Research Matters Issue 10 Spring 2009

ISSUE 10 Spring ‘09

Waterford Institute of Technology

WIT

WIT Excels in Pharmaceutical Research

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Welcome from the Head of Research In a time of economic challenge, industry - academic engagement is critical to the country’s future and this engagement is central to WIT’s research philosophy. This edition of Research Matters profiles how some of WIT’s leading research groups such as the Pharmaceutical and Molecular Biotechnology Research Centre and the South East Applied Materials Centre are actively collaborating with companies throughout the South East region. Collaborating with micro-enterprise is also paramount to the long term development of new product and services. In this issue, we learn of one of the Institute’s many Innovation Voucher funded projects with a Wexford based company.

Central to ensuring the region’s ability to compete in this challenging economic environment is the investment and enhancement of research infrastructure and facilities in the region. The Institute continues to strategically target investment opportunities that support the development of its research infrastructure for the betterment of its postgraduate students, academic researchers and regional partners. This edition highlights some of the significant research refurbishment work that has taken place at WIT and the investments that have been made in capital equipment to cater for the expansion of research activities at WIT in materials, pharmaceutical sciences, life sciences and wireless communications.

WIT continues to provide leadership in the European Framework programme and is a major driver of the European Future Internet agenda. According to a recent report published by Enterprise Ireland concerning Irish involvement in the Seventh European Union Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7), ‘Waterford Institute of Technology now emerges as the top performer outshining the larger institutions by approximately 4:1’. The Future Internet forum has been established by the TSSG to support Irish participation and leadership in the European Future Internet programme. In this edition of Research Matters we read of some of the ongoing projects at the Institute funded under FP7.

Finally, we again celebrate the achievements of WIT’s PhD graduates of 2008 and the many accolades recently awarded to the Institute’s staff. It is through such achievements that WIT consolidates its position at the forefront of educational and research excellence in Ireland.

Dr Willie Donnelly Head of Research & Innovation

Editorial Board Ms Philomena Carton (Research Support Unit) Ms Rita Dalton (Research Support Unit) Mr Fergus Hogan / Dr Sinead Conneely (School of Humanities) Dr Willie Donnelly (Head of Research) Ms Teresa Hurley (School of Health Sciences) Mr David Kane (WIT Luke Wadding Library) Ms Kathryn Kiely (Industry Services Manager) Mr Mohamed Medjaou (School of Engineering) Ms Geraldine Mernagh (School of Education) Dr Cormac O’Raifeartaigh (School of Science) Dr Susan Whelan (School of Business) Edited by Dr Jenny O’Connor (School of Humanities)

Contents Leading innovative research for biopharma sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 SEAM microwave technology–A bridge between WIT research and Industry. . . . . .4 WIT’s paralympic performance research. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Celebrating 10 years of the HEA PRTLI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 - 7 Dr. John Ennis conferred with honorary doctorate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Promoting life sciences 2 ways. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Risky business: The perils of financial services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 WIT forms valuable links with Saudi Arabia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 WIT gets active with passive houses and Pure Renewable Energy Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . 9 A wirefree world. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Campus card technology for European higher education institutions. . . . . . . . . . 11 Bloglife: ANTIMATTER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Verification and validation: Ensuring top quality at TSSG. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 New research study underway at the Macular Pigment Research Group . . . . . . . .13 Development of an e-beam radiation compliant medical device . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Socialisation: The key to creating more female entrepreneurs?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Addressing Europe with RISER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 WIT PhD Graduates 2008. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 - 20 Face-to-face tandem language learning for intercultural competence:

the TaLLICo project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Tourism Research Cluster at the School of Business, WIT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Mind the gap: The client’s role in the quality assurance process in

adult guidance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Do you trust the internet? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 WIT plays crucial role in international cooperation in trust, security

and dependability of ICT Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Profile of a researcher: Dr Catherine O’Reilly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Doctoral research on hospital accreditation presented to library at WIT. . . . . . . . .26 Research postgraduate supervision award. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Recent WIT conferences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 - 28 Books. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Book chapters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Recent WIT publications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 - 35

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Leading innovative research for pharma sector This is an exciting time for everyone involved in the PMBRC. Over the past two years the group has dedicated much of its time to investigating the needs of local industry. The Centre now has the opportunity and the resources to establish accredited laboratories which will further enhance collaborations with industry.

Industrial involvement will bring the research of the Centre to the next level providing the know-how to turn ideas into innovative products of commercial value.

The success of the PMBRC in attracting funding has provided the infrastructure, resources and, most importantly, the high-end personnel needed to develop a sustainable centre of excellence.

Qendresa Osmani, postgraduate researcher in the PMBRC, pictured using the surface area analyser in the new state-of-the-art laboratories

WIT’s Pharmaceutical and Molecular Biotechnology Research Centre (PMBRC) has been awarded €5.2 million in competitive research funding to support the establishment of a new state-of-theart research centre. Funding has been secured from Enterprise Ireland’s (EI) Applied Research Enhancement Initiative, EI’s Innovation Partnership with Genzyme Ireland Ltd, the Technological Sector Research Initiatives (Strand I & Strand III), HEA Research Facilities Enhancement Scheme 2008, and HEA and EI Infrastructure grants.

The PMBRC comprises a research team with proven expertise in chemical, pharmaceutical and biomedical research and links to international experts and specialists in the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors. The 40 strong research team has recently taken up residence in the new 700m2 Centre located on the main WIT campus.

A key objective of the Centre is to act as a catalyst for regional innovation through the generation of new knowledge for the benefit of the region’s pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical stakeholders. The future Case Study EirGen Pharma Ltd, an Irish owned pharmaceutical company based in Waterford, is involved in a collaborative project with the PMBRC in the development of unique polymeric drug delivery technologies.

In support of the PMBRC, Mr. Tom Brennan, Technical Director, comments “EirGen’s involvement in novel drug delivery technologies moves the company up the value chain and away from generic product development which is the long term goal of the organisation”.

growth of these enterprises is critically dependent on embedding research and innovation into their development. The PMBRC will facilitate such innovation by supporting the sustainable development of these important sectors in the region.

Collaborations The PMBRC currently maintains links with Cardiff University; the Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing; the Tyndall National Institute, DCU; QUB; Kings College London; EirGen Pharma Ltd; Merck, Sharp & Dohme (Ireland) Ltd; GlaxoSmithKline; Bausch & Lomb; TEVA; and Genzyme Ireland Ltd. Innovation Network Collaborations with industry in the South East will be further enhanced by the recent establishment of the Innovation Network which was launched on 9th April 2008 (supported by INTERREG IIIA). The Innovation Network will embed links between industry and WIT and will play an integral role in the future of the PMBRC. The role of the Innovation Network is to bring industry leaders and academic researchers together to discuss challenges faced by industry and to promote sustainable research and development in the region.

Research Activities The PMBRC’s major research activities include: Polymeric drug delivery technologies (incorporating ophthalmic, oral and respiratory drug delivery) Novel process technologies (analytical and catalytic applications) Separation Science Molecular Biotechnology (biotransformations and therapeutic molecules) Nanotechnology • Novel sensor technologies based on plasmonic nanostructures • Organic electronics

Facilities & Equipment in the PMBRC Jeol 400 MHz NMR (including solid state probe) Malvern Mastersizer 2000 - Particle Size Analyser Gemini VI 2385C - Surface Area & Pore Size Analyser Agilent HPLC-Chip/MS System Agilent 1200 Series Rapid Resolution LC Systems GC-MS with specialist programmable solids probe Atomic Force Microscope - (Contact & Non-contact) ICP-OES (Inductively Coupled Plasma - Optical Emission Spectrometer) Elipsometer, Differential Scanning Calorimeter & Thermal Gravimetric Analyser Fluorescence Spectrophotometer Mid/Far/Near IR & Mid IR Microscope Scanning Force Microscopy, Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy, Thin film preparation (Thermal Evaporation) and ultra low light level spectroscopy.

For more information contact: Dr Peter McLoughlin E-mail: pmcloughlin@wit.ie

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SEAM microwave technology – a bridge between WIT research and industry expertise of staff from the Engineering and Science faculties within WIT. Significant expertise exists within these faculties to carry out research for various industrial applications.

The large size cavity microwave furnace allows large components to be processed, thus facilitating commercial scale activities. The availability of another state of the art X-ray Micro-tomography facility at SEAM’s disposal will complement the microwave research as products processed using microwaves can be examined using X-rays.

One cubic metre cavity Microwave Furnace

The beneficial use of microwaves for cooking food is well known.

However, the same principle is increasingly being applied to the processing of a wide variety of materials including polymers, composites, rubber, ceramics, chemicals, minerals and wastes. The interest in microwave heating arises from key characteristics that are not available with conventional electrical and gas fired heating routes.

Some of the main features and associated benefits of microwave processing technology are: 1. It has the ability to heat rapidly and this gives rise to significant process cycle time savings 2. It can heat the product all the way through at the same time giving rise to energy savings 3. It has precise control ability and this provides improved product quality 4. It has selective heating ability and this helps in the synthesis of new materials and 5. It has lower carbon dioxide emissions thus leading to a greener process.

However, the use of microwaves for processing materials is not straightforward and requires a thorough understanding of microwave-material interaction behaviour. This is because materials differ in their responses to microwave heating and not all materials absorb microwaves. Microwave

processing thus poses challenges and requires research to be undertaken prior to each application.

To exploit the beneficial use of microwaves, SEAM (South Eastern Applied Materials Research Centre) has procured a state of the art, one cubic metre cavity microwave furnace to carry out research for various materials processing and waste remediation applications. Funded by Enterprise Ireland’s Applied Research Enhancement Initiative and scheduled for launch in January 2009, SEAM aims to establish industry-academic collaboration in the two key areas of its niche expertise: X-ray Microtomography and Microwave processing technology.

To overcome the challenges posed by microwaves, SEAM will utilise the

SEAM thus plays a dual role in providing a world class service to its industrial clients and also in serving as a platform for WIT researchers wishing to enhance their academic research profile. While SEAM’s X-ray Micro-tomography can serve as a leading edge diagnostic tool for anyone wishing to non-destructively examine the internal details of their product component, its Microwave processing technology can be regarded as an applied research tool that bridges the gap between WIT research and industry. Whether to reduce the curing times of thermosetting polymers (from more than seven hours to less than 30 minutes), to initiate chemical reaction through selective heating of elements/compounds or to acquire a faster densification rate in ceramic processing, microwaves exhibit significant innovative potential that is waiting to be exploited.

For more information contact: Dr Ramesh Raghavendra E-mail: rraghavendra@wit.ie

SEAM’s state of the art X-ray Micro-tomography facility

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WIT’s paralympic performance research of his Olympic counterpart, Usain Bolt.

Fourteen year old Darragh McDonald won silver in the 400m freestyle (S6) in the water cube and Gabriel Shelly rounded off the medal haul with a bronze in boccia (BC1). WIT student Orla Barry finished 5th in the women’s discus (F57), breaking the Paralympic record with her first throw.

Opening Ceremony at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games

The 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games concluded on 17th September with a spectacular closing ceremony in the Bird’s Nest Stadium. This brought to a close 10 days of thrilling competition during which the Irish team secured 22 top eight finishes and won five medals. WIT’s Bruce Wardrop (Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Science) is the lead exercise physiologist to the Paralympic Council of Ireland and worked extensively with each athlete, maximising their preparation for competition.

Bruce was appointed to the Paralympic Council of Ireland in late 2006, and, in the lead up to the Paralympic Games, conducted an extensive research project which investigated how the athletes responded to performing in the hot, humid and polluted conditions in Beijing.

“Immediately following my appointment, I researched the factors that were most likely to affect the athletes in Beijing and educated them accordingly. In order to accomplish this, I authored a set of guideline documents advising the athletes on the specific challenges facing them in Beijing and how to best cope with them” says Bruce.

The most significant element of the Irish Paralympic team’s preparation was a Familiarisation Camp that was held in China in August 2007. The entire squad travelled to Beijing to train and experience the conditions they were likely to face at the Games in 2008. This gave the athletes the opportunity to put into practice what they had learned from the guideline documents. During the Familiarisation Camp, the Paralympic Council of Ireland’s sport science and medical team tested the athletes to see how they coped with heat, humidity, jet lag and pollution. From this research, it was possible to identify the factors that affected general health and overall performance, and to develop individualised coping strategies for each athlete.

The Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Science has further reason to celebrate following the opening of the Tourism & Leisure Building on the Cork Road Campus, which houses a purposebuilt laboratory with accompanying exercise facilities. “This is an extremely exciting time for the Department. Our new facilities allow us to expand on the services offered to Paralympic athletes and to deliver them in a thoroughly modern, professional and accessible environment” says Bruce, who intends to continue working closely with the Paralympic Council of Ireland in preparation for London 2012.

“This research was a critically important preparatory tool, made possible by the prescience of the Paralympic Council of Ireland and the support received from the Irish Sports Council”, says Bruce.

“It allowed us to be thoroughly primed for competition. For example, we were able to determine which athletes were adversely affected by air pollution, or the effect that heat and humidity had on an athlete’s hydration status. Information on hydration could then be used to advise the athletes on how much they should drink for optimal performance or to maintain race weight.”

“This research was undoubtedly vital in contributing to the success of Irish athletes at the Games, as achievements included personal bests, national records, Paralympic records and of course, Paralympic medals. It was a huge honour to work with the Paralympic Council of Ireland and to be part of such a special event. To witness the Irish flag being hoisted in time with the Irish National Anthem in a stadium that held 91,000 people, not once, but on three occasions was truly an awesome experience”, reflects Bruce.

Ireland struck gold three times: Michael McKillop won the 800m in the T37 category and Jason Smyth (T13) achieved a fantastic sprint double in the 100m and 200m, earning him the admiration

President Mary McAleese and Mr Bruce Wardrop, Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Science, WIT

Future research will investigate the unique factors affecting performance in Paralympic athletes, as there is a distinct dearth of knowledge in this area. The research addressing these questions will complement both the existing athlete services offered in WIT and the research currently being carried out by the Department of Health, Sport and Exercise staff and post-graduate students.

For more information contact: Mr Bruce Wardrop E-mail: bwardrop@wit.ie

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Celebrating 10 years of the HEA PRTLI Design Centre) and NUI Maynooth (the Hamilton Institute and the Department of Sociology) as well as international partners in Fraunhofer FOKUS (Berlin, Germany), and in I2R and NTU (Singapore). The total funding for WIT is just over €2 million to support the programme itself, plus an additional €3.2 million for a new building to cater for the expansion of the TSSG beyond its current 160 members, and to fund other research resource needs in WIT.

Dr Declan O’ Sullivan, TCD, Mr Mícheál Ó Foghlú, WIT and Dr Dirk Pesch, CIT at the TSSG stand at PRTLI 10

On Thursday 27th November 2008, the HEA held a launch event at The Science Gallery, Pearse Street, Dublin to celebrate 10 years of its research funding programme, the PRTLI (Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions). Minister of Education & Science Batt O’Keeffe gave the opening address at PRTLI 10 and toured the demonstrations. The demonstrations at the event were then opened for public viewing from Thursday afternoon to the following Tuesday 2nd December 2008. PRTLI funding, along with grants supplied by the SFI (Science Foundation Ireland), has revolutionised research funding in Ireland, and the TSSG and Waterford Institute of Technology have been major beneficiaries.

The Communications Infrastructure Management (CIM) competence centre, led by Miguel Ponce de Leon, staged the TSSG demonstration at the PRTLI-10 event.

The demonstration development team comprised a number of PhD and MSc (research) students and some others. The main team was: Frances Cleary-Grant (who is responsible for co-ordinating all TSSG demonstration activities), Brain Meskill, Jason Barron, Husain Eishaafi, Leigh Griffin, Stepan Ivanov, and Kandavanam Gajaruban.

The demonstration showed the use of mobile computing in modern city living, integrating Internet, mobile phone and Information technology into a number of sample solutions. In addition, a large number of cool gadgets were deployed, and these proved to be a great hit with the school children that toured the exhibit.

The TSSG has now won over 110 competitive projects since September 1996, and has brought in over €50 million in funding to WIT. It has created 160 jobs within the TSSG itself, and an additional 60 posts in spin-out and spin-in companies, all of which are based wholly or partly in Co. Waterford.

In October 2008, the first three PhD students graduated from the TSSG, all of whom had received HEA PRTLI research funding along the way: Venet Osmani, Alan Davy and Steven Davy. The Davy twins have been research students in the TSSG for the past 5 years, and have continued to work there as post-doctoral researchers funded

by EU Framework 7 projects. Venet Osmani has taken up a position as a post-doctoral researcher in CREATE-NET, linked to the University of Trento in Italy. The graduation ceremony also saw the first cohort of TSSG staff members graduating from the part-time MSc (taught) in Communications Software: Jerry Horgan, James Mernin, Bernard Butler, and Davy Moran.

The TSSG’s most recent success in the HEA PRTLI was in the summer of 2007, when the new research programme, “Serving Society: Management of Future Communications Networks and Services”, was successful in winning HEA PRTLI Cycle 4 funding. The programme includes academic partners in the University of Limerick (the Interaction

The previous cycle of HEA research funding, HEA PRTLI Cycle 3, was in March 2002, and the success of TSSG’s M-Zones programme submission led to the funding that built half of the ArcLabs Research & Innovation Centre. The M-Zones research programme enabled TSSG to expand from its previous applied research focus, and to shift from MSc (research) programmes (through which 30 MSc students have graduated by research to date) to PhD programmes, which currently account for 16 of TSSG’s research students. In addition, it has allowed the group to hire postdoctoral research fellows, called Principal and Senior Investigators (PI/SIs), for the first time.

