December E-zine

The Seamus Heaney Lecture Theatre was officially opened at DCU’s St. Patrick’s Campus last month, along with the unveiling of a new portrait drawing of Seamus Heaney by renowned Belfast artist Colin Davidson.

In attendance were members of the Heaney family, Seamus's wife, Marie, and his children Catherine, Christopher and Michael.

An address was delivered by Fintan O’Toole and a number of Seamus Heaney’s poems were read by playwright Marina Carr, accompanied by harpist Sile Denvir, both DCU staff members.

Speaking on behalf of the Heaney family, Catherine Heaney said "Our family is so grateful that Dublin City University has chosen to honour my father in this way, with the naming of a lecture theatre, and an accompanying portrait by Colin Davidson. It is a fitting tribute to someone who was a committed teacher for over forty years, and it marks his long association with St Patrick's College and DCU."

We are very pleased that the Heaney family has allowed us to name the most prominent lecture theatre on our St. Patrick’s Campus in honour of Seamus. It will serve as an inspiration to many thousands of students and remind them not only of the beauty and power of his art but also of his affinity to teaching and the institution in which they study.

We wanted an appropriate image or symbol that would attract the passing student or visitor by its power and beauty.  The result is a stunning image of Seamus that will have a permanent location at the entrance to the lecture theatre.

Speaking about the portrait, Colin Davidson said “It is my hope that this drawing of Seamus traps the power of our encounter, and indeed the greatness of the man, within the fabric of the physical crayon marks. I congratulate all at Dublin City University on the opening of this new lecture theatre - may it be a place of true learning and enlightenment, in the spirit of the great Seamus Heaney.”

Minister for Education and Skills, Joe McHugh TD, joined Microsoft Ireland last month to unveil the company’s plans for Hour of Code 2018 and its partnership this year with DCU to enable over 450 final year student teachers to introduce a world of coding to an additional 10,000 primary school students.

Hour of Code is an annual campaign held across the globe by Code.org and is held during Computer Science Education Week. From December 3^rd-9^th, Microsoft invited every primary school to get involved through the company’s new interactive Hour of Code video session, which can be downloaded at https://aka.ms/HourOfCodeIRL.

Speaking at the launch of the Hour of Code plans at DCU, Minister McHugh said: “I’m delighted to join Microsoft here in DCU to launch this year’s Hour of Code campaign that will see thousands of students around Ireland get involved in a one-hour coding session. It’s great to have industry involvement in promoting this for students and ensuring that the message of coding and the access to an Hour of Code is possible in every school.”

“Coding continues to be a more and more important part of school curricula.  We have computational thinking in Maths in primary schools, a short course in coding at Junior Cycle and of course, the introduction of Computer Science at Leaving Certificate. With this focus on the coding it is essential to partner with initial teacher education centres in order to promote STEM Education. The participation of student teachers from DCU will help to equip our young people with the computational thinking and problem-solving skills they will need to thrive in our digital world.”

The Hour of Code professional learning experience for student teachers in DCU, co-facilitated by DCU faculty and Microsoft employees, was hosted in the new Minecraft Studio, which was officially opened at the Hour of Code event on our St. Patrick’s Campus. Microsoft has invested in this innovative Studio as a learning space for DCU students and for practising teachers. The Studio brings the virtual immersive educational environment of Minecraft: Education Edition to life in a physical setting. Surrounding students in a Minecraft World, the Studio is equipped with devices and furniture to allow DCU faculty and students explore how innovative virtual and physical learning spaces can transform the curriculum and engage young people with new educational environments. 

From DCU’s perspective, we are delighted to partner with Microsoft in this important Hour of Code initiative and we very much welcome their investment in the Minecraft Studio at DCU. This new facility will enhance the understanding and expertise of both student teachers and practising teachers in the area of coding. DCU places a strong emphasis on STEM Education in many ways, and we recognise that the preparation of teachers for both Primary and Post-Primary Schools in our Institute of Education plays a critically important role in that regard. I am particularly pleased that over 450 final year student teachers at DCU will play a pivotal role in introducing a world of coding to an additional 10,000 primary school students.

To find out more and download the Microsoft Ireland Hour of Code tutorial, log onto https://aka.ms/HourOfCodeIRL.

 It was a pleasure to welcome NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough back to DCU in November, seven years after he first enthralled us with his stories of space exploration.

