March 3rd, 2008

Volume 2. Issue 20.

Compiled and edited by Angela Short.

Dame Geraldine Keegan delivers keynote address “Innovating Education” at Staff Development Week 2008.

Daffodil Day– this week.

Imagine working in an organisation in one of the most disadvantaged parts of Europe, com-mitted to joined up thinking and services, which creates a learning culture, where change and innovation is welcomed, where junior staff are part of the senior management team, where leadership targets are set, where posi-tions and responsibilities are shared and where risk taking is both exciting and enjoyable.

Dame Geraldine Keegan, DBE, OBE , a former Vice Chancellor of University of Ulster and is visiting Professor of Education in UU. She is the former Head Teacher of St Mary’s College, Creggan, Derry. Her career in education in-cludes a role as a senior lecturer in Teacher Training and a Deputy Director of the North-ern Ireland Centre for Education Management. During her period at St Mary’s College the school obtained the European Framework for Quality Assurance award (EFQM) twice and is the only public sector body to do so. Log on to DkItalk and find out what a well known cloth-ing firm and a Derry Secondary School have in common, Visit DkiTalk to hear this podcast along with the many other in-teresting talks from Staff Development

Week.

The Irish Cancer Society is holding the annual Daffodil Day this coming Fri-

day, 7th March. There will be collection points at all the usual spots. Many

thanks to all the outlets for agreeing to monitor the collection as usual. Your

help is invaluable. This year there are Silk Daffodils (€3), Pins (€3) and Key-

ring trolley discs (€4) on sale. I hope you can support this very worthy cause.

Many thanks in advance for your support. Loretto Gaughran

DkITimes

Listen to Dame Keegan’s address at DkITalk http://ww2.dkit.ie/about_dkit/podcasts/dkitalk/staff_development_week_2008

Successful Women in Irish Life– Newstalk 106

DkIT music students to entertain the President of Malta Seven final year music students who form the traditional Irish group Saor recently entertained First Minister Ian Paisley and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness during their historic visit to DkIT. The stu-dents, who are under the direction of Dr. Fintan Vallelly and legendary fiddler, Gerry O'Connor were congratulated by Edwin Poots, Minister of Culture in the N. Ire-land Assembly and by our own President, Denis Cummins. Before Christmas, Saor had the honour of playing for Her Excel-lency, President McAleese at Aras an Úachtaráin when she hosted a party for county council officials from all over Ire-land. On St. Patrick's Day, the group will travel to Malta to play for the President of Malta (making it a presidential hat-trick!) at a reception hosted by the Irish Embassy in Valetta, and the following evening will entertain an expected audience of 2,500 people at the Sky Club, a famous Maltese night club. Dr. Eibhlis Farrell, Head of Music and Creative Media said that she could not think of a better group of ambassadors for Ireland that our own students. Rilla Conlon from Castleblaney explained that they chose the name Saor because they were expected to do so much for free! Her colleagues are fiddlers Ciara Flynn, from Dundalk and Patricia Moyna from Monaghan, James O'Donoghue (banjo) from Dublin, guitarist and singer Aodan Coyne from Co. Clare, Brendan McCreanor, (pipes and whistle) from Dunleer and singer Páidí Ó Dubháin from Rostrevor, Co. Down, who also plays bodhran. All the students are in the throes of preparing for their finals, so they have had to turn down more offers than they have accepted, but DkIT audiences will have an opportunity to hear their last formal perform-ance in the campus theatre at the end of April. We wish them luck in all their endeavours!

Photo above taken by Glen Doyle of Creative Media Department.

Fr Emlyn Mc Ginn has joined the Institute as Roman Catholic Chaplin for two days a week, Monday and Tuesday. It is antici-pated that another Chaplin will be appointed for the remaining three days and I will keep you updated on this. Fr Emyln will celebrate Mass on Mondays and Tuesdays in the Quiet Room at 1.05pm commencing from Monday 10th March 2008. All are welcome to attend. I am sure you will join with me in welcoming Fr Emyln to the Institute. His office is situated next door to the Quiet Room. You can contact him on extn. 2721 or 087 7500466 or by email at Emyln.McGinn@dkit.ie. Linda Murphy, Academic Administration & Student Affairs Manager

Page 2

Father Emlyn McGinn joins the DkiT community as Chaplin.

