May 5th April 2008

Volume 2. Issue 26.

Editor; Angela Short Assistant Editor: Margaret Clarke

Jamba and Emma take the prize. A collaborative animation competition organized by Dr. Suzanne Linnane, Research Director at the on-campus Na-tional Centre for Freshwater Studies (NCFS), and DkIT Advanced Multimedia lecturer, Martina O’Neill, has resulted in

a career-enhancing bursary award in addition to a substantial cash-prize

Jamba the polar bear, the creation of second year Video and Film student Emma Dunlop, stole the hearts of judges Dr. Linnane and Brian McDonald of the National Federation of Group Water Schemes. They were so impressed that

Emma has been invited to work with the NCFS on their primary school curriculum throughout the summer.

Jamba will not only explain the hydrological cycle in primary schools around the country but he will also discuss climate change and other

water-related issues.

Eimear Burke and Fiona Taaffe also won cash prizes for their delightful and informative anima-tions of the hydrological cycle, which the NCFS

also hope to incorporate into the curriculum.

For first-time animators, the standard was very high; Martina believes that this was due to the high level of co-operation, fun and support

among the students as they strove to find their individual styles. As one classmate remarked of Emma’s win “there is

no shame in being beaten by the best!”

The prizes were awarded by Institute president, Mr. Denis Cummins at the April Steering Committee Meeting of the

National Source Protection Pilot Project in DkIT. Visit Jamba next September at http://ww2.dkit.ie/r_and_d/ncfs

Invitation.

The Midwifery Section of DKIT

wish to invite YOU to an Infor-

mation Morning

today May 7th from 10 am

until 1.p.m

on

Breastfeeding in the

School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health

Studies, DkiT

DkITimes

Emma Dunlop and Martina O’Neill at Emma’s prize-giving.

DKIT's Black Bull Kenpo Submitted by Barry Judge McCormack.

One by one they start to arrive. Coming from lecture halls and computer labs, straight from classes or from quick stops back back home. Nods and salutations and the room is cleared out. Out of sports bags and knapsacks black uniforms are pulled, civvies cast aside. Belts are tightened and sleeves are rolled up, the rituals as we prepare our minds. For the next few hours they will sweat, they will dish out pain continually and receive it just as often. They will slam their bodies against leather pads and kick shields, against the ground and against each other. They will bite down on their mouth-guards and on their pain. They will do this until col-lege closes and they are forced to stop. And they will do this for fun.

Photo. From left to right; Diar-muid Moloney, Patrick Clarke, Patrick Phillips, Barry Judge McCormack (instructor, 1st de-gree), Bob Browne (senior instructor, 4th degree), Willer van Niekerk, and Colm McElar-ney.

In early November last year, Black Bull Kenpo opened it's doors. A hard-hitting, street-based style of martial arts, Kenpo Karate is a modern form of self-defence that was de-veloped in the U.S. Using a logical and scientific approach to study human motion, Kenpo gives it's students the tools to further themselves as individuals. By studying the princi-pals and laws of human combat, a person can develop their own style, unique to their body-shape and mindset. This is where Kenpo gets it's name from, translating as Law of the Fist.

Since November, dozens of students have come to train. Men and women from DKIT and beyond have sought to

learn new skills and gain new experience. And recently five young men passed their first grading, and qualified for the first rank of yellow belt. Diarmuid Moloney, Patrick Clarke, Paddy Phillips, Willer Van Niekerk and Colm McElarney, having satisfied the requirements for rank, performed their grading material for senior instructor Mr Bob Browne. Mr Browne, 4th degree black belt, travelled up from Dublin to grade the group and present them with their certificates.

Achieving a rank in Kenpo is no easy task, and each of the stu-dents have been training for six months continually, and since January have trained twice a week for three or four hours a ses-sion. Each one is a testament to Black Bull Kenpo's motto of Sweat, Pain and Dedication. In order to develop these skills, you must be willing to sweat, be willing to go through pain, and you must be willing to do it over and over.

