Witness by Waterford Institute of Technology

2011/2012 Colleagues, The first semester is now advanced considerably, with preChristmas exams the next major milestone on the academic calendar. The process to appoint the next President is well underway with interviews scheduled for the week commencing 21st November. The Governing Body meets on the 6th December and it is expected that the Selection Board’s recommendation will be formally ratified on that date. The past few weeks have been characterised by some bad news. The unfortunate accident at the entrance to the plumbing and brick-laying workshops, Applied Technology campus, resulted in the hospitalisation of one of our staff members. This highlights how unexpectedly such incidents can occur. Also, the untimely death of one of our Erasmus students during the mid-term break was a stark reminder of how a fun-filled holiday can end so tragically. It is important to acknowledge the tremendous work of all those in the Institute who supported staff, students and family members in dealing with such shocking accidents. The Government’s decision to withdraw funding for the Public Private Partnerships represented a huge disappointment to the Institute particularly as we were so close to having builders on site. However, in recognising the serious fiscal difficulties that the country faces we must redouble our efforts to ensuring

Postage Protocols The An Post postal machine and postbox have been relocated to the middle atrium of the main building, outside the entrance to the auditorium, just opposite the WITCard office. The postal machine and postbox allows you to purchase stamps for large and small items of post and to post letters and parcels. Please use this machine for all personal items of post. In addition, there are a number of Post Offices close to WIT campuses– Lisduggan Post Office on Brown’s Road services the Main Campus and Applied Technology Campus; Poleberry and Barrack Street branches are both within easy reach of College Street Campus; and the Cleaboy Post Office is convenient to the West Campus. The Institute’s postal system is strictly for business post only. All correspondence/packages sent through the Institute’s postal system must be of an official nature only and must include “return to sender” details. These details should specify the office to which the package is to be returned in case of non-delivery, but should not include the name of an individual. Thank you for your co-operation with this matter.

Issue 2 we continue to meet the needs of our staff, students and stakeholders. During my time as Acting President, I have been afforded the opportunity to chair meetings of the Institute’s Academic Council. Prior to that, I was one of the very few members of Executive Board not a member of Academic Council and, consequently, did not have a chance to fully appreciate its work. I have been hugely impressed by the commitment of Council members and how effectively the detailed work of Council is managed through its sub-committee structures. Attendance levels have been quite outstanding while robust debate has been a healthy feature of Council meetings. A roadmap to plot the way towards a Technological University model for the IOT sector is being progressed. The Higher Education Authority has embarked on a consultative process in advance of issuing key guideline documents. This process included the publication of draft documents, Criteria for Designation toTechnological University Status and Consolidation Leading to Mergers. The Institute has been actively engaged in providing feedback on these documents. It is expected that a final set of guidelines will issue before Christmas which will more fully inform the Institute’s thinking as it intensifies its engagement with Institute of Technology, Carlow. Mr. Tony McFeely Acting President How it works: 1. Select your language: English, Gaeilge, or Polski 2. Use the touch-screen to buy your stamp 3. Or weigh your item and follow the online guide to calculate the postage 4. Pay and print the postage stamp 5. Post your item in the post box beside the machine.

The machine accepts: 1. Debit/Credit card 2. Notes 3. Coins

RESEARCH SUPPORT UNIT - UPDATE WIT researcher wins Marie Curie Career Integration Grant

chain through knowledge-based methods and mobile applications

Postdoctoral researcher, Dr. John Paul Phelan, a member of the Biomedical Research Cluster at the Department of Chemical and Life Sciences, has become one of WIT’s first ever researchers to receive a Marie Curie Career Integration Grant (CIG). This 36 month project entitled “Arterial Calcification & Arterial Regeneration (ACAR)”, aims to characterize the cellular and molecular events that occur when excessive calcium deposits in the arteries of the body. This can cause arteries to become less flexible and less elastic, can increase localized cellular stress and can ultimately lead to arterial blockage and damage. This award is a remarkable achievement for Dr. Phelan, for his team and for WIT.