Volume 2. Issue 20.

Early Perspectives – Brendan McCoy retires … As you know, Brendan is retiring; he was back in the college for his final Union meeting on Wednesday last, and the previous week he was in Dublin for a meeting at national level. AMICUS are in the process of merging with ATGWU. When Brendan came to the college in 78, Mick Mallie was the ‘rep’ and Brendan later joined him and after Mick stepped down from being rep, Joe McCreanor stepped in. One of the things he will miss most is the involvement with the union, he always managed to work well around the college and his strong union views were never tainted!

Brendan started work in the college on 20 November 1978; he remembers the date as it coincides with his daughter’s birthday, different year, now we know one of Brendan’s lotto numbers! He worked on various building sites for B. Duffy & Sons and then for Duffy Construction and later moved to the Council where there were more opportunities. By the late seventies the Council were in the process of ‘laying off’ people and a job for a ‘Craft Assistant Maintenance Man’ was advertised for the college, wondering what this could involve, he applied and the rest is history. Coming from building sites, the presence of so many doc-tors seemed strange, the job was really to keep the place up and running, from doing bits of carpentry, plumbing and building walls.

It was really a baptism of fire for the first few months; the first problem was in the male toilets where the concrete floor had to be dug to alleviate problems in the underground pipe work. Then the following Janu-ary (1979) one morning the place was flooded as a result of burst pipes, the ‘braised joints’ had given way, the canteen was flooded, everyone was sent home, Brendan was given the key of the front door and was left on the roof for the day. Somehow the job got done, Brendan received a letter from Peter Connolly thanking him for the good work!

There is a vast amount of knowledge in the head and it usually takes awhile for the new person to get a handle on it all. The college has grown and various parts of the work are sub contracted out now. The South Block was only a year old in 1979 and was in good order and under various guarantees. In more recent years, Aidan Burke became Building Officer for a brief time and was succeeded by Conor Lait who is now Estates Manager. In recent times, Brendan also served on the Governing Body and recalls the days of the Badminton Club, the football and the ‘Star Games’ during the May festival down town.

In conclusion, the college was a ‘fabulous place to work’, ‘ he loved the place and loved working in it and the craic’. Brendan’s retirement ‘do’ is on in the Fairways, this Friday (7th). Kevin Carroll, Fergus Grimes or

Turlough at reception can be contacted. Submitted by Seamus Bellew.

*Hospitality Outreach to Youth Club* For the third year running, Bay Zone Youth Club have sampled the delights of cooking alongside Hospital-ity staff in an evening cooking class. The children, aged 10 to 14, come to DKIT and receive expert tuition from staff on how to cook fresh healthy dishes. The ‘fun’ class gives the kids an insight into the joys of cooking and will hopefully produce a few Jamies and Nigellas! A big thanks to Colette Kelly, Derick Englishby, Michael Mc Namara and Alan Mc Cabe in Hospitality for volunteering their time to run the classes Pictured below is the first of this years 3 classes being carefully watched by Colette and Derick.

Attention Students! Library Amnesty this week– Return your overdue books– no

questions, no fines!

Don’t miss the chance!

Congratulations to Natasha O’ Hare on being selected as the first ever Microsoft Student Partner from

DKIT. Natasha is a third year student in the Games Development degree.

The Microsoft Student Partner Program is a worldwide initiative by Microsoft to sponsor students who

are interested in technology. The program mainly focuses on improving student skills for employability.

It also aims to foster a strong student-to-student network and improve the information flow between Mi-

crosoft and student communities. Microsoft consider the programme to be a once in a lifetime opportu-

nity for their student partners to develop real-world skills that should help them succeed in their future

career and to connect with other like-minded students across the country and internationally. The Micro-

soft Student Partner Program is active in universities in more than sixty countries worldwide.

Natasha is pictured above with Liam Cronin, who is Microsoft Ireland’s Academic Engagement

Manager, at a recent presentation in DKIT for Microsoft’s Imagine Cup games development com-

petition.

Microsoft Student Partner Program

Last Week during Staff Development Week the Conversation Café was held. Below you will read the questions posed and the responses from the staff who participated as they were written up on flipcharts and displayed for others to read and comment on by adding post it comments. Brendan Johnston has captured the comments in photograph format and I have included a selection below. To hear an interview with Ann Cleary log on to DkITalk and lis-ten to that interview plus the presentations from various speakers during the week.