Shane told a packed Helix about first joining NASA in 2000 and, in particular, the thrill of being selected four years later to be trained an astronaut. Shane participated in a number of space missions, spending 189 days in space and doing 39 hours of spacewalks.

He described being on the International Space Station as “an amazing opportunity”, and highlighted their busy schedules on the job. “Our days and our minutes are planned out by the mission control centres around the world.”

He did say, however, that they did have time to reflect and enjoy themselves, adding that “usually on the weekends we have time off up there and we just hang out, look out the window, take pictures, call home, try to reconnect with our families and friends.”

In terms of venturing out of the spacecraft to do space walks, Shane said that this was “certainly the most dangerous thing we ask any person to ever do, just because the environment is so unforgiving”. He commented that the astronauts know that there’s a lot of work that has to be done out there in order to keep the massive International Space Station functioning.

Shane described how he found doing normal, everyday life things (“eating, brushing your teeth” etc) intriguing, because “you can’t ever train that on earth because the environment is so different. So, you’re kind of learning that in real-time, as you go...and, of course, you get better and better at it.”

Among the students Shane met at the event were pupils from St. Aidan’s CBS, Donabate Community College, and DCU’s Centre for the Talented Youth, Ireland (CTYI).

Congratulations to Zeynep Naz Tugrul, who was awarded the Chancellor’s Medal as an acknowledgement of her exemplary contribution to academic and extra-curricular life at DCU. The Chancellor’s Medal is only awarded at graduation ceremonies when a student has excelled in both aspects of university life.

Zeynep, who graduated last month with a first class honours degree in Electronic and Computer Engineering (with a major in Digital Interaction), was described as an “outstanding student” and noteworthy owing to her involvement in a range of activities.

She made notable contributions to DCU during her time here, including acting as a class representative during the 2015/2016 academic year. She was heavily involved in the organisation of social events both in her role as a class representative and as a member of the Engineering Society.

She volunteered to help with DCU’s Open Day activities every year during her undergraduate studies and was active in the Women in Engineering Network.

Attendees at the graduation ceremony heard that, during the summer of 2016, Zeynep volunteered with AIESEC, a non-profit youth-run organisation, to teach English to children in underprivileged areas of Jakarta, Indonesia. The project was called #IWasHere, The Greatest Children Project. By participating, Zeynep hoped to highlight the importance of education and promote the equal right of all children to education.

During her time in Indonesia, Zeynep was continuously fundraising to help underprivileged children with the costs of going to school and accessing necessary educational resources. She was awarded the ‘AIESEC Most Developed Exchange Participant Award’ for her contribution to the project. Zeynep also participated in the Ballymun Initiative for Third Level Education, or BITE for short.The aim of the BITE programme is to encourage students to fully participate in all levels of education and motivate them to do well in state examinations.

 Congratulations to DCU's Dr Sithara Sreenilayam Pavithran, of our Advanced Processing Technology Research Centre, who won the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Research Image of the Year Award.

This Research Image competition celebrates images captured by Science Foundation Ireland funded researchers during the course of their research. The announcement was made at the annual Science Foundation Ireland Science Summit that was held in November.

Sithara won the award for her image, ‘Liquid Crystal Seashore’.

For those who want to know more about the science behind the ‘Liquid Crystal Seashore’:

The microscopic image shows seashore-like feature in the liquid crystal (LC) material at the isotropic to nematic phase transition. This seashore-like feature is developed in a temperature gradient LC cell made up of two glass substrates. In the region, like water bubbles near shore, iare the thread-like defects that develops at the isotropic to anisotropic transition temperature and these defects are the proof of uniaxial nematic phase transition. The part in yellow colour, looks like shallow water, is the pre-transitional region just below the conditions for phase separation of anisotropic nematic where molecules are slowly possessing orientational order. In the region with the orange colour, that looks like deep water, the orientational order of molecules is spontaneously arising below isotropic to nematic phase transition. The colour of the image depends on the temperature, shape of LC molecule and sample thickness.

The DCU Institute for Future Media and Journalism (FuJo) will lead a €2.4 million EU project to tackle the issue of “fake news” by tracking and flagging online disinformation, especially through social media. The three-year project, called PROVENANCE is funded by the EU Horizon 2020 programme and will focus on finding solutions to enable people to distinguish between original information and manipulated information or disinformation.