This was followed by a series of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) awards that deepened the basic research funding base.

The track record established in the doctoral programmes, along with TSSG’s overall research profile, became a crucial part of the successful WIT case for the achievement of Level 10 (doctoral) awarding powers to the School of Science from HETAC/NQAI. A new taught MSc programme in Communications Software was developed in the Department of Computing, Maths and Physics, using the expertise of new post-doctoral researchers at TSSG (originally Sven van der Meer, Brendan Jennings, and Tom Pfeifer; more recently

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also Dmitri Botvich, Sasi Balasubramaniam and Huaiguo Fu), along with departmental faculty members with links to the group (Eamonn de Leastar, Jimmy McGibney, Richard Frisby and Mícheál Ó Foghlú). The student recruitment strategy was then changed to advise BSc graduate students to do the MSc (taught) as an entry level to PhD research rather than to enrol on MSc (research) programmes directly upon graduation. This new taught programme was then measured in terms of its success in integrating areas of research and teaching, and was detailed in the M-Zones reports to the HEA. Thus, the first round of HEA funding laid a very strong basis for links between research, teaching and learning

through the Department of Computing, Mathematics and Physics.

The HEA/EI building, the ArcLabs Research & Innovation Centre, also plays an important role as a unifying concept both abstractly and physically; it links the TSSG’s research and innovation activities with other entrepreneurial and innovation organisations, both within the building itself, and in the wider community of the South East. The TSSG’s commercial activities have been developed and the 3CS (the Centre for Converged Communications Services) team, led by Barry Downes, is now the dominant force in the commercialisation of ICT academic research in Ireland. Thus, the

previous HEA funding was instrumental, along with EU, SFI and Enterprise Ireland funding, in creating a critical mass of activities across a research and innovation spectrum that cross-fertilise each other within the TSSG and beyond.

Innovation and research are never simple linear processes, and the rich mix that has been created is a core element of the TSSG’s many successes to date. This combination was central to Dr Willie Donnelly’s vision of the future of the TSSG on its inception in 1996.

For more information contact: Mr Mícheál Ó Foghlú E-mail: mofoghlu@tssg.org

Dr John Ennis conferred with honorary doctorate Dr John Ennis has been conferred with an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Canada’s Memorial University in recognition of his creative output and the links that he has forged between Ireland and the Province of Newfoundland & Labrador.

Dr Ennis has been Head of School of Humanities at Waterford Institute of Technology since 1992. Originally from Westmeath, he has a BA from University College Cork, an MA from University College Dublin and a HDipEd from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. He was conferred with a PhD at WIT in 1997 for his work on myth and archetype in a study entitled “What Verities Remain”.

Institute Award. He continues to create international links for WIT, the most notable being his chairmanship of the Centre for Newfoundland and Labrador Studies, whose function is to promote research, scholarship, joint projects and entrepreneurial ventures between Ireland, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Dr Ennis is the author of 13 books, and has acted as editor, adjudicator and publisher in the field of literature. In 1996, he was presented with the Irish American Cultural

Prominent among these initiatives has been Dr Ennis’s joint editorship, with colleagues Dr Stephanie McKenzie and Mr Randall Maggs, of a trilogy of anthologies featuring contemporary and canonical poetry from Canada and Ireland.

For more information contact: Dr John Ennis E-mail: jennis@wit.ie

Promoting life sciences 2 ways CALMAST, the award winning science outreach centre at Waterford Institute of Technology has recently received FP7 funding in the Science and Society area for a project entitled “2 Ways”. The “2 Ways” project involves activities to promote modern, current European research in the Life Sciences field with new science communication presentations at science festivals all across Europe.

This funding follows on from previous EU funding received by the Centre in this area which allowed members to give lectures at the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague and the European Science festival in Portugal.

The project is co-ordinated by EUSCEA (the European Science Events Association), which has 70 member institutions from 32 countries across

Future young scientist with iguanas from “Daves Jungle” at the South East Science Festival, organised by CALMAST

Europe. Dr Sheila Donegan of CALMAST is currently Treasurer of EUSCEA. CALMAST is the most active science outreach centre in Ireland, running four science festivals annually. It develops and co-ordinates Maths Week Ireland for

the entire country, as well as three science festivals in the south east region: Science Week in November, Engineering Week in February and the Bealtaine Festival of Outdoor Science in May. This is in addition to the many workshops, lectures, science summer camps and science exhibitions taking place throughout the year. The Centre works actively with Waterford City and County Councils, as well as with local industry and science teachers’ networks to provide high quality events presentations and lectures for the region.

For more information contact: Dr Sheila Donegan E-mail: sdonegan@wit.ie or Mr Eoin Gill E-mail: egill@wit.ie

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Risky business: The perils of financial services (Management). Inputs were obtained from academic, regulatory and industry bodies and a report was submitted in July. This report will be acted upon by the incoming Panel which will be appointed by the Minister for Finance for a further two year term.

All consumers engage with financial risk when they save, borrow or insure. The Financial Regulator is charged with helping consumers make informed financial decisions. It does so by providing information to consumers and by regulating financial service providers. The principal mechanism for regulation in this context is the Consumer Code which establishes standards for behaviour and exchanges that businesses should follow when selling to, and interacting with, consumers.

The Regulator is assisted by a statutory Consumer Consultative Panel (“the Panel”) in fulfilling its role. Waterford Institute of Technology has recently become involved with this advisory panel to advance the understanding of the risks that consumers face when they use financial services.

The Panel makes suggestions on consumer regulatory policy and formulates submissions on regulatory initiatives in this domain. It wishes to be research-informed in influencing regulatory interventions, especially when markets display high volatility.

Thus, in February 2008, the Panel awarded a research contract to the WIT Finance Group to review the literature and international experience

of consumer risk interactions with financial products in the savings and investment market. This award was made following a competitive tendering process involving consulting firms and third level institutions.

The work was undertaken by researchers Mr John Maher (Accounting), Mr Richard Burke (Finance), and Dr Denis Harrington

The Report made several recommendations including how risk communication should be addressed, the importance of ‘learning by doing’ as a means of enhancing financial literacy, the relevance of consumer stratification for risk purposes, and the deployment of several instruments for risk consultation in developing regulatory policy in an evidence based manner.

The report will undoubtedly attract attention from policy makers, financial service firms and consumer advocates who are keen to ensure that financial services are as risk-free as possible for consumers. This project creates a platform for further research and engagement at a European level and serves as a bridge between theory and professional practice. It also will shape programme design and delivery in the financial services discipline at graduate and undergraduate level.

For more information contact: Mr John Maher E-mail: jmaher@wit.ie, Mr Richard Burke E-mail: rburke@wit.ie or Dr Denis Harrington E-mail: dharrington@wit.ie

Forging valuable links with Saudi Arabia On 12th November 2008, two senior researchers from the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia visited Waterford Institute of Technology and met with the Head of Research, the Head of Development and School of Science representatives.

The Saudi Arabian government have recently developed a strategy to strengthen research and knowledge creation and to rely less on finite natural resources. Therefore, the aim of this visit was to explore the potential for links with WIT research groups in the areas of Information Technology and Applied Linguistics.

The visiting researchers were so impressed by the level of IT research at WIT that the Institute is now their preferred Irish partner, and several potential areas for co operation were identified. This builds on the strong links that WIT has already developed with TVTC (the agency for Technical and Vocational Training) and the King Abdullah Scholarship agency in Saudi Arabia.

Members of TSSG meet with the Saudi Arabian delegation

For more information contact: Dr William Donnelly E-mail: wdonnelly@wit.ie

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WIT gets active with passive houses and Pure Renewable Energy Ltd performance and the design of energy efficient buildings.

Mr Tom O’Brien and Mr Allan Griffiths, lecturers from the Department of Engineering Technology, and founders of the BPRU

Pure Renewable Energy Ltd of Wexford, has called upon the Building Performance Research Unit (BPRU) in WIT to help them with the development of a new business to supply and construct low energy and passive houses in Ireland. The BPRU, staffed by lecturers from the Department of Engineering Technology, will prepare an appraisal of the energy performance of, and designs for, a range of housing construction methods. Initially, the appraisal will focus on the designs offered by manufacturers of factory-built houses that are suitable for Ireland. The Innovation Voucher Scheme, that is managed by Enterprise Ireland and is part of the National Development Plan, will fund this initial research.

Low energy houses use significantly less energy than houses built to current building regulations; passive houses (or ultra low energy houses as they are sometimes called) are buildings that are certified by the German Passive House Institute. Such buildings are very well insulated, require little heating and have a specific energy demand for space heating of up to 15 kWh/m2 per year. Research by the BPRU is aimed at providing advice on building construction types and renewable energy systems for dwellings that will surpass the 60% improvement in energy and CO2 performance that is intended to be realised in Ireland from 2010.

The BPRU has gained substantial experience in research and consultancy over the past five years and has successfully completed fifteen low energy domestic building projects. Key strategies such as innovative house design, orientation and site location are considered at the early planning stages and new and alternative materials in

Pure Renewable Energy Ltd is an established business that specialises in the supply and installation of renewable and sustainable energy systems for buildings.

Mr Ollie McPhillips (managing director of Pure Renewable Energy Ltd) says: ‘We were in at the start when renewable and sustainable energy systems were introduced in Ireland; we helped to develop the market for these systems.

We built our good reputation on close attention to quality control of our on-site work. The energy crisis is now part of life and there is a rapidly increasing demand to meet the need for carbon neutral, low energy houses. We understand that building fabric, constructed to high standards, is a fundamental part of a low energy building. Our aim is to establish a design and construction team that can provide high quality turnkey Low Energy Houses and Passive Houses. Again we will ensure that no effort is spared on quality control. We have worked with the BPRU on a variety of construction projects and we are confident that this new venture will benefit greatly from their involvement.’

the area of thermal insulation and glazing are used on the majority of projects. Energy and carbon dioxide (CO2) performance is optimised by the integration of new technologies. These technologies include: energy efficient heat generation; whole house heat recovery ventilation; lighting; structural airtightness; exploitation of renewable energy sources; and smart control systems for heat and electricity demand and supply.

Tom O’Brien and Allan Griffiths established BPRU in 1996. Their first research project was a design study of the Thermal Performance of the Luke Wadding Library building at WIT. The library has a night time cooling fabric energy storage system and received an Environmental Award. This research was funded by an Applied Research Grant from Enterprise Ireland and a grant from WIT’s BEHEST fund. Since then, the BPRU has continued its researchbased consultancy with self-financing research projects concerned with energy

For more information contact: Mr Tom O’Brien E-mail: tobrien@wit.ie

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A wirefree world The Wireless Communications & Large Scale Simulation Group was formed in 2002 with the aim of carrying out wireless research in areas such as wireless communications, wireless sensing and Radio Frequency (RF) measurement and simulation.

Wireless communications have advanced significantly in the past decade to offer us greater mobility and freedom. People enjoy the ability to communicate immediately with each other and to avail of access to information independent of the location.

Wireless communication systems have been highly successful due to advances in the areas of Integrated Circuit (IC) design at wireless frequencies, the efficiency of digital communications and improvements in cost, size and capability of microprocessers.

Sample flexible Circuit Boards

Research and development is ongoing, especially as frequencies of operation increase and new opportunities arise. In the past year, both Enterprise Ireland and the Higher Education Authority funded WIT’s Wireless Communications & Large Scale Simulation Group, in collaborations with both the TSSG and colleagues in the Department of Engineering Technology (Ken Deevy and John Vance). This enabled the Group to purchase €486,000 worth of equipment, which will be used to carry out wireless communication and microwave research. Specifically, the funding will contribute to the building of rapid prototype fine pitch electronic circuit boards, including Flexible Circuit Boards , and to the accurate testing and developing of wireless devices.

aspect of the operation or development process. In the case of wireless communications, the representation of the captured or analysed aspect must often be considered, as it either varies with time, or in the nature of its frequency spectrum.

At times, it can be important to capture not only a large image, but also, to have very fine detail in the image, for example, to isolate the source of intermittent glitches.

20GHz 4-port VNA To achieve these goals in an accurate and reliable fashion, the group purchased an Agilent DSA91204A 12GHz oscilloscope, an Agilent E8267D 20GHz vector signal generator and a Tektronix RSA6100A 14GHz Real-Time spectrum analyser.

As wireless frequencies increase, their associated wavelengths diminish and are, typically, no longer dramatically greater than the components or connections through which they pass. This can quite easily have a significant, negative effect on the performance of any circuit. Indeed, this is the most likely reason for problems or failure to occur in an RF circuit. It is possible to pre-empt such difficulty by analysing the components or circuit in question. A Rhode & Schwarz 20GHz ZVB20, 4-port vector network analyser (VNA) is a key instrument in measuring the variations in amplitude and delay/phase for transmitted and reflected microwave signals. Such a VNA can be used to measure a variety of components from filters and frequency sensitive networks, to devices such as transistors, mixers and any RF-orientated device, to the absorption of a material of microwave energy.

National Instruments’ LabVIEW employs a method of graphical programming for measurement and automation. LabVIEW was also acquired to control a full suite of test and measurement modules up to 3GHz in frequency. This powerful, compact system also allows measurements to be automated, and enables the sophisticated analysis of data immediately after testing.

Agilent oscilloscope

A key part of research and development is the ability to capture and analyse some

Finally, a new laboratory is currently being fitted with a 3-metre long anechoic chamber. The anechoic chamber permits the undisturbed measurement of devices, where the disturbances cannot enter from outside and, because of the placement of special

pyramidal or conical foam on the walls, ceiling and floor, any signals emitted from

the device under test will not be reflected back to compromise the readings.

This equipment will enable the research group to pursue research in wireless communications and antennae. It will also facilitate research in material properties such as heating with microwaves, digital and analogue electronic board design, and miniaturised communications on the nanometre scale.

PXI Test & Measurement

It is hoped that this capital equipment will provide a reliable, flexible and extensive research and development capability to enable the group to collaborate with other research groups and with industrial partners, where a need for wireless capability has been identified.

Anechoic chamber

For more information contact: Dr Paul O’Leary E-mail: poleary@wit.ie

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Campus card technology for European higher education institutions Mr Eugene McKenna and Mr Mohamed Medjaou, from Waterford Institute of Technology’s Card Technology Research Centre (CTRC) were successful in securing funding worth €1.5 million under the FP7-SME-2008-1 call. The funded project, “The European Education Connectivity Solution Project (EECS)” involves a consortium of three European Higher Education Institutions and four SMEs and will be coordinated by Waterford Institute of Technology. The project aims to develop a common European Campus Card System which will facilitate interoperability and student mobility within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Europe.

The creation of a standardised campus card system will facilitate academic mobility by allowing HEIs to share information using a common campus card that will act as a student’s “electronic key” and will permit access to a student’s records on secure databases. A standardised campus card will enable a seamless and more efficient electronic exchange of data amongst HEIs, and will underpin the core principles of the Bologna Process.

In Europe, many HEIs operate campus card systems in order to facilitate access

to services for students, academics and visitors, e.g. point of sale, library access, access to classrooms/residences, printing, photocopying, etc. However, these systems operate in isolation on a stand-alone basis, providing no interoperability with other HEI card systems due to the lack of system standards.

The main aim of the EECS project is to provide standards, mobility and interoperability throughout European campuses. The overall project, which involves several phases of development, will be delivered through a partnership of HEIs and campus card vendors across Europe. Commercial potential for this technology are significant given the size of the Higher Education sector in Europe should the standards become accepted.

Deliverables for this project consist of a prototype for proof of concept comprised of a Card Management System (CMS), a Data Exchange System (DXS), and a service application interface (client).

The consortium represents five countries across Europe. The RTD partners each bring specialist knowledge of smart card and campus card system technologies while the SMEs are positioned financially and strategically to exploit project results.

The EECS Consortium consists of the following: SMEs: OneCard Solutions, Ireland (Project Coordinators); OP Team, Poland; Mecenat, Sweden; and Strategies, France Higher Education Institutions: University of Zagreb, Croatia; Technical University of Lodz, Poland; and Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland.

Located in the Engineering Research Building in the Waterford Industrial Estate, the Card Technology Research Centre (CTRC) at Waterford Institute of Technology is the leading research centre in card technology in Ireland. The WIT card technology has been adopted by other institutions and is now in operation in a number of college campuses.

For more information contact: Mr Mohamed Medjaou E-mail: mmedjaou@wit.ie or Mr Eugene McKenna E-mail: emckenna@wit.ie

Bloglife: ANTIMATTER

Bloglife is a new feature that will highlight weblogs provided by staff at WIT. This issue profiles “ANTIMATTER”

by Cormac O Raifeartaigh of the Department of Computing, Maths and Physics.

Blog: ANTIMATTER Blogger: Cormac O’Raifeartaigh URL: http://coraifeartaigh.wordpress.com First post: April 2008 Who is the blog written by?

Dr Cormac O’Raifeartaigh lectures in mathematics and physics at WIT. His main research area is the quantum physics of

solids and he teaches introductory courses in cosmology and particle physics.

How often is it updated?

Posts are created about twice a week.

What topics does the blog cover?

The blog contains frequent posts on the latest research in cosmology and particle physics, written in layman’s terms. It also describes basic concepts in these fields, usually linked to topics in the news. An unusual feature is the reviews of lectures and conferences attended by the author.

Can you give me a sample?

“An unexpected aspect of the media coverage of the LHC startup was a public disagreement between two world-famous physicists - cosmologist Stephen Hawking and particle physicist Peter Higgs (the latter first postulated the existence of the Higgs field and the famous Higgs boson).

Who is it aimed at?

The blog is aimed primarily at undergraduate students and the wider public, at about the level of A Brief History of Time. That said, it is listed on many physics websites and often features comments from fellow researchers.