and aims to develop a pilot “information and communication service

(WoodApps)”. This 36 month project led by High Competence Network, Germany (HCN) has a total project value of €1.2 million platform (ICSP) to link process partners within international value chains (chiefly the hardwoods chain) from the forest to the customer –Wood Value Chain (WVC). WoodApps programme partners include HCN, SST (Scheller). This is a new and exciting research area for TSSG under the WoodWisdom-Net Research Programme allowing them to deploy their expertise in Location Based Technologies in the forestry domain. The Research Support Unit is pleased to announce that WIT has examined the recommendation of the European Commission on the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers and fully endorses these principles. By formally endorsing the Charter and the Code, WIT confirms the

€200K funding for new TSSG research area Eric Robson of TSSG has recently received funding of approximately €200,000 from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for a project entitled “Improvement in collaboration along the wood value

importance of partnership in their effective implementation. We believe that researchers, employers and funders must work together to ensure that the Charter and the Code are fully and properly implemented and promoted.

CONGRATULATIONS WIT Students wins final of Cocktail Competition

WIT Students’ Union wins Road Safety Award WIT Students’ Union received an award for its road safety week campaign demonstrating the importance of road safety to students through realistic portrayals of the consequences of dangerous driving. The “Education (Third Level) Award for Road Safety” was awarded to WIT Students’ Union at this year’s Road Safety Authority (RSA) ‘Leading Lights in Road Safety Awards’ which were held in Farmleigh last month. The Awards were part of Road Safety Week which demonstrates the importance of road safety to students at WIT through stark and realistic portrayals of the risks associated with dangerous driving.

Congratulations to Eoin O’Neill, a student of the Department of Languages, Tourism and Hospitality, on his impressive win in the final of the Monin Cup Cocktail Competition. Eoin will go on to represent Ireland in the Grand Final in Paris in December against competitors from 29 other countries. Well done to Eoin and all involved in preparing him for this great success.

Gay Byrne presented a total of fourteen ‘Leading Lights’ Awards to individuals, groups, businesses, media, education sector and public sector organisations for their outstanding contributions to road safety.

Solas Centre contribution Iain Munro, Chairman, S.E. Cancer Foundation and Joe Simpson, Fundraising Officer, SOLAS Centre, receiving a cheque for €12,500 from Acting President, Tony McFeely and WIT Staff Social Club. The money was raised for the SOLAS Centre at the WIT Staff Social Club Ball to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Institute.

NEWS Minister Sean Sherlock’s visit to WIT Sean Sherlock T.D., Minister of State, Department of Enterprise, Jobs & Innovation and Department of Education & Skills with responsibility for Research & Innovation, visited WIT in July. The Minister took some time to visit the various research groups within the Institute – including TSSG, PMBRC and CALMAST – who all happily discussed and provided an overview of the breadth of research conducted at WIT. This was the first visit to the WIT by the Minister where he spent quality time walking across the campus to view state of the art facilities including the Data Centre located at the TSSG research and innovation centre, before being introduced to various working groups and postgraduate students who discussed and showcased current research projects and innovations. The Minister particularly made time to visit start-up businesses including awardwinning FeedHenry and Betapond who occupy incubation space within Arclabs Research and Innovation Centre. A key target for the Government in 2011 is developing the enterprise research sector which will ensure the provision Declan Lyons, Head of Programmes at Enterprise Ireland; Dr. Willie Donnelly, Head of Research of high-skilled job opportunities across at WIT and Dr. Ramesh Raghavendra, Centre Manager at WIT’s SEAM research group. the economy.

WIT research group makes major contribution to industrial technologies The South Eastern Applied Materials Research Centre (SEAM) at WIT has made significant contributions to Irish industry in recent years and some of these success stories were highlighted at the SEAM Industry Day in the Institute last month. SEAM Research Centre is funded by Enterprise Ireland’s Applied Research Enhancement Programme and its mission is to generate regional economic activity through the creation of a strong applied research base. Paddy Byrne from Enterprise Ireland commented, “Applied research centres like SEAM are critically important for the delivery of innovation based technology solutions for industry in the southeast region and on a national basis”. An international business with a local presence is Bausch & Lomb, one of the world’s leading suppliers of eye health products, such as contact lenses. In recent years Bausch & Lomb has advanced into the area of medical technology, such as drug-releasing implants for eye diseases.