The term “disinformation”, or the most commonly quoted phrase “fake news”, can be understood as false information deliberately created and spread to influence public opinion or to obscure the truth.

The PROVENANCE approach will involve the use of a ‘verification layer’ that will employ advanced digital technologies for multimedia analytics (including image forensics) to record any modifications to content and to identify similar pieces of content. A ‘Verification Indicator’ will contextualize individual pieces of content with relevant information, including when the content was registered, by whom, and any subsequent transactions.

The project solutions will be of particular use for consumers of news and political information but also for content creators who want to secure their content from manipulation or unauthorised use.

Commencing this month, PROVENANCE will be led by Dr Jane Suiter, Associate Professor and Director of FuJo. The project team includes academic and industry partners from Ireland, Spain, the Czech Republic and Austria. Irish collaborators include the SFI ADAPT Research Centre for Digital Content Technology at Trinity College Dublin and the content intelligence company NewsWhip.

The project will work closely with citizens and content creators to address their needs and improve the digital environment for sharing content and information.The establishment of the PROVENANCE project reflects an acute awareness of the challenges posed for citizens by large scale disinformation, including misleading and outright false information.

Ensuring the integrity and reliability of news from various sources is a critical issue for citizens across the globe at this time and is one that gets to the very heart of democracy. Building on DCU’s expertise and our commitment to excellence and innovation in Journalism Education over many decades, I am delighted that our FuJo Institute is focusing its research and leading a team of international experts to address this key issue.

As part of the our Campus Development Plan 2016-2021, we have committed to significant renovation of the main Public Realm spaces on our Glasnevin campus, with a particular focus the Mall.

The section of the Main Mall between the Henry Grattan Building and the Labyrinth is now being renovated to provide enhanced public amenity space to complement the new U building.This work will be also include renovation and improvement works in the South Ring Road to provide a modern pedestrian friendly access to the U, Sports Centre and Student Residences.This phase of the development works will see over 9,000m² of public amenity refurbished, providing new spaces for student amenity, enhanced circulation and improved access to all buildings.As part of these works, we are undertaking a large-scale replanting of trees and shrubs to provide a sustainable open space with local varieties of trees and other plants. This includes the planting of over 125 native semi-mature trees and over 2,000m² of new shrubs and lawn planting, as well as new seating areas and upgrades to campus-wide infrastructure. The public realm works will be completed by the end of 2019. As a result, you may experience an increase in construction traffic on the Glasnevin Campus for the duration of the construction programme and all staff, students and visitors should take additional care when moving through the campus. Please bear with us while we deliver the next phase of our development.

Laetare Vocal Ensemble, conducted by DCU's Dr. Róisín Blunnie, has been awarded the Contemporary Music Centre Award for the best performance of a piece by an Irish composer at the City of Derry International Choral Festival, for their performance of The Destroyer by DCU's Dr. Seán Doherty. 

You can enjoy the performance here.

This is the second year in a row that Laetare have been awarded this prestigious prize, having won it last year for their performance of The Old Woman, by DCU's Dr. Rhona Clarke. 

These successes highlight the accomplishments of DCU staff in choral music at an international level.

This win is particularly timely, with DCU announcing that it will offer an MA in Choral Studies in 2019, subject to accreditation – the first of its kind in Ireland.

You can find out more about DCU's School of Theology, Philosophy, and Music here

Internationally-renowned Irish musician, film-maker and broadcaster, Philip King, has been appointed Adjunct Professor in Dublin City University’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Mr. King formally takes up his position with immediate effect and will serve for a period of three years.

First rising to prominence in the 1970s as a vocalist, harmonica player and founding member of seminal folk rock band, Scullion, Philip’s record of achievement in the arts over the past five decades has positioned him as an influential figure in Irish cultural circles. Philip has worked closely with many of the biggest stars in Irish, British and American music, film and literature, including Paul Brady, Christy Moore, Liam O'Flynn, Seamus Heaney, John McGahern, John Boorman, Mark Knopfler, The Everly Brothers, The Waterboys, Davy Spillane, Richard Thompson, Elvis Costello, John Cage, Emmylou Harris, Pete Seeger, Bono, Imelda May, Glen Hansard, Amy Winehouse, Tom Waits and Hozier.