Hawking has renewed his bet of $100 that the Higgs boson will not be found at the LHC, making the point that it will make for more interesting physics if it isn’t. The Higgs boson is the one particle of the Standard Model of particle physics that has not been detected experimentally and it is crucial to the theory. Any evidence that it doesn’t exist at the energies expected would force a radical rethink of the Standard Model.

Why should I read it?

The blog gives a good insight into the daily life of a research scientist. It also uses recent events, anniversaries and discoveries to give an informal introduction to many of the concepts of fundamental physics. Examples include posts on recent work on the Big Bang model, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, and this year’s Nobel Prize in physics.

Not for the first time, Peter Higgs has not responded kindly to Steven Hawking’s remarks, stating that he feels that the Hawking analysis is seriously flawed...this story is getting great coverage in the press, and you can read the view of physicists on it about it here and here.”

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Verification and validation: Ensuring top quality at TSSG These can then be used as a yardstick for progress, to build confidence in the team and to allow for unplanned additions and exceptions, which are quite common in the early stages of any research or follow-on commercial project. Other aspects of the process that support in-built quality include pair programming, code reviews, timely refactoring and daily stand-up meetings.

Underlying every successful product is a sound and impermeable quality process.

WIT’s Telecommunication Software and Systems Group (TSSG) is widely renowned and has been prolifically rewarded for its activities in innovative research leading to employment creation. A key enabler of this ongoing success is the group’s Verification and Validation (V&V) process and team. This is exemplified by their dynamic role in groundbreaking research projects such as IMS ARCS and recent commercial successes like Muzu and Hash6.

At any one time, the V&V team work across the majority of active projects in the TSSG, both in the research and commercial divisions. The V&V engineers engage with the various product teams to provide the necessary project management and technical skills along with the process know-how to ensure a viable, reliable and ultimately successful outcome. In supporting the research groups, the team will verify the readiness of prototypes before review by project stakeholders. This involves checking that agreed requirements, functionality and usability targets meet expectations for this early design phase of the project.

Another major contribution of the V&V team is the certification of demos for conferences and for other business and academic exhibitions. An easy to use and functionally reliable demo will attract potential customers and partners and instill a sense of confidence in them. The TSSG‘s growing reputation at events such as CTIA and the Mobile World Congress is testament to this contribution. In terms of the projects that progress from the research to commercial stages, the group actively engages in planning, executing and validating the launches and ongoing upgrades for in-house start-ups and innovation partnerships.

The test specification plans created for each project phase vary depending on the maturity of the product and the requirements of a particular release but generally incorporate the following types of testing: functional, integration, system, usability, load, performance, etc.

Where applicable, the team will utilise relevant automated test tools. However, a key challenge at present is the lack of test automation frameworks available to meet the demands and requirements of the cutting edge applications being researched and developed by the TSSG engineers. The investigations continue.

Professional test execution is just one aspect of the team’s overall core value. Championing the agile tools and techniques that form the backbone of the software and quality management process, the V&V team promote and support a collaborative approach in building quality into the product from an early stage. All team members are encouraged to take part in the planning of the project from the start. Techniques such as test driven development (incorporating unit and acceptance tests) and continuous integration (frequent code building and testing) help maintain ongoing quality and reliability even when working with bleeding edge technologies. An iterative work cycle approach facilitates the creation of regular and tangible outputs.

The development of a product from the research to commercialisation stage is a natural progression. A well developed verification and validation strategy, which is suitable for providing improved quality and realistic results, is a necessity in a highly demanding environment.

Having a sound process in place leads to a greater chance of actively feeding on state of the art research work and progressing it beyond the conceptual phase towards a marketable product.

As Barry Downes, TSSG Commercial Director, recently commented: “The V&V team play a critical and essential role in the technology development process.

V&V ensure that any technology that we transfer into spin-off companies is of the highest quality. TSSG’s V&V group is internationally recognised as a leader in its field.” A recent presentation articulating the V&V team’s work at the EuroSPI 2008 conference in DCU was very well received. Researchers and business representatives indicated a keen interest in the software process improvement methods and practices employed by the group.

The V&V team continues to grow in numbers and experience, and is positioned to maintain and develop its vibrant contribution to the research and development functions within the TSSG.

For more information contact: Mr Phelim Dowling E-mail: VnV@listserv.tssg.org

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New research study underway at the Macular Pigment Research Group will be carried out on “normal” subjects (subjects without ocular pathology).

The second trial will be conducted in a randomised, comparison controlled fashion (lutein, zeaxanthin versus meso-zeaxanthin, lutein and zeaxanthin [Macushield™]) and will be carried out on patients with early AMD (presence of drusen, i.e deposits in the retina, early sign of AMD and/or pigmentary changes). This trial is designed to investigate retinal sensitivity changes and AMD related pathology changes at the macula, if any, in response to MP augmentation.

The Fundus camera, which is used to take a picture of the retina in order to assess its health

The macula is the central part of the retina responsible for detailed central vision. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a disease of the macula that results in loss of central vision. As a result, people with AMD lose their ability to read, recognise faces, watch television, and drive, and therefore, lose their independence and quality of life. In addition, the cost of vision loss and visual impairment to society and to health care providers continues to rise, with significant economic implications.

shrimp and crab) and fish (e.g. trout and salmon). Macushield™ is the only dietary supplement available that contains all three of the macular carotenoids, including meso-zeaxanthin. Mesozeaxanthin is vital to the presence of MP because it is the central portion of MP, it is a more powerful antioxidant than either lutein or zeaxanthin, it facilitates a wider range of short-wavelength light absorption and it is more closely related to vulnerable photoreceptors at an anatomic level than either lutein or zeaxanthin.

Macular pigment (MP) is a yellow pigment found at the macula, which is composed of the dietary carotenoids lutein, zeaxanthin, and meso-zeaxanthin.

MP absorbs short-wavelength (blue) light pre-receptorally and scavenges and neutralizes free radicals. Therefore, this pigment is believed to protect against AMD because both blue light damage and free radicals are known to contribute to this condition. The MPRG has shown that individuals between the ages of 20 to 60 years (without eye disease), who are at increased risk of developing AMD (e.g. cigarette smokers, people with a family history of AMD, people with poor diets lacking in antioxidants, people who are overweight etc.) have a relative lack of MP.

The MPRG is about to embark on two clinical trials that will investigate macular and serum responses to supplemental meso-zeaxanthin, lutein, and zeaxanthin (Macushield™). The first trial will be conducted in a randomised, doubleblind, placebo-controlled fashion and

Meso-zeaxanthin is only found at the macula, whereas lutein and zeaxanthin are also found in a typical diet, in serum, and in several other tissues throughout the body. Meso-zeaxanthin is generated at the macula following biochemical conversion from lutein, and it is also found in some foods such as seafood (e.g.

These meso-zeaxanthin trials are essential to the proper testing of the putative protective benefits that this carotenoid may offer AMD patients, and individuals at risk of this condition.

Also, recent case studies using two patients with AMD have shown that supplementation with Macushield™ results in significant MP augmentation in the central portion of the MP, resolution of centrally located drusen, and improvement in visual acuity. While these individual case studies are positive, properly conducted clinical trials, such as those outlined above, are essential to furthering our understanding of the importance of MP, and in particular the role of meso-zeaxanthin for ocular health and AMD prevention.

For more information contact: Ms Lorna Rushe E-mail: lrushe@wit.ie or Ms Eithne Connolly E-mail: econnolly@wit.ie

In the Macular Pigment Serum Laboratory the blood components found in the eye are analysed

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Development of an e-beam radiation compliant medical device The Medical Devices industry differs from other polymer applications (automotive, aeronautical, marine, construction, etc.) in one major aspect: that the products frequently need to be sterilised. Sterilisation by ionising radiation has become increasingly popular due to its simplicity, cost effectiveness and lack of residuals when compared to the more conventional ethylene oxide method. Material selection is very important especially for implants, catheters or drug delivery applications. Understanding of the effects of sterilisation on the material’s performance is vital in product design in order to meet the regulatory requirements of product development.

In developed countries, radiation sterilisation of disposable plastic medical equipment is now more common than the older sterilisation technique of chemical treatment with ethylene oxide. The percentage of such radiation-sterilised plastics continues to steadily increase. A major driver for conversion to radiation sterilisation is the elimination of toxic chemical residue from the product, and safety and environmental considerations in the sterilisation process. Understanding the effects of ionising radiation on the material properties of the device to be sterilised is paramount in developing or augmenting materials to be suitable for use in medical devices and packaging.

Many important physical or chemical properties of polymers can be modified with radiation. Among these are molecular weight, chain length, entanglement, polydispersity, branching, pendant functionality, and chain termination.

Understanding how and to what extent these characteristics can be altered as a function of the level of radiation exposure (dose) is crucial to predicting the performance and utility of irradiated plastic.

Shear viscosity is a measure of the resistance to flow of a molten polymer material. Molecular weight is the single most important parameter in determining the shear viscosity of a polymer. For

example, a factor of two in molecular weight can produce a tenfold change in viscosity at a given shear stress for some polymeric materials. Extensional or elongational viscosity is a measure of the “stretching flow” of a polymer. Unlike shear viscosity, extensional viscosity is extremely sensitive to chain attributes such as entanglements, side branching, and molecular weight distribution.

Radiation Effects on Polymeric Materials

Capillary rheometry was used to analyse the effect of e-beam sterilisation on five different medical-grade materials commonly used in the medical device industry. Testing on each material included testing of a control sample and four further samples that had been sterilised using different levels of e-beam irradiation. Capillary rheometry enables the calculation of shear viscosity and extensional viscosity.

High energy radiation processes such as E-beam sterilisation can lead to significant alterations in polymeric materials.

Physical changes such as discoloration and embrittlement, for example, are quite common effects of such a process. The radiation normally affects a polymer in two ways: chain scission (breakdown of polymer chains) and/ or crosslinking (generation of a 3-D matrix of polymer Plots of Extensional Viscosity at a shear rate of 1000s-1 chains). Usually both as a function of E-Beam Irradiation Level for the five of these mechanisms materials occur, but quite

often, one predominates to the extent that it appears as if only one mechanism is occurring. The extent to which each mechanism occurs depends on the chemical structure and morphology of the polymer material.

The shear viscosity results suggest that the molecular weight of Pebax 7233, Pebax / Nylon 12 blend, Pebax 4033, and Nylon 12 was reduced as a result of the E-beam sterilisation process. This reduction in viscosity suggests that chain scission was the dominant effect of the radiation in these materials. It is interesting to note that all materials except High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) initially showed a reduction in extensional viscosity – after which, the extensional viscosity increased. This suggests that a certain level of crosslinking was also included in these materials above a threshold level. This crosslinking may not have had an effect on the overall molecular weight of these materials (and did not lead to a rise in the shear viscosity) but appeared to have increased the level of interconnectivity between chains, thus inhibiting the extensional flow. Crosslinking creates insolubility, infusibility, and improved mechanical behaviour (increased hardness, decreased elongation, increased stiffness). However, these improvements may not be desirable for the application in mind.

Bench testing of materials can reduce the time and costs associated with product development. It has been shown here that a simple rheology test can yield important results that will determine material suitability for E-beam irradiation.

Rheology can give accurate and quantitative information relating to the cross-linking and chain scission occurring in a material at a fraction of the price and time associated with other methods. E-beam sterilisation is a fast and effective alternative method to conventional autoclave or ethylene oxide methods. The effect of this sterilisation technique on the polymer properties is important to assess. Accurate bench testing can significantly reduce time to market for a medical device – a critical element in terms of gaining competitive advantage and maintaining market share.

Dr Coffey is the Councillor Elect (2009-2011) for the European Medical Polymers Division of the SPE, focusing on dissemination of research and facilitating collaborations between the Medical Technologies Sector in Europe.

For more information contact: Dr Austin Coffey E-mail: acoffey@wit.ie

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Socialisation: The key to creating more female entrepreneurs? financial security were key to accessing education, which in turn enabled them to access opportunities. Those who had opportunities to travel and to meet a wide variety of successful people reported an enhanced willingness to take risks and avail of opportunities. The majority stated that entrepreneurship offered a lifestyle and social standing that were highly desirable. This finding has implications for women from other social backgrounds as reduced access to resources and opportunities may deter them from pursuing self-employment.

The first group of female entrepreneurs in Ireland to receive their Certificates for Enterprise Development. The awards were presented by Prof Kieran Byrne, Director of WIT

It is widely acknowledged that the rate of female participation in entrepreneurship in Ireland needs to be increased. Despite a positive entrepreneurial culture, Ireland still has exceptionally low numbers of female entrepreneurs in comparison to our European counterparts. In fact, for a country with an even gender population split, it has one of the lowest rates of female entrepreneurship in the developed world. Recent GEM statistics estimate that only 15%-18% of Irish entrepreneurs are female. This figure is even lower in the South East with a mere 4% of new businesses being set up by women. It is, therefore, important to understand why there are so few female entrepreneurs in Ireland and to identify a means of increasing the numbers.

To this end, a study was conducted with a number of female entrepreneurs who participated on the FEIW (Female Entrepreneurship in Ireland and Wales) pilot enterprise development programme, an Interreg IIIA funded project between the WIT Centre for Entrepreneurship and Aberystwyth University, Wales. The pilot programme was a ‘Grow your Business’ initiative specifically tailored for women in business and included 20 female business owners from Ireland. This study offers new insights as to the creation of entrepreneurial intentions among Irish women, focusing on the nature and impact of socialisation on the decision of females to become entrepreneurs.

Research suggests that women are socialised in a way that inhibits the development of entrepreneurial intentions, steering girls on more traditional career paths. This study examined the socialisation factors that influenced this group of women to make the decision to become entrepreneurs.

Examples of socialisation factors include parents, education, peers, media, social class and culture. Through identifying these influences it is hoped that a greater number of female entrepeneurs can be encouraged to emerge.

The findings from this study show that

socialisation can act as an important influence on the decision to become a self-employed woman. Firstly, family was a key motivating influence on the female entrepreneurs in this study. They had entrepreneurial parents and explained that having this made entrepreneurship seem a feasible career option. The women also stated that recognising the independence of their entrepreneurial family members was very influential.

The women spoke about their parents instilling a sense of responsibility in them through giving them chores and duties in the home from a young age. They felt that having chores in the home was ‘good training’ for being self-employed.

These findings suggest that having responsibility and access to an entrepreneurial role model in the home will help to make entrepreneurship seem an appealing career option for young women. As all girls do not come from entrepreneurial homes it may be a case of simulating this environment for the next generation of female entrepreneurs through junior business clubs for girls, in partnership with entrepreneurs within the community.

In addition, the female entrepreneurs from middle class backgrounds regarded their access to both financial and human capital as important. They stated that their family’s social background and

The next influence identified was participation in sports and extracurricular activities at school. Female entrepreneurs explained that these activities gave them confidence and skills such as teamwork, strategy, creativity and problem-solving, which had a positive influence on their perception of themselves and their abilities, making the idea of starting a business seem a real option. Lastly, the female entrepreneurs in this study called for more high profile role models in the media. The respondents explained that while they were fortunate to have entrepreneurial role models at home, most young women do not have these success stories to aspire to. Therefore, they stressed the importance of making successful female entrepreneurs more visible through the media, hence bringing the positive effects of entrepreneurial role models to a wider audience.

These findings shed new light on the socialisation influences that affect a woman’s choice to become an entrepreneur, offering some new insights that could be used to shape future policy. These findings suggest that more females could be encouraged to pursue entrepreneurship as a career if policy contributed to and/or simulated certain socialisation influences. Therefore there is a need to: create an environment where girls have contact with entrepreneurs and some level of responsibility; run outreach programmes in disadvantaged areas, ensuring all girls have equal access to opportunities and that those from disadvantaged backgrounds are exposed to success; encourage more females to participate in sports and extra-curricular activity; and place more high profile female entrepreneurs in the media.

For more information contact: Ms Margaret Durand E-mail: mdurand@wit.ie

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Addressing Europe with RISER there are three main groups that are categorised by their registration processes. The first group includes countries like Germany, Austria, Denmark and Sweden, where adequate registration processes are available and access for private individuals is allowed.

The second group comprises member states like Poland, the Netherlands, Estonia, Spain and Portugal where adequate registration processes are available but access to the registers is legally restricted. The third group consists of Ireland, UK and France where there are no civil registries kept that hold the appropriate address information. In these cases, other sources of address data have to be evaluated.

Running a successful business in today’s open European market requires having a good relationship with customers and trusting that customer details provided are correct and up to date. As a result of incorrect billing data, lost invoices can cost companies large amounts in lost revenues. Current address validation methods are manual, costly, and even non-existent in some circumstances.

In today’s Europe, the development of the single market, and the associated freedoms of movement that the market enables, requires cross-border eServices.

One of the most frequently used services offered by public administrations in the EU member states is the verification of address information by accessing population registers. However, companies and citizens who want to avail of such information to reduce incorrectly addressed mail or to extend customer relations face a complex situation. There are many different registry offices with the responsibility for this information, each with their own idiosyncratic requirements and language barriers.

To address this demand, the Registry Information Service on European Residents (RISER) was set up. The inspiration for this emerged from a city level service offered in Berlin which was originated and used mainly by state authorities (e.g. police and courts).

Following a proposal to the eTEN unit in the European Commission, a market validation project was started in March 2004 between the member states: Germany, Austria, Poland and Ireland (WIT), to see if this was a viable transEuropean service. This initial market validation proved to be a success and the service was then extended to more member states.

