineering IRUSE Phd Student wins Best Paper News 35 Queen Elizabeth II visits UCC 36 School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES) 36 Atlas of the Deep Water Seabed: Ireland 36 Seafood Expert Gavin Burnell 37 Marine Gourmet – Spin out of BEES 38 Department of Microbiology 38 Microbiology Staff donates New Book to Boole Library 38 VIBE Bioinformatics Conference at UCC 39 Talented Bacteria make Food Poisoning Unpredictable 40 School of Engineering Conferences 42 Department of Biochemistry 42 Pfizer Postgraduate Scholarship in Biotechnology 43 One of Ireland’s Brightest 43 Winning Images from Biochemistry 44 Department of Chemistry 44 Chemistry Hits the Headlines 44 ‘One to Watch Award’ 45 Coastal and Marine Resources Centre (CMRC) First Joint Meeting of RSPSoc and IEOS 46 University College Cork Partnership with EMC Research Europe 47 IGNITE – Sparking Future Entrepreneurs
New Appointments and Retirements 48 Appointment Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre 49 Retirements Department of Microbiology, School of BEES, School of Mathematical Sciences, Department of Physics Science Promotion 52 Outreach and Student Recruitment - Securing the Future 53 The Eureka Centre 54 Science Raps Competition 55 APC at School! 56 Science for All 57 School of Mathematical Sciences 57 Mathematics Enrichment Programme 57 Mathematics Sciences Open Afternoon 57 National Team Math Final 2010 58 College of Science, Engineering and Food Science Annual Public Lecture Series 2011 Alumni Association 60 Dr Paul Ahern – Recipient of the 2010 Alumnus Achievement Award for the College of SEFS 61 College of SEFS Alumni 62 1981 BSc Dairy Class Alumni Activities – Thirty Year Reunion 62 1986 BE Electrical Class Silver Jubilee Reunion 63 UCC Alumni Events 2011 63 Join the UCC Graduates’ Association
Newsletter Editor: Professor William Reville, Public Awareness of Science Officer, UCC. Assistant to Editor: Aisling Ní Mhurchú, BSc EnvS, Public Awareness of Science Office, UCC. The Editor welcomes comments, suggestions, etc., about this Newsletter. Please contact us with interesting stories and developments relating to your own or colleagues’ careers since leaving UCC. Public Awareness of Science Office Room 1.25, Lee Maltings, UCC. Phone No: 00353 (0)21 490 4127 or 00353 (0)21 490 4369 E-mail: w.reville@ucc.ie. College of Science, Engineering and Food Science (SEFS) Food Science Building, Block E, 3rd Floor, University College Cork, Ireland Phone No: 00353 (0)21 490 3075 Fax No: 00353 (0)21 427 0380 E-mail: collegeoffice@sefs.ucc.ie College of SEFS Public Awareness and Appreciation of Science Website: http://understandingscience. ucc.ie Front Cover Image: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip on their tour of Tyndall National Institute. Back Cover Image: Dr Edward Kiely introduces the Queen to the Benhaffaf twins.
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Head of College’s Foreword
Professor Patrick Fitzpatrick, Head, College of Science, Engineering and Food Science (SEFS)
The academic year 2010 – 2011 has been a difficult one for the country, the university as a whole and for the College of Science, Engineering and Food Science (SEFS) in particular. Dramatic cuts in budgets and the requirement to cut staff numbers (as throughout the public service) have led to an inexorable rise in student: staff ratios and substantial reductions in operating budgets. Nevertheless, because of the dedication, perseverance, commitment and sheer hard work of our academic, administrative and technical staff throughout the College we have, in spite of these adverse circumstances, continued to maintain a high quality in our core teaching and research activities. We cannot hope to describe everything in this report but we hope to give you a flavour. The life of a scientist or engineer begins at a very young age. The natural curiosity of the child leads to questions about the world around, and most of these have answers which are to a greater or lesser extent scientific. The innate inventiveness of many children leads them to try to “make” things, starting with the building blocks of early childhood,
and moving through models and – for some – tree houses! Modern society has provided many new opportunities for creativity in scientifically-mediated domains and environments such as computer games and applications. However, for too many children, the transition to second level can be a time when curiosity and creativity are replaced by learning by rote and boredom. The fall in the numbers of students taking Leaving Certificate Honours in science subjects is well documented and it is very gratifying to see that the government is beginning to take steps to redress this trend. There are signs also that applicants to university are increasingly recognising the possibilities of science and engineering to provide them with interesting and wellpaid jobs. The demise of the Celtic Tiger is changing expectations and there is increasing appeal in jobs which can make space for creativity as well as ingenuity and skill and which are recognisably of benefit to society. In SEFS we have recently developed what we call the Eureka Centre (for Inquiry-based Education in Science and Mathematics) with the intention of providing an interface to school pupils, at all levels from primary
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Sir Robert Kane Building, UCC
through to Leaving Certificate, and to their teachers. The Centre is based in two purpose-built laboratories and a resource centre in the Kane (Science) Building, which are fully fitted out with all the equipment and resources required for the second level syllabuses, especially those in Physics and Chemistry. We run weekend enrichment sessions, summer camps, and Leaving Certificate revision classes, and provide in-service courses for teachers. We work closely with organisations such as the Irish Science Teachers Association and the Irish Mathematics Teachers Association and have obtained some seed funding from British Telecom (based on our interaction with them via the BT Young Scientist and Technology Competition) and from PharmaChem Ireland. A formal launch date is envisaged in September and Seán Sherlock T.D., Minister of State for Research and Innovation has kindly agreed to officiate at the ceremony. Some further information on our Eureka Centre can be found on page 53. Of course, our main connections with the scientists and engineers of the future are made when they study with us for their
degrees – bachelors, masters and PhDs. Our programmes are of the highest quality and we constantly seek to update them with the latest developments. Research by the students has a central role in all of our undergraduate programmes. One notable recent innovation is a greater focus on the notion of entrepreneurship. In collaboration with the College of Business and Law many of our PhD students are now taking courses explicitly targeted at the “innovatorentrepreneur“ with the specific objectives of increasing the number of start-up companies that will be created by our graduates and increasing the level of entrepreneurial creativity that they bring to bear when they join existing companies.
At undergraduate level too we are beginning to introduce such programmes, for example, in the recently established bachelors degree course in Computer Science and Software Entrepreneurship.
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Head of College’s Foreword
“ Nevertheless, because of the dedication, perseverance, commitment and sheer hard work of our academic, administrative and technical staff throughout the College we have, in spite of these adverse circumstances, continued to maintain a high quality in our core teaching and research activities.” The final step in our association with our scientists and engineers is of course when they graduate, but that’s not the end of the story. Our graduates are ambassadors for SEFS wherever they go. Indeed, in the current economic climate more and more are travelling for work and experience and we wish all of them well. We hope that there will be future opportunities for them to return to Ireland if they wish and we will do our utmost to ensure that such opportunities do emerge. To our graduates – our SEFS alumni – you represent us and we want to keep in touch. We have undertaken a programme of making contact with alumni, beginning with those areas, towns and cities where UCC already has strong alumni associations – from London to Chicago, and from New York to Sydney. This year will see the launch of our new SEFS Alumni Reunion Programme. If you are a graduate of Science, Engineering or Food Science we want to reconnect with you and we want you to reconnect with your classmates. We are seeking Alumni Ambassadors from all years in the three former faculties to assist in developing our Alumni Reunion Programme (See page 61).
We are also working hard to develop a more up-to-date website and to bring social media more to the fore in our contacts with you. To register your interest in being an ambassador, or simply just to reconnect, we invite you send a brief biography, giving your degree course and graduation year, and outlining what you’ve been doing since then, to alumni@sefs.ucc.ie, or join us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/SEFS.UCC). Going back to our earlier comments… there is indeed an air of considerable uncertainty about the economic future of the country and whatever happens will have profound effects on the university and on our College.
One thing is certain: we will emerge from the current phase of our history stronger for the experience. Patrick Fitzpatrick Head of College 19 July 2011
06
Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report
SEFS at a Glance
SEFS at a Glance SEFS Student Population (Headcount)
UCC Overall Student Population (Headcount)
463
539
Undergraduate PhD
583
3272
2500
Other Postgraduate Total Student Population: 4318 *International Students: 14.16%
1425
1046
3272 Data Source: Microstrategy March 2011
2752 4242 704
SEFS Staff Breakdown 71
4
68
SEFS (Undergraduate)
Administrative Staff
SEFS (Postgraduate)
Academic Staff
B&L (Undergraduate)*
Research Staff
186
B&L (Postgraduate)
Technical Staff
ACS&SS (Undergraduate)**
Other
ACS&SS (Postgraduate) M&H (Undergraduate)*** M&H (Postgraduate)
339 Data Source: Microstrategy March 2011
Data Source: Microstrategy March 2011
* Business and Law ** Arts Celtic Studies and Social Sciences *** Medicine and Health
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Research Developments
Department of Biochemistry What do the Human Placenta and Snake Venom have in Common?
Dr. Tom Moore
Snake venoms contain many different proteins that have evolved to cause the death of prey. One class of venom proteins called haemotoxins interfere with blood clotting. These proteins, when delivered through the snake’s fangs into the tissues of the unfortunate victim, cause haemorrhaging and death. Dr. Tom Moore in the Dept. of Biochemistry, UCC, with his colleagues and collaborators, has recently found that a protein produced by the human placenta has precisely the characteristics of snake venom anti-clotting proteins. A critical step in blood clotting is the clumping of small blood-borne cellular fragments called platelets to form a haemostatic plug or patch in a damaged blood vessel. Clumping occurs when the platelets are stimulated to bind an elongated fibrous blood protein called fibrinogen. Because a single fibrinogen molecule can bind to more than one platelet, this results in an entangled meshwork of platelets and fibrinogen. Platelets bind fibrinogen using a receptor molecule called an integrin. This interaction between the platelet integrin and fibrinogen is therefore a critical component of the normal blood clotting
process and one that is targeted by proteins, appropriately called ‘disintegrins’, found in many snake venoms. The venom of the south-eastern pygmy rattlesnake, which is found in the United States, contains a particularly interesting disintegrin called barbourin. Barbourin has a highly specific interaction with the platelet integrin and, in fact, a derivative of this protein is widely used as an anti-clotting drug during human cardiovascular surgery. This protein targets the platelet integrin and blocks fibrinogen binding, thereby inhibiting clotting. Dr. Moore noticed that a peptide sequence in barbourin that is critical for binding the platelet integrin is also found in a human placental protein called PSG1. Dr. Moore and UCC co-workers Dr. Danny Shanley, Dr. Pat Kiely, Dr. Ken Martin and Prof. Noel Caplice, and collaborator Prof. Niamh Moran of the RCSI, Dublin, have shown that PSG1 inhibits fibrinogen binding to the platelet integrin and has anti-clotting activity in human blood. PSG1 and related proteins are produced in high quantities by the human placenta and are secreted into the mother’s bloodstream
throughout pregnancy. However, it is unlikely that the aim of the fetus is to kill the mother by inducing haemorrhage! Rather, the reason may be that the surface of the placenta is in direct contact with the maternal bloodstream and this might cause extensive clotting and thrombosis without a counteracting mechanism such as is provided by high doses of PSG proteins. Indeed, human pregnancy and, in particular, diseases of pregnancy such as preeclampsia are associated with an increased risk of thrombosis. This raises the possibility that PSG proteins may prove to be useful in developing drugs to combat certain diseases of human pregnancy or of the cardiovascular system. The fact that the snake and the human have invented similar biochemical tools to solve very different biological problems is a nice example of convergent evolution and has nothing whatever to do with any shenanigans that may have occurred in the Garden of Eden, where the snake and Eve, the ‘first woman’, are said to have come into close contact!
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Research Developments
School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES) Valorizing Andean Microbial Diversity through Sustainable Intensification of Potato-based Farming Systems
Picture Above (Left): Traditional planting still carried out in the Andean highlands Picture Above (Right): CIP potato germplasm growing region at 4200m altitude site with c.1,500 cultivars
A research team in the School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences (BEES) is currently involved in a 5 year EU Seventh Framework Programme funded project (FP7/2007-2013) entitled ‘VALORAM Valorizing Andean microbial diversity through sustainable intensification of potato-based farming systems’. The project began in January 2009 and the team includes: Dr. Barbara Doyle-Prestwich (principal investigator), Dr. Eileen O’ Herlihy (project manager), Dr. Boguisa Janczura (postdoctoral researcher) and Siva Linga Sasanka Velivelli (PhD student). VALORAM is comprised of 8 partners from the following countries: Austria, Belgium (x2), Bolivia, Ecuador, Germany, Ireland (UCC) & Peru. The overall objective of VALORAM is to promote the sustainable development of potato-based systems in the inter-Andean valleys and Altiplano areas to focus on cropping systems that will make use of natural microbial resources as inputs to improve production of high quality potato crops. The strategy for VALORAM implementation is to engage local and EU partners in developing collaborative research activities
and synergies with for example, local farmer associations to sustainably improve potatobased systems. This year the BEES team was involved in a number of activities related to the project, beginning with the second project meeting held in Peru from 15th -19th February 2010. During this visit the team witnessed first hand potato growing in the Andean region and the problems the growers face due to their geographical location and circumstances. During the visit the project meeting also hosted an open symposium on: ‘Utilization of beneficial microorganisms in agricultural systems: Exploring microbial diversity for novel applications’, which was attended by over 100 Peruvian scientists, farmers and stakeholders from the agricultural sector. Barbara gave an overview on ‘The use of autotrophic systems for the selection of PGPRs and other beneficial microbes’. The next project meeting was hosted in Cork from 2-4th March 2011 and included an open symposium on soil biodiversity on the 4th March in G19, Kane building. More details are available on the project website (http:// valoram.ucc.ie).
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School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES) Genetically-distinct Breeding Populations of Bottlenose Dolphins in Irish Waters
Picture Left: Bottlenose dolphin acrobatics Connemara Picture Right: Dorsal fin showing scarring which is used to recognise individual dolphins
Understanding the population structure of a species is imperative for wildlife conservation. For terrestrial mammals, mountain ranges, oceans and deserts may act as “barriers” to dispersal and, over geological time, can lead to genetically separate and reproductivelyisolated populations. For example, the Irish stoat, Irish hare and Irish otter are genetically distinct from those found elsewhere in Europe. However, when it comes to the marine environment and marine mammals in particular, we tend to think of species such as dolphins, which are highly mobile and live in an apparently homogeneous environment, as occurring in a single large population on an ocean basin scale. Interestingly, our research group is finding evidence to the contrary. Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are a familiar species to many in Ireland. Fungi, the Dingle dolphin, is the best known bottlenose dolphin here, but other groups are commonly seen in the outer Shannon estuary, along the Connemara and Mayo coasts and indeed, a small group is regularly seen in Cork harbour. So are these highly mobile dolphins all from the same population? With funding from Science Foundation Ireland to Dr. Emer Rogan, a team, which also includes Prof. Tom Cross, Dr. Simon Ingram and Dr.