DkITalk – check it out on the website.

Ravens Star Players up their game. Submitted by Brian Nordon

Michael “Junior” Rogan & Andrew “Polar Bear” Guest

With hockey players from all over the world, gathered to play together in the form of the Irish All-Star team, none would have anticipated that two of DkIT’s very own computing students would be on the front line of the team. Michael Rogan and Andrew Guest, players from The DkIT Ravens Hockey Team played last Sunday in a Nationwide Charity Event. The money raised from the event was in aid of Youth Development of Hockey in Ireland. Money was do-nated for every goal scored in the match, regardless of the team. Rogan did his part by scoring the game winning fourth goal, ensuring a victory for the All-Stars. The match ended 5-3 , with the prestigious Flyers Ice Hockey Club putting up a great fight throughout. Not forgetting Guest, who could only be seen as a blur on the ice due to the speed of his game, he caused a few ruffled feathers for the Flyers. His contribution to the match was backing support for 3 goals in the lead up to Rogan’s score. Both young men did themselves and the college proud, and there is speculation that the All-Star team is just a start in their careers. Lets just say that two more additions to the Ireland under twenties team next year, would be more Youth Development than many could have anticipated… The rest of the DkIT Ravens came to support their two players and showed that their sense of teamwork and team pride outstrips many of their rival clubs. The Ravens team, in their first ever season are causing a few upsets in the league, whether it be a physical advantage or sheer underdog skill. The play-offs are coming up and the Ravens are one of the five teams hoping to make the selection and get through. Any support for the team would be greatly appreciated from the public or the college in general. The Ra-vens are one of five teams on 9 points and are pushing to make the fourth play-off spot.

Keynote: Dermot McArdle ‘Advancing Gaelic Games through Innovation’ Established in 2005 by Monaghan county Footballer Dermot Mc Ardle to be a complete source for all coaching and games requirements.

Niall Carroll Aquaweb.ie is the web solution provider in Ireland and is offering a professional, affordable web design and development service aimed at getting your valuable business on the web and working for you. At Aquaweb.ie we like to keep things simple, because after all, that’s how you keep your vital customers.

Tracy Dunne Graphic Design Company

What they do?

Corporate Identity, Brand Management, Animation, Exhibition Design and Much more…..

Presentation of Prizes to Winners of the Beer Mat Business Ideas Competition & ’60 Second Shorts’

Showcase of ’60 Second Shorts’ Competition Entries

As part of Louth County Enterprise Week

DkIT’s Dr Conor Brady, lecturer in Archaeology in the Department of Hu-manities and Foras Feasa Research Fel-low, has just been offered a grant of €11,000 by the Heritage Council under

the 2008 Archaeology Grant Scheme.

The proposed project aims to follow up on ini-tial fieldwork carried out as part of Conor’s doctoral research in the Brú na Bóinne UNESCO World Heritage Site, in Co. Meath. While most of the prior research in the area was focused on one or other of the major monuments, e.g. the long-term, large-scale ex-cavations at Newgrange and Knowth passage tombs, Conor’s work examined the evidence for prehistoric settlement in the wider land-scape of the area around the monuments using systematic surface collection survey of the ploughzone as the primary technique.

The research was highly successful and exten-sive evidence for activity ranging over a number of stages during the Earlier Prehistoric Period was identified. The research took the form of a surface collection survey of the ploughzone in a defined 24km2 study area. Within this zone, 625 ha of land were available for direct survey, representing approximately 25% coverage of the overall study area. The primary objective of this research was to recover artefacts contained within the ploughsoil, a proportion of which are turned to the surface each time a field is ploughed. By re-cording the findspots of each artefact, subsequent analysis of the resulting distributions can reveal the lo-cations of past activity. The principal artefact category present on the ploughsoils in the study area was lithics or stone tools, which survive well in the ploughzone because of their durability. These were pre-dominantly flint but also with small proportions of other materials like chert, quartz, shale and porcel-lanite were also recovered.