RISER is a unique trans-European service in that it provides a central webservice for collecting address enquiries, distributing them to the responsible

authorities and delivering the results to the customer. It creates a bridge between customers who are trying to validate addresses and suppliers of official address information. The service provides customers with uniform access whereby they are shielded from the intricacies of the various authorities in the different member states. Nearly all EU member states’ local and regional authorities keep civil registries, and RISER is working towards interfacing with as many of these as possible to offer a panEuropean service.

With the enlargement of the European Union, the number of residents has increased to around 490 million, and in this growing market, the maintenance of customer relationships is becoming more complex. From a business perspective, this means that a significant amount of enquiries have to be distributed to a large number of data suppliers while fulfilling a variety of legal, organisational and technical requirements. Thus, through RISER’s provision of a one-stopshop for address validation, customers can have a service that is tailored to allow simplified access to complex systems. Customers pay on a per-request basis which includes the administrative charges, as well as the operative cost of RISER (the administrative fee is stipulated by the relevant authority).

An analysis of the registration processes in all EU member states showed that

Within the acquired register data, security, privacy and protection from unauthorised access are top priorities.

RISER therefore conforms to the legal regulations on data and privacy protection in the member states as well as to European directives (94/46/EC and 2002/58/EC). The technical and legal expertise required to ensure adherence to these regulations was provided by a partner of the consortium, the Independent Centre for Data Security Schleswig-Holstein. RISER does not intend to replace existing public registers or build up its own database of personal data, and no personal data is stored in the RISER system.

The RISER project, of which the TSSG is a partner, has been one of the most successful eGovernment projects in the European Commission’s eTEN unit. RISER has built on the need for pan-European address verification by facilitating an eService that allows individuals or businesses to query the civil registers.

For more information contact: Mr Gary McManus E-mail: gmcmanus@tssg.org

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WIT PhD Graduates 2008 Venet Osmani PhD Dr Venet Osmani finished his PhD in 2008 under the principal supervision of Dr Sasitharan Balasubramaniam and joint co-supervision of Dr Dmitri Botvich and Dr William Donnelly of the TSSG research group. Dr Osmani’s thesis focused on the recognition of everyday human activities through various sensors placed in living environments. The concepts and the methodology developed were applied to assist patients with Alzheimer’s disease in leading an independent life.

A major issue faced by Alzheimer’s patients is their inability to properly carry out daily activities. This is due to the cognitive decline that is caused by the disease, and which primarily affects memory areas of the brain.

The developed system can monitor patients’

Dr Osmani’s doctorate work resulted in a number of international journal and conference publications. In addition, he collaborated with various research institutes, including Harvard Medical School, Boston and the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R) in Singapore where he was a visiting research student.

daily activities and provide assistance whenever erratic behaviour is detected, in order to assist patients in completing their activities. As such, patients can lead an independent life, while costs associated with patient care are reduced due to a dimished need for constant care.

of Art, London. Both examiners Cordula Hansen PhD College agreed that this was a piece of interdisciplinary research of the highest standard, and that it would make a significant contribution to our understanding of the interpretive mechanisms of both art and archaeology.

Dr Cordula Hansen was awarded her degree for a ground-breaking exploration of the role that the visual artist can play in the interpretation of archaeological findings or ‘material culture’. The title of her thesis was, “Art and Archaeology – The Role of the Art Practitioner in Interpreting Material Culture”, and it was examined by Dr Michael Wilson of the Dublin Institute of Technology and Professor Steven Scrivener of the Chelsea

The research is based on the claim made recently by archaeologists that a gallery visitor’s encounters with contemporary art are paralleled by the experience of archaeologists when interpreting archaeological remains. This in turn hints at the possibility of a direct relationship between artists, artworks and archaeology.

The aim of Dr Hansen’s research was to investigate this claim from an artist’s perspective. Through practical activities, discourse analysis and meta-critical analysis, her dissertation sought evidence of a reciprocal relationship between contemporary art practice and archaeology with particular emphasis on the role of the

Richard Walsh PhD Dr Richard Walsh recently obtained his PhD following the completion of research under the supervision of Dr Eddy Fitzgerald as a member of the Estuarine Research Group. Dr Walsh’s research focused on the development of a biosorption column for the removal of harmful heavy metals from waste water streams. Novel seaweed based biosorbents were designed for use in a column and were shown to remove significantly more copper and lead than conventional commercial products. The use of a seaweed-based biosorbent has the environmental advantage of being a renewable natural resource.

Dr Osmani has taken up a position as a postdoctoral researcher at the CREATENET research centre in Trento, Italy. He is working on inter-disciplinary research projects that include teams of neuroscientists, therapists and technologists to design and develop residential facilities of the future that tackle cognitive impairments.

For more information contact: Dr Sasitharan Balasubramaniam E-mail: sasib@tssg.org

art practitioner. Findings highlight the value of art practice as an exploratory tool in archaeological research and the importance of practical engagement with materials.

The dissertation consisted of a written thesis and a body of artwork, comprising sculpture, video installations and a series of objets d’art.

The artworks were made in direct response to the research topic, and together with the written text, they specifically address the role of the art practitioner in interpreting material culture, particularly in the context of current archaeological theory.

An exceptionally able and talented researcher, Dr Hansen is the first successful doctoral candidate from the field of Visual Art at WIT, and she will now act as a role model for others to follow.

For more information contact: Dr Peter Jordan E-mail: pjordan@wit.ie

Dr Walsh’s research was presented at national and international conferences throughout his studies and won the prestigious Best Paper Award at the International Society of Applied Phycology conference in 2008.

During his PhD studies, Dr Walsh spent three months in Newfoundland, Canada (based at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College) monitoring the levels of metals in seaweed samples from the Humber River Basin.

Dr Walsh is currently conducting postdoctoral research on odour control from biofilm based waste water treatment systems in the Environmental Change Institute at NUI Galway.

For more information contact: Dr Eddy Fitzgerald E-mail: efitzgerald@wit.ie

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WIT PhD Graduates 2008 Alan Davy PhD

Dr Alan Davy was conferred with his PhD in October 2008 for research work undertaken under the joint supervision of Dr Brendan Jennings and Dr Dmitri Botvich in the Telecommunications Software & Systems Group (TSSG). Together with his twin brother Dr Steven Davy, Dr Davy was a member of the first cohort of PhD graduates from the TSSG.

Dr Davy’s PhD dissertation, entitled “Measurement based Quality of Service Control for Communications Networks,” addresses the broad problem of how the operator of a telecommunications network can optimise this network to ensure that data generated by customers using communications services can be efficiently transferred. Central to the work was the development of a purely empirical approach for the estimation of the effective bandwidth of aggregated data flows.

Effective bandwidth is essentially the amount of network capacity that needs to be allocated to a given customer’s data flows, in order to ensure that, with a given probability, those flows will pass through the network in accordance with a specified delay or data loss target. The dissertation demonstrated how this estimation process

Steven Davy PhD Dr Steven Davy was conferred with his PhD in October 2008 for research work undertaken under the joint supervision of Dr Brendan Jennings of the Telecommunications Software & Systems Group (TSSG) and John Strassner, Fellow and Vice President for Autonomic Networking at Motorola Inc. and Visiting Professor at WIT. Together with his twin brother Dr Alan Davy, Dr Davy was a member of the first cohort of PhD graduates from the TSSG. Dr Davy’s PhD dissertation, titled “Harnessing Information Models and Ontologies for Policy Conflict Analysis,” addresses the problem of how the operator of a telecommunications network can ensure that the configurations of the many devices in the network are consistent with each other and with the business goals of the operator. These configurations are

Helen McGrath PhD

Dr Helen McGrath was recently conferred with her PhD, having completed her research under the supervision of Dr Thomas O’Toole, Head of the WIT School of Business. Funded by the IRCHSS (Irish Research Council for the

typically represented as policies of the form “if an event occurs and given conditions are satisfied, then do the specified action” and are typically authored by many different people, from business analysts to technical personnel specialising in configuration of particular device types.

Dr Davy’s dissertation proposes a formal model of a continuum of policies at various levels of abstraction, and an associated

Humanities and Social Sciences) for the three year duration of her research, Dr McGrath’s PhD thesis concerned business-to-business relationships in a small firm setting.

With the evolution of relationship marketing and networks as a basis for SME marketing, Dr McGrath devised a relational capability construct to define the core skills necessary to conduct relationship marketing successfully in a network context. In addition to the theoretical concept, the research entailed a significant practical component whereby small firms, within an Irish and Finnish setting, were analysed to determine their level of network competence and

can form the basis of cost-effective network planning processes and data flow admission control algorithms for IPTV systems.

The work resulted in a number of peerreviewed publications in major international conference proceedings including the 20th International Teletraffic Congress and the 50th IEEE International Global Communications Conference, as well as a publication in the prestigious journal IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting.

Dr Davy will remain in the TSSG as a postdoctoral researcher funded by the European Commission project EFIPSANS. For more information contact: Dr Brendan Jennings E-mail: bjennings@wit.ie

iterative policy authoring process. It also specifies and evaluates an efficient application-independent process for automated identification of potential conflicts between newly authored policies and previously deployed policies, which, if not identified, could lead to undesirable behaviour. The work resulted in a number of peer-reviewed publications in major international conference proceedings, including the 2008 IEEE/IFIP Network Operations and Management Symposium, and in the prestigious journals Computer Communications and Computer Networks.

Dr Davy will remain in the TSSG as a postdoctoral researcher funded by the European Commission project AutoI. For more information contact: Dr Brendan Jennings E-mail: bjennings@wit.ie

awareness and taught the core dimensions of the construct.

Empirical research supported the appropriateness, applicability and potential of the conceptualisation as a vehicle to address the resource/time pressure on SME marketing practitioners through providing them with marketing route-ways through their existing and potential networks. Dr McGrath’s thesis was examined by Dr Catherine Sutton-Brady of the University of Sydney, Australia.

For more information contact: Dr Thomas O’Toole E-mail: totoole@wit.ie

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WIT PhD Graduates 2008 Fiona Murphy PhD

Dr Fiona Murphy completed her research under the supervision of Dr Larry Stapleton and is the first PhD student to graduate from WIT’s INSYTE Group. Her work was examined

by Prof Dietrich Brandt from Aachen, Germany and Dr Gerry Grenham of the Bankers’ Institute, Dublin.

Dr Murphy’s PhD thesis looked at the area of identifying users’ embedded knowledge requirements during information systems development. Her research set out to investigate and understand how user

embedded knowledge requirements could be transferred from user to developer and then elicited by the developer during the system’s development process.

The detailed case description provided substantial insights into the knowledge transfer processes and techniques that should be employed during every stage of the development lifecycle. By utilising these processes and techniques, developers can ensure that the developed system will meet and support users’ working practices and knowledge needs through the developer’s collaboration with, and involvement of, the users during the development lifecycle. In order for the system to be a success, it must meet and support the users’ performance objectives and knowledge needs. They are the ones who know what they require from the system; thus, their involvement and collaboration in the development of the system is paramount.

Niamh Holland PhD Dr Niamh Holland was recently conferred with her PhD, having completed her research under the supervision of Dr Helen Hughes, Dr Peter McLoughlin and Dr Eleanor Owens as a member of the Pharmaceutical and Molecular Biology Research Centre (PMBRC) in WIT. The thesis focused on identifying the relationship between morphology and the subsequent performance of Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs).

MIPs are rapidly becoming an alternative to naturally occurring biological receptors, and so, an understanding of the physical and chemical properties leading to their molecular recognition capabilities is vital to ensure their further development into commercially viable

John Doran PhD

Dr John Doran received his PhD in October 2008 for research carried out under the joint supervision of Dr Catherine O’Reilly and Dr Pat Duggan at WIT. Dr Doran’s research,

Her research has also expanded the literature on information systems development through the development of a model that will allow systems developers to identify and elicit embedded knowledge requirements. Furthermore, Dr Murphy’s research has expanded the literature on knowledge transfer by illustrating that knowledge transfer processes do not transpire as a sequence but are complex and occur simultaneously.

Dr Murphy’s research has been published in academic journals and has been presented at international conferences.

She is currently lecturing in the Department of Maths, Computing and Physics in the WIT School of Science.

For more information contact: Dr Larry Stapleton E-mail: lstapleton@wit.ie

rebinding data to further probe the relationship between rebinding and polymer morphology. The suitability of a novel polymer characterisation technique, which was previously developed within the research group, was further investigated, resulting in its publication in a peer reviewed journal. products. By varying the initial composition, a range of polymers of varying morphology were synthesised. The physical disparities were confirmed using a variety of techniques, including nitrogen sorption porosimetry. The extent of rebinding of the template species (and structural analogues) was found to be highly dependent on the polymer structure.

Mathematical models were applied to the

funded under the Strand III programme, used molecular biology to produce enzymes as biocatalysts for organic synthesis.

The project extended previous WIT research on genetically modified organisms capable of expressing an enantioselective amidase, a commercially useful enzyme. Using molecular biology techniques, Dr Doran confirmed the integrity of the cloned amidase and optimised its expression in E. coli, before purifying the amidase for use in biocatalysis. The amidase was found to be stereoselective, producing chiral compounds related to the antiinflammatory drug ibuprofen.

Part of Dr Doran’s research, which was partly funded by SFI, was carried out with

Dr Holland’s research was presented at both national and international conferences and received an award at Euroanalysis XIV held in the University of Antwerp, Belgium.

For more information contact: Dr Helen Hughes E-mail: hhughes@wit.ie

research collaborator Dr M. X. Wang at the prestigious Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ICCAS) in Beijing where the amidase was successful with a range of substrates of pharmaceutical interest.

Dr Doran’s research, which has potential for industrial biocatalysis for eco-friendly processing, has resulted in peer reviewed publications and conference presentations.

For more information contact: Dr Catherine O’Reilly E-mail: coreilly@wit.ie or Dr Pat Duggan E-mail: pduggan@wit.ie

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WIT PhD Graduates 2008 Lee Coffey PhD

Nitriles are present in the environment due to biological and industrial activity.

Despite their toxicity, numerous microorganisms have the ability to metabolise nitriles. There is significant interest in using these microbes or their enzymes for the bioremediation of nitrile contamination but more importantly biotransformation reactions (green chemistry).

Dr Lee Coffey received his PhD for research completed under the supervision of Dr Catherine O’Reilly of the Department of Chemical and Life Sciences at WIT. His PhD thesis, which was funded by the IRCSET Embark Initiative, was entitled “Molecular analysis of genes involved in nitrile metabolism in Microbacterium sp. AJ115, Rhodococcus erythropolis AJ270, AJ300 and ITCBP”.

Dr Coffey’s work involved further characterisation of the nitrile hydratase gene cluster (encoding nitrile metabolism) from several bacterial strains at the genetic level.

Several novel genes associated with the gene cluster were identified and the cluster was located in the genome.

Eamon McEvoy PhD

analysis of active drug components and their impurities in pharmaceutical formulations, which have traditionally required long and troublesome analysis procedures. Using both anionic and cationic microemulsions as mobile phases for High Performance Liquid Chromatography and carrier electrolytes for Capillary Electrophoresis techniques, a number of analytical methods were developed and validated.

Having completed his research into the development and application of novel methods for pharmaceutical analysis, Dr Eamon McEvoy was recently conferred with his PhD from WIT. Dr McEvoy conducted his research under the supervision of Dr Sheila Donegan & Dr Joe Power of the Separation Science Research Group at WIT and in collaboration with Dr Kevin Altria, Associate Director of Research and Development, GlaxoSmithKline, Harlow, UK. Dr McEvoy’s research focused on the use of microemulsions (unique mixtures of oil, water, alcohol and surfactant) as media for the rapid and straightforward separation and quantitative

During the course of his studies, Dr Coffey also discovered and studied a novel nitrilase

In conjunction with the development of novel analytical methodologies, Dr McEvoy investigated the suitability and stability of a number of different microemulsion types for pharmaceutical

James Cusack PhD

James Cusack graduated this year with a PhD, having completed his research under the supervision of Dr Catherine O’ Reilly.

Much of Dr Cusack’s research entailed the use of molecular analysis to identify genes responsible for metal accumulation in the red seaweed Polysiphonia lanosa. From tiny single celled species one micrometer in diameter to giant seaweeds over 50 metres long, algae are abundant and ancient organisms that can be found in virtually every ecosystem in the biosphere. Seaweeds are found throughout the world’s oceans and seas and are used in many maritime countries for industrial applications and as a fertiliser. Metal contamination in the marine environment is widespread due to

increases in both anthropogenic and natural sources of pollution. Many species of seaweed have a profound ability to accumulate large concentrations of metal and to act as a biomonitor for metal pollution.

Using the PCR based method of suppression subtractive hybridization, a variety of genes were identified relating to proteins with

gene (encoding nitrile metabolism) residing on a plasmid in the bacterial strains under study, which was previously unreported. This work has provided more insight into the function, horizontal gene transfer and evolution of these genes and plasmids in bacteria.

Dr Coffey’s has presented his work at national and international conferences and has a number of publications in international peer-reviewed journals.

He will remain at WIT to continue his research in this area as a post-doctoral researcher in the Pharmaceutical and Molecular Biotechnology Research Centre (PMBRC).

For more information contact: Dr Catherine O’Reilly E-mail: coreilly@wit.ie

analysis under a range of experimental conditions. Microemulsion HPLC was also investigated for chiral pharmaceutical separations where the presence of various chiral microemulsion components was found to have profound effects on the separations achieved.

During the three years of his PhD, Dr McEvoy published 5 journal papers in top peer reviewed publications, 3 book chapters in publications such as the Encyclopedia of Separation Science and the Handbook of Capillary and Microchip Electrophoresis. He has also presented his research findings at national and international conferences.