Among his career highlights are writing and producing the Emmy Award-winning 'Bringing It All Back Home’ series (1991), producing the music of ‘The General’ (1997), founding the 'Other Voices’ music series for RTÉ, spawning a No.1 album of the same name and various events held annually since. In 2014, he curated the ‘Ceiliúradh’ concert in London's Royal Albert Hall, coinciding with the State visit to Britain of President Michael D. Higgins. He has directed five series of ‘Sé Mo Laoch’ for TG4 and currently presents ‘South Wind Blows’ on RTÉ Radio 1.

Commenting on his appointment, Philip King said: “I’ve had the pleasure of working closely with DCU students and staff on the inaugural ANAM Arts and Culture Festival, held earlier this year, which brought North Dublin's communities together through culture, song, poetry and social gatherings. As curator and producer of that festival, I'm delighted to have the opportunity to broaden my involvement with the university even further in my new role. I look forward to help shaping, sharing and spreading DCU's ethos of culture and creativity both within and beyond its campus walls. I look forward to working and curating with DCU the possibilities of combining its agendas of arts, culture, creativity and innovation with science, technology, engineering and maths to create a new dynamic for Ireland in an ever-challenging world.”

This is a wonderful development for DCU. Philip King is a musical and cultural icon. Visionary and versatile, his impact on music, film and broadcasting has inspired generations of musicians, documentary makers, producers, directors, writers, technologists and many others who work in or appreciate the arts here and internationally. DCU is proud of its musical, cultural and broadcasting heritage, and fostering a culture of creativity and innovation is an identified goal in our Strategic Plan 2017-2022. We are delighted to have an individual of Philip’s calibre join DCU as an Adjunct Professor and he will play a pivotal role in our strategy to establish a vibrant North Dublin Cultural Quarter. His presence and guidance will be an invaluable asset to our collective endeavours.  

The announcement coincided with the start of 'IRELAND’S EDGE', a multidisciplinary creative event that makes up a distinct strand of 'Other Voices' festival of music and ideas. The event, hosted in Dingle, Co. Kerry recently, brought together diverse stakeholders from the arts, technology, the creative industries, broader business interests, politics, policy, education and the media.

Emma Brannigan (DCU Applied Physics graduate 2018) has been awarded the prestigious Honours Degree Award of the International Society of Automation (ISA) Annual Awards 2018.

This is awarded, on the nomination of any third-level institution, to the best fourth-year Honours Degree student studying any area of Automation, Instrumentation or Control in Ireland.

Emma's Final Year Project was entitled ‘The development of a high-resolution signal acquisition system applied to optical touch detection’ in collaboration with the company Rapt Touch and Prof. Colette McDonagh as Emma's DCU supervisor.

The ISA Ireland Section will be making the presentation to Emma at their Annual Honours and Awards Ceremony in University College Cork on Wednesday 12th December 2018.

For more information on ISA, please visit ISA Ireland website: www.isa.ie or ISA international website: www.isa.org.

DCU's Faculty of Science and Health were among the winners at this year's gradIreland Higher Education Awards and Symposium on Friday, November 23rd at the Crowne Plaza, Northwood.

The School of Biotechnology collected the “Best Postgraduate Science Programme” for the MSc in Bioprocess Engineering.

It is the second year in a row that DCU's School of Biotechnology has won the Best Postgraduate Science Programme accolade.

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Katherine Zappone TD, officially launched Ireland’s first ever dedicated research centre for early childhood in November. The Early Childhood Research Centre (ECRC) at DCU’s Institute of Education aims to place Ireland at the centre of the global map of early childhood research.

The centre will actively promote close collaboration between research, policy and practice in the field, both nationally and internationally, and will build upon the existing expertise of the DCU Institute of Education, the only faculty of education on the island of Ireland; an Institute that provides teacher education and research for every level of education.

The establishment of the Early Childhood Research Centre at DCU follows on from the appointment of Professor Mathias Urban as the Desmond Chair in Early Childhood Education in September 2017.

It is the only early childhood research chair at an Irish university and aims to spearhead research that will have a transformative impact on public policy and practice in this sector. The establishment of the chair was made possible through the generosity of businessman and philanthropist Dermot Desmond, and is a reflection of the significance of the early years for educational success, personal well-being and social cohesion.

Professor Urban, who will lead the ECRC, is a world expert and thought leader in the field of early childhood research, renowned for his contributions in international early childhood policy and professional practice.