Early Perspectives – Frank McArdle. Written by Seamus Bellew.

Last time Frank M cArdle recalled starting in the college in 1974, the early days and the intricacies of the job, this week he recalls the colleagues from the

early days and various events held at the college.

College Events

The hosting of various events was part of the job. Some of the concerts held in the MPC, that come to mind are: Boyzone, Finbarr Wright, the RTE Orches-tra (several times) and Colette McGahon, a local Soprano. The acoustics in the MPC were good. Win-ning Streak was held on one occasion with Mike Murphy, resting facilities were arranged for Mike before the show! The college also hosted the Motor Cycle show. Clannad held a concert in the old college theatre. The ‘Omagh Event’ in the Spring of 1999

was memorable as well.

Colleagues in the early days Other early caretakers were Patsy Byrne, James Byrne and James Wogan. Paddy McCoy used to check the building on Sunday mornings; he was a great man for pruning roses. Tom Carroll (RIP) father-in-law of Patsy Byrne came from the VEC and looked after the grounds. Maurice O’ Neill (father of Michael) was a local retired electrician who used to help out in those early years. It was not all serious either, Christy McAreavy, Tony Rice and Pat Herr were the leading lights in organising inter-college drama, this would mean that sets and scenery would have to be prepared. Some of the college staff was involved in the Belfast-Dublin Mara Cycle in the eighties and nineties. Eugene Mulholland helped raise funds by preparing the Red Cross packs. Brendan

McCoy and Pat Kearney were two staff members who took to the saddle.

Sean McDonagh

There was great respect for Sean McDonagh, on his arrival to the college in his donkey jacket, he met Patsy Curran and asked where the principal’s office was. Patsy in his own imitable way replied, “I don’t think anybody will starting there for awhile, son”! Sean would look after the caretakers at Christmas time by giving smokes to those who did or a tin of biscuits. This practice contin-ued until Peter Curley declared he did not want them anymore! The parties in Sean McDonagh’s are well known, whatever about their documentation. Luminaries like Mairéad Ni Chíosóg, Frances Ruane, Marie Guilfoyle and Dorothy O’ Boyle were all there to keep an eye on the boss. Sean was also fond of sport in particular Badminton where himself and Gerry Watters organised tourna-ments. Just in case the badminton was too sedate, there used to be ‘ferocious games’ against the hospital doctors. The College’s Act 1992 and growth of the college changed Sean’s role somewhat, and his latter years were spent more in the management and

administration side of things.

The students

On several occasions the students organised a ‘sleep-in’ to protest about grants or their lack of. On one occasion the college theatre was full where the then USI president Pat Rabbitte spoke vehemently on the issues of the day. Even one Gerry Adams

visited the students on another occasion; there was a cohort of students from Monaghan who gave him a tough time indeed!

Finishing up in the college Frank retired in October 2006 and a very enjoyable night was held in the Lisdoo on 25th October where Frank’s family, friends and colleagues joined to wish him well. Denis Cummins thanked Frank and recognised his good work down through the years, Frank in turn thanked everyone on the night. However that was not the end of Frank’s involvement in the college, he came back part-time in the mornings and was involved in the preparation of the Carroll’s building for the next phase its development. Apart from the ‘Bright Room’, offices and the rooms used for examinations, the rest of the building to be refurbished needed to be cleaned

and prepared before going to tender for a contractor. This is now complete and Frank has more time to spend with family and has plans for a trip with Moya. Moya herself who worked in the canteen retired shortly before the move over last

year. Many thanks to Frank and we wish Frank and Moya all the best.

Written and submitted by Seamus Bellew.

Students Keith Byrne, David Conyard, Aidan Deery and Derek Williamson from the Dept of Music and Creative Media recently facilitated a series of community based music composition workshops in RehabCare, Dundalk under the direction of their lecturer Hilary Mullaney.