For more information contact: Dr Sheila Donegan E-mail: sdonegan@wit.ie

possible functions in membrane transport, DNA repair, protein degradation and folding and general metabolism. These genes may regulate common stress response pathways and through regulation of gene expression, functional proteins may act cooperatively to re-establish cellular homeostasis under stress conditions. Dr Cusack also identified a number of bacterial species on the surface of seaweed that may contribute to its ability to bind and accumulate metal and presented his findings at both national and international conferences. Dr Cusack has recently taken up a position with Abbott Diagnostics in Longford.

For more information contact: Dr Catherine O’Reilly E-mail: coreilly@wit.ie

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Face-to-face tandem language learning for intercultural competence: the TaLLICo project A second goal was to provide participants with the opportunity of a lived experience in order to inject reality and meaningfulness into the concepts associated with intercultural communication theory, e.g. how do perceptions of time vary from culture to culture? What are the historical events which shaped particular cultures? Are there differences in power relationships and what is the importance of hierarchy in different cultures?

The TaLLICo project took form when Dr Fionnuala Kennedy and Dr Áine Furlong of WITs Department of Languages, Tourism and Hospitality, noticed that there was little dialogue between Erasmus and Irish students, let alone intercultural dialogue.

Face-to-face tandem language learning is designed to allow a student to meet a native speaker of the language he/she is learning, and to divide their time between discussions in each language. Each partnership is expected to respect the principles of reciprocity and equality, so that both partners profit equally from the experience.

They are also expected to take charge of their own learning and to practice autonomy in their choice of topic, location and time of meetings.

The project aims to establish how faceto-face tandem language learning, in conjunction with intercultural training, can contribute to learners’ linguistic, intercultural and emotional development.

Tandem language learning was an integral part of the Intercultural Communication module in the second year of the BA in Languages and Marketing in 2006 and 2007, involving a total of 66 Irish and Erasmus students using combinations of English, German, French, Spanish, Swedish, Danish or Dutch. Students were required to meet their tandem partner at least 5 times and to write a report on the experience. This report was part of the continuous assessment for students. Central to these language and intercultural exchanges is the concept of mediation which enabled participants to engage in a Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).

According to Vygotsky, if an 8 year old child is faced with a problem designed for a 12 year old, and the child solves this problem with the help of a more knowledgeable peer, his/ her ZPD will be 4 (12-8). In his view it is more informative to look at this zone of proximal development than to look at fixed stages of development.

Although the researchers were unable to quantify students’ growth from the time they began the tandem partnership and

the time they completed the assignment, students’ own assessment of growth provided relevant evidence. The students’ reports clearly demonstrated a difference between the learner’s state of mind at the beginning and the change that occurred or may occur during the collaborative process with a more knowledgeable peer.

Students mentioned growth in awareness of the self, of others and of the link between language and cultural representations. This research has now been integrated into teaching practice at WIT. The innovative concept that underpins the project is the merging of Intercultural Communication theory, language learning and European Language reflection.

Award – the Language The concept Label 2008 challenges current practice that isolates Intercultural Communicative Competence and language learning from each other. It also questions the assumption that language learners will automatically avail of language opportunities presented by multicultural settings such as a third level campus.

Findings emerging from the analysis of student reflective reports indicate an increase in motivation to improve and use the language as well as a decrease in anxiety of intercultural exchange (particularly among Irish students).

Students gained a deeper understanding of intercultural communication theories through practical application and valued the authenticity of the language exchange based on the principle of reciprocity. Irish students were also less daunted by the prospect of spending a year on Erasmus placement abroad.

As the initiative is now in its fourth year, plurilingualism is encouraged, and some students have begun to learn languages other than their initial target language, e.g. partnerships in Swedish and Danish, French and Arabic, Japanese and German have evolved as a result of this initiative.

In global terms, Edward Said proposed in 2001 that what the world faced was not a clash of civilisations but a clash of ignorance. Such a project contributes to eradicating ignorance of this kind within the Institute through the use of existing resources such as the Erasmus population of WIT. TaLLICo has now been adopted by other colleagues in the Department and has been integrated as a form of assessment in many language programmes in the Institute.

Former Irish EU commissioner, Peter Sutherland initiated the ERASMUS programmes for the benefit of all third level institutions across Europe. The TaLLICo project, recipient of the European Language Award (2008) brings this pioneering work to a new level.

For more information contact: Dr Fionnuala Kennedy E-mail: fkennedy@wit.ie or Dr Áine Furlong E-mail: afurlong@wit.ie

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Tourism Research Cluster at the School of Business, WIT

Members of the Tourism Research Cluster from the School of Business, WIT

In Ireland, tourism is now the largest indigenous industry, with approximately 16,000 tourism enterprises accounting for 10% of total employment and 3.5% of GNP. However, this is a fragmented industry, predominately characterised by individual, small to medium sized enterprises competing in an increasingly global international tourism marketplace. Moreover, it is generally acknowledged that these small tourism firms lack skills in marketing, quality assurance, pricing policy, innovation and management competencies.

In the last five years, the Tourism Research Cluster (TRC) at WIT has been working closely with Fáilte Ireland, the National Tourism Development Authority and other key tourism stakeholders to enhance the competitiveness of the industry.

Indeed, utilising the Irish tourism industry as a laboratory, the TRC undertakes pioneering research into industry-relevant issues and has established itself as one of the leading catalysts of change within the industry. In this capacity, the TRC: Contributes to the advancement of tourism knowledge Provides a research environment that promotes multi-disciplinary tourism research at a graduate level and professional development education of tourism practitioners.

Provides a forum for the dissemination of research findings and best practice models that address the practical matters

that are of direct relevance to tourism practitioners Facilitates the distribution of tourism policy and planning through the development and delivery of tourism seminars, workshops, conferences and publications, which ensures that communities benefit from tourism research.

Since its inception in 2004, the TRC has grown to become one of the largest tourism research groups in the country. The cluster consists of six senior researchers: Dr Anthony Foley, Dr Denis Harrington, Dr Mary T. Holden, Dr Felicity Kelliher, Dr Patrick Lynch and Dr Susan Whelan – with tourism specialisations in strategic planning, marketing and market orientation, consumer behaviour and branding, learning, innovation and networks. Core researchers have published in a wide variety of books, refereed journals and leading international conferences.

The team has acquired funding exceeding €3 million from sources such as Fáilte Ireland, TSR Strand 1, ERDF and WIT’s Behest Cluster Fund.

This core team of senior researchers is supported by 12 full-time funded researchers, both at doctoral and masters level, who are investigating a wide variety of tourism issues including customer loyalty, strategic innovation networks, service innovation, tourism experience concept design and rural tourism innovations, to name a few.

As stated previously, an integral part of the TRC mission is to facilitate the transfer and exploitation of the research outcomes for the benefit of the tourism industry. In this goal, senior researchers are complemented with a talented project management resource in the Fáilte Ireland Tourism Learning Networks - Ms Anne-Marie Frampton, Ms Martha McIvenny, Ms Catherine Murphy, Ms Leana Reinl, Ms Aoife Walsh and Mr John Power - who provide an action-oriented team, suited to guiding practitioners in increasing the competitiveness of their tourism firm. This synergy between teaching, research and practitioner involvement is attained through cluster training initiatives such as the Tourism Wales Ireland Green and Sustainable Project (TWIGS) and the national award winning programme, the Tourism Learning Networks (TLN) which provides business training to the tourism and hospitality industry on a regional basis in the South East and South West of Ireland.

For more information contact: Dr Patrick Lynch E-mail: plynch@wit.ie

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Mind the gap: The client’s role in the quality assurance process in adult guidance progression in guidance evaluation systems. From the client’s perspective, progression is complex, subjective and context specific. Clients can experience both “hard” and “soft” outcomes over a long period of time. It would appear that educational and career progression can be dependent on the client’s expectations, abilities and opportunities at any given time in their lives. However, on a daily basis, adults experience a range of personal and structural barriers that constantly challenge their progress in learning, work and life. As a result, findings from the individual interviews show that clients have definite ideas about how they would like their longterm progression to be evaluated by guidance providers and policymakers.

As the development of quality standards in career guidance is now a national and international public policy issue, the development of a best practice framework for the longterm tracking of client progression in adult guidance is vital. This research, which has been funded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS), addresses a specific gap in this area, namely the ‘voice of the client’ in the quality assurance process. It is now acknowledged that the ultimate outcome of career guidance intervention is progression into education and employment. At a national level, this ‘hard’ outcome is central to Irish government policy to ensure our economic competitiveness. However, this research suggests that current tracking systems used in adult guidance practice neglect to measure the ‘softer’ outcomes of personal development, change and transition that clients experience over a period of time.

The Irish Adult Educational Guidance Initiative (AEGI) was established as a national initiative in 1999 by the Department of Education and Science (DES) to support adults in their educational and career development.

Currently, there are 39 AEGI projects providing guidance support to increasing numbers of clients from Vocational Training Opportunities Schemes (VTOS), literacy groups and adult and community education programmes. This research evolved from an exploratory quantitative study carried out in 2005 in one of these projects, the Regional Educational Guidance Service for Adults (REGSA) at WIT. The findings from the 2005 study highlighted the dearth of empirical research on the longterm evaluation of guidance outcomes in the sector.

This research study examines the multifaceted nature of longterm progression which is inadequately measured by the DES in the client tracking system developed for the AEGI. The study employs a bottom-up, user-centred and

context-dependent approach in the form of a case study of individual progression.

This means that the primary focus of the research is the subjective experiences of the clients on the ground. However, for a deeper understanding of the issues involved in measuring progression, an analysis of the multiple perspectives of the three key stakeholders (clients, guidance practitioners and policymakers) is also being undertaken. The methodology has involved gathering the narratives of a number of clients from the earlier REGSA study to learn about their progression experiences over a seven year time span. In addition, the research has involved focus groups with practitioners in the UK, two observation visits to similar guidance providers in Ireland and Finland, and the analysis of a range of key Irish policy documents.

The research is now moving into the analysis and interpretive stage.

Preliminary findings show that tensions exist between the three stakeholders on how to adequately measure longterm

A national coordinated and comprehensive lifelong guidance service has already been recommended in Guidance for Life: An Integrated Framework for Lifelong Guidance in Ireland (National Guidance Forum, 2007). In terms of quality assurance, the NGF quality guidelines include a framework for developing quality guidance across the sector. However, the systematic tracking of longterm outcomes still needs to be addressed in the AEGI. It is envisaged that the findings from this research study will contribute to this process by providing a model of best practice to track progression which is informed by one of the key stakeholders in the field (i.e. the clients).

This article is a synopsis of a journal article that was awarded second place in the British Journal of Guidance and Counselling Postgraduate Student Competition in June, 2008.

For more information contact: Ms Lucy Hearne E-mail: lhearne@wit.ie

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Do you trust the internet? and system behaviours and performance of their applications were also ascertained. Finally, the need was identified for the creation of a trust management infrastructure that contains adequate management policies for the management and governance of a Future Internet.

The next time you’re booking a flight or accessing an internet service, and just before you click on the “I AGREE” button, consider the comment made by one participant at the inaugural ‘Think-Trust’ workshop, held on September 9th and 10th in Paris: “When recently analysed, many ‘Privacy Agreement Statements’ were found to require at least an MSc or PhD level of education to read and fully comprehend them.”

It is easy to see why the often numerous pages of terms and conditions for accessing certain sites and services go unread by internet users. However, when we mechanically click “I AGREE”, do we really know what we are consenting to?

Or where our newly entered personal details will be stored? Or for how long will they be available? Or who can now access our names, addresses, telephone numbers and perhaps even our bank details? These questions cover just some of the issues and challenges faced by researchers within the Think-Trust project.

Think-Trust is an EU Framework Programme Seven (FP7) project that is coordinated by the TSSG at Waterford Institute of Technology.

One of the project’s primary goals is the mapping out of new Information Communication Technology (ICT) environments where the basic human values of liberty, democracy and privacy are fully represented. An advisory board, RISEPTIS, has been established (Research and Innovation for Security,

Privacy and Trustworthiness in the Information Society), and this body will formulate recommendations on policy environments and further research agenda in an effort to provide the necessary trust, security and dependability in the ‘Future Internet’.

Over 30 people contributed to the workshop including Working Group members, the Think-Trust project, and the EU. The workshop centred on ‘Security, Dependability and Trust in the Future Internet’ (WG1) and ‘Privacy and Trust in the Information Society’ (WG2). The outcome included an initial consensus on how to identify issues and potential solution areas for the Future Internet and the predominately digital environment in which we live. A workshop report has been published and released by the Think-Trust project to the Security community and the European Commission; however, it has not yet been made public.

A number of important topics were identified at the workshop: Issues raised from Working Group 1 (WG1) included the need for a measurement infrastructure at the network, systems and services levels in order to analyse and understand the complexity of emerging threats.

Requirements were identified for the use of a measurement infrastructure to monitor the security status of a system and its services. Technology solutions for addressing the accountability (responsibility) of the activities of service providers, users and other stakeholders,

WG2 identified an inventory of technology innovations which will be explored, such as the issues of privacy, identity management (IDM) and accountability in the information society. These included privacy transparency tool support, user-interface design according to privacy requirements, and a methodology for multiparty security/privacy IDM design.

A path for further collaborative work has been identified and a subsequent workshop will aim to consolidate and build on work in these areas.

All of the above require architectural support and possibly new legal frameworks for security monitoring, observability, measurability, and accountability, as they are not present in the current multi-layer, multi-domain architecture. The same applies for supporting dynamic trust management and user-centric privacy.

A roadmap has been identified for future activities in this area, which will involve a networking session at ICT2008 Lyon. This is a session dedicated to Trust and Identity and will take place at the Future Internet Assembly in Madrid in December 2008. A subsequent working group workshop is planned for Q1 2009.

It is through the interchange of ideas via such workshop events that privacy, trust, security and dependability issues of the information society and the Future Internet will be mapped out and modelled by Think-Trust. The project’s culmination will be the final RISEPTIS report, expected in September 2009, which will be used as input to the European Security Research and Innovation Forum (ESRIF) as well as being presented to the new European Commissioner at that time.

For more information contact: Ms Zeta Dooly E-mail: zdooly@tssg.org Web: www.think-trust.eu

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WIT plays crucial role in international cooperation in trust, security and dependability of ICT systems Dependability of embedded networked systems Dependability of operating systems for embedded systems aimed at practical applications Implications on TSD associated with technology innovation and integration for Information systems with Ultra Low Power Ensuring TSD within creation and distribution environments for advanced digital media technology for daily living, taking into account the viewpoints of both research and user communities Examining the possibility for linkages with international test-beds for ICT security, trust and privacy.

Mr James Clarke, project coordinator of INCO-TRUST, at the Telecommunications Software & Systems Group (TSSG)

Innovation and Communications Technologies (ICT) are one of the key innovations of the last century.

The emergence of the internet has created a global communications environment that has driven the creation of the information society.

The increasing dependence of society on ICT systems has intensified the need for appropriate Trust, Security and Dependability (TSD) solutions for these systems. However, solutions will only be effective if they are implemented globally through international co-operation.

The WIT-led European Framework 7 project INCO-TRUST currently plays a major role in the development of a framework to support international cooperation.

Since it commenced in January 2008, the project has generated a number of ideas regarding global cooperation between EU members, the United States, Australia and Asia. These include co-operation in the organisation of workshops, recruitment for working group members, joint research programmes and possible alignment of programmes of mutual benefit. In May 2008, Mr James Clarke, the project

coordinator of INCO-TRUST, at the Telecommunications Software & Systems Group (TSSG), undertook a week-long trip to Tokyo, Japan. The purpose of the trip was twofold: to give the keynote address to a special session on international cooperation between the EU and Japan at the 5th International Service Availability Symposium (ISAS 2008) and to hold meetings with government and research participants.

Following ISAS 2008, Mr Clarke attended pre-arranged working meetings with the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) and relevant JST sponsored research communities, including members of the Core Research for Evolution Science and Technology (CREST) Programme.

The research areas identified during the meetings for potential collaboration between the EU and Japan included: Security, privacy, trust and dependability of the Future Internet TSD issues within advanced, smaller scale mobile devices

The INCO-TRUST project is designed to facilitate EU R&D communities in addressing these issues, with the support of governments and research communities worldwide. The end goal is to enable mutually beneficial research to be conducted that substantially increases the trust, security and dependability of future networks and enhances existing infrastructures through providing a much greater scale and complexity that would not be possible with EU researchers doing it alone.

The first workshop of INCO-TRUST project takes place between 31st March and 1st April, 2009 in Madrid, Spain.

Government and research participants will attend from all participating countries. The overall theme of the first Workshop will be International Co-Operation in Trustworthy Systems: Security, Privacy and Trust in Large Scale, Cross-border Networks & Service Infrastructures.

For more information contact: Mr James Clarke E-mail: jclarke@tssg.org Web: http://www.inco-trust.eu

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Profile of a researcher: Dr Catherine O’Reilly Dr Catherine O’Reilly obtained a BA (Mod) in Genetics from Trinity College Dublin in 1978 and stayed on in the Genetics Department for her PhD under the supervision of Prof David McConnell. Her PhD studies on unstable mutants in Salmonella typhimurium sparked a life long interest in mobile genetic elements.

Catherine has continued with research in cyanide/nitrile metabolism and has had a very fruitful collaboration with Prof MeiXiang Wang at the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.

This research is one of the core research themes within the Pharmaceutical and Molecular Biotechnology Research Centre (PMBRC).

Following her PhD she spent two years as an European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute in Cologne working on unstable mutants in maize.

This was followed by an EC funded postdoctoral fellowship at Durham University, UK. In 1986, Catherine was appointed to a lectureship in molecular genetics at the University of Sunderland.