Luca Mirimin from the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Science (BEES), has set out to answer this and some other questions about these dolphins. Samples were obtained through a biopsy programme (which takes a skin sample from a live dolphin without harming it) and also from dead animals washed up on the coast (referred to as stranded animals). Using a combination of molecular genetic markers (similar to those used in human forensics) it was found that there is fine-scale structure over very short geographical distances along the Irish coast. The results of this work were published in the journal Animal Conservation (Mirimin, L., Miller, R., Dillane, E., Berrow, S.D., Ingram, S., Cross, T.F. and Rogan, E. ‘Fine-scale population genetic structuring of bottlenose dolphins in Irish coastal waters’). The Shannon estuary bottlenose dolphins have been the focus of many research projects over the last 15 years. Approximately 120 -140 animals use the estuary over the summer, with a smaller number overwintering. Through a process known as photo-identification, individual dolphins can be recognised from nicks and notches on their dorsal fins. Many dolphins come back to the Shannon year after year and are never
seen anywhere else. It turns out that dolphins using the Shannon are genetically distinct from animals off Connemara and Mayo. Interestingly, the animals using Cork Harbour are most closely related to the Shannon dolphins. This group of eight animals (two calves have been born in the last two years) have only been regularly seen in Cork Harbour since 2006. Thus, it may be that these animals emigrated from the Shannon estuary to take up residency in Cork Harbour. The work raises lots of questions, e.g. • Why are the Shannon dolphins genetically distinct from those off Connemara and Mayo? • How long ago did they separate? • What mechanisms drove the separation and continue to maintain the genetic separation of adjacent communities (in the apparent absence of geographical barriers)? • Are there other populations in Irish waters? • Which of these populations was Fungi originally from? Like many things in research, each answer raises many interesting questions!
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Research Developments
School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES) Research at the Aquaculture & Fisheries Development Centre responds well to changes in Funding Opportunities
“ Our research strategy is to support, stimulate and promote the development of aquaculture and fisheries, thereby enabling these sectors to achieve their full socio-economic potential by utilising sustainable natural resources.” The Aquaculture & Fisheries Development Centre (AFDC) has now been in existence for 23 years. Based within the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences and affiliated to the Environmental Research Institute (ERI), the centre consists of a research cluster focusing on fisheries (Dr. Emer Rogan), aquaculture (Prof. Gavin Burnell), molecular ecology (Prof. Tom Cross) and shellfish health (Dr. Sarah Culloty). The research strategy for the Centre is “To support, stimulate and promote the development of aquaculture and fisheries, thereby enabling these sectors to achieve their full socio-economic potential by utilising sustainable natural resources.” The Aquaculture & Fisheries Development Centre is situated with the rest of the school in the North Mall campus and consists of a 1200 m2 complex with facilities to carry out fisheries and aquaculture research including two tank rooms with tropical marine system freshwater and marine recirculation units,
broodstock conditioning units, shellfish on-growing units, filter-feeder broodstock conditioning units, a larval culture system and live food culture facilities. Dr. Sarah Culloty is Director of the Centre. The centre also has a part-manager (Dr. Maria O’Mahoney), 4 Principal Investigators, 3 Senior Researchers, 5 Post-Doctoral Fellows, 13 PhD students, and 4 Research Assistants. The remit of the centre includes support of industry and commercialisation of research and this was demonstrated in 2009 by the development of a company - Gourmet Marine Ltd. as a UCC start-up commercial enterprise, now run by Dr. Gerry Mouzakitis, one of the former researchers from the Centre who has been developing its sea urchin aquaculture technology called the UrchinPlatter™ System. Despite the downturn in national funding, researchers within the centre have refocused efforts to maximise funding from non-national
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Picture Left: Arctic char eyed egg larva Picture Right: Oyster trestles in Dungarvan
sources. During 2009, the Centre had ongoing research funding of €7.8 million, with €1.9 million funding secured for further projects commencing in 2010 and 2011, mainly from projects funded by EU FP7 and European Regional Development Funding such as the INTERREG program. Between 2008 and 2009, non-exchequer funded projects increased from 5% of funding to 18%. Currently within the Centre, large research projects are being undertaken, such as the BEAUFORT funded programmes on “Ecosystem approach to fisheries management” (€1.86 million), led by Prof. Gavin Burnell and Dr. Emer Rogan (and a cooperative project with the CMRC), and “Fish population genetics” (€2.7 million), led by Prof. Tom Cross. Ecosystems approach to fisheries management includes research on a variety of topics including the diet of bottlenose dolphins and white-sided dolphins stranded on Irish coasts since 1993, the
variability of bottlenose dolphin vocalisations, modelling the ecology, population dynamics, assessment and management of the Dublin Bay Prawn, biology of the black scabbard fish, Aphanopus carbo, in the deep water ecosystem of the North East Atlantic and the application of signal detection methods to the fisheries management system. Within the molecular ecology group, research focuses mainly on fish population genetics such as genetic stock identification in mixed stock fisheries, the impact of escaped farmed salmon on wild populations and support to developing industries such as cod farming. In the area of shellfish health, much of the research, led by Dr. Sarah Culloty, concentrates on topical subjects such as climate change and on conservation of native European species through management of disease. €618,399 was awarded under the ERDF INTERREG 4A Ireland: Wales Scheme for a collaborative project with three Welsh Universities on “Shellfish productivity in the
Irish Sea: working towards a sustainable future”. The project is investigating the influence of climate change on shellfish aquaculture and fisheries in the Irish Sea. Another cooperative project between shellfish health and the molecular ecology groups and with a number of EU partners is for an EU FP7 funded project (€730,894 for the AFDC component) looking at conservation of the native European oyster by controlling one of its main pathogens. Two further projects on shellfish health - looking at viral infections and delivery mechanisms for probiotics to ameliorate infections, also funded by EUFP7 and valued at €580,000 - commenced in early 2011. Despite current economic difficulties, the Centre is well placed to maximise future possibilities through its high profile internationally and the huge level of contacts and collaborators the group has built up both nationally and worldwide.
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Research Developments
Department of Microbiology Reconstructing Plague Pandemics
A multinational team of scientists, including Prof. Mark Achtman of the Department of Microbiology and Environmental Research Institute, UCC, has used genome sequencing (which gives the hereditary information of organisms) to reconstruct past plague pandemics from the time of the Black Death to the most recent pandemic in the late 1800s. Their research was published online in Nature Genetic, in October 2010. The plague evolved in the vicinity of China over 2000 years ago and spread repeatedly around the world in deadly pandemics. The scientists compared 17 complete plague genome sequences and 933 variable DNA sites on a unique global collection of plague isolates (bacterial strains). This information allowed the team to track the progress of historical pandemics throughout the world and to calculate the age of different waves. Most of these events could be linked to known major historical events, such as the Black Death. It has been clear since a seminal publication in 2004 that an understanding
of the historical sources of plague would require a genomic comparison of isolates from multiple scientific institutions because none of their individual collections were globally representative. However, a single comprehensive collection could not be assembled because shipment of the causative bacterium, Yersinia pestis, is restricted by stringent governmental regulations in order to prevent bioterrorism. Therefore, decentralised analysis of DNA samples was conducted by an international team of collaborating scientists in Ireland, Germany, France, China, the UK, Madagascar and the USA. The results provide unprecedented detail on the history of pandemic spread of a bacterial disease. Pandemic infectious diseases have accompanied humans since their origins and have shaped the form of civilisations. This new work shows that the plague bacillus evolved in or near China and has been transmitted via multiple epidemics that followed various routes, including transmissions to West Asia via the Silk Road and to Africa between 1409
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and 1433 by Chinese voyages led by the explorer Zheng He. From 1347 to 1351, the Black Death swept through Asia, Europe and Africa and may have reduced the world’s population from 450 million to 350 million. China lost about half its population, Europe around a third and Africa about an eighth of its population to the plague. The last plague pandemic of 1894 spread to India and radiated to many parts of the globe, including the USA, which was infected by a single radiation still persisting today in wild rodents. Detailed analyses within the USA and Madagascar showed that subsequent country-specific evolution could be tracked by unique mutations that have accumulated in their genomes, which should prove useful to trace future disease outbreaks. “What I felt was so amazing about the results is that we could link the genetic information so accurately to major historical events,” says Professor Achtman, who led the project and assembled the team of collaborators.
Mark Achtman of the Department of Microbiology is based in the Environmental Research Institute in University College Cork. He is a principal investigator funded by the Science Foundation of Ireland who works on the evolutionary biology of multiple pathogenic bacteria, including Salmonella, Helicobacter pylori and Listeria monocytogenes, in addition to Yersinia pestis. He also delineated the neutral phylogenetic relationships within Salmonella typhi in 2006 (published in Science). This work was initiated while he was a senior group leader at the MaxPlanck Institute for infectious biology, Berlin, Germany, where it was supported by funds from the German Army Medical Corps. The figure shows routes of transmission of plague from Hong Kong since 1894. Coloured arrows indicate distinct historical routes of transmission by multiple closely related lineages within Yersinia pestis 1.ORI, the history of which is distinguished by lineage-specific and country-specific nucleotides (mutations). 1.ORI1 spread to
India (inset) and also to the USA via Hawaii. 1.ORI3 also spread to India (inset) and then to Madagascar and finally to Turkey. 1.ORI2 spread globally through radiations ii (Vietnam), iii (West Africa), iv and vii (South Africa), v (South America) and viii (South America via Europe). 1.ORI2 also seems to have spread by land from China to Vietnam and Burma (inset, radiation ix). View video at: http://www.youtube.com/uccireland Link to publication: Yersinia pestis genome sequencing identifies patterns of global phylogenetic diversity. Nature Genetics (2010), http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng.705 New York Times Article, October 31, 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/01/ health/01plague.html
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Research Developments
Department of Microbiology Pathogenic Fungal Infections with Bacteria
Dr. John Morrissey and Dr. Lucy Holcombe
A bacterium can communicate with yeast to block the development of drug-resistant yeast infections, according to Microbiology Department scientists in the May 2010 issue of the academic journal Microbiology. The research could be a step towards new strategies to prevent hospital-acquired infections associated with medical implants. Research carried out at the Microbiology Department, UCC, studied the interaction between the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is often associated with severe burns, and the yeast Candida albicans, which can grow on plastic surfaces such as catheters. Both microbes are very common and although they are normally harmless to healthy individuals, they can cause disease in immuno compromised people. The team discovered that molecules produced by P. aeruginosa bacteria were able to hinder the development of C. albicans ‘biofilms’ on silicone, when the yeast cells clump together on the surface of the plastic. Interestingly, the interaction between the two organisms did not depend on the well-studied bacterial communication system called Quorum Sensing, indicating that a novel signalling mechanism was at play.
C. albicans is the most common hospital-acquired fungal infection and can cause illness by sticking to and colonising plastic surfaces implanted in the body such as catheters, cardiac devices or prosthetic joints. This biofilm formation is a key aspect of C. albicans infection and is problematic as biofilms are often resistant to the antibiotics used to treat them. Dr. John Morrissey, who led the team of researchers, said, “Candida albicans can cause very serious deep infections in susceptible patients and it is often found in biofilm form. It is therefore important to understand the biofilm process and how it might be controlled.” Dr. Morrissey believes his work may lead to significant clinical benefits. “If we can exploit the same inhibitory strategy that the bacterium P. aeruginosa uses, then we might be able to design drugs that can be used as antimicrobials to disperse yeast biofilms after they form, or as additives onto plastics to prevent biofilm formation on medical implants,” he said. “The next steps are to identify the chemical that the bacterium produces and to find out what its target in the yeast is. We can then see whether this will be a feasible lead for the development of new drugs for clinical application.”
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Department of Microbiology Modified Bacteria to replace Oil Derived Products
Professor Michael Prentice, UCC Principal Investigator and Dr. Mingzhi Liang, a researcher on the project
Scientists at University College Cork (Professor Michael Prentice, Principal Investigator) and the University of Kent, UK (Professor Martin Warren), have shown that simple bacteria can be manipulated and modified to produce biofuels and medicines and help reduce our over-reliance on oil-derived products. The research (funded by Science Foundation Ireland, and the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council) was published in April 2010, in the academic journal Molecular Cell. “The way it works is that bacteria can be manipulated to construct pockets inside themselves that work as mini factories (bioreactors) where biofuels and medicines could be produced,” says Professor Michael Prentice, Professor of Medical Microbiology at UCC. At present oil and oil derived products are used in manufacturing medicines and precursors for plastics and it is envisaged that the bacterial compartments could be modified for the synthesis of ethanol or even hydrogen gas, which could reduce our need for oil derived products. “Using these compartments, simple bacteria like E.coli can make chemicals that would normally be deadly for
them. The bacteria are partially protected because the chemicals are being made within compartments inside their cells. We are working on ways to use these ‘factories’ to produce substances that will kill other harmful bacteria,” says Professor Prentice. Lead researcher at the University of Kent Professor Martin Warren said: “Synthetic biology is really exciting because we can produce some important and useful products that can be difficult and expensive to make using traditional chemistry techniques. Bacteria can make these things very easily and in large quantities if we develop bacteria with the right characteristics to do so efficiently.” The researchers at UCC and the University of Kent have been able to get bacteria to make bespoke compartments within the cell that take up about 70% of the available space and can all be used to assemble proteins and make a range of chemical compounds. The next stage of the research will be to make new compartments in the bacteria that will have new functions.
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Research Developments
Department of Microbiology UCC Students selected for International Research Training Project
Dr. Paul O’Toole and Dr. Avril Coghlan, Microbiology Department who will lead UCC’s participation in an international research project.
UCC students of Microbiology, Genetics and Bioinformatics are involved in a project that is being led by the internationally renowned US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI), a world leading institute in DNA sequencing located in Walnut Creek, California. As a result of an international competition, University College Cork (UCC) is one of 16 universities worldwide chosen to participate in an international project to carry out scientific analysis of the DNA sequences of bacteria. In fact, UCC is one of only three non-US universities selected for the 2010 DOE Joint Genome Institute’s “Education Program” project, the other two being in Lund, Sweden, and in St George’s in Grenada, West Indies. The project at UCC will be led by Dr. Avril Coghlan and Dr. Paul O’Toole, two lecturers in the UCC Microbiology Department. Drs. Coghlan and O’Toole submitted an application
to JGI on behalf of their students, who are a range of undergraduates and postgraduates undertaking degrees in UCC, including the BSc in Genetics, BSc in Microbiology and the new MSc in Bioinformatics with Systems Biology. Dr. Coghlan and Dr. O’Toole are both involved in research and teaching “bioinformatics”, a field that involves analysing biological data using computers. One hot topic in bioinformatics is ‘genome analysis’; that is, analysing the DNA sequences of different species to try to identify their genes and understand their biology. In the JGI project, the students will gain hands-on expertise in applying the latest bioinformatics technologies to analyse bacterial genome (DNA) sequences. For more information, see: http://www.jgi.doe. gov/education/genomeannotation.html
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Tyndall National Institute Intel Corporation signs $1.5 Million Advanced Research Programme with Tyndall National Institute, UCC
Picture Above: Roger Whatmore, CEO Tyndall; Matthew Shaw, Intel; Leonard Hobbs, Intel; Mike Maberry, Intel; Roger Nagle, Intel; Michael Murphy, President UCC and Kieran Flynn, Tyndall
Intel Corporation signed a 3 year, $1.5million advanced research collaboration with Ireland’s leading ICT research Institute, Tyndall National Institute, UCC. The agreement is the first of its kind for Intel in Ireland and establishes a direct collaboration between Tyndall and the heart of Intel’s technology research group in the US. Intel has only one other such agreement in Europe. The agreement will provide Intel with a commercial exploitation license to technology created through the collaboration with Tyndall. Under the agreement, Tyndall and Intel Researchers will investigate next generation materials, devices and photonics technologies that could have a profound impact on the performance and direction of future electronic devices. Intel and Tyndall have been working closely together for some time on a range of different technologies. This new agreement forms a direct relationship with Intel’s internal research
group in Portland. Through their publications and technology, Tyndall researchers have demonstrated their ability to innovate and invent technologies that can advance the frontiers of semiconductor technology. This program includes the Junctionless Transistor device invented at Tyndall by Professor Jean-Pierre Colinge, as well as photonic and advanced interconnect technologies. The interactions with the engineers and scientists within Intel, the world’s leading semiconductor company, will enable Tyndall to advance its technologies to the marketplace much more rapidly than it could possibly do on its own. This agreement with Intel is a direct result of the investments over the past 10 years by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and the Industrial Development Authority (IDA).