He most recently presented to the 2018 T20 Summit (Think 20 – a network of research institutes and think tanks for the G20 countries) in Buenos Aires, where he highlighted that early childhood education requires a more coordinated approach to governance, resourcing, professional preparation and evaluation.

Access to high quality early childhood development, education and care is recognised as key to achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

The ECRC will continue to lead the early childhood policy brief during Japan’s presidency of the 2019 G20 summit.

The official centre launch coincided with the Inaugural Lecture of the Desmond Chair in Early Childhood Education delivered by Prof Urban.

The lecture, ‘It takes more than a village - the local, the global, and the imaginary in early childhood education’ addressed the current context pertaining to childhood education and care nationally and internationally.

“Early childhood education is important, beneficial, and, if organised well, highly effective.”

“It is important that we understand what are the real experiences of all children and families in early childhood settings and beyond. We need to address questions such as what experiences do we as society want them to have now and in the future? What kind of services can and should we provide, locally and nationally, to value our collective responsibility to care for and educate young children and who should provide them?”

In a wide-ranging address, Prof Urban also addressed the concept of “Competent Systems in Early Childhood” looking at how the various actors (human and institutional) in early childhood education and care interact and come together and how such systems can be developed and improved upon in order to ensure a more just and equitable childhood experience. He outlined that this framework will underpin the approach taken by the ECRC.

“Our ambition is to systematically connect the global and local at all levels of the early childhood system: practice, policy and research. We aim to respond to developments in the Irish early childhood education care system and to place Ireland firmly on the global map of international early childhood education research.”

Speaking at the launch of the Early Childhood Research Centre at DCU, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Katherine Zappone TD, said:

“Early Learning and Care (ELC) has come a long way in the last decade in this country. With the launch of First 5, A Whole of Government Strategy for Babies, Young Children and their Families, this next decade will see further reform.

The establishment of the Early Childhood Research Centre and the appointment of a Chair in Early Childhood Education are very welcome developments. Professor Urban is a renowned leader in this field and I commend DCU for making this appointment. I look forward to the valuable work being undertaken here to help further inform policies which will deliver for generations of Irish families to come."

“DCU is committed to engaging in research that will have a transformative impact on lives and societies. We were proud to establish the Desmond Chair in Early Childhood Education, the first university Chair in Ireland dealing with this topic, made possible through generous philanthropic support. The establishment of the centre is another important milestone and a reflection of our commitment to the area of early childhood education.

As educators, we are fully cognisant of the critical nature of the early childhood years and the impact of experiences during these formative years. Through both the Chair and the Centre, we will endeavour to contribute positively to debate and policy development in this area and crucially provide strategic leadership to adopt a new comprehensive systematic approach to early childhood.”

It was announced last month that DCU Sport has achieved the ‘National Quality Standard’ for leisure and fitness centre operations.

The National Quality Standard (formerly White Flag Award) was set up in 2000 to recognise the standards of excellence in Safety, Hygiene, Customer Engagement & Human Resources to be found in leisure facilities around the country. This is a unique award as it is specific to leisure facilities. Each facility must meet a large number of criteria and undergo a rigorous audit process.

The award is now an essential quality mark for any leisure centre or sports facility that aspires to high standards.

DCU Sport are the proud recipients of the top level award - 'Outstanding'.

The award is administered by Ireland Active, a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee to provide support and services to create the platforms to professionalize the leisure industry through standards and best practice, whilst simultaneously developing the synergies to engage more people to be more active more often – thus providing for a healthier nation.

Further info: http://www.irelandactive.ie/

 DCU was singled out as an exemplar public sector institution in regard to energy efficiency in a recent SEAI (Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland) report launched by Minister for Communications, Climate Action and the Environment, Mr. Richard Bruton T.D., on our All Hallows Campus. The report, which detailed energy efficiency achievements across all public bodies in Ireland, evaluated 331 public bodies and 2,279 schools, representing an annual energy spend of €608 million. The report shows that public sector bodies collectively saved €191 million and 667,000 tonnes of avoided CO² emissions in 2017. 

Since 2009, public sector bodies have made over €1 billion in energy savings and avoided 3.6 million tonnes of CO2 emissions. These savings have made the public sector 24% more efficient in energy use overall since 2009, putting it on course to achieve the 33% energy efficiency target by 2020. 