Minister Sean Sherlock, T.D. talks with Dr. Sasi Balasubramaniam, Research Unit Manager, The Bio-Inspired Networking Group, TSSG, about a Biologically Inspired Future Internet.

Other exciting developments in which SEAM is involved include X-ray tomography (used, for example, by Teva Pharmaceuticals, Boston Scientific Ireland and Genzyme) and the development of techniques to optimise the design and production of drill heads (over last 2 years SEAM has worked with Mincon in Shannon, Co. Clare - Mincon’s hammer and drill bits were used to establish the initial life line to the thirty three miners trapped 2,300 feet below ground in the San José gold and copper mine outside Copiapo, Chile).

NEWS Tall Ships Race 2011 – A True Education Last July, Waterford City was the host venue for the Tall Ships Race 2011. Over 1,000 crew members from around the world visited Waterford for the event and approximately 100 young people from Ireland joined the ships as trainee crew members for the first leg of the race. Three young Travellers were given the opportunity to be involved in the event. The students were jointly sponsored by the Access programme in WIT and Institute of Technology Carlow. After leaving Waterford, the ships raced around Ireland’s coast to Greenock, Scotland and it was on this leg of the journey that the three young Travellers were lucky enough to participate: Tom Connors, who attends St. Mary’s CBS Carlow, boarded the Astrid on 2nd July, Hannah Carthy from Presentation Secondary School, Kilkenny, was on board the Christina Radich and Jennifer Boyle, a student at St. Leo’s Secondary School, Carlow, joined the Sorlandet for the race to Scotland. The students took the training in their stride and loved the experience of working as a member of the sailing team. They worked in shifts and Tom felt that while staying awake was difficult, the experience of being an active working member of the team was fantastic. “It has given me the determination to continue my education and then spend some time travelling and seeing other cultures and counties”, he said The students trained in every aspect of the ships daily running including pulling ropes, lookout for other ships and obstacles, fire watch and even watching out for sleepwalkers! Each shift had a team and everyone in that team pulled together to ensure the ship’s safe running. “While the training was taken seriously and it was all about learning to be part of a team, working together and being able to depend on each other, there was a fun side too and everyone got along really well.”, said Jennifer The opportunity that these young people were given in terms of education, cultural awareness, the importance of travel and broadening of the mind cannot be underestimated. All of these young students felt it was a life changing experience and they would love to do it again. The Tall Ships Races is organised by Sail Training International brought the 50 Tall Ships and their crews to Waterford where over 500,000 visitors were on hand to enjoy the spectacle. Once moored, the crews participated in the fantastic “Parade of Sail” along the Waterford estuary. Being a trainee offered the participants a fantastic opportunity for adventure at sea and is particularly geared towards the age group 16-25. Nuala Lennon, Access Officer at WIT, was instrumental in getting the students placed on the Tall Ships project. “I really believe that exposure to these kind of experiences is a very important aspect of learning. In higher education people think that learning is about taking a particular course and qualifying in that specialist area. But learning and education is wider than just studying to be an engineer, a secretary, a biologist, a nurse - it’s about being able to manage effectively the kaleidoscope of life”. “The greater number of opportunities you are exposed to at an early stage in life, the better your chances will be of linking into learning opportunities at a later stage - we hope that Tom, Hannah and Jennifer really enjoyed the experience and that now they are home they will reflect on what they feel they have learned about themselves, their abilities, their ambitions for the future - and hopefully being a student at WIT will feature at some stage in their future plans!”

CPD2 Research Supervisory Module Dr Fionnuala Kennedy and Dr Richard Hayes (third and second from right), who facilitated some of the sessions on the Level 9 Research Supervisory Module, with current and prospective research supervisors: Dr Ruairí de Fréin, Juergen Bauer, Dr Áine Furlong, Michael O’Toole, Bridget Knowles, Dr John-Paul Phelan, John O’Connor, and Dr Lei Shi.