Each findspot was assigned an Irish National Grid coordinate and the data were maintained in digital for-mat in a Geographical Information System. This allowed exploration of the relationships between the lithic distributions and other landscape features such as proximity to the known monuments, proximity to watercourses, slope, aspect and soils. Four locations have been selected where it is proposed that geophysical survey (magnetic gradiometry and earth resistance) be used to explore the geophysical characteristics of each of the lithic scatters sites. This will allow us to literally ‘see’ beneath the soil and map the occurrence of possible archaeological fea-tures surviving below the level of the ploughsoil. Depending on the results of this programme of investi-gation, the option of targeted excavation of features in order to collect dating and environmental evi-dence will be considered. This research adds an exciting new dimension to our understanding of life in a familiar landscape.

Pictured above is Conor fieldwalking in Newgrange.

Saturday 01st March 2008 Dundalk I.T held its first ever Intervarsity Archery Competition. Every college archery club in the country was in attendance. At DkIT last Saturday and inn total there were over 100 archers shooting in two separate sessions on the day. It was an eventful day as a intervarsity record which has stood for over eight years was broken on the day. The record was 557 out of 600 and the new record is 558 out of 600. James Ryan from UCD was the record breaker on the day.

The results were as follows:

Team Results

1st place UCD

2nd place NUIG

3rd place UL

Individual Results

Advanced Male

1st place James Ryan UCD 558

2nd place Joe Gill NUIG 548

3rd place David Keniffick DIT 517

Advanced Female

1st place Michele Peporte DCU 490

2nd place Laura Crean NUIG 456

3rd place Orla Mitchel CIT 423

Beginner Male

1st place Richard Collis RCSI 396

2nd place Barry Shiels CIT 371

3rd place Stephen Bager GMIT 307

Beginner Female

1st place Laura Tighe UL 471

2nd place Meg Hughes DkIT 414 (pictured above)

3rd Davina Djuron DkIT 375

Bare Bow

1st place Niamh Bhreathnach NUIG 526

2nd place Karmal Ghani UCD 482

3rd place Martin McDaid GMIT 473

Compound

1st place Harry Lister DIT 564

2nd place Macdara Glynn NUIG 549

3rd place John reck UCD 547

Congratulations to all involved!

PRESS RELEASE MARCH 2008

‘DKIT STARSEARCH’, TALENT EVENT.

IN AID OF ST.VINCENT DE PAUL, DUNDALK. Friday February 29th, 2008.

The Talent event for ‘DKIT STARSEARCH’, will take place on the 10th March between 7 – 9.30 pm, in the College bar in DKIT.

Due to our successful results from the Auditions, we are pleased to announce that six finalists have been chosen for the actual event. From these six finalists, great potential, and talent was discovered! We feel that they will produce good entertainment on the night.

The six finalists will be judged by a panel of experienced Judges, so the winner will be chosen fairly, and awarded. There will also be runner-up prizes, and a raffle will also take place on the night.

We encourage all students to come along to this exciting event of ‘DKIT STARSEARCH’, as it will prove to be very entertaining with plenty of surprises in store on the night! There will also be a band playing during the interval. All proceeds made are donated to ST.VINCENT DE PAUL charity in Dundalk, so please help in supporting this worthy charity by being present on the night.

Tickets are keenly priced at five Euros, and are available from Cul 3 students, and on the night.

For further information, please contact Joanne Kavanagh at (086) 339 5234.

Last Sunday morning Dr. Colette Henry of the Centre for Entrepre-neurship at DkIT was a guest on the panel of the ‘Wide Angle’ show on Newstalk 106 in honour of Mother’s Day. The show was featuring successful women in Irish society and Colette was joined by Nora Owen, Former Minister for Justice, Mary Lou McDonald MEP and Maryann Valiulis, Director of gender and women's studies at Trinity http://newstalk.ie/newstalk/podcasts/18/highlights-from-wide-angle.xml

Your opinions count! Reminder ….If you have not done so all ready please take 10 minutes to respond to the Learning Innovation Network (LIN) Survey. LIN is a sectoral project for the Institutes of Technology and is funded by the HEA through the Strategic Innovation Fund. Its objectives include:

To provide a centrally coordinated repository service and portal

To scope the parameters of an agreed Academic Development Programme

To develop a model for a National Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Awards system

