Sadness at the untimely passing of Dr. Pat Feenan R.I.P By now many of you will have heard the terribly sad news of the passing away last evening of our esteemed colleague and friend Dr Pat Feenan. Pat will be remembered by all who worked with him for his great sense of humour and quick wit which he frequently used at Academic Council meetings and other gatherings in the Institute. He was also a man of tremendous academic ability who was among the first ever to achieve a PhD in the area of Civil Engineering. Pat joined DkIT in 1976 as a lecturer but shortly afterwards became Head of Department of Infrastructural and Environmental Engineering. He was to the fore in leading that Department and introduced the first Diploma and Degree programmes in Civil Engineering. He served as a external examiner for a number of other colleges and was held in very high regard throughout Ireland. Pat developed an excellent alliance with his alma mater Queens University resulting in a large number of civil engineering students transferring there to complete their degrees prior to the introduction of the degree programme here. Pat retired in 2009 but maintained strong links to DkIT and was a regular visitor here. Regrettably Pat did not get very long to enjoy the retirement that he so much deserved. Our sympathy is with his wife Rose and six children and all of his colleagues and close friends here in DkIT. Ar dheis de go raibh a h-anam dilis. Denis Cummins President
Transcript
Sadness at the untimely passing of Dr. Pat Feenan R.I.P
By now many of you will have heard the terribly sad news of the passing away last evening of our esteemed colleague and friend Dr Pat Feenan. Pat will be remembered by all who worked with him for his great sense of humour and quick wit which he frequently used at Academic Council meetings and other gatherings in the Institute.
He was also a man of tremendous academic ability who was among the first ever to achieve a PhD in the area of Civil Engineering. Pat joined DkIT in 1976 as a lecturer but shortly afterwards became Head of Department of Infrastructural and Environmental Engineering. He was to the fore in leading that Department and introduced the first Diploma and Degree programmes in Civil Engineering. He served as a external examiner for a number of other colleges and was held in very high regard throughout Ireland. Pat developed an excellent alliance with his alma mater Queens University resulting in a large number of civil engineering students transferring there to complete their degrees prior to the introduction of the degree programme here.
Pat retired in 2009 but maintained strong links to DkIT and was a regular visitor here. Regrettably Pat did not get very long to enjoy the retirement that he so much deserved.
Our sympathy is with his wife Rose and six children and all of his colleagues and close friends here in DkIT.
Ar dheis de go raibh a h-anam dilis.
Denis CumminsPresident
Sports and Societies AwardsOn Thursday past, DkIT held its Annual Sports & Societies
Awards evening in the Crowne Plaza, Dundalk with over 40
Sports & Societies being represented on the evening. Awards
ranged from Society of the Year to Sportsperson of the year.
Last Thursday, Dundalk Institute of Technology held their 5th
Annual Sports & Societies Awards evening in the Crowne
Plaza Hotel, Dundalk. The event was well attended with over
40 clubs and societies being represented on the evening.
Adam Burke, a graduate of DkIT, and World Record Holder,
was our Guest Speaker on the evening and presented our
students with the main awards on the evening.
DkITs first ever Sports Scholars were also recognised at the event and were presented with the cheque by
the President of DkIT, Mr Denis Cummins.
Sports Club of the Year 2011 - Badminton receiving their award from the Sports & Societies Officer, Ciara Patterson and Guest Speaker, Adam Burke.
The main Award Winners on the night were as follows:
Societies
Best Media Production by a Society – Media Society for their production of Come Dine with DkIT
Best Fresher within a Society – Shauna Tuite from the Media Society
Best New or Improved Society – Nigerian Society
Society of the Year – Laptop Music Society
Best Individual within a Society – Sean Gileece (Laptop Music
Best Administrator within a Sports Club – Niall Kearns (Fencing) &
Damien Whelan (GAA)
Best New or Improved Sports Club – Airsoft
Best Coach within a Sports Club – Barry Judge McCormack (Kenpo)
Sports Club of the Year - Badminton
Sports Person of the Year – Rosemary Talon (Athletics)
Volleyball Club at the Sports and Societies Dinner held last Thursday night in Crowne Plaza
Local Charities benefit as DkIT Students Forfeit World Record
Just to prove it’s not all about the winning – the 4th year Business Ethics group successfully raised funds for two Charities – Women’s Aid Dundalk and the Irish Cancer Society in their attempt to set a third world record for the largest game of Blind Man’s Bluff last Thursday.
Dublin GAA star, Eamon Fennell was the “Blind Man” who had to tag well over 300 students. Gardaí officially registered the numbers. Unfortunately, twice that number was needed to achieve the world record.
It was all good fun but and the real goal of raising funds for the organisations was achieved.
According to Elaine Gillespie of the Irish Cancer Society:
“All funds raised locally got to local cancer services. In 2010, we provided 430 nights of nursing care for cancer patients, enabling them to stay in their own homes at the end stages. We provide up to 7 nights at a time giving families some respite during a particularly stressful time. We alsoprovided €23,000 in financial to families in 2010 to enable them to cope with critical expenses which can arise from changed circumstances due to cancer”.