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Research Developments
Tyndall National Institute International Energy Research Centre (IERC) and United Technologies Corporation (UTC) incorporating set up in Tyndall new Research Facility
€35m investment and 87 high-end jobs in two announcements at Tyndall, UCC A new International Energy Research Centre (IERC) has been established at UCC’s Tyndall National Institute, where the major American multi-national, United Technologies Corporation (UTC), has also located its new research facility. Government funding for the IERC will be up to €20 million. This centre will be a collaborative entity working with leading Irish and international researchers in the area of sustainable energy systems. It will be a platform for the commercialisation of technologies created through the convergence of ICT and energy research across Ireland and will create about 50 jobs. The Centre will support an industry-driven agenda in integrated sustainable energy systems and will also include industry members from SMEs as well as indigenous and multinational companies. Adding to the government investment in the IERC, UTC is the first company to locate a research facility in Ireland as a direct result of the IERC’s establishment. The company will establish a unique energy and security research centre in Ireland, creating 37 new jobs over the next four years through a €15m investment.
Sustained investment by SFI, HEA, SEAI, EI and IDA has established a critical mass of ICT and energy experts in Ireland. The IERC, based in Tyndall, will attract new researchers to Ireland, developing new skill sets in integrated energy systems and, by building on existing expertise, will enable Ireland to develop a leadership position in clean technology research. Tyndall, UCC, is a leader in European ICT research and is ideally equipped to facilitate the convergence of ICT and energy necessary to deliver the novel energy systems that will drive Ireland’s Green Economy. The IERC will leverage strongly from Tyndall’s excellent track record of academic and industry collaboration in over 30 countries to attract new energy systems partners to the Centre.
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Tyndall National Institute Tyndall Licence Deal from New Materials for seethrough Electronics
Picture Above: Atomic model of the new electronic material (Ba doped SrCu2O2)
Tyndall National Institute and a leading materials company have signed a licence deal after the joint development of a novel material for transparent electronics. Whether palmtop, laptop or desktop, the basic idea layout of a computer has not changed for decades: the screen showing the data is separate from the chip processing the data. This could all change with the advent of new materials that can bring display and processing functions into intimate contact. These new materials are simultaneously semiconducting (like silicon chips) and transparent (like a display screen). This combination of properties is also needed in technologies such as LEDs, solar cells, smart windows and sensors. Researchers at Tyndall National Institute, collaborating with partners in an EU-funded project called NATCO, have used their modelling and characterisation expertise to develop a new material that is simultaneously semiconducting and transparent. In terms of its transparency across a wide range of wavelengths, the new Tyndall material is better than existing materials in its specific class of so-called p-type transparent conductive oxides (TCOs).
The new material was designed at Tyndall entirely through computer simulation by initially simulating how different elements from the periodic table affect the transparency and conductivity of a known material, copper oxide. This approach yielded a set of design rules that were applied to other existing TCO materials in order to determine the optimum composition. Hundreds of simulations were run, which took months to complete, but saved many years of trial and error in the laboratory. The resulting new TCO material was barium-doped strontium copper oxide. Tyndall’s proposed material composition was synthesised by Umicore, a leading materials company with headquarters in Belgium, which carefully prepared pellets to match this composition. The project was funded by the EU’s Future and Emerging Technology programme and is an excellent example of the added value that can result from trans-European collaboration. The EU’s assessment of the project was that the NATCO project is thus something of a model of what a well-run European Union project can accomplish. Dr. Mircea Modreanu was the Tyndall project leader.
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Research Developments
Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre A Gut Feeling about Pain and Childhood Stress
Dr. John Cryan and Professor Ted Dinan
Stress, especially that occurring in early life and childhood, is a major predisposing factor to developing pain symptoms associated with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) according to a study by UCC scientists to be published in the prestigious academic journal Gastroenterology. IBS is the most common functional gastrointestinal disorder referred to gastroenterologists. It has an unknown cause and is charactersed by gastrointestinal dysfunction and abdominal pain. Research in the NeuroGastroenterology group of the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre (APC) at UCC is focused on understanding the mechanisms underlying brain-gut communications in gastrointestinal disorders such as IBS. Dr. John Cryan (Senior Lecturer, School of Pharmacy), Professor Ted Dinan (Professor of Psychiatry and Principal Investigator, APC) and their colleagues have unravelled a novel mechanism underlying how such earlylife stress can alter the levels of a specific protein involved in controlling the amount
of the chemical glutamate that transmits nerve impulses in the spinal cord. If there is too much glutamate pain signals can occur. Decreased levels of the glutamate transporter, which normally mops up excess glutamate, results in an increased level of glutamate, which contributes to the increased experience of abdominal pain seen in IBS patients. The researchers then used the drug riluzole, which is used clinically in the treatment of motor neuron disease, to activate this protein and reverse these effects. “The ineffectiveness of current medications against pain in IBS can be attributable in part to our lack of knowledge regarding the chain of events generating pain and this remains an ongoing challenge for the pharmaceutical industry� says Dr. Cryan. The research was supported by Science Foundation Ireland through a Centre for Science Engineering and Technology (CSET) grant to the APC.
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Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre New treatment for hospital-acquired superbug, C. difficile
Mary Rea, Teagasc Moorepark Food Research Centre & Professor Colin Hill, APC and the Department of Microbiology
Scientists at University College Cork, Teagasc and the University of Alberta identified a new antibiotic, thuricin CD, that is effective against the hospital-acquired superbug Clostridium difficile. The research, funded by Science Foundation Ireland, was published in two articles in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) of the USA. Infection by C. difficile is the most rapidly increasing hospital-acquired illness in the Western world and is a major cause of death, particularly in the elderly. It is estimated that the annual cost of treating the diarrhoea (CDAD) associated with C. difficile amounts to €3 billion in the EU alone. C. difficile infections arise as a direct result of disturbing gut bacteria following antibiotic treatment. Current antibiotics of choice for the treatment of CDAD are the broad spectrum antibiotics vancomycin or metronidazole, but treatment failures and recurrence of infection are common. The emergence of strains with increased resistance to these antibiotics has also been reported. The new antimicrobial peptide, which was licensed to Alimentary Health Ltd, could reduce the risk of disease recurrence compared with that of broad-spectrum antibiotic treatment because it spares the normal gut flora that helps limit C. difficile growth.
Given the importance of normal gut flora in controlling C. difficile growth, Colin Hill, a professor of microbial food safety in the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre at University College Cork, and colleagues, Professor Paul Ross and Mary Rea at the Teagasc Moorepark Food Research Centre, analysed the very bacterial populations that keep C. difficile at bay during normal conditions with the goal of finding a compound that could specifically eliminate this organism. The potent new antimicrobial peptide was discovered by screening over thirty thousand bacteria isolated from the human gut. The first study described how thuricin was identified, purified and characterised. Thuricin CD consists of two distinct peptides that act together to kill a wide range of clinical C. difficile. This specificity of thuricin towards Clostridium difficile is a key advantage that it has over other antibiotic treatments. The second study shows that thuricin compares very favourably with standard antibiotics in terms of controlling C. difficile in a model of the human colon. It has the significant advantage that it does not have an impact on other bacteria in the gut (very little ‘collateral’ damage).
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Research Developments
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering / Environmental Research Institute UCC Research informing Ireland’s Climate Policy This research now provides Ireland with the capability, not previously available, to answer questions on the impacts of meeting climate change targets. The European Council has made a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 within the EU by 80-95% below 1990 levels, with the most significant cuts anticipated to come in our energy system. This is hugely ambitious and requires radical changes in how we produce and use energy. Ireland’s new Fine Gael – Labour Coalition Government has committed to publishing a Climate Change Bill to ‘provide certainty surrounding government policy and provide a clear pathway for emissions reductions’. Unfortunately however there is very little information available to provide an evidence base for these policy decisions. UCC’s Environmental Research Institute (ERI) has been working for two years on an important research project to address this knowledge gap. This project, “Energy Modelling – Irish TIMES” has produced the first sets of results on what Ireland’s energy system might look like in 2050, the impacts of the emissions reduction target and the associated costs. This research now provides Ireland with the capability, not previously available, to answer questions on the impacts of meeting climate change targets.
Figure 1 compares two different future scenarios and how changes in energy technology choices affect carbon dioxide emissions over the period 2005 – 2050. The upper line shows a possible future trajectory of energy-related CO2 emissions in the absence of an emissions reduction target. In this reference scenario emissions reduce to 26% below 2005 levels by 2050 but are still 10% above 1990 levels. The lower part of the graph reflects the emissions trajectory under an 80% emissions reduction scenario. The shaded parts show where the most significant technology changes occur to move us to a low carbon pathway at least cost. Significant changes are anticipated in transport and in the electricity generation mix in particular. Figure 2 shows the marginal cost of CO2 abatement, i.e. in each time decade the cost of avoiding the last tonne of CO2. The model optimises the energy system over the entire time horizon, i.e. it takes into account the total system cost over the period 2005 – 2050. It is clear from Figure 2 that as time passes, the more expensive technology options are
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Figure 1: Pathway to 80% energy related CO2 emissions reduction by 2050 in Ireland
introduced. The marginal cost increases from €43 per tonne of CO2 in 2020 to €262 in 2050. For comparison, the current carbon tax in Ireland is €15 per tonne of CO2. This research project is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Climate Change Research Programme (with co-funding from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland). ERI are collaborating on the project, projecting Ireland’s future economic growth trends out to the year 2050. In addition, training and support is provided by Italian energy modelling company e4sma. The initial results were first presented at an international conference on the topic of energy systems modelling in November 2010 in UCC, organised jointly with the International Energy Agency ETSAP (Energy Technology Systems Analysis Programme). The model being developed in UCC forms part of the MARKAL/TIMES family of modelling tools currently being used in 177 institutions
Figure 2: Marginal cost of CO2 abatement
in 69 countries. This project will both draw on and contribute to the wealth of international research activity through the International Energy Agency. Ireland has already made a number of important contributions to improving how these models address high levels of variable wind energy and improved characterisation of non energy intensive manufacturing activity that is significant in Ireland, namely food, ICT and pharmaceuticals. The project is co-ordinated by Dr. Brian Ó Gallachóir, Principal Investigator in Energy Policy and Modelling in UCC. Brian represents Ireland on the International Energy Agency ETSAP Executive Committee and is an elected member of the Royal Irish Academy Climate Change Committee. He also lectures in energy engineering in UCC and provides strategic advice to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland.
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Research Developments School of Engineering IRUSE researchers contribute to ICT for Energy-Efficient Buildings Research Roadmap
REEB Community attendees at a recent meeting. IRUSE Researcher, Andriy Hryshchenko (11th from left)
Informatics Research Unit for Sustainable Engineering (IRUSE) researcher Mr. Andriy Hryshchenko and Professor Karsten Menzel, Chair of Information Technology in Architecture, Engineering and Construction (ITinAEC), Civil and Environmental Engineering, UCC, have recently concluded their contributions to the REEB (European strategic research roadmap to ICT- enabled energy efficiency in buildings and construction) book. This contribution consists of a comprehensive analysis of ongoing research in the EU with emphasis on ICT for energy efficiency in construction.
efficiency; buildings will have evolved from energy consumers to prosumers [producers and consumers]). The REEB book presents the REEB vision, a comprehensive collection of corresponding relevant industrial best practices, a gap analysis with respect to current research and technology development, the REEB roadmap from the perspective of the considered research and technology development priority themes, and finally a set of recommendations covering: research and development, policies, coordination actions, take-up measures, standardisation initiatives, and needs for education and training.
The REEB book is essentially a summary and synthesis of the key findings and conclusions obtained from the scientific work, interactive workshops and consultations with key experts and stakeholders. Within REEB, five main research and technology development priorities were identified: integrated design and pro-production, intelligent control, user awareness and decision support, energy management and trading, and integration technologies.
This FP7 funded research project has allowed IRUSE to embed Irish research into EU -framework initiatives and has assisted IRUSE in establishing a research network with leading EU-stakeholders.
These contribute to the achievement of the REEB vision in the short term (ICT will be used to ensure that existing and new buildings meet current and emerging requirements for energy efficiency), medium term (ICT tools will enable lifecycle optimised design and energy management during operation), and long term (ICT will enable and support new business models and processes driven by energy
The REEB developed R&D technology roadmap on ICT for energy efficiency in construction aims to accelerate the adoption, development and take-up of ICT technologies in buildings and associated services for enhanced energy management. This roadmap has benefited with input from the European ICT4E2B community. ICT4E2B intends to update the roadmap by establishing a stakeholders’ forum and provide a platform for discussions on research and technical development proposals for the upcoming EEB-ICT calls in 2010 and 2011. http://zuse.ucc.ie/reeb
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Teaching Highlights
UCC Partners in BioInnovate Ireland
MSc in Bioinformatics with Systems Biology BioInnovate Ireland, a specialist training programme in medical device innovation, modelled on Stanford University’s prestigious Biodesign Programme, was officially launched in 2011. The BioInnovate Ireland Fellowship Programme has been jointly developed and delivered by a consortium of five Higher Education Institutions which include NUI Galway, University College Cork and Tyndall, University of Limerick, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Dublin City University. The overall aim of the programme is to train graduates to support the creation of new, cost-effective medical devices that improve patient care through a collaborative approach that focuses on the needs of patients, physicians and the health care industry as a whole. The impetus for the development of this specialist training programme emerged from the 2010 Innovation Taskforce Report. The new programme aims to hot-house, in the space of 10 months, talented individuals with multidisciplinary backgrounds to explore and develop in teams, opportunities for innovative medical devices. The search for elite candidates for the 2012 Fellowship Programme will begin in the Autumn.
The first class of the MSc Bioinformatics with Systems Biology students from UCC graduated in December 2010. This new MSc programme is currently coordinated by Prof. Douwe van Sinderen and Dr. Avril Coghlan from the Department of Microbiology, but is jointly taught by the School of Mathematics and the Departments of Computer Science and Biochemistry. Of the first class, nine students graduated with an MSc degree, while one additional student graduated with a Higher Diploma, as he chose to leave early to take up a PhD opportunity in New Zealand. Several of the other MSc Bioinformatics graduates have already started PhDs in UCC and elsewhere, and we wish all of the graduates the best in their future careers.
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Teaching Highlights
Teaching Awards
UCC Postdoctoral Showcase 2011
Notre Dame Connection
This year the College launched the studentnominated College of Science, Engineering and Food Science (SEFS) Outstanding Lecturer award and the Outstanding Postgraduate Demonstrator Teaching Award. The 2011 winners were Professor Peter Jones of the School of Biological, Earth
Picture Above: Professor Patrick Fitzpatrick, Head of College of Science, Engineering and Food Science, Carrie Quinlan (Food Business and Development, UCC) and John O’Donoghue (Dept of Chemistry, UCC)
Picture Above: Brendan Daly recipient of the Naughton Fellowship with Dr Michael Murphy, Professor Patrick Fitzpatrick, Dr Michael Creed and Dr Tanya Mulcahy
and Environmental Sciences and Mr Conor Sexton, School of Mathematical Sciences.
Postgraduate students John O’Donoghue (Dept of Chemistry, UCC) winner of the oral presentation award and Carrie Quinlan (Food Business and Development, UCC), winner of the poster presentation with Professor Patrick Fitzpatrick, Head of College of Science, Engineering and Food Science.
School of Engineering graduates Brendan Daly and Eoin Whooley were awarded the prestigious Naughton Fellowship to study at Notre Dame University. This is the first year that UCC has established a reciprocal relationship where Notre Dame students can apply to study engineering courses at UCC and we look forward to adding some UCC spirit to the Fighting Irish!