This survey, which is being deployed throughout all of the institutes, will be used to identify professional development courses to improve teaching and inform the specifications for a portal of learning and teaching resources. In order to assist the LIN project team, please take a few minutes to complete the online survey at http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB227ETLY92CZ

Thank You for your help

EdTech 2008 will be held in DKIT on 22 & 23 May 2008. There is still time to get a paper into this conference, but the closing date is 6 March 2008. Please check out the ILTA web-site at http://www.ilta.net/

Call for Volunteers. We are looking for willing volunteers to help organise the EdTech Conference in DKIT. This is an opportunity to learn new skills, work with different people from across DKIT and hopefully to have some fun. We would really appreciate input and advice from anyone who has organised a Conference in DKIT before so that we could learn from your experi-ence. If you are interested please get in touch with Andrew Clarke or Ann Cleary.

The Challenge of Sustainability 2008 First Conference of the Cross Border Sustainable Energy Partnership

Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT), Thursday 19th and Friday 20th June 2008

Call for Expressions of Interest

The Cross Border Sustainable Energy Partnership is pleased to announce The Challenge of Sustainability Conference 2008. This exciting two-day event will be hosted by Dundalk Institute of Technology on the 19th and 20th of June 2008.

The Challenge of Sustainability will explore how academic institutes can take part in implementing practical solutions for a sustainable and secure future. Participants will be encouraged to relate their ideas to the Eastern Corridor, the geographic region stretching south from Dundalk to Dublin and north from Dun-dalk to Belfast. The conference will be addressed by distinguished keynote speakers.

You can contribute to The Challenge of Sustainability by presenting a paper on relevant business, policy and technical topics. Presenters will be expected to place their work in the broader context of the confer-ence mission, i.e. how academic institutes can take part in implementing practical solutions for a sustain-able and secure future.

Papers will be accepted for either poster or oral presentation.

Contact Details

Please write to info@allislandenergy.org to register your interest in taking part by 5pm Friday March 14th 2008. This is anticipation of a subsequent call for extended abstracts to be submitted by early April 2008.

Cross Border Sustainable Energy Partnership

In 2007, DCU, Dundalk Institute of Technology and Queen’s University Belfast agreed to cooperate in research and education activities in the area of sustainable energy. The Cross Border Sustainable Energy Part-nership (CBSEP) was formed. The partners aim to support sustainable energy innovation, to advance and disseminate sustainable energy research and knowledge and to popularise the benefits of sustainable en-ergy techniques, technologies and policies for the island of Ireland and all of society. The Partnership has a uniquely broad scientific, technical, geographic, social and economic reach.

Monday 10th

to

Thursday 13th March

March 2008 DkIT Fit for Life week aims to improve the overall quality of life of students and staff of DkIT by promoting lifestyles

through good nutrition and regular

physical activity.

Healthy Eating options in the Main Canteen – available all

week Breakfast including:

- Omelette and Boiled Eggs Available at Break-fast

- Porridge

- Low Milk available in dispenser for Cereal/Tea/Coffee - Canderel Sachets available as Sugar

Sweetener.

- Speciality Coffee Ma-chine : All Coffee’s made with Low Fat Milk - Nourish Bar with

Fruits & Natural Yogurt

Lunch: Healthy Op-tion available daily

including:

- Fish on Wednesday and Friday - Meal Deal to incorpo-

rate Fresh Fruit.

- Gourmet Soup (Thickened Naturally with Cornflour or Po-tato) - Low Salt Sachets avail-

able to customers

- Low-Low Spread used on Deli Bar for the duration of the week - Triple Grain Baguette

available on Deli Bar

---- Low Fat Mayon-naise used on all salads & dressings in the Deli Bar - Low Fat Salad Dressing available

on Deli Bar....

Tues 11 March

LM FM Broadcast from the College (Throughout the Day-

main glass corridor)

Health Checks facili-tated by Nursing Staff and Health promo-tion students;(10.00 -2.00 p.m.Nursing

building)

‘DKIT Wheelchair Olympics’ organised

by CSL 3 (10.00 - 3.00 p.m.