Lisa Marmion of Women’s Aid, Dundalk said:
“Women’s Aid provides vital and practical services for women and children who suffer from domestic violence in Dundalk. These include: refuge, 24 hour helpline, court accompaniment, a charity shop and one to one support to the Dundalk Community. Without funds these services would not be available.”
It’s a busy time for college students but many left their busy study and assignment schedules to take part. A party atmosphere was created by Andy Clarke of LMFM who was MC and carried out a live broadcast of the event. Many local businesses donated goods, services and cash donations to make the event possible to run.
This massive undertaking was organised entirely by the 150 students from 4th year Business Ethics module and highlights the benefit of participation in volunteering by demonstrating what can be achieved when a group works together.
The Louth Volunteering Centre which co-ordinates the volunteering opportunities for all charities in the area, including Women’s Aid and Irish Cancer Society were there to information on volunteering opportunities available. Volunteering is a rewarding way to participate in thecommunity and provide. The centre has a variety of opportunities to suit all levels of commitment and skills.
Staff at DkIT raise Eur 3,300 for Japanese earthquake relief fund.
School of Business Lecturer, Bernadette Cassidy’s son Ronan was teaching in a school in Sendai when the earthquake and ensuing tsunami hit the north eastern coastline of Japan, taking thousands of people’s lives and destroying not only houses, but also roads, power lines, port facilities, oil refineries and local administration. An extract from a letter that Ronan sent reads as follows “try to picture being on the fourth floor of a building. Suddenly, it starts to shake, gently at first, but instead of passing it grows in intensity. Then, you hear the ground, the very earth itself rumbling, a deep sustained bass growl, as it contorts, rips, tears like a cheap fabric. Then, all of the glass around you shatters, and you are cut all over. By this stage, you have been flung against the wall….you crawl to the centre of the room – it is impossible to stand – the building keeps shaking, but it is now LITERALLY jumping – a grotesque up and down movement that no building is meant to perform – as if it were a box that some petulant child is shaking wildly, impatiently. I try to shield a group of children from the mortar, furnishings and glass that is being thrown about like ordinance in a battle ground. They are screaming. I look at the roof, certain that it will cave in on us at any moment and I know there is no way out. I felt that we were all about to die, that this is a force humans cannot survive. Yet, it doesn’t cave in, but sits there, literally wobbling, swaying at a 30 degree angle from side to
side. As soon as possible I took the children and move………………I am one of the very lucky ones…………..”
Filled with gratitude that Ronan’s life was saved, Bernadette Cassidy and her colleague Fionnuala Dullaghan decided to raise some money for the Japanese Red Cross. At very short notice to the staff and students in the Institute of Technology a cake sale was arranged. Offers of help to bake and do other tasks poured in from the staff and students (especially Hospitality who pulled out all the stops) Special thanks to Ann Campbell, Marie Bouquet, Ann Marie McHugh and Orla Rowland who worked tirelessly over a period of 4 hours and together we managed to raise €3,300. The sheer generosity of the staff and students at the college was overwhelming. A big, big thank you goes to all of them!
The cheque for €3,300 was presented to Ms Tomoko Matsumoto, First Secretary at the Embassy of Japan in Dublin. The President of the institute, Mr Denis Cummins received a letter of appreciation from Mr Toshinao Urabe, the Ambassador of Japan in Ireland and an extract from that letter reads
“I would like to thank you very much for your message of sympathy and cheque for €3,300 received by the Embassy. Your words and donation are a source of encouragement for Japan and for the people confronting this unparalleled disaster…….We are immensely grateful for your support. I am convinced that with the unity and solidarity of the people here in Ireland and around the world, we will be able to overcome the current difficult situation and rebuild our country.”
We have since received a cheque for €500 from Frank McArdle, a former work colleague, on behalf of Scouting Ireland (Louth Scout County Branch). A big thank you Frank and the Louth Scout County Branch for their generosity. This cheque has also been forwarded to the Japanese Red Cross via the Japanese Embassy.
Dr. Constantin Gurdgiev Speaks at DkITDr Constantin Gurdgiev gave an interesting lecture entitled The Economy of Ireland - Current Difficulties and Future Challenges last Thursday night as the guest speaker at DkIT's Annual Accounting Lecture.
While he did admit that he subscribes to the 'Doom and Gloom' school of economics he also warned that we must not be in denial of what we are facing as our problems are structural and beyond the normal cycles of boom and bust. However he did suggest that our problems could be solved if we were willing to really look at those structural problems and make the necessary radical changes.
You can read Dr Gurdgiev's blog here for more of an insight into his view of Ireland's future. http://trueeconomics.blogspot.com/
Awards were also given on the night to the essay writing and debating teams. Read next weeks edition for more about our award winners.