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School of Engineering MEngSc ITinAEC – A more Interactive Learning Experience
Since its introduction in 2006, the MEngSc Information Technology in Architecture, Engineering and Construction has evolved its techniques of e-learning. Forming a strong foundation of collaboration with academics across Europe, the MEngSc ITinAEC programme has never been found wanting when engaging its students in online discussion, application sharing and virtual lecture experiences. In 2008, a team of IRUSE (Informatics Research Unit for Sustainable Engineering) researchers had the pleasure of attending a lecture hosted by Dr. Norbert Streitz (PhD in Physics, PhD in Psychology), head of Fraunhofer IPSI research division, “AMBIENTEWorkspace of the Future”, Darmstadt, Germany. During this lecture IRUSE researchers were introduced to new methods of group collaboration and communication using different approaches of visual and audio technology. A paper worth reading from Streitz is aptly titled ‘Roomware: Towards the Next Generation of Human-Computer Interaction based on an Integrated Design of Real and Virtual Worlds’.
IRUSE offices based in the Western Gateway Building recently acquired a bi-product of this area of research, namely the commercially available InteracTable. This device is designed for display, discussion and annotation of information objects by a group consisting of two to ten people sitting or standing around the InteracTable. It can support up to thirtytwo concurrent multi-touch screen inputs. The InteracTable now offers MEngSc ITinAEC students an opportunity to exploit alternative, new and progressive methods of communication within the Architecture, Engineering and Construction domains with emphasis on building design and analysis, building performance analysis, maintenance preference modelling, building information model data management and resource management. Students will be invited to explore application development to benefit Architecture, Engineering and Construction as part of their minor-thesis activities. The MEngSc ITinAEC has now completed its fourth year and has conferred thirtyfive students to date. The litmus test of
any Masters programme is the ability of its graduates to obtain employment. We are fortunate that even though there is a downturn in the architecture and construction industries, our graduates have been successful in enhancing their current employment status or have been successful in obtaining new employment. The success of the MEngSc ITinAEC programme was made possible through the very active engagement of its Course Co-ordinator, Mr. Luke Allan. Reference: http://zuse.ucc.ie /master Picture Above: MEngSc ITinAEC Class of 2010 Front from left-right: Anita O’Connor, Patryk Otreba, Claire Atkins, Malcolm Sheehan, Aga Gdowska, Olan McDonnell, John Ryan, Gareth Ryan. Middle from left-right: Peter Butler, John Donavan, Peter Martin, Donogh Hanley, Patrick Kennelly. Back from left-right: Rory Kenneally, Brian Cahill (IRUSE researcher), Luke Allan (course co-ordinator), Dr. Emmanuel Tumwesigye (IRUSE Post-Doc Researcher), Professor Karsten Mensel (Chair IT in AEC), David Morrissey. Missing: Mairead Rushe, Howard McDonogh, Sean Daffy, Thomas Daly.
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Awards, Honours, Prizes
Graduate of the Year and Undergraduate Scholarship Prizes
The winner of the College of SEFS Graduate of the Year 2010 was George Boyle, BSc Computer Science. His extra-curricular activities in science and engineering related areas included: tutoring classmates and providing exam revision sessions; lab demonstrator; development of the athletics club website along with four colleagues; and he was also elected class representative for four years. He was captain of the UCC Athletic Club 2009/10, Treasurer of UCC Rowing Club 2008/09 and won a medal in 2009 Indoor Athletics Intervarsity competition. The runner–up prize was awarded to Sean Stack. As a mature student transferring from CIT he was involved in the promotion of engineering courses for students wishing to transfer from the IT sector.
His final year project received the best project accolade of his graduating class and was used as a demonstration to prospective students at the 2010 Engineering Open Day. He was awarded the IET Prize based on his final year examination results. He was also awarded an IRCSET Scholarship in 2010. Throughout his academic career he was involved in activities such as being a member of the Intermediate Hurling panel and Engineering Cup soccer competitions. He also helped out with the maintenance and upkeep of the local community centre in his home town in Co. Kerry. Pictured at the Prize-giving Ceremony: recipients of the Undergraduate Scholarships and the Graduate and Runner-up Graduate of the Year with staff of the College of SEFS.
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Department of Biochemistry SFI Awards
Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Principal Investigator Award and Joint SFI/ Johnson & Johnson Services Inc Healthcare Innovation Programme Award (HIPA) for UCC Researcher
Dr. Justin McCarthy of the Department of Biochemistry and the Analytical & Biological Chemistry Research Facility (ABCRF) has received a Principal Investigator Research Award [2010-2014] and a Healthcare Innovation Programme Award (HIPA) from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI). The Principal Investigator Research Award will fund a team consisting of one Postdoctoral fellow, a Research Assistant and three PhD students researching an international collaborative project entitled, ‘Functional characterization of presenilin-dependent regulated intramembrane proteolysis of cytokine receptors: Relevance to presenilin biology and immune systems’. The HIPA award was given in conjunction with Dr. Gerard McGlacken, ABCRF and School of Chemistry, UCC. The HIPA award will fund a postgraduate student to contribute to Dr. McCarthy’s current SFI Principal Investigator research programme focused on determining the involvement of regulated intramembrane proteolysis in the immune system. Specifically the HIPA award concerns methods for assessing đ?›ž-secretase inhibitors as modulators of IL-1đ?›˝ and TNFÎą cytokine responses and
Picture Above: Ruth Freeman, SFI; Alonso Cook, Johnson and Johnson; Justin McCarthy, UCC; Gerard McGlacken, UCC; Joni Catalano Sherman, Johnson and Johnson; and Minister for Research and Innovation Sean Sherlock, TD
their potential future use as therapeutics in inflammatory disorders. SFI, with the support of the Johnson & Johnson Corporate Office of Science and Technology (COSAT) and in cooperation with Advanced Technologies and Regenerative Medicine LLC (ATRM), are undertaking a joint initiative to strengthen particular areas of healthcare research. Under this 2010 joint initiative, the focus is on funding preliminary proof of concept proposals in the area of Immune-modulated Inflammation Research. It is envisaged that participation in this initiative will allow Dr. McCarthy, SFI and COSAT-ATRM to identify technology needs and influence future industry standards. This Programme will help accelerate the translation of Dr. McCarthy’s basic research into therapies useful in the treatment of inflammatory diseases. Dr. McCarthy’s research is funded through an SFI Principal Investigator Research Award and grants from IRCSET, the Health Research Board and the National Academy for the Integration of Research and Teaching and Learning (NAIRTL).
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Awards, Honours, Prizes School of Biological, Environmental and Earth Sciences
Professor John Gamble in Marie Curie’s study in The Sorbonne
Department of Geology: Professor John Gamble In 2010 the prestigious science periodical Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research vol. 190, parts 1&2. 247 pp., published a special volume honouring Professor John Gamble: Making and Breaking the Arc – A volume in Honour of Professor John Gamble. To quote from the preface: “In a 30-year career, Professor John Gamble has made many diverse and fundamental contributions to our understanding of arcrelated magmatic and volcanic systems”. At the annual meeting of Fellows in early October 2010, Professor John Gamble (Geology) was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand. The Fellowship was based on John’s groundbreaking research on the process of subduction zone volcanism in the SW Pacific, his continuing research to understand the magmatic plumbing systems of volcanoes in the Taupo Volcanic Zone in New Zealand and research fundamental to understanding the petrological structure of the lithosphere of Antarctica.
Student Awards Hugh O’Leary (BSc Hons, Geology 2010) has been awarded a Cunningham Prize by the Geological Survey of Ireland for his BSc Geology thesis entitled “Geology of the Ben Heilam area, Sutherland”. This prize is awarded annually to the 2 best Geology mapping projects in Irish Universities and UCC Geology graduates have an excellent record in gaining one of these awards most years. Two previous recipients of these awards, Dave McCarthy and William McCarthy, are now both IRCSET-funded postgraduates in the Geology Department. Hugh is currently employed as an Exploration Geologist by Moultrie Group in Mackay, Queensland, Australia. Tara Griffin – At the BSc Environmental Science Degree Undergraduate Awards of Ireland & Northern Ireland 2010, Tara Griffin had the winning Essay in the Category of Agriculture & Veterinary Sciences with an essay entitled ‘The Influence of Farming Practice on Water Quality in Ireland’.
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Department of Microbiology
Two Awards for Heather Microbiology Academics McLaughlin, PhD Student and the Royal Irish Microbiology Academy Heather McLaughlin, a postgraduate student at the Microbiology Department, UCC, received the PhD category award for this year’s University College Cork BioSciences Institute Researcher of the Year competition. Heather graduated from the University of Texas with a Microbiology degree in 2005. She is currently completing her PhD research on how the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes causes infection. Listeria monocytogenes is a food-borne bacteria responsible for the disease listeriosis. Heather’s research focuses on the role of metal ion uptake systems, particularly iron and magnesium, in infection. The ability to acquire these metals is essential for listerial growth, and survival. One aspect of her research is exploring how a mutant bacteria that cannot take up iron could be used for vaccine delivery.
Professor Colin Hill, Professor of Microbial Food Safety, UCC, was elected a Member of the Royal Irish Academy (RIA). Election to the Royal Irish Academy is the highest honour available to a scholar or scientist working on the island of Ireland. Professor Hill’s research interest is the molecular biology of food pathogens, and he leads programmes in the Food for Health Ireland research centre. Professor Fergal O’Gara, Director of the BIOMERIT Research Centre, has been appointed as Vice-President of the Royal Irish Academy. He has also been elected to the RIA Council representing the Committee of Science. Professor O’Gara was first elected as a member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2003.
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Awards, Honours, Prizes
Department of Microbiology
Professor Aaron Mitchell, Carnegie Mellon; Professor Douwe van Sinderen, Microbiology Department and APC, UCC; and Saranna Fanning, Microbiology Department and APC, UCC
NUI Travelling Studentship A presentation of the doctoral work of Saranna Fanning in October 2010 during a visit by Professor Aaron P. Mitchell, formerly of Columbia University, NY, USA, and now of Carnegie Mellon University, PA, USA, highlighted the collaborative doctoral research work between the research groups of Professor Douwe van Sinderen at UCC and that of Professor Aaron Mitchell. This collaborative work was performed and presented by Saranna Fanning, a PhD student in the Microbiology Department, UCC. Funded by an NUI Travelling Studentship, Saranna availed of the research knowledge and expertise in the area of bifidobacteria at UCC and yeast genetics expertise at Professor Mitchell’s lab to explore two distinct research topics as part of her PhD thesis. Saranna’s doctoral research in the lab of Professor Douwe van Sinderen focused on bacteria thought to be important within the human host. She focused on Bifidobacterium
breve and how exopolysaccharides are produced by the bacteria and their role in interactions between the bacteria and the human host. Her research in Professor Aaron Mitchell’s labs at Columbia University, New York, and Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, concentrated on the opportunistic pathogen Candida albicans. As part of her doctoral research, Saranna analysed genes that have important signalling and responding roles and interactions between these genes that enable Candida to survive within the human host. Saranna will continue her research in this area and take up a postdoctoral position in the USA. Further information on the NUI Travelling Studentships can be found at http://www.nui.ie/awards/postgraduates.asp.
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Professor Colin Hill, Dr. Catherine Stanton, Professor Gerald Fitzgerald and Professor Paul Ross
International Award for Microbiology and APC Scientists Four UCC scientists were awarded the International Dairy Federation (IDF) Elie Metchnikoff Prize in Microbiology for 2010. The Prize is named in honour of the recipient of the 1908 Nobel Prize and is awarded in recognition of contributions to the study of lactic acid bacteria. The Prizewinners are Dr. Catherine Stanton and Professor Paul Ross of Teagasc, Moorepark, and Professors Colin Hill and Gerald Fitzgerald of the Microbiology Department, UCC. All four scientists are Principal Investigators in the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre (APC) and in Food for Health Ireland (FHI; www.fhi.ie) and each has recently been awarded a DSc from the National University of Ireland for their published work. Professors Hill and Ross have also been elected as Members of the Royal Irish Academy. The prize was presented at
an award ceremony at the IDF Symposia on Science and Technology of Fermented Milk and on Microstructure of Dairy Products in TromsĂś, Norway, on June 9th 2010. The four scientists have been collaborating on lactic acid bacteria research for over 20 years. These bacteria have two very significant roles that impact on our daily lives: they are the bacteria used in the production of fermented foods such as cheeses and yoghurts (a very significant food sector in Ireland) and they also inhabit the human gut and are consequently often used as probiotic bacteria to improve human health. The main contribution of the research team lies in improving our understanding of how these bacteria can be controlled, and even improved, both in industry and in the human body. Although much of their work has focused on the fundamental biology of these important
bacteria, the four scientists have been very engaged with industry in Ireland and abroad. The award, The IDF Elie Metchnikoff Prize 2010, has been created by the International Dairy Federation (IDF) and its partner organisations, Institut Pasteur and the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP), with the support of the following partners from the industry: Yakult, Danone Research, NestlĂŠ, Mead Johnson, DSM Food Specialties, Danisco, Chr. Hansen and the California Dairy Research Foundation. The key objectives of the initiative are to recognise and celebrate outstanding scientific discoveries in the fields of microbiology, biotechnology, nutrition and health with regard to fermented milks and to promote further research and innovation in the dairy industry.
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Awards, Honours, Prizes
School of Engineering
Picture Farhan Manzoor (right) accepting his Best Student Paper Award at IEEE RFID-TA 2010 from William A. Gruver, Professor Emeritus and Laboratory Head, Intelligent Robotics Corporation, Canada.
Informatics Research Unit for Sustainable Engineering (IRUSE) PhD Student wins Best Paper at IEEE RFID-TA 2010 IRUSE (Civil and Environmental Engineering, UCC) PhD student, Mr. Farhan Manzoor, was awarded ‘Best Student Paper Award’ at the International Conference of IEEE RFID-TA 2010 (Radio Frequency Identification - Technology and Applications) in Guangzhou, China, for a paper entitled ‘Indoor Localization based on Passive RFID’. Farhan’s research forms the basis for further work in the HEA funded research project, ‘Networked Embedded Systems (NEMBES)’ at IRUSE, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, UCC. NEMBES takes a holistic approach in using Wireless Sensor Networks and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) for indoor tracking and identification of occupants and inventory items for automated monitoring of energy and resources for effective control and cost benefits. Ref: http://zuse.ucc.ie.
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News
Queen Elizabeth II Visits UCC
Professor Roger Whatmore, CEO of Tyndall Institute, making a point to the Queen
Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh completed their four-day state visit to Ireland with an event at the Tyndall National Institute of UCC. It was a marvellous opportunity to provide the Queen and Duke with the departing message that Ireland is a serious player in the high technology industry. “That Tyndall has been chosen to do this is a great tribute to the hard work of our scientists and engineers, who have delivered world-beating results and developments, and it reflects the trust placed in us by the Irish Government through their major investments in the Institute over many years,” says Professor Roger Whatmore, CEO of Tyndall National Institute. The Queen and Duke were given a tour of the facility by Professor Roger Whatmore and UCC President Dr. Michael Murphy. A range of technologies that researchers are working on was demonstrated, such as: • ground breaking research on microchip technology that will allow even smaller and more powerful microchips for electronics to be manufactured • a microchip developed to monitor the radiation dose received by a patient at a tumour location, thereby better controlling the therapy for more effective treatment
• a complete radar system on a silicon chip less than 2 millimetres squared, that can be used for medical applications such as monitoring heartbeat or respiration • microneedle technology, which promises new ways to deliver drugs and other medical therapies through the skin in a painless way • wireless sensor network technology for energy efficient buildings • a demonstration of Tyndall’s technology being used to deliver the data equivalent of a high definition movie by a fibre-to-the-home system in 20 seconds As well as members from the research and academic communities, attendees from across the Cork region were greeted by the Queen when she visited Tyndall. Businesses, community groups, exceptional youths and political and civic representatives were amongst the guests from the region. The formerly conjoined Irish twins, Hassan and Hussein Benhaffaf, were in attendance and captivated the Queen. Also present was Dr. Edward Kiely, the Cork-born surgeon and UCC graduate, who supervised the Benhaffaf twins’ separation surgery in London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital last year. Professor Whatmore presented a gift of a silicon wafer with the Royal Crest patterned onto it, in commemoration of the Her Majesty’s visit.