DCU achieved primary energy savings of over 2.8 GWh in 2017 compared to 2016, in addition to gaining ISO 50001 energy management certification and launching a plan to develop a Carbon Neutral Exemplar Campus. New high efficiency boilers were installed in All Hallows Campus delivering 59% more savings than predicted. An upgrade of the existing internal and external lighting in the multi-storey carpark on Glasnevin campus to LEDs, together with occupancy and daylight sensors, have also exceeded predicted savings by 19%.

We are very proud of the energy efficiencies that have been achieved here at DCU and, as a key public sector entity with a 20,000-strong community, we are keen to continue leading by example. As you know, we have placed Sustainability as a core element in our Strategic Plan and achieving continuous improvements in energy efficiency is a central pillar of that strategy. I am confident that, through a sustained and multi-faceted approach of investment, awareness-building and modifications to daily habits on energy usage, we can continue to surpass our targets.

 A full copy of the report is available at www.seai.ie

We recently launched a new Health and Wellbeing Charter for students and staff as part of our plans to achieve designation as a “Health Promoting University” by 2022.

We developed the “DCU Healthy Charter” to guide health promotion in a comprehensive and coordinated manner and to facilitate a “whole-university” approach to health and wellbeing.

The new Charter was launched at an event on our St Patrick’s campus by Deputy President, Professor Daire Keogh, along with Director of Sports and Wellbeing, James Galvin, and DCU Students’ Union President Vito Moloney Burke. The “DCU Healthy Charter” provides the guiding principles for creating a healthy setting that promotes physical, mental and social wellbeing for our student and staff community (now numbering almost 20,000 people) across all our campuses.

The healthy charter and framework is inspired by the World Health Organisation’s Health Promoting Schools Model and was devised in response to one of the key goals of the University’s Strategic Plan that emphasise the importance of student and staff health and wellbeing.

Recent statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO) specific to Ireland highlighted that, by 2020, 40% of males and 37% of females will be obese and that by 2030, 47% of males and females will be obese. Furthermore, findings from a “My World Survey” by Jigsaw, the most comprehensive study of youth mental health in Ireland for those aged 12-25, found that college, money and work issues were the top three stressors for young people.

We have already implemented various initiatives to support health and wellbeing and appointed a full-time Health Promotion Officer, Caroline Mahon, earlier this year. The launch of the charter and framework represents a significant step to take a unified “whole-university” approach to health and wellbeing.

The charter includes a commitment to engage key stakeholders in the promotion of health and wellbeing, to link students and staff to support services to meet their health and wellbeing needs, to provide opportunities for all to learn about and take actions to enhance health and wellbeing.

The programme of work will be led by our Sports and Wellbeing unit. Key initiatives will target specific factors for health and wellbeing, including:

• Think Healthy - Mental Health & Wellbeing

• Eat Healthy - Healthy Eating

• Move Healthy - Physical Activity

• Live Healthy - Alcohol & Other Drugs

• Feel Healthy - Sexual Health

• Breathe Healthy - Smoking

As a mark of the university’s commitment to this initiative, I was happy to sign the Charter along with DCUSU President, Vito Moloney Burke, at the launch event. Vito’s comments at the event are worth noting:

“Today highlights a deep commitment to the health and wellbeing of the DCU community from a wide variety of staff and stakeholders, which is what makes the occasion so heartening. A cohesive approach to tackle the many issues facing today’s generation of students is the one that will ultimately prove to be the most effective. Through this, students have been provided with an opportunity to vocalise exactly what aspects of health and wellbeing they believe need to be addressed, a crucial aspect of the charter. This is an exciting moment, as it marks the continuation of our bid to see the student body overcome the hurdles of today and continue to prosper.”

 We were pleased to learn of the strong DCU showing in the recent announcement of the 27 innovative projects that will share over €75 million in funding (out to 2021) under the first tranche of the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund.

All successful proposals include collaborations between start-ups, SMEs, multinationals and academic institutions. Every project involves at least one SME and many are led by an SME. Over the next ten years some €500 million will be allocated through the fund, which was announced as part of Project Ireland 2040.

DCU researchers are playing a key role in the following four successful projects:

Title: Nex

Consortium Members: Davra Networks, DANALTO, INTEL, Dublin City University

Project Summary: The goal of this project is to provide a reliable, verifiable and secure end-to-end remote patient monitoring system which has rich data, affordable & reliable network connectivity, machine learning and data integrity at its core.