The workshops produced a CD of original compositions composed collectively by Niall Coleman, Noreen Crotty, Joseph Dorian, Marguerite Kirwan and Colette Martin from RehabCare. The workshops proved a great success and the Dept of Music and Creative Media looks forward to further collaborations with RehabCare.

This series of workshops was part of the course work assessment for the Assistive Music Technology module on the MA/MSc in Music Technology programme.

L – R, Back Row:

Keith Byrne, David Conyard, Derek Williamson, Aidan Deery, Colette Martin,

L – R, Front Row:

Noreen Crotty, Joseph Dorian, Marguerite Kirwan, Niall Coleman

MA/MSc Music Technology News

Members of the cast of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro during the recent DkIT production in the Black Box Theatre, accompanied by the DkIT Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Caitriona McEniry.

This was one of a series of achievements for the music department this semester. Others included ex-change visits for the Traditional Music Ensemble directed by Gerry O'Connor and their counterparts of UU in Derry and Queen's, Belfast; a highly successful concert in the Spirit Store by the 16 piece Guitar En-semble under the direction of Ciaran Rosney and the visit of Saor, the Year 4 Trad Group at the invitation of the Irish Embassy

There were premiere performances of works by student composers Andrew Grafton and Trudy Maguire at the Irish Contemporary Music Centre's Platform in Maynooth; major success for 3rd year guitarist Damien Kelly who won the highest mark in any instrumental category at the Feis Ceoil in Dublin and another pre-miere performance of a work by 2nd year Breiffne Holohan at the Council of Heads of Music in Higher Education in Ireland Composition workshop at St. Patrick's College Drumcondra.

We all enjoyed the annual Rockfest in the Black Box Theatre with a record number of bands, organised by year 2 student Patrick Connolly; the first Open Day in the music department was held for prospective students and there were also some memorable master classes on subjects ranging from film music to set dancing and the Alexander technique.

This semester also saw the retirement of caretaker Mr. Niall O'Donnell, whose yearly party piece 'three French Hens' in the Christmas Concert will be sadly missed. We wish Niall a long and happy retirement and we welcome master set-builder, Peter McEneany in his place. In the meantime 2nd year Mark Nutley has been enjoying his time in Norway while Stefano Uberti is taking time out in Germany on the European Erasmus programme.

Staff and students took a packed bus to a performance of the Ravel Piano Concerto by DkIT lecturer Mary McCague at the National Concert Hall, with the UCD Orchestra and to end the year in style, there was the hugely successful concert with the South Ulster Youth Orchestra, the Choir of DkIT Music Dept and soloists Joanna Shields (violin) Stephen Murray (trumpet) Páidí Ó Dubháin (baritone), Brendan McCreanor (uileann pipes), and guitarist Damien Kelly.

Music Student’s Have a Busy Semester

Three teams from DkIT’s Computer Games Development degree have qualified for the na-

tional finals of the Dare to be Digital computer games development final.

T h i s c o m p e t i t i o n a t t r a c t s entries from the various universities and insti-tutes of technology around the country. Given that only five teams are selected from the Re-public of Ireland for the finals, having three of them from our own college is a fantastic achievement. Well done to all three teams and good luck in the final this coming Thursday.

The Infection Vector team are David Reilly, Eoghan Carpenter, Ciaran Culleton,

Christopher Duffy and Ben Williams (all from Computer Games Development, year 3).

They have developed a strategy game, called “The Manhattan Strain”. A deadly virus has broken out in the city of Manhattan and it is up to you, the player, to manage the crisis. You can use the police and biologists to execute your commands. Instruct the police to create quarantines and roadblocks. Deploy biologists from the Centre for Disease Control to identify and treat the infected. You have limited resources and even less time. You must make your resources work to the greatest effect. If necessary, use air strikes to kill your own civilians and save the uninfected. In a dynamic 3D city every choice you make will have many unforeseen consequences and the circumstances are never the same. The clock is ticking, how many people can you save?