Since coming to WIT, Catherine’s research interests have expanded into the exciting area of molecular ecology. In collaboration with Dr Peter Turner at WIT, as well as numerous external collaborators, the Molecular Ecology Group at WIT has developed a range of novel DNA analysis techniques to monitor a wide range of mammals. The work of the group on the pine marten has recently been filmed for the RTE1 programme “Living the wildlife” and will be broadcast in early 2009.

In almost ten years spent at Sunderland, Catherine established a very successful research group in collaboration with ICI Biological Products (subsequently Astra Zeneca). The initial aim was to use genetic engineering techniques to produce the

enzyme cyanide hydratase for potential use in the bioremediation of cyanide.

This research expanded to encompass the genetics and biochemistry of nitrile and cyanide metabolism which is still one of Catherine’s main research interests.

Since joining WIT in October 1995,

For more information contact: Dr Catherine O’Reilly Email: coreilly@wit.ie

Doctoral research on hospital accreditation presented to library at WIT

Dr Brigid M Milner and Prof Kieran Byrne

In April 2008, Dr Brigid M Milner presented the results of her HETAC awarded PhD to the library at Waterford Institute of Technology. The research specifically focused on the implementation process and the impacts associated with healthcare accreditation for acute care hospitals.

Explaining the background to her research, Dr Milner said that accreditation is recognised as the central vehicle for the improvement of healthcare services in Ireland and abroad.

It involves the assessment of work and organisational practices against predefined standards, conducted by multidisciplinary clinical and support services teams. “Accreditation at this level involves a process of identifying risks and opportunities for development and enhancement of health services. Compliance with specific standards is evaluated by an external team of surveyors and, on the basis of this, an accreditation rating is arrived at for the organisation,” said Dr Milner.

Dr Milner’s research highlighted the experiences of clinical and support services team members in a large acute care hospital during the first phase of accreditation. Results showed a range of distinct challenges to the implementation process and, in particular, the absence of active engagement of certain employee groups within multidisciplinary teams.

Upon receiving the research, Prof Kieran Byrne, Director of WIT, said that the study was invaluable in its demonstration of the challenges associated with attempting to implement change within a large public sector organisation while simultaneously continuing to provide on-going services within a demanding context. Prof Byrne said that Dr Milner’s research had, however, also demonstrated a number of positive impacts arising from hospital accreditation. “Dr Milner’s research highlights the benefits and inherent potential of an acute care hospital accreditation scheme in terms of individual employee development, the improvement of working relationships and the movement towards a standardsbased culture,” he added. “In presenting her doctoral thesis to our library, Dr Milner adds to its deposits of intellectual capital and further enhances the hardwon reputation of this Institute for research excellence.”

For more information contact: Dr Brigid M Milner E-mail: bmilner@wit.ie

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Research postgraduate supervision award

Left to right: Dr Venie Martin, Head of Development, Dr Felicity Kelliher, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Management and Organisation, Dr Tom O’Toole, Head of WIT School of Business, Prof Kieran Byrne, Director of WIT

Dr Felicity Kelliher, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Management and Organisation, is the 2008 recipient of the Research Postgraduate Supervision Award. Dr Kelliher is the Course Leader for the Executive MBS in the Management of Change in the School of Business, where she lectures in management and specialises in the

development of management capability.

Her pioneering work on the way in which management learning happens is currently being implemented throughout a range of courses in the School.

A quote from one of the students who nominated Felicity for the award underlines why she is a deserving

recipient: “While always prepared to help, Felicity would show you the destination ahead, but let you chose your own path to get there. Finally and perhaps most importantly, through Felicity’s encouragement, I have surpassed my wildest expectations of achievement. To sum up, my dissertation is now a pleasure and an academic adventure which provides me both with internal satisfaction and external recognition. The evidence of this recognition is that the programme that has been developed in my dissertation is to be trialled in a major multinational, and a paper on this development is soon to be presented at an academic conference.”

Felicity’s colleagues in the School are delighted with her win. Those with whom she works on implementing action-led interventions hope that the award will stimulate even further take-up of this methodology across the School.

For more information contact: Dr Felicity Kelliher E-mail: fkelliher@wit.ie

Recent WIT conferences WIT hosts international symposium on sport psychology profiling system used in the selection of players for their academy and their methods of predicting each player’s potential to advance to a professional level. In their second presentation, they outlined the Athlete-led Team Culture Programme which operates at Blackburn Rovers.

Left to Right - Mr Steve Nickson, Blackburn Rovers FC, Prof Michel Verger, Adjunct Professor MA Sport Psychology, Ms Teresa Hurley, Head of Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Science, Mr Gerry Fitzpatrick, Course Leader - MA Sport Psychology, Mr Tony Faulkner, Blackburn Rovers FC

WIT and the Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Science hosted their first Sport Psychology symposium on November 12th, 2008.

The symposium had an international flavour with keynote presentations from Professor Michel Verger of Blaise Pascal University, Clermont Ferrand in France. Professor Verger presented on the use of performance routines

for place kicking in professional rugby and, in a second presentation, concentrated on the management of pain by swimmers in 400m and 800m events.

Mr Steve Nickson and Mr Tony Faulkner from Blackburn Rovers FC also presented two papers. Their first presentation concentrated on the performance

The final speaker was Sport Psychologist Mr Gerry Hussey who worked with the Irish boxers at the Beijing Olympics. His presentation was based on his experience as a psychologist working at the Olympic Games and focused on the specifics of planning for success with the boxers.

The symposium was attended by over 80 people and was a particularly interesting event for the students on the MA in Sport Psychology course, graduates of the programme and athletes/coaches from a wide selection of sports.

For more information contact: Mr Gerry Fitzpatrick E-mail: gfitzpatrick@wit.ie

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Recent WIT conferences NAIRTL 2nd Annual Conference: “Teaching and learning in higher education: Challenging assumptions” The second annual conference of the National Academy for Integration of Research and Teaching and Learning (NAIRTL), entitled“Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Challenging Assumptions” was held on 13th and 14th November at Waterford Institute of Technology. Leading educationalists from Ireland, the US, Canada and the UK attended the two day conference, and hailed presenters from Washington and Istanbul.

Contributions were also made from over 15 Irish higher education and research institutions.

The conference included a wide range of papers, workshops and posters of interest to all teaching and learning professionals, as well as a post conference ”Teaching in the field” trip along the stunning coastline of County Waterford. Fifty papers were delivered over the course of the two days, covering a wide range of topics from ”A Case Study of Accounting Education and Possibilities for Assessment Innovation

at Third Level“ to “Emotional Intelligence – Too ‘wishy-washy’ for Third Level Education”.

Of keen interest over the two days was the topical, thought provoking debate between Professor Áine Hyland, Emeritus Professor of Education and former VicePresident of UCC, and Martin O’Grady from the Network for Irish Educational Standards. The motion - “Grade Inflation: Improved student grades in higher education are a valid reflection of improvements in teaching and learning” - encouraged lots of lively discussion among the delegates.

Further keynote speakers included Professor Erik Meyer, Director of the Centre for Learning, Teaching and Research in Higher Education at Durham who presented a paper titled ”Helping our students: Learning, metalearning and threshold concepts”. Tom Haffie, the Learning Development Coordinator at the Faculty of Science in the University of Western Ontario presented a paper on

”Using Personal Response Technology to Enhance Student Engagement”. Professor Margaret Price, Director of ASKe, Centre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Oxford Brookes University presented on ”Assessment as a Learning Experience” and Shane Kelly, President, Union of Students in Ireland, also enthralled with a paper on ”Understanding Student Feedback in the Quality Assurance Process”.

Abstracts of all papers presented are available on the NAIRTL website and all keynotes and a number of parallel sessions (which were recorded by Educational Services/AV Unit here at WIT) will also be available to download.

For more information contact: Ms Lynne Cusack E-mail: lcusack@wit.ie Web: www.nairtl.ie

Science, religion and culture conference at WIT Gary McDarby, MD and founder of ICE (a philanthropic organisation focusing on technological innovations serving society); and theologian Professor Eamonn Conway of Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick.

Knowledge, Truth, Wisdom - SophiaEuropa International Conference at WIT. L-R, Dr Eric Weislogel, Metanexus Institute, Dr Gary McDarby, ICE, Prof Tom Inglis, UCD and Dr Michael Howlett, WIT

Over the past three years, the Centre for Social and Family Research has received funding from the Metanexus Institute (Philadelphia, USA) through the SophiaEuropa research project.

SophiaEuropa is a European research project that has enabled staff in the Department of Applied Arts to join with academics in an interdisciplinary dialogue across the disciplines of Science and Religion.

The search for knowledge, truth and wisdom was placed centre stage from 6th - 8th May 2008 when WIT hosted the Third International SophiaEuropa Conference. The conference brought together some leading thinkers from the fields of sociology, science and theology. The keynote speakers included sociologist Professor Tom Inglis of University College Dublin; Biomedical Research Scientist Dr

Members of the WIT research team working on the SophiaEuropa project include theologians, social scientists and scientists. To date, the project has led to several networking and seminar events, with many Irish field leaders in theological, humanities and social science research groups in attendance, such CORI Justice, Mary Immaculate College (UL), All Hallows College and Milltown Institute.

International participants include KULeuven, Belgium; Institute of Fundamental Theology, Graz, Austria; and Kaunas Catholic University, Lithuania.

For more information contact: Dr Michael Howlett E-mail: mhowlett@wit.ie

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Books Keating on Probate by Dr Albert Keating The third edition of Keating on Probate

by Dr Albert Keating, Barrister-at-Law and WIT lecturer, was published

by Thomson Round Hall in 2007, making it the tenth book published by Dr Keating to date.

Keating on Probate is divided into four parts consisting of thirty-four chapters. Part One, under the heading of “Probate Law”, deals with the execution of a will and the capacity to make one, the revocation and revival of wills, testamentary gifts, trusts and the equitable doctrines that may modify the effect of testamentary gifts and trusts. It also deals with the legal right of a surviving spouse and claims

by the children of a testator under s.117 of the Succession Act of 1965.

Part Two, under the heading of “Personal Representatives and Trustees”, commences with a chapter dealing with the appointment of personal representatives and trustees. It addresses the administration and distribution of estates and the powers that may be exercised by personal representatives and trustees when carrying out their duties in relation to the estate and trusts estate respectively.

Part Three, “Construction of Wills”, commences with a chapter dealing with the testator’s intention and the court’s duty to give effect to it when construing a will. Part Four, entitled “Probate Practice”, deals with the practical aspects of probate, including grants of probate and letters of administration, citations and caveats, probate motions and s.27(4) applications, probate and administration actions, and construction suits. The book also contains four chapters dealing with specimen wills, probate forms, Succession Act forms and the forms used in High Court and Circuit Court proceedings respectively.

For more information contact: Dr Albert Keating E-mail: akeating@wit.ie

Approaches to Learning by WIT academics Approaches to Learning is written by three members of WIT academic staff: Anne Jordan and Orison Carlile from the School of Education, and Annetta Stack from the School of Science. The book aims to make life easier for educators by gathering together the theoretical approaches informing the modern principles and practices of western education.

A series of stand-alone chapters offers theoretical perspectives drawn from philosophy, psychology, sociology and pedagogy that guide educational principles and practice. Designed as an introductory course text for university education and teacher training programmes, the book provides an invaluable resource for all who

internationally, with sales in Australia, Asia, mainland Europe and the UK and Ireland; over half the print run was sold within the first two months of publication.

wish to reflect on their educational constructs and explore and engage in the modern discourse of education.

Approaches to Learning is proving very popular

Professor Sally Brown, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Leeds Metropolitan University stated that, “This book provides a really sound grounding in the theories that underpin successful teaching and learning. Without over-simplification, it provides accessible introductions to the key learning theories with which teachers and students are likely to engage, and it has immense practical value.”

For more information contact: Dr Anne Jordan E-mail: ajordan@wit.ie

Book Chapters The Turn to Aesthetics In June 2007, an international conference entitled, ’The Turn to Aesthetics’, was held at Liverpool Hope University, that included contributions from Dr Cordula Hansen and Dr Peter Jordan, both from WIT’s Department of Creative and Performing Arts.

to art and health. Both papers are now available in a substantial publication, entitled ‘The Turn to Aesthetics: An interdisciplinary exchange of ideas in applied and philosophical aesthetics’, edited by Dr Clive Palmer and Professor David Torevell, and published by Liverpool Hope University Press.

Dr Hansen’s paper examined the ‘Turn to Aesthetics’ in current archaeological theory, and Dr Jordan’s paper, entitled, ‘Taking the Aesthetic Temperature’, considered aesthetical issues in relation

The discussion in the book is divided into three broad strands: topics related to subjects that have a history of substantial involvement with aesthetics, such as philosophy and theology; those with new

affiliations, such as sports studies and management; and those which focus on applied dimensions such as the arts and education. The net result is a stimulating array of topics indicative of the range of aesthetic knowledge and applications of aesthetic thought.

A copy of the book is available in the WIT College St. Library.

For more information contact: Dr Peter Jordan E-mail: pjordan@wit.ie

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Recent WIT publications BOOKS

Jordan, A, Carlile, O. & Stack, A. (2008) ‘Approaches to Learning’, McGraw Hill Keating, A (2007) ‘Keating on Probate’ Dublin, Thomson Round Table BOOK CHAPTERS

Denny, M. Redmond-Stokes, O. Wells, J. Weber, E., O’Sullivan, K. & Taylor, M. (2008) ‘The Learning Experience: A New Approach to Optimise Student Learning’, in Callara, E. (eds.) Nursing Education Challenges in the 21st Century, New York: Nova Science Publisher, pp.

23-48 Denieffe, S. Denny, M. & Wells, J. (2008) ‘Professional and Ethical Challenges in Mental Health Nursing’, in Morrisey, J. Keogh, B., & Doyle. L. (eds.) Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing An Irish Perspective, Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, Chpt4, pp.47-60 Felicia, P. & Pitt, I.J. (2008) ‘Harnessing the Emotional Potential of Video Games’ in Handbook of Research on Effective Electronic Gaming in Education, R. Ferdig (ed.) pp. 893-911 Freeman, A., Stapleton, L. & Byrne, G. (2008) ‘The Information Systems Security Development Process: Through An Anthropological Lens’, in Barry, C., Lang, M., Wojtkowski, W., Wojtkowski, G., Wrycza, S., & Zupancic, J. (eds), The Inter-Networked World: ISD Theory, Practice, and Education, Springer-Verlag: New York Furlong, A. (2007) ‘The relationship between creativity and plurilingualism/culturalism’, in Bernaus, Andrade, Kervran, Murkowska and Trujillo-Saez (eds) Language Educator Awareness, Graz: ECML Fynes, B. & Lally, A. (2008) ‘Innovation in Services: From Service Concepts to Service Experiences’, in Hefler, B. & Murphy, W. (eds) Service Science, Management and Engineering Education for the 21st Century, Springer: US Hansen, C. (2008) ‘Experiment and Experience – Practice in a Collaborative Environment’, in Cunningham, Heeb and Paardekooper (eds.) Experiencing Archaeology by Experiment, Oxford: Oxbow Books Hansen, C. (2008) ‘The turn to aesthetics in archaeological theory – experiencing materiality through art and experiment’, in Palmer and Torevell (eds.) The Turn to Aesthetics, Liverpool: Liverpool Hope University Press Jordan, P. (2008) ‘Taking the Aesthetic Temperature’ in Palmer and Torevell (eds), The Turn to Aesthetics, Liverpool: Liverpool Hope University Press Mullally, B. & Stapleton, L. (2008) ‘Methodology Usage by Virtual Information Systems Development Teams’, in Barry, C., Lang, M., Wojtkowski, W., Wojtkowski, G., Wrycza, S., & Zupancic, J. (eds) The Inter-Networked World: ISD Theory, Practice, and Education, Springer-Verlag: New York Ovaska, P. & Stapleton, L. (2008) ‘Requirements Engineering during Complex ISD: a Sensemaking Approach’, in Barry, C., Lang, M., Wojtkowski, W., Wojtkowski, G., Wrycza, S., & Zupancic, J. (eds) The Inter-Networked World: ISD Theory, Practice, and Education, Springer-Verlag: New York.

JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS

Bergin, M., Wells J. & Owen S. (2008) ‘Critical Realism: a philosophical framework for the study of gender and mental health’, Nursing Philosophy, 9, 169-179 Carew, P., Stapleton, L. & Byrne, G. (2008) ‘Implications of an Ethic of Privacy for Human-Centred Systems Engineering’, in Artificial Intelligence and Society (Quarterly Journal of Human Centred Systems and Machine Intelligence), 22(3), pp. 385-403 Cregg, P. J., Murphy, K. & Mardinoglu, A. (2008) ‘Calculation of nanoparticle capture efficiency in magnetic drug targeting’, Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials vol. 320 pp. 3272-3275 Cregg, P. J., García-Palacios, J.L., Svedlindh, P. & Murphy, K. (2008) ‘Low-field susceptibility of classical Heisenberg chains with arbitrary and different nearest-neighbour exchange’ Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, vol. 20 pp. 411-415 Cregg, P. J., García-Palacios, J.L & Svedlindh, P. (2008) ‘Partition Functions of Classical Heisenberg Spin Chains with Arbitrary and Different Exchange’, Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical, vol. 41 pp.435202-09 Denny, M., Weber, E., Wells, J., Redmond Stokes, O., Lane, P. & Denieffe, S. (2007) ‘Matching purpose with practice: Revolutionising Nurse Education with MITA’, Nurse Education Today, Vol 28, Issue 1, pp.100-7 Gardiner, G.E., Campbell, A.J., O’ Doherty, J.V., Pierce, E., Lynch, P.B., Leonard, F.C., Stanton, C., Ross, R.P. & Lawlor, P.G. (2008) ‘Effect of Ascophyllum nodosum extract on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, carcass characteristics and selected intestinal microflora populations of grower-finisher pigs’. Animal Feed Science and Technology 141, 259-273 Gardiner, G.E., Rea, M.C., O’ Riordan, B., O’ Connor, P., Morgan, S.M., Lawlor, P.G., Lynch, P.B., Cronin, M., Hill, C. & Ross, R. P. (2007) ‘Fate of the two-component lantibiotic lacticin 3147 in the gastrointestinal tract’, Applied and Environmental Microbiology 73, 7103-7109 Gooney, M.A., Murphy, L. O’Donovan, O., Lane, P. & Watson, G. (2008) ‘Cancer related fatigue and depression in breast cancer survivors’, Irish Journal of Medical Science 177 supplement 1:24 Hearne, L. (2008) ‘A Trip to the Capitol: Observations from the NCDA Global Conference 2008’, In IGC Guideline, Vol.32, Issue 1 Hearne, L. (2008) ‘The Role of the Client in Adult Guidance Research: An Irish Public Policy Issue’, Career Convergence Web Magazine, www.ncda.org Hearne, L. (2008) ‘Observation of Adult Guidance Practice in Finland’, NAEGA News and Views Hearne, L. (2008) ‘An examination of the client’s contribution to the design of longitudinal tracking systems in adult guidance practice’, TUI Congress Journal; United for Progress Houlihan, J. & Kelleher, C. (2008) ‘Stability properties of current profiled quantum dot’, Opt. Commun., 281, 1156

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Recent WIT publications Kirby, M.L., Galea, M., Loane, E., Stack, J., Beatty, S. & Nolan, J.M. (2008) ‘Foveal Anatomic Associations with the Secondary Peak and the Slope of the Macular Pigment Spatial Profile’, Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science Loane, E., Kelliher, C., Beatty, S. & Nolan, J.M. (2008) ‘The rationale and evidence base for a protective role of macular pigment in age-related maculopathy’, British Journal of Ophthalmology, 92(9):1163-8 Loane, E., Nolan, J.M., O’Donovan, O., Bhosale, P., Bernstein, P.S. & Beatty, S. (2008) ‘Transport and retinal capture of lutein and zeaxanthin with reference to age-related macular degeneration’, Survey of Ophthalmology, 53(1):68-81 Loane, E., Stack, J., Beatty, S. & Nolan, J.M. (2007) ‘Measurement of macular pigment optical density using two different heterochromatic flicker photometers’, Current Eye Research, 32(6):555-64 McGibney, J. & Botvich, D. (2008) ‘A trust based system for enhanced spam filtering’, Journal of Software (JSW), 3(5): pp 55-64 O’Byrne, R.P., Sergeyev, S.V., Flavin, D.A., Nikogosyan, D.N. & Jones, J.D.C. (2008) ‘Strain and temperature characterization of fiber Bragg gratings written by high intensity UV pulses’, IEEE Sensors Journal, Vol. 8, pp.1256 - 1264 O’Driscoll, I, Piwonski, T., Houlihan, J., Huyet, G., Manning, R.J. & Corbett, B. (2007) ‘Phase dynamics of InAs/GaAs quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifiers’, Appl. Phys. Lett., 91, 263506 Moran, S. (2008) ‘After Behaviourism, Navigationism?’, Irish Educational Studies, Vol. 27, Issue 3, September, pp.209–221 Nolan, J.M., Stringham, J.M., Beatty, S. & Snodderly, D.M. (2008) ‘Spatial profile of macular pigment and its relationship to foveal architecture’, Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 49(5):2134-42

Sergeyev, S., O’Mahoney, K., Popov, S. & Friberg, A. T. (2008) ‘Upconversion assisted self-pulsing in a high-concentration erbium doped fiber laser’, Central European Journal Physics Sergeyev, S., Popov, S., Friberg, A. T. (2008) ‘Raman amplification with reduced polarization impairments in the fibre with tailored spin profile’, Central European Journal Physics Stapleton, L. (2008) ‘Ethical Decision Making In Technology Development: A Case Study Of Participation In A Large-Scale Information Systems Development Project’, in Artificial Intelligence and Society (Quarterly Journal of Human Centred Systems and Machine Intelligence), 22(3), pp. 405-429 Walsh, M.C., Gardiner, G.E., Hart, O.M., Daly, M., Lynch, P.B., Lawlor, P.G., Richert, B.T., Radcliffe, J.S., Giblin, L., Hill, C., Fitzgerald, G.F., Stanton, C. & Ross, R.P. (2008) ‘Predominance of a bacteriocinproducing Lactobacillus salivarius component of a five-strain probiotic in the porcine ileum and effects on host immune phenotype’, FEMS Microbiology Ecology 64, 317-327 Zhang, R., Popov, S., Friberg, A.T. & Sergeyev, S. (2008) ‘Efficiency Enhancement in Microcavity Solid-state Dye Laser with Bragg-grating Reflectors’, Central European Journal Physics CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

Barry, M., Kehoe A. & Pitt I. (2008) ‘Usability Evaluation of Educational Game Software for Children with Autism’, World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications (pp.

1366-1370), Chesapeake, VA: AACE Barry, M., & Pitt I. (2008) ‘Special Needs Interaction Design and Eyetracking: An Insight into Learning?’ in iHCI Irish Human Computer Interaction Conference 2008 (pp. 7-10), Cork, Ireland: I-HCI

O’Connell, E.D., Nolan, J.M., Stack, J., Greenberg, D., Kyle, J., Maddock, L. & Beatty, S. (2008) ‘Diet and risk factors for age-related maculopathy’, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 87(3):712-22

Bennett, C. & Doyle, L. (2008) ‘Big Wave Surfing; Sensation Seeking or Rational Assessment?’, Conference proceedings, Poster Presentation, Presented at the British Association of Sport and Exercise Science Annual Conference, Brunel University, U.K., 2nd - 4th September, 2008

Osmani, Q., Hughes, H., Flavin, K., Hedin-Dahlstrom, J., Allender, C., Frisby, J. & McLoughlin, P. (2008) ‘The use of FTIR and NMR spectroscopies to study prepolymerisation interactions in nitrogen heterocycles’, Analytical & Bioanalytical Chemistry, Vol. 391, Issue 4, pp. 1229-1236

Bolger, M. & Doyle, L. (2008) ‘Effect of on 8-week supplementation with n-3 fatty acids on anxiety in competitive athletes’, Conference proceedings, Poster Presentation, Presented at the British Association of Sport and Exercise Science Annual Conference, Brunel University, U.K., 2nd - 4th September

Popov, S., Dong, L., Sergeyev, S. & Friberg, A.T. (2008) ‘Spatial light modulator as reconfigurable intracavity dispersive element for tunable lasers’, Central European Journal Physics

Denwood, A, Lynch, P. & Harrington, D. (2008) ‘A Study of Strategic Innovation Practices Within the Irish Tourism Sector’, in Proceedings of Irish Academy of Management Conference, UCD, Dublin, September 3-5

Quinn Whelton, N., Killen, L. & Buckley, F. (2007) ‘Detection of Abnormal Recordings in Irish Milk Recorded Data’, Irish Journal of Agricultural and Food Research, 46:117 127 Ricciardi, S., Popov, S., Friberg, A. T. & Sergeyev, S. (2008) ‘Odd-mode depletion in microcavity solid-state dye laser’, Journal of Physics: Conference series Vol. 100, pp.052048 -052052 Sergeyev, S., Popov, S. & Friberg, A. T. (2008) ‘Spun fibre Raman amplifiers with reduced polarization impairments’, Optics Express, Vol.16, pp.14380-14389

Donnelly, M., Holden, M. T. & Lynch, P. (2008) ‘Building Customer Loyalty: Creating Value Through Customer Experiences.’ in Proceedings of the Tourism and Hospitality Research and in Ireland Conference, Institute of Technology, Tralee Donnelly, M., Lynch, P. & Holden, M. T. (2008) ‘Building Customer Loyalty: A Conceptualisation.’ in Proceedings of the Irish Academy of Management Conference, UCD, Dublin, September 3-5 Doyle, N. & Lynch, P. (2008) ‘Understanding the Impact Narcissistic Leadership has on Middle Management: An Exploratory Case Study’ in Proceedings of the Irish Academy of Management Conference, UCD, Dublin, September 3-5

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Recent WIT publications Dobson, A.E., Crispie, F., Rea, M.C., Gardiner, G.E., O’Connor, P.M., Lawlor, P.G., Hill, C. & Ross, R.P. (2008) ‘The fate of the bacteriocin producer Lactococcus lactis in the mammalian gastrointestinal tract’, In Proceedings Irish Society of Gastroenterology Winter Meeting, November 13 -14, Trim, Co. Meath, Ireland Dobson, A.E., Crispie, F., Rea, M.C., Gardiner, G.E., Lawlor, P.G., Hill, C. & Ross, R.P. (2008) ‘Gastrointestinal survival of a bacteriocinproducing Lactococcus lactis’, Proceedings of the Agricultural Biotechnology International Conference (ABIC), August 24 - 27, University College Cork, Ireland Dobson, A.E., Crispie, F., Rea, M.C., Gardiner, G.E., Lawlor, P.G., Hill, C. & Ross, R.P. (2008) ‘The fate of the lacticin 3147-producing Lactococcus lactis in the mammalian gastrointestinal tract’, Proceedings of the 9th Symposium on Lactic Acid Bacteria, August 31 - September 4, Egmond aan Zee, The Netherlands

Kelliher, F., (2008) ‘Addressing the invisible workforce: exploring employee learning in the micro-firm environment’, 31st Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship Conference Proceedings, Belfast, November 4-7 Kervran, M., Jonckheere, S. & Furlong, A. (2008) ‘Langues et éducation au plurilinguisme: principes et activités pour la formation des enseignants’, in M Candelier, G. Loannitou, D. Omer and M-T Vasseur (eds) Conscience du plurilinguisme, Rennes: PUR , pp. 263-74 Lee, D., Quinn Whelton, N., McCarthy, M. (2007) ‘Web broser device communication for shop floor information systems’, Proceedings of the 24th International Manufacturing Conference: August 29th, 30th 2007, Cork Road, Waterford, Pg 455 462 Moran, S. (2008) ‘The Teacher as Phronimos’, SCoTENS published conference proceedings, Dublin: St Patrick’s Drumcondra

Drohan, S. & Widger, L. (2008) ‘Social networking the problem-based learning process’, Proceedings of the 6th Education and Information Systems, Technologies, and Applications (EISTA) Conference, Orlando, Florida

Mulhall, C. (2008) ‘The Lemmatisation of Lexically Variable Idioms: The Case of Bilingual Italian-English Dictionaries’, in Bernal, E. and DeCesaris, J. (eds.) Proceedings of the XIII EURALEX International Congress, July

Edwards, S. & Losty, C. (2008) ‘The effects of self monitoring and self monitoring plus extra staff attentions on self esteem, stage of change and self efficacy’, Conference proceedings, of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Science Annual Conference Brunel University, U.K., 2nd - 4th September

Mulhall, C. (2008) ‘Semantics and the lemmatisation of idiomatic expressions: an analysis of Bilingual Italian-English Dictionaries’, LangUE (2007), University of Essex, November

Felicia, P. and Pitt, I.J. (2007) ‘Evaluating the Effect of Personalities on the Design of Educational Games’, Proceedings of the ECGBL Conference, Paisley, October Furlong, A. (2007) ‘L’Enseignement d’une Matière par l’Intégration d’une Langue Etrangère/Content and Language Integrated Learning.

De quoi s’agit-il? Pour quelles raisons et comment s’y prendre?’

Proceedings of Le Français en Irlande: Vers un Nouveau Dynamisme, Dublin: D.I.T., pp.49-56 Gardiner, G.E., Walsh, M.C., Hart, O.M., Lawlor, P.G., Daly, M., Richert, B.T., Radcliffe, J.S., Giblin, L., Hill, C., Fitzgerald, G.F., Stanton, C. & Ross, R.P. (2007) ‘Predominance of a bacteriocin-producing Lactobacillus salivarius in the porcine ileum versus faeces’, Proceedings of the Irish Society of Gastroenterology Winter Meeting, November 29 -30, Dublin, Ireland Hart, O.M., Gardiner, G.E., Upadrasta, A., Lawlor, P.G. P. Lynch, P.B., Walsh, M., Hill, C., Fitzgerald, G.F., Ross, R.P. & Stanton, C. (2007) ‘Systemic and local immunomodulatory effects of the probiotic culture mix, Live-5’, Proceedings of the Irish Society of Gastroenterology Winter Meeting, November 29 - 30, 2007, Dublin, Ireland Holden, M. T. & Lynch, P. (2008) ‘Knowledge Transfer Efficiency in Collaborative Networks: Examining the Affect of Interpersonal Relationships and Interpersonal Communication Patterns’, Proceedings of the Irish Academy of Management Conference, UCD, Dublin, September 3-5 Hussey, J., Holden, M. T. & Kelliher, F. (2008) ‘Examining the Measurement Issues in the Evaluation of Fáilte Ireland’s Tourism Learning Network Initiative’, in Proceedings of the Tourism and Hospitality Research and in Ireland Conference, Institute of Technology, Tralee

O’ Donohoe, S., Hanley, A. & Lyons, C. (2008) ‘Relationship Banking within the Irish SME sector and its Implications’, 19th Annual Conference of the Irish Accounting and Finance Association Annual Conference, Athlone 9th May Popov, S., Zhang, R., Friberg, A.T. & Sergeyev, S.V. (2008) ‘Microcavities and Lasers’, OSA annual meeting Frontiers in Optics (FiO)/Laser Science, October 19-23, 2008 Rochester, USA, presentation number FTuAA6 Ryan, S.T., Quinn Whelton, N. & McCarthy, M. (2008) ‘Self healing computer systems: their role in future system designs’, Proceedings of the 25th International Manufacturing Conference: September 3rd 5th, Bolton Street Dublin, Pg 591 598

Saunders, E. & Losty, C. (2008) ‘The effects of acute bout of aerobic exercise on short term memory and concentration in older adults’, Conference proceedings, Oral Presentation, BASES Annual Conference Sergeyev, S., Popov, S.& Friberg, A. T. (2008) ‘Characterization of Randomly Varying Birefringence in Long Single Mode Fibers’, OFC’2008, San-Diego, USA, 24-26 February, Pres. no.: OWG2 Sergeyev, S., Popov, S. & Friberg, A. T. (2008) ‘Spun Fiber Raman Amplifiers’, OSA annual meeting Frontiers in Optics (FiO)/Laser Science, October 19-23, Rochester, USA, presentation number FTuG1 Stack, A. (2008) ‘A Report on the Dual Learning Outcomes of Implementing a Problem-based Learning Approach within the Multimedia Applications Classroom’, Quality Assessment Employability - Innovation SEFI International Conference, Aalborg 2-5 July, pp.191-198 Walsh, L. & Barry, M., (2008) ‘Demystifying the Interface for Young Learners with Autism’. In Proceedings of IADIS International Conference IHCI 2008, part of MCCSIS 2008, (pp. 308-313), Amsterdam, Netherlands: IADIS

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Recent WIT publications Walsh, L. & Barry, M. (2008) ‘A Multimedia Instruction to Enhance the Social Skills of the Young Learner with Autism’, In Proceedings of ALT-C 2008: Re-thinking the Digital Divide, Leeds, UK: Association for Learning Technology

Davison, P.A., Loughman, J., Scanlon, G., Nolan, J. & Beatty, S. (2008) ‘Macular pigment and its correlation with colour vision and SWAP perimetry’, European Association for Vision and Eye Research (EVER), Portoroz, Slovenia, October 1st – October 4th

Walsh, L. & Barry, M. (2008) ‘A Visual Narrative for Teaching Social Routines: Animations for Young Learners with Autism’, In Proceedings of Irish Human Computer - Interaction Conference 2008, (pp. 139141) Cork, Ireland: I-HCI

Denny, M. (2008) ‘Exploring multiple intelligence in the context of teaching and learning in undergraduate nursing education in Ireland’, NAIRTL The National Academy 2nd Annual Conference-Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Challenging Assumptions, Waterford Institute of Technology

Widger, L. & Drohan, S. (2008) ‘How can technology be efficiently used to support communication, collaboration and assessment associated with the problem-based learning process?’, Proceedings of the 2nd National Academy for Integration of Research and Teaching and Learning (NAIRTL) Conference, Waterford, Ireland Yu, G. & Barry, M. (2008) ‘Features in the IMS Learning Design Specification to Support Special Needs Learning’, in Proceedings of World Conference onEducational Multimedia, Hypermedia and Telecommunications 2008 (pp. 5523-5528), Chesapeake, VA: AACE Zhang, R., Popov, S., Friberg, A.T. & Sergeyev, S. (2008) ’Tolerance of polymeric microcavity laser against shape imperfections’, in Proceedings the OSA Topical Conference on Nanophotonics, NANO, May 26-29, Nanjing, China CONFERENCES & SYMPOSIA

Akkali, M.C., Loughman, J., Nolan, J.M., Beatty, S., O’Dwyer, V. & Davison, P.A. (2008) ‘Macular pigment and its contribution to spatial vision’, European Association for Vision and Eye Research (EVER), Portoroz, Slovenia, October 1st – October 4th Byrne, G. & Stapleton, L. (2008) ‘The Role of Personal Values in the Development Of International Business Managers’, in Proceedings of the European Institute of Advanced Management Studies International Conference in International Strategy & Cross Cultural Management, University of Navarre, Spain Cass, M., O’Donnell, S. & Power, P. (2008) ‘The use of video feedback in communication skills teaching’, Ninth Annual Irish Educational Technology Users’ Conference, Dundalk Institute of Technology, May 22-24 Claffey, E.A. & Brady, M. (2008) ‘Exploring the Applicability of Models of Technology Acceptance and Adoption in the Context of Emerging Information and Communication Technologies’, British Academy of Management Conference, UK, September