If you wish to participate in this module, please contact the CPD Coordinator, Róisín Shanahan, on rashanahan@wit.ie or extn. 6157.

COLLABORATIONS Collaboration between New York University and WIT Dr Donald Bain, President of St John Fisher College, Rochester, New York, visited WIT on Friday 7 October to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) committing the two institutions to explore ways in which they can collaborate in the fields of research and education for the mutual benefit of the institutions and the regions they serve. As a first expression of this collaboration, the Wegman School of Nursing at St John Fisher College is collaborating with the Department of Nursing in WIT to develop a joint Nursing Masters degree award in Advanced Clinical Leadership. Partnering both in this endeavour is the School of Nursing at the University of Barcelona in Spain. This is only the beginning of the partnership with the New York-based university. Further projects will include curriculum development, online delivery pilot programmes and joint conferences, as well as student and faculty exchanges. Specialised programmes to promote international understanding and language skills and joint research programmes will also be established.

WIT Wildcats slam dunk sponsorship Team merger boost for basketball in South East WIT and Wildcats Basketball Club have announced a new partnership which will bring benefits to both players and students. The superleague and under 18 and 20 teams of Wildcats are now known as WIT Wildcats. This move formalises an association of over 40 years between WIT and Wildcats. WIT Acting President, Tony McFeely, welcomed the agreement commenting that both organisations are focused on the development of talented youth community spirit and the ethos of team sports. “I’m delighted to announce that a number of sports scholarships will be reserved for basketball players and we will work with WIT Wildcats to identify potential applicants. We also look forward to hosting some high profile games and are providing the club with full access to our stateof the-art facilities”, he said. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by WIT Acting President, Tony McFeely and John Hayes, General Manager of Wildcats Basketball Club (pictured right with club players).

Visit of the Argentinian ambassador The visit of the Argentinian ambassador, Dr María Esther Bodanza, to WIT coincided with the establishment of a new exchange agreement with the Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires (ITBA). During her visit, Dr Bodanza spoke about WIT’s excellent reputation and expressed her enthusiasm for the way in which the Institute has embraced internationalisation. WIT will receive its first Argentinian student from ITBA in January 2012.

L-R: Dr. John Wells, HoD, Nursing, WIT; Dr. Gerry Rooney, Vicepresident, St. John Fisher College; Dr Donald Bain, President, St John Fisher College and Mr Tony McFeely, Acting President, WIT (photo by George Goulding photography).

L-R: Don O’Neill, International Manager; Tony McFeely, Acting President; Dr María Esther Bodanza, Argentinian Ambassador; Dr Donie Ormonde, Chairman, WIT; Dr Paul Barry, Head of School of Science.

NEWS Launch of WIT Sports Scholarship Programme The Clubs & Societies Office and the Department of Health Science formally launched the 2011-2012 WIT Sports Scholarship Programme with the announcement of twenty 1st year recipients. These recipients cover thirteen sports and all are students who possess an extremely high level of sporting performance.

t t t t t t

Aoife Tormey, Ladies Soccer Helena Rohan, Basketball David O’ Sullivan, Swimming Laura Butler, Badminton Stephen Treacy, Boxing David Whitty, Golf

At the same event, the achievements of the 22 past and present female WIT students who achieved All Ireland camogie and ladies football titles in the past few months was also celebrated. The President of the Camogie Association, Joan O’ Flynn, and the President of the Ladies Gaelic Football Association, Pat Quill, were in attendance to present commemorative jerseys to the 22 players who won All Ireland medals with Wexford, Waterford and Wicklow respectively.

First Year Bronze Scholarship Students. (Photographer : George Goulding) The annual WIT Sports Scholarship Ceremony will take place in January, on a date to be confirmed, where Sports Scholarships will be presented to 67 WIT students.