The Visual Dementia team are made up of Stephen Boylan, Natasha O'Hare, Alan Feekery,

Anthony Keogh and Blaine Rennicks (from Computer Games Development, year 3).

Their game, called “Orbital Escape”, appeals to a very broad audience. This game is easy to pick up and play, but difficult to master. The game is based around a genetically modified spider monkey, called Loki, who has one thing on his mind..... FREE-DOM!

In this fast paced, 3D platformer, the user controls Loki. The user must battle against random grav-ity shifts and a changing environ-ment using Loki’s targeting sys-tem and grappling hook tail. Gravity shifts and the transform-ing level design make for a truly unique game play experience. The way Loki can move around all sides of each platform and how he uses his tail to move between platforms makes this game stand out from the stereo-typical platform game.

Hat-trick of Success for Computer Games Development Students

The Bubble Gum Games team consists of Lisa Tumbleton and Andrew Whitebrook (from Computer Games Development, year 3), Shane Moriarity (from Computer Games Development, year 2) and Catherine Mc Keever and Proinsias O’ Broin (from Commercial Computing, year 4).

This team’s game is called “A Chubby Little Adventure”. The plot of this game revolves around a marshmallow, named Chubby Chubbington, who has fallen out of a marshmallow bag, leaving his girlfriend behind. Chubby must race to save his girlfriend from roasting in a campfire. This is a 3D platform game in which the player controls the physical shape of the character as a major part of the gameplay.

The player moves Chubby by bouncing on mushrooms, gliding on flower petals and using Venus fly-traps to fling Chubby through the air and more... while keeping control of Chubby’s shape to avoid obstacles and collect delicious candy corn. Bounce, squash, stretch and squeeze Chubby to help the sugar-based hero on his way across the forest floor. Avoid bees, ants and other bugs as they try to get in your way. Blow bubblegum bubbles to fly through the air or jump on stinky mushrooms to send the bugs running! Remember: marshmallows are people too!

Jacqui Kelly presents Andrew McKeon with a cheque for the mature students society

Left: AIB donated €200 to the society. Pictured are Kevin Martin, Anna Kapinga, Anne Hughes, Gillian Mitchell and Andrew McKeon

Grease Night First Prize winners Don-nella Lambe and Siobhan Gavigan re-ceive €500 from the Mature Student Society. Also pictured are Kevin Martin, Anna Kapinga, Emmet Griffin and Andrew McKeon.

John Shepard of Matthews Chemist presents

Andrew with a cheque for €250

MATURE STUDENTS RAISE FUNDS

The Midwifery Section of DKIT wish to invite

YOU to an Information Morning on 7th May

• THEME: Breastfeeding

• VENUE: School of Nursing, Midwifery and

Health Studies, DKIT

• TIME: 10.00-13.00hrs

FURTHER DETAILS: Contact Jill Atkinson, Head of Midwifery Section:

Email: jill.atkinson@dkit.ie

CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF

THE MIDWIFE 2008

• EXPERT EXPERT EXPERT EXPERT SPEAKERSSPEAKERSSPEAKERSSPEAKERS

• SUPPORT & SUPPORT & SUPPORT & SUPPORT &

ADVICEADVICEADVICEADVICE

• INFORMATION INFORMATION INFORMATION INFORMATION STANDSSTANDSSTANDSSTANDS

• LACTATION LACTATION LACTATION LACTATION CONSULTANTSCONSULTANTSCONSULTANTSCONSULTANTS

• KIDDIES KIDDIES KIDDIES KIDDIES CORNERCORNERCORNERCORNER

• REFRESH-REFRESH-REFRESH-REFRESH-MENTSMENTSMENTSMENTS

• SPOT PRIZESSPOT PRIZESSPOT PRIZESSPOT PRIZES

Breastfeeding:Breastfeeding:Breastfeeding:Breastfeeding: The BESTBESTBESTBEST things in life are FREEFREEFREEFREE

This week’s Caption Competition.

Send your captions to

editor@dkit.ie

Got any saucers? Congratulations to Barry Lynch.