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News School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES)
The Atlas of the Deep Water Seabed: Ireland by Boris Dorschel, Andrew J. Wheeler (BEES-UCC), Xavier Monteys and Koen Verbruggen (GSI)
Atlas of the Deep Water Seabed: Ireland The Atlas of the Deep Water Seabed: Ireland by Boris Dorschel, Andrew J. Wheeler (BEES-UCC), Xavier Monteys and Koen Verbruggen (GSI), launched during the Geoscience Meeting in Dublin in November 2010, presents in an accessible, user-friendly format a unique insight into the hidden world of the deep-water seabed off west Ireland. Focusing on one of the most extensively mapped areas of the world’s deep oceans, it reveals for the first time many features usually concealed by hundreds of metres of water. Through the use of full colour imagery, including 3-dimensional seabed maps and deep-sea photography collected using remotely operated vehicles and deepwater robotic camera systems, this atlas illustrates and describes submarine canyons, seamounts, vertical escarpments, coral carbonate mounds and iceberg ploughmarks. Concise text descriptions are used to highlight and explain these features’ geological, biological and hydrographical importance and context in the deep-sea realm. Many seabed features illustrated in the atlas are furthermore considered biological “hot-spots”. To preview the atlas visit: http://www.springer.com (ISBN 978-90-481-9375-2).
Seafood CRC Visiting Expert: Professor Gavin Burnell
Seafood Expert Gavin Burnell Professor Gavin Burnell, Acting Head of Zoology and Ecology in the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Science (BEES), was recently awarded an 8,500 AUS$ CRC Visiting Expert Fellowship. This enabled him to spend six weeks touring Australia (June - July, 2010) advising various state and industry bodies on ways in which they might improve networking and communication in the aquaculture and fisheries sectors.
Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report 37
Cultured sea urchin roe
The European edible sea urchin, Paracentrotus lividus, in the UrchinPlatterTM System
Gourmet Marine – Spin out of BEES Such is the popularity of sea urchins with sushi lovers that most of the wild stocks are gone because of overharvesting. However, Dr. Gerry Mouzakitis, a scientist from the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences at UCC, is the founder of Gourmet Marine Ltd., a UCC start-up. He aims to capture some of the US $200 million worldwide market with a novel farming system that has been patented in 19 countries. Although sea urchins were never really eaten locally, Ireland was a major European exporter of wild sea urchins in the 1970s and 1980s, exporting several hundred tonnes of the animals every year. Due to over-harvesting the Irish wild stocks crashed in 1996. Currently, Ireland exports less than 10 tonnes per year, but the situation might change. Over the past seven years and using funding from Enterprise Ireland, researchers in UCC have developed the world’s first and only system for culturing sea urchins, called the UrchinPlatter™ System. The new technology allows farmers to culture sea urchins quickly and efficiently. By using only natural seaweed
as feed, the system avoids the use of artificial diets, which have caused problems in other types of marine farming.
Meeting,” says Dr. Mouzakitis. “The response from the seafood chefs was fantastic. They loved them!”
“The potential for this type of sea urchin technology is huge, both in Ireland and globally,” states Dr. Gerry Mouzakitis, “wherever you look in the world, wild sea urchin stocks are being overharvested and are not sustainable. The UrchinPlatter™ System can change all that and allow the production of a healthy, natural seafood product that doesn’t harm the marine environment.”
According to UCC President, Dr. Michael Murphy, Gourmet Marine reflects the University’s commitment to commercialising its research through its Office of Technology Transfer (OTT). “Dr. Mouzakitis is a scientist who recognised the commercial potential of his research. Assisted by UCC, with funding from Enterprise Ireland, he developed the business to the point that it has now been launched onto the global export market.” Dr. Murphy highlighted the fact that UCC’s commitment to the commercialisation of research has resulted in the number of intellectual property (IP) licences, increasing from 4-5 per year to mid-teens per year for the last two years. “This is the third start-up company to set-up in 2009 based on UCC research and IP,” says Dr. Murphy. In addition, the total amount spent on research at UCC, earned through external competition, in the last academic year rose by €5 million to €78 million.
In addition to being the first sea urchin farming technology in the world, the UrchinPlatter™ System is also the first aquaculture technology ever developed in Ireland. “Ireland is currently the world leader in sea urchin farming. We want to maintain that lead.” says Dr. Mouzakitis. Over the past few months Gourmet Marine has partnered with Dunmanus Seafoods Ltd. (Durrus, Co. Cork) and produced the first ever out-of-season sea urchins. “To really market test them, we organised a Sea Urchin Tasting
Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report 38
News
Department of Microbiology
Professor Douwe van Sinderen, Microbiology Department and Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre UCC
Microbiology Staff donates New Book to Boole Library
Bioinformaticians meet at UCC for the VIBE Bioinformatics Conference
UCC’s Boole Library was recently presented with a new biomedical book in September 2010: Bifidobacteria – Genomics and Molecular Aspects, by Prof Douwe van Sinderen of the Microbiology Department and Principal Investigator at the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, UCC.
Some one hundred bioinformaticians, computer scientists and experimental biologists met in UCC in September 2010 for the VIBE (Virtual Institute of Bioinformatics (Éire)) Conference to present the results of their latest research in the area of “bioinformatics”, a rapidly developing field that uses computer technologies to address a variety of problems in contemporary Biology.
Bifidobacteria – Genomics and Molecular Aspects is jointly edited by Prof Douwe van Sinderen and Dr. Baltazar Mayo, Instituto de Productos Lácteos de Asturias, Villaviciosa, Asturias, Spain. It brings together the expertise and enthusiasm of the leading Bifidobacteria experts from around the world to provide a state-of-the art overview of the molecular biology and genomics of this important genus, which contains many health-promoting or probiotic members. About the book: Bifidobacteria – Genomics and Molecular Aspects, Editors: Baltasar Mayo and Douwe van Sinderen, ISBN: 978-1-904455-68-4, Full details: http://www.horizonpress.com/bifidobacteria.
The meeting opened with a stimulating talk by Dr. James McInerney (NUIM), who described his recent work on illucidation of the origin of the eukaryotes, currently in press in the journal PNAS. Other papers covered a wide range of topics, from the latest developments in the popular multiple alignment software Clustal (Dr. Fabian Sievers, UCD) to the evolutionary history of cholera strains (Dr. Angela McCann, UCC). VIBE was founded in 2000. Members organise bi-annual meetings with the purpose of consolidating bioinformatics research efforts in Ireland, promoting collaborations and providing a forum for emerging bioinformaticians (especially PhD students and postdoctoral fellows) to discuss their research (http://www.bioinf.org). The latest meeting was organised by three UCC bioinformaticians, Drs. Marcus Claesson (Microbiology), Pasha Baranov (Biochemistry) and Avril Coghlan (Microbiology), and was attended by researchers from around Ireland, including researchers from NUIG, NUIM, DCU, TCD, UCC, Teagasc and UCD.
Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report 39
Professor Colin Hill
Talented Bacteria make Food Poisoning Unpredictable While we are often exposed to bacteria in our food that could cause food poisoning, we don’t always become ill - why should this be so?
Listeria that survive are able to cause serious and sometimes fatal infections, particularly in the elderly and pregnant women, who are most at risk.
Professor Colin Hill of the Microbiology department presented his work at the Society for General Microbiology’s autumn meeting in Nottingham in September 2010. Prof. Hill described how bacteria use different tricks to aid their survival inside the body, helping to explain why food poisoning can be so unpredictable.
Certain food constituents, such as the amino acid glutamate, can help the bacteria neutralise acid, allowing the bacteria to pass through the stomach unscathed. Professor Hill explains the significance of this, “People who consume foods that are contaminated with Listeria and are also high in glutamate, such as soft cheese or meat products, have a higher chance of developing serious infection than someone eating the same quantity of bacteria in a low-glutamate food,” he said, “Of course this is further complicated by the fact that a contaminated, low-glutamate food could be eaten in combination with a highglutamate food such as tomato juice, which could also increase the risk of infection.”
One of the biggest challenges faced by foodborne bacteria is acid. Acidic conditions, particularly in the stomach and in the gut, will kill most microbes found in contaminated food. Professor Hill’s group at UCC has revealed that Listeria bacteria, which may be found in soft cheeses and chilled ready-to-eat products, can overcome harsh acidic conditions by exploiting key food ingredients.
Listeria can also take advantage of food processing and storage conditions to help them survive. “Bacteria that are exposed
to low pH before entering the body may adapt to become more acid-tolerant and therefore better equipped to deal with acidic conditions in the body. For example, Listeria contaminating naturally acidic foods such as cheese may be more likely to cause infection than Listeria carried at a more neutral pH in water.” Professor Hill explains how his group’s work could help reduce the incidence of Listeria infections. “The number of cases of Listeriosis has nearly doubled in the last decade in Europe. This is because the bacterium is so good at overcoming the challenges it faces in food and in the body,” he said. “Our studies show that consuming Listeria in one food may be quite safe, while eating the same amount in another food might be lethal. By understanding the role of the food matrix we may be able to identify and eliminate high-risk foods from the diet of susceptible people.”
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News
School of Engineering Conferences
21st Irish Signals and Systems Conference
International Symposium for Engineering Education (ISEE2010)
23rd - 24th June 2010 Hosted by School of Engineering, University College Cork Chair: Emanuel Popovici
1st & 2nd July 2010 Theme: “Educating Engineers for a Changing World – leading transformation from an unsustainable global society”
The National conference focused on Digital Signal Processing, Control and Communications, and encompassed algorithm and system modelling, design, and implementation, for a broad range of applications.
ISEE2010 attracted 135 delegates from all six continents and incorporated over 75 peer reviewed papers presented in oral and poster format. The Symposium was opened in the Glucksman Gallery on the eve of June 30th by the Lord Mayor of Cork Michael O’Connell along with the President of UCC with the launch of the book Engineering Education & Sustainable Development - ‘A Guide for Rapid Curriculum Renewal’ by academic and engineer Cheryl Desha, Griffith University, Queensland. ISEE2010 included three keynote speakers from Australia as well as main sponsors Bord Gáis CEO, John Mullins. The Symposium also included a professional institutions forum, which was chaired by Prof. David Shallcross of University of Melbourne with representatives from Engineers Ireland (CEO John Power), Engineers Australia (Alan Bradley) and the UK based IChemE (Colin Pritchard, University of Edinburgh). A delegate workshop on “Accreditation and Sustainable Engineering” was also held. It is intended that collated outcomes of the Symposium, workshop and forum will be published in two peer reviewed journals presently and the keynote paper presentations and forum are available to view along with full proceedings and programme at the Symposium website: http:// www.ucc.ie/isee2010. Feedback from delegates was extremely positive on all aspects of the Symposium. ISEE2012 will be hosted at the University of Sheffield, England.
Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report 41
Delegates at the Ordnance Conference at Brookfield Campus September 2010
ECPPM 2010: 8th European Conference CCAA (Cork Centre for Architectural on Product and Process Modelling Education) and the School of the Human Environment (UCC) 2010 14 - 16 September 2010 Cork, Western Gateway Building International Interdisciplinary Conference Ordnance: War, The 8 European Conference on Product and Process Modelling Architecture and Space (ECPPM2010 – http://2010.ecppm.org) was hosted by IRUSE, Civil th
th
th
and Environmental Engineering, UCC, in the Western Gateway Building from September 14th to 16th 2010. This conference facilitated an open forum for leading specialists from industry and research communities on developments in different countries worldwide, bringing together expertise, knowledge, ongoing research and visions relevant to ICT-based applications and intelligent computing in engineering that address information, process and project management, optimised building operation, energy efficiency and e-learning with strong emphasis on Architecture, Engineering and Construction. The conference attracted 57 paper presentations. In addition, valuable contributions from keynote speakers consisting of Professor Raimar Scherer, TU Dresden, Germany; Mr. Santanu Das, Bentley Systems, U.S.A.; Professor Robert Amor, University of Auckland, New Zealand; Andrew March, AEC Simulation Autodesk; Professor Uwe Rueppel, TU Darmstadt, Germany. The next ECPPM conference will take place in Iceland in 2012.
16th - 18th September 2010 University College, Cork The conference sought to explore the often hidden relationship between militarism and the design and construction of architecture and space in the modern period. Ordnance: War, Architecture + Space had about fifty speakers drawn from Europe, the US, Palestine, the UK and Ireland. Its inter-disciplinarity allowed the fusion of approaches from architecture, geography, design, history, sociology, literature, etc., across a series of scales. The feedback from attendees of the conference has been extremely favourable. The two organisers, Dr. Gary A. Boyd (CCAE) and Dr. Denis Linehan (Geography), have signed a contract to make a book with Ashgate to be titled Ordnance: War, Architecture & Space.
Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report 42
News
Department of Biochemistry Pfizer Postgraduate Scholarship in Biotechnology
Dr. Justin V. McCarthy, Director of the Biotechnology Programme, UCC; Ms Sandra O’Shea, recipient of the Annual Pfizer Postgraduate Research Bursary in Biotechnology; Stephen Duggan, recipient of the Annual Pfizer Postgraduate Scholarship in Biotechnology: and Dr. Sinead Kerins, Department of Biochemistry UCC.
At the Annual Biochemistry Department Research Day, February 2010, Pfizer announced the launch of a two-year Scholarship and Bursary that will operate in conjunction with the Masters in Biotechnology Programme at UCC. Ms Mary Leamy, Pfizer Human Resources, announced that the two-year bursary will consist of an Annual Student Fee Scholarship and an Annual MSc Biotechnology Research Bursary along with a discretionary fund for the promotion and recognition of research excellence. Dr. Justin McCarthy, Director of the Biotechnology Programme indicated that Pfizer will also participate in Biochemistry & Biotechnology student education and curriculum development through the provision of tours of the Pfizer Biotechnology Manufacturing Facility, Shanbally, and through student placement and guest lectures in Biotechnology. Co-ordinated by Ms Clodagh Kerr, Placement Manager, Careers Service, UCC, a number of UCC students have benefitted from placement in Pfizer.
Professor Patrick Fitzpatrick, Head of College of Science, Engineering and Food Science (SEFS), welcomed Ms Leamy to the Research Day and commented: “UCC has worked in partnership with Pfizer going back many years. Highlights include the establishment of the Process Development Centre in 2001, in collaboration with Professor Anita Maguire, and the commissioning, with financial support from Pfizer, of the NMR Spectrometer in the ABCRF in 2008. Many UCC students, especially from programmes in Biotechnology, Chemistry of Pharmaceutical Compounds, and Process and Chemical Engineering, have benefitted from placement in Pfizer, and many graduates of UCC have been employed by Pfizer. In addition, undergraduate students have had the opportunity to visit Pfizer laboratories as part of its outreach programme and Pfizer staff have contributed guest lectures on numerous occasions. A recent development centres on the delivery of a new postgraduate training module on Creativity and Innovation, which is delivered to PhD students with assistance of Pfizer
staff.” Professor Fitzpatrick expressed the appreciation of the College of SEFS for this continuing engagement and looked forward to further developments in the future. In October 2010, Dr. Justin McCarthy presented the Annual Pfizer Postgraduate Scholarship in Biotechnology to Stephen Duggan (First Class Honours, Biochemistry, UCC) and the Annual Pfizer Postgraduate Research Bursary in Biotechnology to Sandra O’Shea (First Class Honours, Biochemistry, UCC). Karen Williams, an MSc Biotechnology graduate, was also awarded the annual Centocor Bursary for Academic Excellence.
Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report 43
Dr Karen Keeshan
2 photon microscopy image of the retina
One of Ireland’s Brightest
Winning Images from Biochemistry
Dr. Karen Keeshan was named in the Sunday Independent’s annual ‘Forty under 40’ list of Ireland’s brightest and best. The list, which identifies some of the keenest minds and shrewdest entrepreneurs in Ireland, recognised Dr. Keeshan’s cancer biology research at UCC.
A 2 photon microscopy image of the retina of the eye, submitted by Professor Tom Cotter, was selected following international competition as the November image for the Norvartis/Alcon Calendar for 2011. The image chosen for the cover of the journal Biology of the Cell for the January 2010 issue was taken from the article ‘Class I Rab11family interacting proteins are binding targets for the Rab14 GTPase’ by Eoin Kelly, Conor Horgan, Christine Adams, Tomasz Patzer, Deirdre M. Nı´ Shuilleabhain, Jim Norman and Mary McCaffrey, from Professor Mary McCaffery’s laboratory. A431 cells were processed for immunofluorescence microscopy and co-immunostained with antibodies against α-tubulin and Rab14.
Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report 44
News
Department of Chemistry
Dr. Dara Fitzpatrick
The Glantreo Team: Dr. Jennifer Coakley (Research Chemist), Prof Jeremy Glennon (SAB Board Member), Dr. John Hanrahan (CTO), Mr John Hogan (CFO), Dr. Jesse Omamogho (Research Chemist), Dr. Justin Holmes (Head of SAB) and Dr. Joe Tobin (Research Chemist)
Chemistry Hits the Headlines
‘One to Watch Award’
Glantreo, a spin-out company founded by Dr. Justin Holmes and Professor Michael Morris from the Department of Chemistry, was named the Royal Society of Chemistry’s ‘SME of the Month’ in November 2009. It later signed a $10 million deal with a major US chromatography company in March 2010.
Dr. Dara Fitzpartick was nominated for the ‘One to Watch Award’ as part of the Enterprise Ireland Big Ideas Showcase 2010.
Professor John Sodeau was appointed as Interdisciplinary Professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, for 2009/2010. His duties included setting up a distance learning course on Atmospheric Chemistry for graduate students.
The nomination was due to his development of a novel analytical technique termed BARDS (Broadband Acoustic Resonance Dissolution Spectroscopy), which can accurately identify the correct mixture ratio of a blend of different compounds in solution.
Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report 45
Dr. Ned Dwyer (CMRC) and Dr. Fiona Cawkwell (Dept. of Geography with Fine Geal Senator Deirdre Clune at the opening of the UK Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society’s annual conference at UCC in September 2010
Coastal and Marine Resources Centre (CMRC) First joint meeting of the UK Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society (RSPSoc) and Irish Earth Observation Symposium (IEOS) at University College Cork, 1st - 3rd September 2010. The conference was jointly organised by the Geography Department and the Coastal and Marine Resources Centre (CMRC), and marked the first UK-Irish meeting of remote sensing and photogrammetry researchers and practitioners. Approximately 190 delegates from as far afield as South Korea and New Zealand attended to hear 82 oral presentations and view approximately 25 poster presentations on a wide ranges of topics covering the applications of satellite and airborne imagery for terrestrial and marine studies, environmental monitoring networks, spatial data quality and management, and photogrammetry. Four keynote talks were delivered from key Irish and European leaders in geospatial policy and research on issues from the importance of such data for the economy and social life of a country to analysing spatio-temporal glacier motion.
Two workshops on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Essential Climate Variables were held prior to main conference, with software demonstrations and a commercial exhibition running parallel to the technical sessions. UCC students, staff and researchers contributed not only to the excellent organisation and running of the conference, but also to claiming their share of the spoils, winning the Chairman’s XI v. Students XI football match (with the student team almost entirely comprising UCC players), and with a UCC research team led by Rory Scarrott of the CMRC taking a prize for one of the best posters, and with ex ERASMUS student Dennis Edler winning the President’s Prize for the best oral presentation (voted by delegates at the conference).
Annual Graduate Newsletter Report 46 Annual Graduate Newsletter andand Report 08
Text Example
University College Cork Partnership with EMC Research Europe EMC Corporation, the world leader in information infrastructure solutions, announced in April this year that it has expanded its cloud computing, big data and data centre research programmes with the establishment of EMC Research Europe. The initiative is headquartered from EMC’s Centre of Excellence (COE) in Ovens, Cork, Ireland. As part of this initiative, EMC has joined with University College Cork (UCC) in Ireland as the anchor university research partner for EMC Research Europe. UCC has collaborated with EMC since it established its International Operations campus in Cork in 1988. EMC researchers are now co-located on the UCC campus in partnership with UCC’s Cork Constraint Computation Centre (4C). Co-funded by the Science Foundation Ireland, the focus of these research programmes is cloud computing and data centre optimisation and data centre energy management. This alliance acts as a platform for the collaboration of some of Ireland’s leading researchers and
innovators, and provides access to specialist industry and academic expertise and leading edge data analytics, essential for research of this kind. This programme has also created a platform for collaboration across other areas of research. Professor Barry O’Sullivan, Chair of Constraint Programming, School of Computer Science, and Director, Cork Constraint Computation Centre (4C), at UCC, comments: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to collaborate with EMC on its new European Research Initiative which will further strengthen the close relationship built up between EMC and University College Cork over the years. This partnership will also benefit from Science Foundation Ireland’s investment in 4C.” An example of the global reach of this initiative is the hosting of an academic workshop on data centre management and cloud computing, co-led by Donagh Buckley and Dr. Burt Kaliski, Director of the EMC Innovation Network, with Professor O’Sullivan at the AAAI Conference in San Francisco in August 2011: http:// osullivan.ucc.ie/aaai-2011-aidc
Picture: Donagh Buckley, Director of EMC Research Europe and Professor Barry O’Sullivan, Chair of Constraint Programming, School of Computer Science, and Director, Cork Constraint Computation Centre (4C), UCC
Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report 47
News
IGNITE – Sparking Future Entrepreneurs
Front Row/L to R: Aylmer Barrett, Will Martin, Sarah Jane O’Sullivan, Andrew Hobbs, Damian Drohan Back Row/L to R: Mike McGrath, Mike Broderick, Peter Power, Miki Bartok, Niall O’Sullivan and Artemij Fedesojev
IGNITE, UCC’s incubation programme for graduate start-up businesses, is mid way through its first year of operation. Ten graduate entrepreneurs are currently based at the IGNITE Incubation Centre in UCC’s Western Gateway Building. They are provided with the back up and environment to turn innovative ideas into new products and services. These young companies are involved in a variety of sectors from IT & Software Services, Publishing & Photography to Health Food Supplements for the Equine industry. Eight of the current participants are UCC graduates whilst six are graduates of the School of Science, Engineering & Food Science. The programme, hosted by UCC, together with its partners, Cork City & County Enterprise Boards is sponsored by Cork County Council, Bord Gais, EMC, Cork Chamber, CORBIC, Bank of Ireland, ICGEE (International Centre for Graduate Education in micro & nano Engineering), INSPIRE (Ireland’s platform for research in nanoscience), the Irish Food Industry Partnership Board, IBS and CorkBIC and is open to all graduates of any 3rd Level Institution. IGNITE is unique in Ireland and UCC is currently the only university offering accelerated support to graduates in starting a new business, free business incubation
space, free management and business training, individual mentoring as well as access to UCC’s “Coaches on Campus”, including its research and commercialisation experts. Participants are also given free membership of Cork Chamber for the duration of the programme. The next intake of graduate entrepreneurs will commence in October and will feature start-ups in food/health, medical devices, Online Publishing, Games software development, Skincare products, an online sales catalogue and microbiological analysis technology development. IGNITE opens for applications on 1st May every year and closes on 30th June. Please contact Programme Manager, Miriam Collins on ignite@ucc.ie for further information or check out the IGNITE website, http://ignite.ucc.ie. College of SEFS Graduates who were selected for the Ignite programme are Artemij Fedesojev (BSc in Computer Science), Andrew Hobbs (MSc in Computer Science), Sarah O’Sullivan (MSc in Marine Biology), Niall O’Sullivan (BSc Process Engineering), Peter Power (BSc Biochemistry & MA in Music Composition & Electronics), Damian Drohan [BSc Food Chemistry & MA Photojournalism & Documentary Photography (London)].
nnual Graduate Annual Newsletter Graduate andNewsletter Report 25 and Report 48
New Appointments & Retirements
Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre Appointment
Michael Dolan
Appointment of Michael Dolan as Commercialisation Development Manager of APC Responding to the Government strategy for the ‘smart economy’ and ‘Innovation Ireland/Island’, the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre (APC) at UCC has appointed a Commercialisation Development Manager, a new position that is funded by Enterprise Ireland. The APC links science research with industry and society in the area of gastrointestinal health. Michael Dolan’s last position was as Operations Manager of Beamish and Crawford. At the APC he is working with the management, research leaders and intellectual property co-ordinator to define and market the commercial portfolio of the APC. “We are looking for opportunities to add value to research that may have commercial potential,” says Dolan. “We are building networks, alliances and relationships between the APC and Irish and multinational industry.”
The APC is a Centre, for Science Engineering and Technology (CSET) established in 2003 through funding from Science Foundation Ireland. The APC has flourished into a 120 strong team with a variety of funding sources, with staff based in both UCC and Teagasc Moorepark Food Research Centre. Michael was awarded a Masters in Business from UCC and is involved in Business mentoring and networking with small and medium sized companies with Plato Ireland, which helps the development of the ownermanager and improves company performance. Michael is well known in Cork sporting circles. He played Gaelic football and soccer and now coaches and mentors club, divisional and county GAA teams.
Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report 49
Department of Microbiology Retirement
Professor Fergal O’Gara
Retirement of Fergal O’Gara, Professor of Microbiology Professor Fergal O’Gara retired from the Microbiology Department on November 30, 2010 after 33 years of service to UCC. His contribution to the Department, the discipline of Microbiology and to UCC was immense. Fergal is a graduate of NUI Galway where he also completed his PhD Degree. Following postdoctoral positions in the University of California (at San Diego and Davis), Fergal took up a lecturer post in the Department of Microbiology in UCC in 1977 and he was appointed to the Chair of Microbiology in 2002, following the retirement of Professor Seamus Condon. Fergal has rendered enormous service to UCC throughout his career in the Microbiology Department. He is a scientist of international standing who has been consistently productive as a researcher since he arrived in the Department in 1977. His contribution to the understanding of microbe-host interactions in a medical and environmental context has
been monumental and he and his group are major international players in this field. He has published over 200 peer reviewed publications in international research journals. He has consistently earned high levels of research funding (over €20 million) from national and international sources, particularly the European Commission. He is an elected member (and currently an elected Vice President) of the Royal Irish Academy and he has served/ is serving on many EU and other national committees and advisory bodies. Fergal was the foundation Director of the National Food Biotechnology Centre at UCC and he also founded and directs the BioMerit Research Centre. Despite his very significant research activities, Fergal has also contributed to teaching and learning in UCC. He was an innovative lecturer who conveyed all aspects of Microbiology in an attractive, informative manner. He was an outstanding advisor and mentor to
undergraduate and postgraduate students. His teaching was research-led, keeping fully up to date with the rapid developments in the approaches and technologies that have revolutionised Microbiology in the past two decades. Fergal was an innovative Head of Department, showing excellent judgement and leadership at a time when the University and the discipline were going through a process of change. He led the Department through a period of expansion in terms of its personnel, its activities and its research income. He was a prime driver of the Degree programme in Genetics and the MSc in Bioinformatics with Systems Biology and he secured significant funding to renew the fabric and facilities of the Department. The Department is delighted that Fergal will continue to conduct research in the Department following his retirement, to the benefit of the discipline of Microbiology and the University.
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Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report
New Appointments & Retirements
Retirements Professor Tom Cross (pictured) retired as Head of the Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science at the end of March 2011. (The Department is now incorporated into the new School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences.) He has been granted an Emeritus Professorship by the University and will continue to devote much of his time to working actively in research. He will continue as Scientific Coordinator of the seven year Beaufort Fish Population Genetics Programme (due to finish in 2015 and worth €2.7 million to UCC) and is co-Principal Investigator with Dr. Philip McGinnity, PI of the Beaufort Programme, and with Dr. Sarah Culloty, Director of the Aquaculture and Fisheries Development Centre, on a series of extant EU and National Research contracts.
These latter contracts have been facilitated by the Beaufort Award and are worth an additional €2 million to UCC. Professor Cross and co-workers are currently working on molecular genetics of a variety of species, e.g. salmon, trout, carp, cod, orange roughy, lobsters, flat and Pacific oysters, deep sea invertebrates, and also marine mammals such as seals and dolphins (with Dr. Emer Rogan’s group in BEES) and terrestrial species such as badgers (with Dr. Paddy Sleeman). Professor Cross states “Retirement is great because it allows one to concentrate on research. My twin aims are to maximise research paper output and to work in areas that can benefit sustainable Irish industry, within a conservation focus”.
Professor Tom Cross
School of BEES Ms Sandy O’Driscoll, Professor Tom Cross, Dr. Ted Hickey and Professor John Davenport all retired during the year.
Sandy O’Driscoll
Dr. Ted Hickey
Professor John Davenport
Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report 51
School of Mathematical Sciences Professor Des MacHale retired in January 2011.
Professor Des MacHale
Department of Physics On Monday, 13th December 2010, the Department of Physics held a reception to mark the retirement of two of its longest serving colleagues: Dr. Michael van Dyck and Prof. Niall O’Murchadha (20 and 35 years service, respectively). They are pictured here with Prof. John McInerney, Head of Physics. Professor John McInerney with Professor Niall O’ Murchadha
Dr. Michel van Dyck and Professor John McInerney
Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report 52
Science Promotion
Outreach and Student Recruitment - Securing the Future
The College continued to expand its outreach and recruitment activities with a diverse calendar of events for primary and secondary school students throughout the year. Highlights included:
Visitors to the BT Young Scientist and Technology exhibition in January had the opportunity to experience a sample of the ground breaking research underway in the College.
October Open Day - prospective students and their families enjoyed a wide range of interactive displays, programme talks, lab tours and entertainment on campus.
Young students were welcomed into UCC to celebrate Engineers Week in February with exciting events such as “Airmazing: Engineering the future with pneumatics”.
National Science Week was celebrated in November when hundreds of primary and secondary school students visited UCC and participated in events including
A range of Transition Year placement and taster programmes were held throughout the year and SEFS staff continued to attend regional student recruitment fairs and school career days.
• The Investigator Vortex • The Magic Mathsworks Travelling Circus • The Good, the Bad and the Bubbly of Microorganisms • Science themed junior treasure hunts. Discovery Science Festival - 5,000 visitors enjoyed the exciting displays, experiments and challenges at the UCC stand as part of this annual science festival in the City Hall.
Spring Open Day - 5,500 Transition Year students and their teachers met with staff and students of the College at the interactive stands in the Western Gateway Building in April. Junior budding scientists had the opportunity to sample the excitement of many aspects of science through interactive summer camps.
Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report 53
The Eureka Centre
The Eureka Centre (for Inquiry-based Education in Science and Mathematics) has recently been established with the intention of providing an interface to school pupils, at all levels from primary through to Leaving Certificate, and to their teachers. The Centre is based in two purpose-built laboratories and a resource centre in the Kane (Science) Building, which are fully fitted out with all the equipment and resources required for the second level syllabuses, especially those in Physics and Chemistry. Weekend enrichment sessions, summer camps, and Leaving Certificate revision classes are all held in this centre, along with in-service courses for teachers. We work closely with organisations such as the Irish Science Teachers Association and the Irish Mathematics Teachers Association and have obtained some seed funding from British Telecom (based on our interaction with them via the BT Young Scientist and Technology Competition) and from PharmaChem Ireland.
A formal launch date is envisaged in September and Seรกn Sherlock T.D, Minister of State for Research and Innovation has kindly agreed to officiate at the ceremony.
Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report 54
Science Promotion
Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre Science Raps Competition
Rory O’Connor, 1st prize in the 17 years and older category, Marc McCarthy and Andrea Doolan, APC
Science Raps is a competition aimed at encouraging young people to express their thoughts about science and technology through rap music. This is the second year that the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre (APC) has run this competition, which was open to all budding Jay Zs and Eminems who are studying at second and third level. Rappers throughout Ireland were invited to compose and video a rap on this year’s Science Week theme “Our Place in Space”! Entrants took inspiration from the universe and beyond, exploring life and its many forms as they shared their musical magic with the world with a chance to win a fantastic prize of an iPad. RedFM DJ Stevie G and Colm Kenefick, a DJ who specialises in Hip-Hop and Soul & Funk, were among the panel of judges. The winners were announced at the Discovery Science Exhibition 2010 in City Hall, Cork.
1st prize in the 17 years and older category was awarded to Rory O’Connor. Rory is a leaving certificate student at St. Colman’s College in Fermoy and combined his love of music with his interest in science to create his rap “E=MC Rory”. Rory is considering pursuing his interest in science at 3rd level. The 1st prize winner in the 16 years and under category was Catherine Finn, a 1st year student at Colaiste Bride in Clondalkin, Dublin. Catherine’s rap was entitled “The Universal Rap”. Prizes were generously sponsored by Discover Science and Engineering. All winning raps can be viewed on the You Tube Pharmabiotic Channel at http://www.youtube. com/user/Pharmabiotic.
Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report 55
Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre APC at School!
Pupils at the Cork Educate Together National School placing “internal body organs”, such as lungs, heart and intestines, in the correct location!
Each year, scientists and clinicians from the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre (APC) can be found back in primary schools around Cork city and county talking to young students about aspects of biology, such as the “The Guts of Digestion”, “Our 5 Senses” and “The Body’s Defence System”. APC researchers have given these interactive talks, along with experiments suitable for the classroom, for the last 6 years, involving almost 30,000 pupils. For Science Week 2010, the topic of the “Circulatory System” was broached in a slightly different fashion, in an effort to introduce Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE) into the classroom. The pupils and teachers were encouraged to approach a topic or question like a scientist would, by coming up with a hypothesis and designing experiments to test their hypothesis. So
the pupils, along with the APC researcher, come up with a Big Question relating to the circulatory system that they need to work out how to answer (e.g. what happens to my heart during exercise?). The students hypothesise about what might happen and then design an experiment to help answer their Big Question over the course of the next hour, during which the APC scientist presents information about the heart. This approach proved to be a huge success, with the pupils genuinely enjoying the opportunity to be “real scientists” for a while and working out how to design a hypothesis-driven experiment from scratch. Using this IBSE approach in the schools Outreach programme, the APC is attempting to teach children how to use a scientific or inquiry thought process, provoking them
to think about how to approach scientific problems and to design their own ways to answer questions, rather than just following rote learning and prescribed experiments in their textbooks. Science teachers, particularly at primary school level, rarely have any research experience and hence struggle to impart the true excitement of scientific inquiry to young students. For schools interested in registering for an interactive session on the circulatory system, log onto the children’s website Microbe Magic (http://microbemagic.ucc.ie), where you will also find plenty of additional information on many aspects of the body and other biology topics, as well as interactive educational computer games suitable for children.
Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report 56
Science Promotion
Science for All The Science For All Postgraduate Student Public Presentation competition is jointly organised by the College of Science, Engineering and Food Science, The Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre (APC) and the Tyndall National Institute, through Professor William Reville, Public Awareness of Science Officer, UCC; Dr. Catherine Buckley, Outreach Manager, APC; and Ms Aoife O’Donoghue, Outreach Manager, Tyndall National Institute; with support from the SEFS College Manager Dr. Tanya Mulcahy.
Harnessing the wave energy to generate electricity; the boundary between classical and quantum physics; inflammatory bowel disease; colon cancer and cooling gases close to absolute 360 degrees Kelvin. The Final of the Annual UCC Postgraduate Student Public Presentation Competition was held in Boole 2 Lecture Theatre, UCC, at 7.00p.m., Wednesday 25th March 2010. The purpose of this competition is to encourage young scientists to communicate the results of their researches to the general public in an easily understandable manner. Good and easy two-way communication between scientists and the public is very important in our modern world, which is so heavily dependent on science-based technology. The 6 finalists, all PhD students, were chosen in preliminary heats on 8th March and presented the results of their PhD researches in the Final. They were assessed for their effectiveness in communicating to a general audience by a panel of lay judges – Ms. Jennie O’Sullivan, RTE News, Cork (Chair); Mr. Trevor Holmes, VP for External Affairs, UCC; and Ms. Siobhan Murphy, Pharma Chemical Ireland. The 6 finalist lectures were entitled: ‘Grid integration of ocean energy: The generic modelling approach’, by Anne Blavette, Department Civil and Environmental Engineering; ‘Dairy Proteins: Undisputed ingredients with ambitious potential’, by Sinead Doherty, Department of Microbiology; ‘Decoherence: The veil that separates two worlds’, by Thomas Fogarty, Department of Physics; ‘Let there be light! A new model that illuminates cell trafficking in inflammatory bowel disease’, by Carola Murphy, Department of Medicine and APC; ‘Life in the Fas Lane: Signalling in colon cancer’, by Grace O’Callahan, Department of Medicine; and ‘The coldest place in Ireland’, by Laura Russell, Department of Physics and Tyndall National Institute. The finalist lectures were published as a series of articles in the Evening Echo this summer.
Laura Russell, Science For All 2011 Winner “ My research takes place in the Quantum Optics Laboratory in Tyndall National Institute, which also happens to be the coldest place in Ireland. We use lasers to push atoms in such a way as to slow them down. When an atom gets slowed down, its temperature also decreases. This technique is called laser cooling and was first demonstrated in 1978. Laser cooling allows us to dramatically cool a gas of atoms down to temperatures of -273 Celsius, or just above the coldest temperature that can theoretically be reached, Absolute Zero Kelvin. y research investigates what happens when you move the cloud M of cold atoms near a glass surface. This system gives rise to the van der Waals effect, which is the physical mechanism that allows geckos to stick to walls. This is a major concern for quantum devices of the future where cold atoms will be positioned near surfaces in order to be probed. urrently, cold atoms allow us to define the second with extreme C precision as well as prospect for oil and minerals under the Earth’s surface. In the future, quantum computers may be developed using cold atoms. The cold atoms can act as quantum bits, or qubits, forming a binary system similar to modern day siliconbased computers. The advantage of using cold atoms is that computational tasks can be performed with far greater efficiency than the computers of today.”
Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report 57
School of Mathematical Sciences
Mathematics Enrichment Programme
Mathematics Sciences Open Afternoon
National Team Math Final 2010
Each year, students representing different secondary schools from the Cork area participate in the UCC Mathematics Enrichment Programme initiated by Dr. Donal Hurley and Professor Finbarr Holland and run by staff members in the School of Mathematical Sciences. In 2010, around forty students took part in the programme. Of these, eight competed in the Irish Mathematical Olympiad, five were ranked in the National Roll of Honour and two became part of the six member team to represent Ireland at the International Mathematics Olympiad.
The School of Mathematical Sciences held their annual Open Afternoon on 2nd December 2009. Approximately 50 students attended the event from secondary schools throughout Munster. Presentations and demonstrations were delivered on Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Financial Mathematics and Actuarial Science. Our degree programmes in the Colleges of SEFS and ACSSS and career opportunities were also promoted. Light refreshments were served afterwards and this allowed students an opportunity to mix with staff, researchers and postgraduate students and to discuss any further queries and matters of interest.
Second-level mathematics students gathered at UCC on 6th March 2010 for the National Final of ‘Team Math’, following competitive heats throughout the country. The competition format is based on that of a Table Quiz where students work in teams of up to four solving eight rounds of problems. Problems are based on the Higher Level Leaving Certificate Core Syllabus and the students participating are amongst the very best mathematics students in the country. The competition has been running since 1991 at a local level and there has been a National Final since 2005. The preliminary round was organised by the Irish Mathematics Teachers Association, and for the third consecutive year, the National Final was organised and administered by staff from the School of Mathematical Sciences at UCC. Sixteen teams competed at the Final and Christian Brothers College, Cork, emerged as the overall winners.
Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report 58
Science Promotion
College of Science, Engineering and Food Science Annual Public Lecture Series 2011 A distinguished list of speakers discussed aspects of science and technology, many of particular relevance to Ireland today. Science has made the most amazing discoveries over the past 400 years and today the entire developed world is dependent on science-based technology. In this Annual Lecture Series, organised by Professor William Reville and Aisling NĂ MhurchĂş, Public Awareness of Science Office UCC, a distinguished list of speakers discussed various aspects of science and technology, many of particular relevance to Ireland today.
Professor William Reville, Public Awareness of Science Officer, UCC, who organises the Public Lecture Series
The 2011 Public Lecture Series ran weekly from January through March 2011, on Wednesday evenings, in Boole 2 Lecture Theatre at UCC.
LIST OF LECTURES
Dr. Kevin Cronin
Industrial Disasters: What Went Wrong?
Wednesday 5th January 2011
Human Migrations From a Bacterial Perspective
Wednesday 9th March 2011 at 8.00 pm in Boole 2
Professor Mark Achtman
Wednesday 12th January 2011
Numbers in Their Prime
Over the last 100 years, there have been several major industrial disasters that have brought Engineering, in terms of the safe operation of large industrial plants, into the public domain. Some of the best-known of these incidents include Seveso, Chernobyl, Bhopal, Three Mile Island and Flixborough. In Ireland, the Bantry Bay oil tanker explosion in 1979 ranks as an important incident. This talk will explore what these events reveal about how engineers design and operate safety-critical equipment and the public perception and reaction to such major accidents.
Professor Des MacHale
Wednesday 19th January 2011
The Impact of HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa Dr. Ian Stephenson
Wednesday 26th January 2011
Kevin Cronin is a lecturer in the Department of Process & Chemical Engineering at UCC. He is a mechanical engineer and teaches in the area of design of process equipment and process safety. His research field is the probabilistic modeling of manufacturing operations.
On Women and Science Dr. Jean van Sinderen-Law
Professor Roger Whatmore
Wednesday 2nd February 2011
Tracking Birds: From Individuals to Populations
The Research Institute, Innovation and Payback
Professor John O’Halloran
Wednesday 16th March 2011 at 8.00 pm in Boole 2
Roger Whatmore is a Cambridge graduate with eighteen years experience in the UK’s electronics industry, followed by eleven years as Professor of Engineering Nanotechnology at Cranfield University. He was awarded GEC’s Nelson Gold Medal in 1993 and the Griffith Medal and Prize from the IoM3 in 2003. He is now CEO of Tyndall National Institute.
Nuclear Power for Ireland: Facts and Fiction Wednesday 23rd March 2011 at 7.30 pm in Boole 2 A presentation by BENE (Better Environment with Nuclear Energy). Historically, the Irish Government’s policy has been firmly opposed to nuclear energy on the grounds of the risks it poses, yet some argue that nuclear energy is one of the cleanest, safest and economic forms of energy available to mankind today.
Postgraduate Student Public Presentation Competition
Grand Final UCC Science for All Wednesday 30th March 2011 at 7.00 pm in Boole 2
Come and hear a selection of our finest postgraduate students explain their researches in science, engineering and food science, in terms understandable to a general audience. These students are the finalists in our Annual Postgraduate Student Public Presentation Competition. The competition will be judged by a panel of lay-judges.
Brochure Design: Aisling Ní Mhurchú, Public Awareness of Science Office, UCC and Mary Heapes, Department of Biochemistry, UCC
Research institutes are set up by governments for a variety of reasons, but generally politicians require that their investment pays back into the economy through the generation of economic activity. The mechanisms for how this can be fostered will be discussed in the light of experiences at Tyndall and elsewhere. Examples will be given of how technology is translating into practical devices. These will include innovative new materials and semiconductor devices which work at the nanoscale, such as a new transistor structure which has been invented at Tyndall and new laser structures which could bear fruit in bringing high density storage and ultra broad bandwidth communications to the consumer.
Wednesday 9th February 2011
Eyes in the Sky: Satellite Imagery for a Changing World Dr. Fiona Cawkwell
Wednesday 16th February 2011
Computers Made From Pencil Lead? Dr. Brenda Long
Wednesday 23rd February 2011
Whistling in the Dark: How our Understanding of the Universe is Frustrated by Mysterious Dark Matter and Dark Energy
College of Science, Engineering and Food Science
Annual Public Lecture Series
Science has made the most amazing discoveries over the past 400 years, and today the entire developed world is dependent on science-based technology
In this Lecture Series, a distinguished list of speakers will discuss various aspects of science and technology, many of particular relevance to Ireland today
Professor Paul Callanan
Wednesday 2nd March 2011
My DNA, My Genome, My Life Professor Tommie McCarthy
Wednesday 9th March 2011
Industrial Disasters: What Went Wrong? Dr. Kevin Cronin
Wednesday 16th March 2011
The Research Institute, Innovation and Payback Professor Roger Whatmore
Wednesday 23rd March 2011 at 7.30pm in Boole 2
Nuclear Power for Ireland: Facts and Fiction BENE (Better Environment with Nuclear Energy)
Wednesday 30th March 2011 at 7.00pm in Boole 2
Grand Final UCC Science for All
Postgraduate Student Public Presentation Competition
Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report, College of SEFS, Issue No. 3, 2010
An online version of this magazine can be accessed at: http://understandingscience.ucc.ie If you would like a hard copy of the magazine, please e-mail your name/address to: w.reville@ucc.ie Issue 4 will be available in June 2011.
This public lecture series will run weekly from January through March 2011 on Wednesday evenings in Boole 2 Lecture Theatre at UCC Lectures start at 8.00pm ......but please come a little earlier
ALL ARE WELCOME
Professor Mark Achtman
Dr. Jean van Sinderen-Law
On Women and Science
Computers Made From Pencil Lead?
Wednesday 5th January 2011 at 8.00 pm in Boole 2
Wednesday 26th January 2011 at 8.00 pm in Boole 2
Wednesday 16th February 2011 at 8.00 pm in Boole 2
Human Migrations From a Bacterial Perspective
The bacterium Helicobacter pylori infects over 50% of human stomachs, causing gastric ulcers and cancer. After childhood infection within families, people remain infected for life. As a result, bacterial genetics can be used to trace human migrations over the last 80,000 years - modern human migration from Africa 50,000 years ago, including one migration to the former continent of Sahul (Papua New Guinea plus Australia), and later, independent Austronesian migrations throughout the Pacific. Mark Achtman is a Canadian who moved from Germany to Cork in 2007 as a Professor in Microbiology and Science Foundation of Ireland Principal Investigator at the Environmental Research Institute, UCC. He is an international expert on population genetics of pathogenic bacteria, with a particular interest in historical evolution of a variety of bacterial pathogens, including the plague bacillus and Salmonella
Professor Des MacHale
This lecture will pay tribute to some women who have made a huge contribution to science, while also addressing challenges facing women in pursuing a career in science. It will also cover the valuable education for life which a science degree gives one, leading to varied and exciting career opportunities, not only in the world of science, but also in the world of business. Jean van Sinderen-Law is Director of Development and Alumni Relations at UCC and Director of Cork University Foundation. She graduated from UCC with a BSc in 1987 and a PhD in Microbiology in 1991. Jean served as a Governor of UCC (2001-2004) and member of the Senate of the National University of Ireland (2002-2007). She is a former Secretary of the European Association of Research Managers and Administrators and a founding member of the European Commission Marie Curie Fellowship Association. She is the Women Mean Business Businesswoman of the Year 2010.