Students from the BA in Applied Social Studies run a Parent & Toddler group
An innovative teaching opportunity for the students of the BA in Applied Social Studies, Level 8, in the module 'Working with Children and Families' has been established for the first time this semester. The students in partnership with their lecturer, Carol McGowan have set up a Parent and Toddler group, held over ten Monday mornings in the sensory garden space in the nursing building. Parents and students gave consistent positive evaluations on a weekly basis. The programme concluded with local professionals in Social Care coming in for a presentation being delivered by students on the learning gained and parenting skills leaflets produced. Groups of six students ran the parent and toddler group on two occasions throughout the ten weeks and produced a leaflet for each week, which are applicable to parents who are attending. Themes such as tuning into your child, the importance of play, self care for parents, music and children, toileting and sleep are just a few examples of leaflets produced thus far. Each leaflet also includes a delicious nutritious snack or meal. These leaflets are produced and will be shared with the local Social Care professionals who work in child and family services.
The students not running the Parenting group for their scheduled weeks were in two conferences critically analysing the essential literature. The students testify that the learning is concrete and experiential, as it is achieved by giving them confidence in the application of theory to practice. They have clearly gained proficiency on key learning objectives covered thus far. The opportunities gained in being involved in this module will no doubt increase their employment prospectives in the area of working with children and families.
Green Campus Photography
Competition
The campus community was invited to take part in a
photography competition with the theme of “Green
Campus” during Green Week 2011. Hundreds of photos
were submitted by staff and students focusing on the new
and old green campus initiatives. The entries’ were judged
by Dr. Ronan Bree from the Science Department and Nesta
King of King Photography, Dundalk.
The grand prize winner of an 8GB Ipod Nano was Stephen
Ormiston. The judges remarked that this picture brilliantly
captured the theme of green campus.
Left: Dr Ronan Bree presenting the winner Stephen
Ormiston with the Ipod.
Below: The winning photograph
Student Enterprise Launches annual Bright Ideas program
“A small idea is the birthplace for great accomplishment.”
Bright Ideas is an opportunity. This opportunity will facilitate students and recent graduates with the
necessary resources and support networks to come up with or further an existing business idea. Bright
Ideas will secondly provide training, mentoring and other resources to take their idea on a career path.
Bright Ideas is a four week series of workshops (beginning the 8th of June) with two days contact time per
week on a workshop and guest speaker basis, with resources such as hotdesking, mentoring etc available
the remaining three days. Bright Ideas will cover topics such as idea generation, application of the idea
(i.e. identifying the customer, protecting the idea, gap in the market, funding, innovating etc.) and
personal development. Topics will be delivered by experts in the field as well as additional peer to peer
mentoring. The course will assist participants in developing their business idea; ascertaining their market,
build their inter-personal skills and furthermore gain an insight into the business world. Bright Ideas will
begin on the 8th of June and run until the 30th of June. It is hoped that participants will gain an
appreciation for the process of taking an idea and maximising its potential possibilities and hopefully
gaining access to the Student Innovation Fund in the process.
'Summit Seekers' Odelle & Arleen take on the Focus Ireland Four Peaks challenge
Arleen and Odelle have decided to take on the Focus Ireland Four Peaks Challenge this summer to raise much needed funds for people who are homeless in Ireland. They will be scaling the highest peak in each of the four provinces of Ireland on *one weekend* which means climbing a massive 11,937 feet!
Your support would mean so much to them in their efforts to raise EUR4,500 to support the work of Focus Ireland. The money you donate will help Focus Ireland to continue their work in projects such as the Focus Ireland Coffee Shop. The Coffee Shop provides low-cost and a welcoming environment for people who are homeless.
You can find their online sponsorship page at the following link:
So far they have raised about EUR2,570. Your donation, no matter no small, will be much appreciated and they will be thinking of you when we're dealing with soggy socks and sore legs knowing we have all made a difference in the lives of the people Focus Ireland support.
Inter College Cricket Tournament: DKIT 85-3 ( 14 ovs) beat Royal College 84 (22 ovs) by seven wkts
DKIT Cricket Team: L-R(Back Row) Ravi Duhoon, Jackson Santhosh (Vice Captain), Raj Duhoon, Karan Hanaman, Michael McEvoy, David Kelly, Sajjad Haider, Ganesh Pun, (Front) Ranjeet Kumar, Jiwan Jodahni (Captain, WK) and Sunil Kumar.
Host Royal College were bowled out for 84 as DKIT romped to a seven-wicket victory their 1st year of round one games in Inter College Cricket League in Swords.
DKITs’ opening bowlers Sunil Kumar and Justin John gave an early break through to get the first two wickets of Royal College. A good change of bowling strategy by the DKIT skipper made the Royals crumble one after the other backed by a very good fielding placement.
Karan took three wickets, with Justin and Jackson claiming two apiece for DKIT. Sunil and Ravi with a wicket each shared the win for DKIT. Adeel (39) was the only RCSI batsmen to make double-figures.
Chasing a relatively low total of 85 DKIT lost two early wickets but a good partnership by Jackson and Sunil Kumar made the total look easy again. Jackson was unbeaten with a score of 31 while Jiwan supported with a not out score of 21. Ujjawal from RCSI was the only bowler to claim DKIT’s all three wickets.
The result makes DKIT reach the next stage of the tournament which will be played in Dundalk in last weekend of May.
"This win will boost the confidence of the DKIT team as this is the first year the college has ever put a cricket team in the inter college tournament and the boys enjoyed every bit of it." said Jiwan.
