SPOTLIGHT Message from Professor Vincent Cunnane, President LIT May 2017 I am delighted to bring you the first edition of Spotlight, our new newsletter especially for Guidance Counsellors. Spotlight has come about as a result of our engagement with Guidance Counsellors over the last year. It’s our new way of keeping you up to speed with life in LIT and news related to our programmes and events. We will have further new initiatives to bring you during the next academic year as a result of the feedback you’ve given us, but in the mean time I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your students well. I hope you enjoy the summer and take a well-earned break. Vincent Programme Development Programme development is ongoing at LIT, with many programmes currently undergoing programmatic reviews and new programmes in planning for 2018. We were particularly delighted to offer degree level education in Ennis for the first time this year with the commencement of our Level 7 BA degree in Social Care Work. This programme is now on the CAO for 2017 entry. For programmes in the School of Art & Design, please note ‘Restricted’ application no longer applies. This means that applicants can now avail of the late CAO closing date of May 1st. Note, the Portfolio Assessment is still a requirement for entry to these programmes. LC110 First Year Art & Design LC114 Fashion Knitwear & Textiles LC111 Fashion Knitwear & Textiles LC518 Digital Animation Production LC502 Game Art & Design Level 8 Level 8 Level 6 Level 8 Level 8 Clare Street, Limerick Clare Street, Limerick Clare Street, Limerick Clonmel Clonmel New Programmes on CAO As advised at the CAO information conferences in November, LIT has added new programmes to the CAO for entry in September 2017: LC248 Built Environment (Common Entry) LC297 Community Development LC421 Business Studies with Sports Management LC432 Early Childhood Care & Education LC602 Social Care Work Amendment to Programme Title LC276 Broad Screen Production replaces Video & Sound Technology Discontinued Programme Programme LC407 Community Development has been cancelled and is not available for entry in Thurles in September. www.LIT.ie cao.lit.ie Level 8 Level 8 Level 8 Level 7 Level 7 Level 6 Moylish, Limerick Moylish, Limerick Thurles Thurles Ennis Moylish, Limerick
NEWS - DEVELOPMENTS New Era of Apprenticeship-based Degrees as LIT launches Engineering Apprenticeship For the first time in Ireland, completion of an apprenticeship will lead to the award of a Bachelor of Engineering degree. LIT’s new apprenticeship in Industrial Electrical Engineering is a two year programme which will lead to qualified electricians being awarded with a BEng qualification. The initiative is a completely new apprenticeship model for engineering in Ireland and those who complete this programme will become engineers qualified to play a key role in the design, construction and operation of the factories of the future. Commenting at the launch of the scheme, LIT President Professor Vincent Cunnane said “LIT is absolutely committed to this new apprenticeship model. We want to see people achieve progression through apprenticeship-based degrees. We want to see people learning while earning. This is a model which we believe will succeed, and one that can be LIT Scholarship Fund for DEIS School Students Leaders@LIT is a Student Scholarship Programme which reflects LIT’s ethos. It is the only programme of its kind at this scale that specifically supports students who come from DEIS schools into higher education. 54 third level students from DEIS schools across Limerick are being sustained in their studies by this programme valued at €600,000 this year and run as an initiative of the LIT Foundation and LIT is delighted that WP Engine has become the latest FDI company to join the Leaders@LIT programme. Last year, we announced our intention to increase the fund to €1 million within three years in order to extend the benefit of it to as many donors and as many scholars as possible and twelve months later, we’re at a value of €600,000, with more donors interested in coming on board. At the recent presentation ceremony, former Munster and Ireland Rugby legend, Paul O’Connell, representing PINERGY, a key sponsor of the scholarships said “This programme is unique and transformational in that it seeks to purely target students from disadvantaged backgrounds in Limerick and take the barriers to higher education away for them. I have supported this scholarship programme since the beginning, and look forward to doing so as it grows in the future.” For further information on the initiative, contact the LIT Access Office at: access@lit.ie applied in other sectors. This apprenticeship is at the forefront of how learning is changing in Ireland. LIT is close to industry, and that’s what has enabled us to introduce this model in Ireland. This new programme is a breakthrough – it is the only engineering degree in Ireland that can be earned through an apprenticeship”. The model has been developed in collaboration with the Electrical, Engineering, Automation and Manufacturing Sectors, who identified a need for qualified people to address critical skills gaps in these sectors. Speaking at the launch of the apprenticeship, Barry O’Sullivan, General Manager at Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Ireland said “This apprenticeship will provide people with the skills that will underpin Irish manufacturing as it makes a major leap forward using intelligent automation and the internet of things. The reality is that for industry to expand, it requires a pool of people educated in this way. The development of programmes like this helps to secure investment and employment here into the future. This apprenticeship is a viable alternative to a full time third level course, and reflects the strong demand in industry for “Trade Qualified” Engineers. This is how it must be viewed”. SPOTLIGHT