Research Priority Area and Technologies: Health & Wellbeing; ICT – Internet of Things

Enterprise Partner Locations: Davra – Dublin; Danalto – Dublin; Intel – Kildare

Award (subject to contract negotiation): €3.0m

Title: Future Software Systems Architectures

Consortium Members: Dublin City University & Lero, FOURTHEOREM, FINEOS

Project Summary: This project will leverage the internet network capability (and to some extent the Internet of Things) as a means to rapidly operationalise new software features. Central to this project will be the capacity to transform traditional slow software development organisations   into rapid feature delivery firm. AI research is also a feature

Research Priority Area and Technologies: ICT – IoT, AI, Digital Platforms and Applications

Enterprise Partner Locations: Fourtheorem – Cork; Fineos – Dublin

Award (subject to contract negotiation): €1.6m

Title: Irish Lasers for the Internet of the Future (iLife)

Consortium Members: Pilot Photonics, Dublin City University and Trinity College Dublin

Project Summary: This project proposes a solution to the impending “capacity   crunch” problem for optical telecommunication and datacentre networks using optical frequency comb sources, a new type of laser which can replace the single mode lasers that have been used in long haul optical transport equipment for two decades.

Research Priority Area and Technologies: ICT – Future Networks, IoT

Enterprise Partner Locations: Dublin

Award (subject to contract negotiation): €1.6m

Title: Advanced Environmental Decision Support System for Coastal Areas

Consortium Members: Techworks Marine Ltd. Dublin City University

Project Summary: This project will provide an advanced environmental decision support system to address issues such as coastal pollution and flooding. Such a system will provide enhanced insights to coastal industries, local authorities, government agencies and will ultimately benefit Irish society.

Research Priority Area and Technologies: Energy, Climate Action & Sustainability; ICT – Data Analytics, Platforms and Content

Enterprise Partner Locations: Dublin

Award (subject to contract negotiation): €1.1m

The full list of 27 successful awards is available here: https://bit.ly/2UxDdwU

At a special event hosted on our Glasnevin campus in mid-December, the Press Ombudsman, Peter Feeney, spoke on the importance of universities acting as repositories of historical material. Referring to the Media History Collection, which forms part of DCU library’s Special Collections and Archives, Mr Feeney noted that, without such initiatives, much material of historical importance would be lost to future generations of researchers.

The event was held to acknowledge and thank donors who lodged material with the Media History Collection over the past three years. This included: 

- Mary Raftery Papers (documentary maker, States of Fear / Cardinal Secrets)

- Frank McDonald Papers (former environment editor, Irish Times)

- Hugh Lambert Papers (former editor, Irish Press)

- Dick O’Riordan Papers (former editor, Evening Press)

- Mary Kenny Papers (author, playwright, columnist)

- Jim Downey Papers (author, columnist)

- Irish Pirate Radio Archive

- Slattery’s Camera Circle Photographic Archive (1960s-1990s)

Thanking the donors, Mark O’Brien, Chair of the Media History Collection Advisory Board, noted that the project was now eleven years old and had brought over fifty collections to the university.

With DCU Library & Archives becoming the ‘go-to’ repository for material relating to media and journalism history, he noted that further donations and initiatives would be announced over the next few months. 

Congratulations to Mark on the great progress achieved under his leadership!

As many of you may be aware, in 2017 we launched our Student Information System (SIS) Programme with the aim of transforming the way in which our staff and students interact with each other, using new technologies to enable us to ensure our future needs can be met. 

Throughout 2018, we have continued to work closely with staff and students to understand how we can improve our ways of working to deliver an excellent staff and student experience, using new and innovative technology.

Since the programme started, there have been over 2,245 engagements across DCU, alongside consultation with a number of universities in Ireland, UK and UAE.

The insights gained through these interactions have enabled us to build a clear view of what we need from our SIS, encouraging us to embrace new technologies and ways of working to support us in achieving our ambitious transformation and growth agenda.

In November 2018, we were delighted to finalise our requirements for the new SIS and invite a number of partners to provide us with information on how they can meet (and exceed) our requirements.

In the coming months, we will agree who our new partner will be and continue to work closely with staff and students to develop a solution that is right for DCU.

I would personally like to thank you all for your ongoing commitment and engagement with the SIS Programme to date. I truly believe that by investing in modern technology, transforming business processes and changing how the University operates and collaborates, DCU has the opportunity to drive significant value for our staff and students, before, during and after their time at the University.