WIT 1st Year Sports Scholarship recipients 2011-2012 t t t t t t t t t t t t t t

Stephen Maher Hurling Gavin O’ Brien, Hurling Dylan Walsh, Hurling Fionn Dowling, Gaelic Football Liam McGrath, Gaelic Football Marie Dargan, Camogie/Ladies Football Shelly Farrell, Camogie Clara Donnelly, Ladies Football Zoe Scanlon, Athletics Darragh Lynch, Athletics Ryan Cummins, Men’s Rugby Ronan Hogan, Men’s Rugby Darragh Walshe, Men’s Soccer John Frost, Men’s Soccer

Outstanding Achievement Awards. (Photographer : George Goulding) Nancy Chillingworth, the Irish Paralympic Performance Director, gave an inspiring keynote address that was well received by the attendees, and Michael Harrison from the Health Science Department rounded off the evening by presenting four students who have strong academic links to the Health Science Department (Ursula Jacob, Patricia Jackman, Pauline Cunningham & Katrina Parrock) with a piece of jewellery to mark their achievements.

Health & Safety Corner WIT Contractor Induction The Health & Safety Office in conjunction with the Estates Office launched Contractor Induction as a pilot project initially targeting contractors working with the Estates Office. This bespoke interactive learning management system is used to train, certify, and validate contractor safety skills. Following a successful test period Contractor Induction was rolled out across the Institute for all our contractors and sub-contractors to ensure that the best practicable methods of compliance with health and safety legislation are achieved. The aim of Contractor Induction is to ensure that all contractors and subcontractors have a clear understanding of:

t Their health and safety responsibilities whilst on site. t Our policies and procedures. t How to work safely in order to avoid harm. t Accident reporting procedures. t Emergency evacuation procedures.

To date over 200 contractors and sub contractors have successfully completed this training and received a unique WIT SafetyPass allowing them access to our sites.

NEWS Technology Transfer Office

Irish Chamber Orchestra Concert via live feed in high definition from University of Limerick

Enterprise Ireland’s “Big Ideas” Showcase took place in Dublin’s new world-class Convention Centre, Dublin on Monday, 10th October 2011. It is one of the largest annual gatherings of inventors and investors in the country. 120 new technologies being developed in Higher Education for commercial exploitation were unveiled and, of these, the promoters of 18 ‘investor-ready’ technologies were vying for the attention of 200 potential investors attending the event. The “Big Ideas” Showcase is a key event, with financial support from Government, which was set up to help develop publicly-funded research into new companies, technologies and services. Dr. Dominic Murphy, Dept of Computing, Maths & Physics, Optics Research Group, WIT presented a new platform technology: “Spectrifire – A Unique Fusion of Optical Technologies”. Spectrifire is a new portable spectrometer technology that was invented by Dr. Kieran O’Mahoney and Dr. Dominic Murphy while working on Enterprise Ireland-funded projects. A new start-up company, Fusion Photonics Ltd., has been formed to commercialise the Spectrifire technology and a strong pipeline of additional optical technologies. WIT and TSSG had a stand at the event to display the technologies which are being developed at WIT to investors, business partners and government agencies. WIT also exhibited posters in the “Technology Tunnel” which highlighted technologies that may be commercialised in the future, such as:

The Irish Chamber Orchestra Concert was streamed live and in high definition from the University of Limerick, Concert Hall and was aired by WIT’s Creative & Performing Arts Department at the Chapel, College Street Campus on the evening of the

ASTRAL Building Energy Kevin Quinn - TSSG Management System

20th October 2011. The delivery of the Concert in this way

COIN - Combined Outdoor John McGovern - TSSG and Indoor Navigation

demonstrates that WIT has the capacity and enthusiasm to bring high quality relevant national and international events using

Biocatalysis using nitrile- Lee Coffey - PMBRC metabolising enzymes

the latest technologies to our undergraduate and postgraduate

Nanohole Array Sensor - An Joe O’Mahony – Dept of Imaging SPR method for Engineering parallel sensing

and Performing Arts Department believe that this is the first of

students and to the wider Waterford community. The Creative many such events that will take place in the Chapel at College Street.