Denny, M. (2008) ‘Exploring Multiple Intelligence in the Context of Teaching and Learning in Undergraduate Nursing Education in Ireland’, Globalisation of Research through Technology, Singapore Denny, M. (2008) ‘A Multiple Intelligence Teaching Approach (MITA) in Undergraduate Education’, 10th International Conference on Education, Athens: Institute for Education and Research Denny, M. (2007) ‘Exploring Multiple Intelligence in the Context of Teaching and Learning in Undergraduate Nursing Education in Ireland’, Eastern Nursing Research Society-19th Annual Scientific Sessions -Building Communities of Scholarship and Research, Rhode Island: Providence Denny, M., Wells, J. & Denieffe, S. (2008) ‘Multiple intelligence teaching approach (MITA) in Third Level Education’, London, King’s College Denny, M., Wells, J. & Denieffe, S. (2008) ‘Multiple Intelligence Teaching Approach (MITA)’, Letterkenny Institute of Technology Denny, M., Wells, J. & Denieffe, S. (2007) ‘Education, MITA Model and MI Research’. Hong Kong, University of Hong Kong Denny, M., Wells, J. & Denieffe, S. (2007) ‘A Multiple Intelligence Teaching Approach (MITA) in Undergraduate Education’, Waterford Institute of Technology Felicia, P. & Pitt, I.J. (2008) ‘Personalising Educational Games to Students’ Learning Styles’, International Technology in Education and Development Conference, Valencia, Spain, March Fenton, P. (2008) ‘Investigating the Role of the Project Manager in IS Projects’, Irish Academy of Management, DCU Dublin 3-5 September

Claffey, E.A. (2008) ‘Modelling the Acceptance of Next Generation ICTs: A Critical Approach’, Academy of Marketing Conference, UK, July

Freeman, A., Stapleton, L. & Byrne, G. (2008) ‘Systems Security Problems and Cultural Meanings in Control and Automation Systems: Empirical Evidence for Value Conflicts in Systems Engineering’, International Federation of Automation and Control Triennial World Congress, Seoul, Korea

Claffey, E.A. & Brady, M. (2008) ‘Towards a model of technology attribute acceptance: A Review of the evolution of technology acceptance theory’, European Academy of Management Conference (EURAM), Ljubljana & Bled Slovenia, May

Furlong, A. (co-authored) (2008) ‘From Teaching to Learning: Challenging assumptions in Intercultural communication with faceto-face tandem Language learning’, NAIRTL 2nd annual conference, W.I.T.

Clarke, J., Donnelly, W., Howker, K., Walland, P., Surridge, M., Liotopoulos, F., Naqvi, S., Ridel, L., Shafran, G. & H oepman, J. H. (2008) ‘Security, Privacy and Trust Challenges for Networked and Electronic Media’, NEM (Networked and Electronic Media) Summit, Saint-Malo, France, 13-15 October

Furlong, A. (co-authored) (2008) ‘Challenging assumptions in language learning and teaching: a CLIL experience at WIT’, NAIRTL 2nd annual conference, W.I.T. Furlong, A. (2008) ‘ConBaT+: an ECML project adding a plurilingual dimension to CLIL’, CLIL Fusion conference, Tallinn, Estonia

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Recent WIT publications Furlong, A. (2008) ‘Building a CLIL community in the South East of Ireland: Slowly and Surely’, CLIL Fusion, Tallinn, Estonia Furlong, A. (2008) ‘Insights into a CLIL third level experience’, 15th world congress of AILA, Essen, August 2008, Multilingualism: Challenges and Opportunities Hansen, C. (2008) ‘Archaeological Representation since the 1850s’, Classical Association of Ireland Summer School, Waterford Institute of Technology (15th - 17th August) Hansen, C. (2007) ‘Umha Aois/The Bronze Age 4,000 Years on – Experiment and Experience’, Experimental Archaeology Conference, University of Exeter (17th -18th November) Hearne, L. (2008) ‘Guidance and Older Adults: Case Study Research’, Irish Research Association of Adult and Community Education (IRAACE) Conference, NCI, Dublin, November Hearne, L. (2008) ‘Dual Positions: The Practitioner-Researcher in Adult Guidance’, National Adult Educational Guidance Association (NAEGA) Annual Conference, Keeble College, Oxford, UK. September Hearne, L. (2008) ‘Contributing to Public Policy: The role of the client in adult guidance research; an Irish perspective’, National Career Development Association (NCDA) Annual Conference, Washington D.C, USA. July Holden, M., Kelliher, F., Frampton, A., Foley, A., Lynch, P., (2008) ‘Leveraging communities of practice to meet the learning and innovation needs of SMEs in Ireland’s tourism sector’, Workshop Session 2, International Society of Travel and Tourism Educators (ISTTE) 27th Annual Conference, Dublin, Sept 30 - Oct 2 Kirby, M.L, Loane, E., Beatty, S., Stack, J. & Nolan, J.M. (2008) ‘Reproducibility of the Spatial Profile of Macular Pigment’, Association for Vision and Eye Research (ARVO), Fort Lauderdale, Florida, April 27th – May 1st Kirby, M., Harrison, M., Beatty, S. & Nolan, J. (2008) ‘Changes in macular pigment optical density and serum concentrations of lutein and zeaxanthin, in response to weight loss’, European Association for Vision and Eye Research (EVER), Portoroz, Slovenia, October 1st – October 4th Kopacek, P., Stapleton, L., Ceccarelli, M. & Hajrizi, E. (2008) ‘Mechatronics Management: A BA Programme’, International Federation of Automation and Control Triennial World Congress, Seoul, Korea Lally, A. & Quinlan, A. (2008) ‘The Role of Stakeholder Unity in Creating and Branding Destination Experiences’, TTRA European Chapter Conference, Helsinki, 23rd - 25th April Lally, A. & O’Brien, D. (2008) ‘The Role of Supply Chain Collaboration in Building Innovative capability in Irish Tourism’, Tourism and Hospitality in Ireland Conference, (THRIC) Institute of Technology Tralee, 10th - 11th June Lally, A. & Quinlan, A. (2008) ‘Stakeholder Unity: The Key to Success in Building and Branding Urban Destination Experiences?’, Irish Academy of Management Conference, 3rd - 5th September Lally, A. & O’Brien, D. (2008) ‘The Role of Supply Chain Management in enhancing Tourism Innovation’, Irish Academy of Management Conference, 3rd – 5th September

Loane, E. McKay, G. Stack, J. Nolan, J.M. & Beatty, S. (2008) ‘The Relationship between Macular Pigment Optical Density Complement Factor H, and LOC387715 Genotype’, Association for Vision and Eye Research (ARVO), Fort Lauderdale, Florida, April 27th – May 1st Loane, E., Nolan, J.M., McKay, G., Stack, J. & Beatty, S. (2008) ‘The relationship between macular pigment optical density and ApoE genotype’, European Association for Vision and Eye Research (EVER), Portoroz, Slovenia, October 1st – October 4th Losty, C. & Murphy Griffin, M. (2008) ‘Fit4Duty: An intervention to determine the Effectiveness of E counselling in Increasing Exercise and Exercise Self Efficacy with an Garda Siochana’, Oral Presentation, Active At Work Conference, Irish Heart Foundation, Dublin, Ireland, 20th June Lynch, P. & Holden, M. T. (2008) ‘Users As Co Inventors: A Model of Involving Users in the Early Stages of New Product Development’, Proceedings of the Irish Academy of Management Conference, UCD, Dublin, September 3-5th Lynch, P. and O’Toole, T. (2007) ‘Critical Episodes in a Long Term Relationship of a Food Manufacturer and its Packaging Technology Partner in the Early Stages of a New Product Development Project’, Presented at the 22nd Annual International Marketing and Purchasing Conference, Manchester Malone, J. (2008) ‘Learning to Lead’, 26th EuroCHRIE Conference, Building a Legacy, Living the Dream: 2020 Vision for Hospitality and Tourism, Dubai, United Arab Emirates titled, 11-14th October Matthews, J., Kelliher, F. & Holden, M. T. (2008) ‘Virtual Learning Networks in Small Tourism Businesses: A Theoretical Framework’, in Proceedings of the Tourism and Hospitality Research and in Ireland Conference, Institute of Technology, Tralee Mernagh, G. & O’Brien, M. (2008) ‘Putting Theory into Practice – the Professional Development of Literacy Educators’, RAPAL Annual Conference, Galway, June Mernagh, G. & O’Brien, M. (2008) ‘The role of Creativity in promoting the Professional Development of Adult Literacy Teachers’, NAIRTL, WIT, November Moloney, C. (2008) ‘The Silent Witness: The Fiddle Manuscripts of John ‘Boss’ Murphy (1875-1955)’, North Atlantic Fiddle Conference, Memorial University, St. John’s, NFL, 3-8 August Moran, S. (2008) ‘A stranger in a strange land: ostensive language acquisition in cyberspace’ Invited paper at international conference, Efektivni vyuziti techniky a software pri vyuce cizich jazyku (Czech Republic: Prague Metropolitan University) Moran, S. (2008) ‘Navigationism: a New Way of Learning in the Digital Age’ Keynote speech at international conference, Business – Education – Science (Lithuania: Zemaitija College) Mulhall, C. (2008) ‘The Lemmatisation of Lexically Variable Idioms: The Case of Bilingual Italian-English Dictionaries’, EURALEX XIII, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, 17th July Murphy, H. (2008) ‘The Professional Development of Adult Literacy Tutors – perspectives from the Irish model’, European Research and Development Institute for Adult Education, Annual Conference, Alden Biesen, Belgium, April

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Recent WIT publications Murphy, H. (2008) ‘Using a Societal Marketing Communications Approach to attract Literacy Learners’, European Commission Education Conference, Bonn, Germany, September Nolan, J.M., Loane, E., Loughman, J. & Beatty, S, (2008) ‘Lutein supplementation - the rationale’, European Association for Vision and Eye Research (EVER,) Portoroz, Slovenia, October 1st – October 4th O’Connell, Bridget (2008) ‘Examining the Fiddle Styles of the Portau-Port Peninsula’, North Atlantic Fiddle Conference, Memorial University, St. John’s, NFL, 3-8 August O’Donovan, I. (2008) ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, Please place your Bets; Casino Tourism for Ireland?’, Tourism and Hospitality in Ireland Conference (THRIC), Institute of Technology Tralee, 10th - 11th June O’Reilly, P., Loane, E., Loughman, J., Beatty, S. & Nolan, J. (2008) ‘Investigation of the effect of the Alcon AcrySof Natural (ANIOL) bluefiltering intraocular lens on macular pigment’, European Association for Vision and Eye Research (EVER), Portoroz, Slovenia, October 1st – October 4th Power, D., Holden, M. T. & Lynch, P. (2008) ‘Toward a Model of Developing and Sustaining Successful Rural Entrepreneurial Communities’, Proceedings of the Irish Academy of Management Conference, UCD, Dublin, September 3-5 Reinl, L. & Kelliher, F. (2008) ‘An analysis of the learning relationships amongst stakeholders within a small firm learning network’, Irish Academy of Management Conference proceedings, Dublin City University, September 3-5 Saunders, E. & Losty, C. (2008) ‘The effects of acute bout of aerobic exercise on short term memory and concentration in older adults’, Oral Presentation, Presented at the British Association of Sport and Exercise Science Annual Conference, Brunel University, U.K., 2nd - 4th September Stapleton, L., Freeman, A. & Byrne, G. (2008) ‘The Use of an Axiological Lens to Review Globalised Automation and Control Systems Projects’, International Federation of Automation and Control Triennial World Congress, Seoul, Korea Vereker, A. & O’ Donoghue J. (2008) ‘An Evaluation of Technology Enhanced Mathematics Learning’, Ed Tech 2008 Ninth Annual Irish Educational Technology Users Conference, DKIT, Dundalk, May 22 – 23 POSTER PRESENTATION

Cregg, P. J., Murphy, K. & Mardinoglu, A. (2008) ‘Inclusion of magnetic Dipole-Dipole Interaction in Implant Assisted Magnetic Drug Targeting’, Joint European Magnetic Symposia (JEMS08), Sept 14th -19th, CRANN/TCD, Dublin Cregg, P. J., Murphy, K & Svedlindh, P. (2008) ‘Non-Linear Susceptibility of Classical Heisenberg Chains with Arbitrary and Different Nearest–Neighbour Exchange’, Joint European Magnetic Symposia (JEMS08), Sept 14th - 19th, CRANN/TCD, Dublin Cregg, P. J., Murphy, K. & Mardinoglu, (2008) ‘Calculation of Dipole Interactions in Magnetic Drug Targeting’, 7th International Conference on the Scientific & Clinical Applications of Magnetic Carriers, May 21st-24th 2008,Vancouver, Canada

Edwards, S. & Losty, C. (2008) ‘The effects of self monitoring and self monitoring plus extra staff attentions on self esteem, stage of change and self efficacy’, Poster Presentation of conference proceedings, presented at the British Association of Sport and Exercise Science Annual Conference, Brunel University, U.K., 2nd - 4th September Malone, J. (2008) ‘Autoethnography: Informing the present based on the past’, 2nd Annual NAIRTL conference, Waterford Institute of Technology, 13-14 November EXHIBITIONS

Hansen, C. (2008) Past: Present – Touch: Don’t Touch, Waterford: Greyfriars Municipal Gallery Hansen, C. (2008) MakeWorkThinkSpace (PhD thesis), World Archaeology Congress, University College Dublin OTHER

Clarke, J. (2008) ‘Future Internet: A Matter of Trust’, Cover story in November 2008 Newsletter of the eMobility Technology Platform, available at http://www.emobility.eu.org Cormier-Fewer, S. (2007) ‘Dick Pulk Seminar: domestic violence’, in William Glasser Institute of Ireland Newsletter Denny, M. & Denieffe, S. (2007) ‘Exploring how teaching for Multiple Intelligences Affected Student Achievement in an Undergraduate Education programme in Ireland’, NAIRTL Annual Report, University College Cork, pp.64-65 Fewer, G. (2007) ‘Demon eye’ in Aoife’s Kiss: a magazine of speculative fiction, 6(3), pp. 45-8 (Short story) O’Raifeartaigh, C. (2008) ‘The Big Bang and the Mind of God’, Physics World, Vol 21 no.7 p 56 Ronan, J. & Walsh, K. (2008) ‘The GAISS project’, Call Out – The quarterly magazine of the Irish Mountain Rescue Association, Issue 6, pp12-13 Simmons, J. (2008) ‘Fly Catcher’ and ‘Penelope On The Suitors’ in Passages North, Winter/Spring, Northern Michigan University, Marquette Simmons, J. (2007) ‘Lughnassa’ and ‘The Husband’s Photograph’ in A Journey in Poetry, Salmon Poetry, Cliffs of Moher Simmons, J. (2007) ‘Wild Carrot’ in Heliotrope Literary Journal, New York Simmons, J. (2007) ‘Cocoon’, ‘Blessings’, ‘Faith’, ‘Making Room’, ‘Sex’, ‘A Year On’ ‘Alive, Alive, Alive’ in The Echoing Years, An Anthology of Poetry from Canada and Ireland, WIT/SCOP Waterford and Newfoundland Simmons, J. (2007) ‘Salt Carress’ in The Blackbird’s Nest, an anthology of poetry from Queen’s University, Blackstaff Press Simmons, J. (2007) ‘Where The Roads Lead’ and ‘The Sirens’, in Irish American Poetry since 1800, Notre Dame University Press

Waterford Institute of Technology

Staff in the Office Research and Innovation are based on the second floor of the Walton IT Building. Staff associated with ArcLabs Innovation Centre are based on the Carriganore campus. Contact details are as follows: Dr Willie Donnelly Head of School of Research and Innovation Office: IT.2.11 Tel: +353 – 51 – 845596 or Internally: ext. 5596 Email: wdonnelly@wit.ie Ms Kathryn Kiely Industry Services Manager Office: IT.2.08 Tel: +353 – 51 – 302034 or Internally: ext. 2034 Email: kkiely@wit.ie Technology Transfer Unit Dr Michael Whelan Technology Transfer Manager Technology Transfer Unit Room IT.2.09 Tel: +353 – 51 – 845592 or Internally: ext. 5592 Email: mwhelan@wit.ie Ms Philomena Carton Senior Administrator Technology Transfer Unit Room IT.2.10 Tel: +353 – 51 – 845591 or Internally: ext. 5591 Email: pcarton@wit.ie

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Ms Susie Cullinane Projects Manager Research Support Unit Room IT.2.07 Tel: +353 - 51 - 306260 or Internally: ext. 6260 Email: scullinane@wit.ie

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Ms Mary Fearon Administrative Assistant ArcLabs Innovation Centre Tel: +353 – 51 – 302900 or Internally: ext. 2900 Email: mfearon@wit.ie Finance Office (Research Accounting Team) Ms Susan Green Project Accountant Tel: +353-51- 845586 Internally: ext. 5586 Email: sgreen@wit.ie Ms Sarah Harris Assistant Project Accountant Tel: +353-51-302227 Internally: ext. 2227 Email: sharris@wit.ie

Research Matters is published twice a year by the School of Research and Innovation in Waterford Institute of Technology.

Please address any comments or suggestions that you may have on this publication to: Kathryn Kiely, Industry Services Manager. Email: research@wit.ie Edited by Dr Jenny O’Connor (School of Humanities) Layout by www.blueappledesign.ie