Professor John O’Halloran
Numbers in Their Prime
Tracking Birds: From Individuals to Populations
Wednesday 12th January 2011 at 8.00 pm in Boole 2
Wednesday 2nd February 2011 at 8.00 pm in Boole 2
Dr. Brenda Long
The silicon transistor, one of the most important inventions of the 20th century, is the fundamental component of electronic technology. Since 1947, transistor performance has doubled every two years. However, we are now reaching limits in our ability to improve it further and scientists are exploring alternative materials for making transistors. Graphene, a component of graphite, the material used in pencil lead, has demonstrated potential as a silicon replacement. The electronic properties of graphene far surpass those of silicon and it represents real potential for future electronics. Brenda Long was awarded her PhD in Chemistry from the UCD in 2003. She spent two years as a postdoctoral researcher in Italy during which time she was a visiting scientist at Harvard and MIT in Boston for 6 months. In 2005 she returned to MIT for 3 years. She is currently a research scientist in Tyndall National Institute, studying nanomaterials and their potential as hybrid or replacement materials in future electronic technology.
Professor Paul Callanan
Whistling in the Dark: How our Understanding of the Universe Continues to be Frustrated by the Mysteries of Dark Matter and Dark Energy Wednesday 23rd February 2011 at 8.00 pm in Boole 2
In this lecture, we look at one of the most fascinating and enigmatic objects in mathematics—the set of prime numbers, 2,3,5,7,11,13,17,19,23,… Starting from scratch and aiming at the interested layperson, we develop the basic properties of the primes and explain their fundamental role in mathematics, from problems in number theory to their use in the construction and cracking of codes and cryptograms. We also examine several unsolved prize problems which are easy to state but tough nuts to crack, e.g. Goldbach’s Conjecture (1760) - Is every even number greater than 2, the sum of two prime numbers? This looks easy, but nobody has ever solved it! Des MacHale is Associate Professor of Mathematics at UCC where he has taught for nearly forty years. He has a passionate interest in problems and puzzles of all kinds and is the author of many books of puzzles. He loves Number Theory and has published several research papers on primes and related topics.
Dr. Ian Stephenson
The Impact of HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa Wednesday 19th January 2011 at 8.00 pm in Boole 2 “The terrain is everything” - Louis Pasteur as quoted by Professor Michael Kelly SJ when speaking in UCC about HIV/AIDS in Africa at the 150th Anniversary of the founding of the Society for Missons in Africa (SMA). This lecture will examine this terrain of poverty and gender and how these affect people’s susceptibility to infection with HIV and their vulnerability to the impact of a member of their family succumbing to AIDS. Ian Stephenson has been involved in community development in Ireland for twenty years and did his postgraduate research in the Department of Food Business and Development, UCC. The field work for his MSc was conducted in Tanzania and for his PhD in Zimbabwe and Botswana. He teaches on the Diploma in Development Studies and has also worked with the UCC Departments of Computer Science, Music, and the Oral Health Services Research Centre.
Tracking populations of birds has attracted the attention of both amateurs and professional ornithologist for decades. Knowledge of bird species relies on data collection both by professionals and ‘citizen science’. This presentation will consider the populations of some of Ireland’s common, and not so common, bird species: their populations and biology. Particular attention will focus on swans, swallows and dippers. John O’Halloran is Head of the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UCC. He holds a BSc in Zoology and a PhD and DSc in Ecotoxicology. He has published over 150 papers, book chapters and technical reports and has conducted field based research from Bermuda to Banagher. He was the founder of Ireland’s first terrestrial bird monitoring program. His main research attempts to understand the role environmental change, including climate, pollutants and normal biological processes play in the population dynamics, ecology and physiology of organisms, mostly in birds.
Dr. Fiona Cawkwell
Eyes in the Sky: Satellite Imagery for a Changing World Wednesday 9th February 2011 at 8.00 pm in Boole 2 For nearly 40 years, sensors carried by satellites have been continuously monitoring the state of the Earth’s surface and atmosphere. From examining patterns of glacial advance and retreat, to detecting the immediate consequences of a large-scale natural disaster, remote sensing technologies have been widely used to witness the changing global surface. This presentation will explore some of the satellite-derived knowledge of the form and processes of Planet Earth, and also, look at the role played by these technologies in addressing a number of the major geospatial issues of the 21st century, from climate change to sustainable development. Fiona Cawkwell lectures in Remote Sensing and Physical Geography at UCC having spent several years studying climatic and environmental changes in polar regions using satellite imagery. She convened an international conference on Remote Sensing at UCC in September 2010, and is on the Council of the UK Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society.
Mankind has always sought clues from the stars as to the past history, present state and future evolution of the Universe. Almost all of our astronomical observations rely on the detection of electromagnetic radiation from planets, stars, galaxies, etc, and for most of astronomical history, we believed these measurements provided a reliable census of the contents of the Universe. But now we know that most of the Universe consists of matter (Dark Matter) and energy (Dark Energy) that we cannot see at all, and whose very nature provides one of the greatest challenges to modern astrophysics. This talk will focus on the implications of Dark Matter and Dark Energy for our understanding of the Cosmos at large. After research work at Oxford and Harvard, Paul Callanan joined the Department of Physics in UCC in 1996. His main research work involves observations of neutron stars and black holes in our Galaxy and others. In addition to his research, Paul also teaches part of the Astrophysics degree programme in UCC, and has contributed to the renovation of UCC’s unique Crawford Observatory.
Professor Tommie McCarthy My DNA, My Genome, My Life
Wednesday 2nd March 2011 at 8.00 pm in Boole 2 The human genome is of a sequence of 3,000,000,000 DNA base pairs and carries the full blueprint for human life. The cost of human genome sequencing has plummeted from over a billion euro in 2001 to €10000 in 2010 and will cost less than a summer holiday by 2015. As your genome contains key information about your future health, your character and other traits, discussing genomes will become a regular topic of conversation in households across the globe. In this lecture, a layman’s guide to the human genome will be presented and the pros and cons of having your genome sequenced will be explored. Tommie McCarthy is an Associate Professor in Biochemistry at UCC. Over the past 25 years, Prof. McCarthy and his team have made major contributions to human molecular genetics. After graduating with a BSc honours in Microbiology from NUIG, Professor McCarthy completed a PhD on DNA repair mechanisms at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London. He then moved to the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, USA as an EMBO fellow and pursued research on DNA rearrangement mechanisms in antibody formation.
The series is organised by Professor William Reville, Public Awareness of Science Officer, UCC. For further information: Phone: 021-4904127/4904369. Fax: 021-4904452. E-mail: w.reville@ucc.ie Web: http://understandingscience.ucc.ie
Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report 60
Alumni Association
Dr. Paul Ahern – Recipient of the 2010 Alumnus Achievement Award for the College of SEFS Lilly’s Kinsale operation is now poised to become a centre of excellence in biopharmaceutical manufacturing technology with construction underway of a €400m facility. Paul Ahern BSc ’75, PhD ’79, Senior Vice-President of Indianapolis based pharmaceutical company, Eli Lilly, was the recent recipient of the UCC Alumnus Achievement Award for the College of Science, Engineering & Food Science. An Alumnus Achievement Award is the highest honour the University can bestow upon a graduate. The annual UCC Alumni Achievement Awards Programme honours a graduate from each of the University’s four Colleges who have obtained extraordinary distinction and success in their chosen fields. UCC President, Dr Michael Murphy, presented Dr Ahern with his Award at a Black-Tie Awards Dinner in the Aula Maxima on the 22nd April 2011. On the Evening, Professor Anita Maguire, Vice President of Research at UCC, stated that ‘Dr Ahern was being recognised for his distinguished achievements in Lilly at international level and for his continued support and interest in the training and development of young graduate talent and in fostering interactions between industry and academia’. Dr Ahern is responsible for all of Eli Lilly’s bulk active pharmaceutical operations in the US, Ireland and Puerto Rico. He is also a member of Eli Lilly’s senior management council. Globally, Eli Lilly employs around 42,000 people and markets its medicines in more than 140 countries. Paul joined Eli Lilly in 1980, after completing his PhD Degree in Physical Organic Chemistry. He was involved in the start-up of the
Professor Patrick Fitzpatrick, Head of College of Science, Engineering & Food Science; Dr. Paul Ahern, Senior Vice President, Eli Lilly and recipient of the 2010 UCC Alumnus Achievement Award for the College of Science, Engineering & Food Science; and Professor Anita Maguire, Vice President of Research at UCC
company’s facility in Dunderrow, Kinsale, and over the past thirty years, the Cork plant has grown to become the company’s primary active ingredient location. The Kinsale operation is now poised to become a centre of excellence in biopharmaceutical manufacturing technology with construction underway of a €400m facility. Paul was Operations Manager at Lilly’s main chemical synthesis plant in Lafayette, Indiana from 1992-1995 and subsequently was General Manager of Lilly’s manufacturing operations in Puerto Rico where he has overseen major business transition in technologies and movement from older to newer facilities. Paul has maintained strong connections with UCC and the Department of Chemistry. He played a significant part in enabling an innovative postdoctoral programme in Indianapolis, whereby PhD graduates from UCC have the opportunity to undertake research within the Process Development teams in the US. He has facilitated an innovative research collaboration in process development, linking researchers in UCC with researchers in Lilly in Kinsale and Indianapolis. At a strategic level he has played a critical role in fostering interactions between industry and academia, taking this key activity to new levels within Ireland, in many instances. Nationally, he has encouraged interactions between Lilly and NIBRT in the bioprocessing area.
Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report 61
College of SEFS Alumni This year we will launch the College of SEFS Alumni Reunion Programme. We are seeking Alumni Ambassadors from every graduating class of the former Faculties of Science, Engineering and Food Science to help us organise your class reunion. If it’s five years or fifty years since you last got together, it’s time to re-connect with each other and with us. Alumni Ambassadors will act as the point of contact for reunion activities for your year. The Alumni Ambassadors and the College of SEFS will work together to draw up contact lists and communicate with you about your reunion – the Alumni Ambassadors will help us reach as many people as possible. If you are interested in becoming an Alumni Ambassador or want to learn more about the SEFS Alumni Reunion Programme e-mail alumni@sefs.ucc.ie or check out our web page and Facebook We have recently launched the SEFS Facebook page which links to the Alumni page on the SEFS website- here we will post interesting updates about our Alumni, news about SEFS programmes, research success and updates on Alumni Reunions, we would also like you to post your success stories, news and profiles. Please join our page or communicate by e-mail- we’d love to hear from you! We are searching the archives for graduation photos from the past- we will post these on the Alumni page on the SEFS website and on the SEFS Facebook page... if you have a photo to share, please send it to us or post it on the SEFS Facebook page.
Class of 1992, Class of 1987 and Class of 1962 In 2012 the class on 1992 will celebrate its 20th reunion, the class of 1987 will celebrate its Silver Jubilee and the class 1962 will celebrate its Golden Jubilee. If you are interested in attending your class reunion in 2012 please e-mail alumni@sefs.ucc.ie with your name, degree and e-mail address and we will contact you. If you’d like to help co-ordinate the event as an Alumni Ambassador please let us know - we’d welcome the help.
E-mail: Alumni@sefs.ucc.ie Website: http://www.ucc.ie/en/sefs Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SEFS.UCC We also encourage you to join the UCC Graduates’ Association.
Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report 62
Alumni Association
1981 BSc Dairy Class Thirty Year Reunion
1981 BSc Dairy Class
1986 BE Electrical Class Silver Jubilee Reunion
1986 BE Electrical Engineering Class
The 1981 BSc Dairy Class thirty year reunion was held on Saturday 25th June 2011 in the Gresham Metropole Hotel and the Long Valley.
Classmates from the 1986 Electrical Degree Class travelled from far and wide for their Silver Jubilee Reunion in UCC on the 8th April 2011.
The reunion was attended by Michael Delaney, Mary McLoughlin, Mary Grufferty, Pat O’Connor, Denis McCarthy, Maura Conway, Colette Shortt, John O’Brien, Jerry Kirby, Con Cremin, John Glynn, Gemma O’Donoghue, John O’Donoghue, Denise Keohane, Mick O’Shea, Katie Corbett, Jim Corbett, Dave Elwood, John O’Mahony and Michael Colbert. A great time was had by one and all.
The weather was glorious on the day and the class enjoyed afternoon tours of the UCC Campus and the Boole Library, including a talk on the George Boole Archive, housed in UCC’s Special Collections. After the tours concluded, the group visited the Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering where classmate John Hayes who is a Lecturer in the Department gave an overview of how the Department has evolved over the past 25 years. Leonard Hobbs, Research Manager, Intel Ireland, opened a panel discussion with students and senior members of UCC staff around the topic of business, technology education and career paths entitled ‘25 Years Later, Looking Ahead at the Business of Technology’. A lively debate ensued with excellent contributions from classmates including Rory McInerney, Vice President Intel, Santa Clara, and Michael McAuliffe, CEO Powervation.
1986 Civil Engineering Graduates (left to right) Kevin Murray, Sean Collins and Mick O’Donovan
That evening the group were joined by some 1986 civil engineering graduates for a Gala Reunion Dinner in UCC’s Common Room. Dr. Sean Prunty, recently retired from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, gave a very interesting After-Dinner Speech.
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Annual Graduate Newsletter and Report
UCC Alumni Events 2011 For further information on the above events, please contact the UCC Alumni Office on Tel: +353 21 490 2040 or by email: graduates@ucc.ie. A full and up-to-date listing of events and reunions can be accessed on the UCC Alumni website at www.ucc.ie/alumni.
Date
Time
Event
Venue
24 Sept
2pm/
UCC Graduates V UCC Staff
Cork Golf Club
3.30pm
Golf Challenge
1.05pm
Memorial Service for
9 Nov
Honan Chapel, UCC
Deceased Graduates 25 Nov
22 Dec
6.30pm
UCC Alumni Achievement Awards
Aula Maxima, UCC
2011 UCC Graduates Christmas
UCC
Homecoming Reception
Join the UCC Graduates’ Association Membership costs €100 for a five year membership. To join, please forward payment (debit or credit card or cheques accepted) with your graduation details and current address to the UCC Graduates’ Association, University College Cork.
The UCC Graduates’ Association offers members the following benefits and services: • Access to a global network of graduates • Invitation to graduate events and gatherings in Ireland and around the globe • Mailing of UCC Alumni News and the annual UCC Graduate Magazine • Readership rights to the Boole Library, UCC. Members will need to register directly with the Library. • Exclusive membership rates to the Mardyke Arena Leisure Centre, UCC • Expert assistance on organising class reunions • A choice of UCC affinity credit cards with AIB and Bank of Ireland • Special graduate membership rate to the Lewis Glucksman Gallery • Email for Life Service allowing recent graduates to activate their student email account • Substantial discounts on goods and services with over 150 traders, e.g. 10% Nangan’s Garden Centre, 10% Griffins Garden Centre, 10% Maher Sports, 10% Matthews Ltd, 15% Black Tie, 10% Blarney Irish Woollen Mills, 10% L’Occitaine, 10% Keane’s Jewellers, 20% Cork University Press, 10% Oak Tree Press and 10% Cremins Dry Cleaners.
Newsletter Editor: Professor William Reville, Public Awareness of Science Officer, UCC. Assistant to Editor: Aisling Ní Mhurchú, BSc EnvS, Public Awareness of Science Office, UCC. The Editor welcomes comments, suggestions, etc., about this Newsletter. Please contact us with interesting stories and developments relating to your own or colleagues’ careers since leaving UCC. Public Awareness of Science Office Room 1.25, Lee Maltings, UCC Phone: 00353 (0)21 490 4127 (or (0)21 490 4369) E-mail: w.reville@ucc.ie
College of Science, Engineering and Food Science: Food Science Building, Block E, 3rd Floor University College Cork, Ireland Phone: 00353 (0)21 490 3075, Fax: 00353 (0)21 427 0380 E-mail: collegeoffice@sefs.ucc.ie Design by Kunnert & Tierney, Cork, www.kunnertandtierney.com