Maths Week 2011 The annual all-island Maths Week took place from 15th-22nd October last. WIT’s Eoin Gill, one of Maths Week Ireland coordinators, commented, “Currently in its sixth year, Maths Week has been a fantastic success to date. In 2010 over 100,000 people participated in events throughout the week.” This year over 122,000 pupils participated in schools all over the island and many more attended over 100 events. Eoin said that Maths Week has also begun attracting increasing interest from leading maths educators across Europe. “Numbers are all around us in everything we do in daily life. Although it can sometimes be challenging maths can be very rewarding. We hope that Maths Week will raise awareness, appreciation and understanding of maths for everyone in their daily lives. It’s also important for children to enjoy maths and to understand that numbers will be a positive part of their lives forever in the future.” www.mathsweek.ie

MY FAVOURITES James O’Sullivan, who was appointed WIT Technology Transfer Manager in April 2011, shares his favourites with us this month.

summer months you will probably find us on Annestown or Garrarus beaches - weather permitting of course! Also, regular trips to the soccer, dance and karate clubs for the children feature highly in the family favourites. Hobbies

Me and My Family My favourites take a lot of direction from the fact that I am originally from Tramore, so the sea has featured fairly extensively in my early life from my mother being part of Irish Water Safety to my sister being on the Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior when it was sunk back in the 80’s. I am married to Amanda, who is a medical physicist, and we have two small children which of course changed my favourites to them. So home life is a mixed bag of entertainment like Ben Ten, Dora, and Hello Kitty crossed with a Ninja kung fu fighting son and a Princess diva daughter. I can’t say any of the kid’s entertainment really fits into my favourites, though I do like the ‘Regular Show’ on Sky and some of the Wii games especially boxing. Favourite family activities include trips to Fenor playground, Run Amuck, Splash World and Dublin Zoo. During the

Meditation classes open to all staff Meditation classes for all staff take place every Wednesday, 12.45-2.00 p.m. in room A02 on the Cork Road campus and every Thursday, 5.00 - 6.15 p.m. in room BL14 on the College Street campus. To avail of this offer, please contact Róisín Shanahan on rashanahan@wit.ie or extn. 6157. Photo: Aisling Murphy Wall facilitating the lunchtime meditation workshop with WIT staff.

My main hobbies are sporting activities. I am fairly active on many fronts, but especially keen on surfing and swimming – I have my surf lifeguard exam this weekend on Tramore beach so hopefully it will not be too stormy (think of me in the surf rescuing a subject when you are in bed at 9am on Sunday morning!). Completing this surf lifeguard exam allows me to participate in training the junior surfing league on weekends in T-Bay Surf Club. I also enjoying running and cycling. Most summer evenings I try get out on the bike for a tour of the Copper Coast and in the winter months I revert to running around Tramore in the dark. Hopefully with a bit of training I should be in a good position to take part in a few local triathlons next summer. General interest Simply open up Chrome to see what websites I’ve visited most - which is a good indication of my favourite interests. The pages which are currently up there are spilt into work, sports and home. Some examples of the work-related sites

include Silicon Republic, which is a good all round review of Irish technology (this week EirGen featured in one of their articles and a few weeks back TSSG featured). There are also the related ezines, such as bizstartup.ie, which are worth a look for budding entrepreneurs. More closely related to my work, though of less general interest, is Espacenet (as a top tip I suggest you go onto the EPO site version and not the Ireland IPO version). This is a great resource as it is the most comprehensive free source of commercial information you can access. So whether you are searching for a particular patent or considering your path of research this is a great way to find out what is already known in the prior art or what your competitors are up to! More generally, though, I keep an eye on what’s happening nationally by looking at the RTÉ and the Irish Times online every morning. You never know what interesting article may pop up from one of the other academic institutes or from a company where we might have an opportunity to interact. I also keep a regular check on what is happening in the major sporting events which I follow such as boxing and cycling - generally my interest lies in Irish competitors or teams.