In the MPC) Stress Solutions

for Staff (11.00 – 2.00 p.m. Staff Common Room)

Marie Keating Founda-

tion Awareness Road show

(11.00 – 3.30 p.m. Front of College)

Health Talks

by Marie Keating Foun-

dation Women’s Health –12pm

(Nursing Building) Men’s Health – 1.00pm

(Nursing Building) Launch of DkIT Can-cer Awareness Soci-

ety (2.00 p.m. Front of TK

Whitaker) Take Five Steps…

Free fruit Awareness

Canteen promos

(11.00 – 2.30 p.m. main corridor + nursing Building)

WII Sports Challenge (11.30 – 2.00 p.m.

Student Common Room)

Burn ‘N’ Tone Class (5.00 – 6.00 p.m.

In the MPC)

Mon 10 March Stress Solutions for Students

(11.00 – 2.00 p.m. Corridor to the right of TK Whitaker)

Club & Societies

Display

Kenpo Breakdancing

Hip Hop

(11.00 – 11.30 p.m.Front of TK Whitaker)

Fit for Life Launch …

12.00 pm (Front of TK Whitaker) Take Five Steps…

Free fruit Awareness

Canteen promos

(11.00 – 2.30 p.m. Front of TK Whitaker)

Club & Societies

Display

Kenpo Breakdancing

Hip Hop

(1.00 – 2.00 p.m. Front of TK Whitaker)

WII Sports Challenge (12.30 – 3.00 p.m.

Student Common Room)

Fun Aerobics

(5.15 – 6.00 p.m. In the MPC)

Wed 12 March

Stress Solutions for Students

(11.00 – 2.00 p.m. Nursing Building)

Drug Addiction awareness Talk/

Presentations

Drink awareness Talk/ Presenta-

tions Take Five Steps… Free fruit Awareness Canteen promos

(11.00 – 2.30 p.m. Front of TK Whitaker)

Food Glorious Food Dem. Healthy Eating Dem

& Talk

(1.00 – 2.00 p.m.)Display

DkIT GLBT Society Outcomers WII Sports Chal-

lenge Grand Final

(12.30 – 3.00 p.m. Student Common

Room) Introduction to Break Dancing

(3.00 p.m. – 4.00 p.m. Conference Centre) Introduction to Table Tennis

(4.30 p.m. – 6.30 p.m. Conference Centre) Introduction to Kenpo Karate

(5.00 p.m. – 6.30 p.m. Room M212 above Students Union) Introduction to

Archery (6.00 p.m. – 9.00 p.m.

In the MPC)

Thurs 13 March

‘Sli na Slainte’ launch (12.00 pm Front of College)Tag Rugby Even-

tOrganised by

Business Studies Students

(10.00 - 3.00 p.m. In the MPC)

Brain Food’

(11.00 a.m. – 2.00p.m,Main

Canteen)

Take Five Steps… Free fruit Awareness Canteen promos

(11.00 – 2.30 p.m. Front of TK

Whitaker)

Drink drivin-gRoad safety awareness-(Garda Traffic Corps)(11.00 – 3.30 p.m. Front of College/Front

of TK Whitaker)

Burn ‘N’ Tone

Class (5.00 – 6.00 p.m.

In the MPC) Introduction to

Fencing (6.30 p.m. – 9.00

p.m. In the MPC)

Introduction to Capoeira -

Brazilian Dance (6.30 p.m. – 9.00

p.m. In the MPC)

Your Drink could

have been spiked Date rape Drug

Awareness (at Stu-dent Ball)

So you want to be famous? Just contact Liam at DkITalk.

The DkITalk Pilot series of Radio programmes is archived at http://ww2.dkit.ie/about_dkit/podcasts/dkitalk/dkitalk_on_radio Remember the programme goes out live every Monday from 2-3 pm on Dundalk FM100 (MHz) and reaches out from Campus to community.

If you have upcoming events or student activities, research, seminars, innova-tions etc please get in contact with me by email or phone me on 087 2543997 to arrange recording. Some of you are working with students on topics that will make interesting listening and will be good experience for your students, so encourage them to come forward. Our plan is to have music, song poetry etc that emerge from the campus so do forward your material or arrange to come into studio to play live Regards, Liamog. Liam.ogogain@dkit.ie 087 2543997

Page 23 Volume 2. Issue 20.

Caption Competition. 'Told you The Frames front man would win the oscar!” Congrats to James Dunne, Class of ‘07.

Send your

captions to

editor@dkit.ie