SPOTLIGHT NEWS - DEVELOPMENTS Continuing success for LIT Engineering Week Our annual Engineering Week showcase continues to attract students in large numbers; over 600 students from 30 schools attended Engineering workshops at Moylish Campus in December. LIT Engineering Week is designed to assist students undertaking Engineering as a Leaving Certificate subject and who may be interested in Engineering as a future career. made the live video call from LIT’s Millennium Theatre to European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Pesquet at the International Space Station (ISS). The event took place as part of the European Space Education Resource Office (ESERO) programme in Ireland, which is co-funded by Science Foundation Ireland and ESA. The in-flight call gave students and teachers the opportunity to ask Thomas questions such as how we use space in our daily lives and how the many applications from space research have changed the way we live today. The video link-up, which also included participants from Portugal and Romania is believed to have been the first time a live video call has been made in Ireland with a European astronaut on the ISS. The event is part of a vast range of educational activities delivered by ESERO Ireland, to help support teachers in using space as a rich and inspiring context to teach science. Strong demand for LIT programmes from international markets Workshops and information sessions took place across the week where students received a presentation on the Leaving Certificate Engineering Specialised Topic (Principles and Applications of Robotic Control in Motor Vehicle Manufacture), as well as tours of LIT’s Engineering workshops and facilities. Places are limited at the events each year; if your school is interested in attending Engineering Week 2017 or for further information on the event, contact the Department of Engineering at 061 293261. For schools that may be interested in the Engineering Week presentations, but cannot attend, it may be possible for a member of the Engineering team to visit your school and make a presentation to students on the specialised topic (subject to availability/location). Limerick calling space! 300 primary school students visit LIT and make live video call to the International Space Station In January, primary school students from across the country reached for the stars when they made a once in a lifetime video-call to space. The 300 students and 50 teachers from Limerick, Tipperary and Kildare During our recent International Development Week, we were delighted to welcome academics from many of our partner institutions in Canada. With Canadian students now making up the largest single international group attending LIT, the initiative was designed for our overseas partners to see LIT’s practical learning philosophy in practice. Over the week, visitors attended presentations and lectures with LIT staff and guest speakers, in tandem with site visits to industry locations in Hospitality, Event Management, Culinary Arts and Sports Strength and Conditioning allowing for exchange of information and the sharing of best practices. The International Office rounded off the week with a Gala Dinner hosted by Professor Cunnane and attended by the Mayor of Limerick. Our campuses continue to be popular choices for international students seeking to experience education and culture in Ireland and our community of international students has grown considerably in recent times. Our philosophy of ‘active learning’ which combines the best in academic teaching with practical hands-on learning has seen a rapid increase in demand for our programmes among international students from Europe, Canada, China and the Middle East. There are also great opportunities for LIT students to spend a semester studying abroad through the Erasmus+ Exchange Programme.
NEWS - DEVELOPMENTS ‘Looking after your Mental Health’ Seminar LIT was pleased to join forces with Limerick Sports Partnership and the Mid-West Drugs and Alcohol Forum in April to host a ‘Looking after your Mental Health’ seminar for second level students at Thomond Park. LIT President, Professor Vincent Cunnane gave the opening address and the 650 students in attendance heard about the importance of looking after your mental health and listened to a number of interesting speakers including Olympic athlete Jessie Barr and former Munster Rugby player Cathal Sheridan, who shared their personal experiences, as well as Donal Scanlon who spoke about ‘Mental Health First Aid’ and Professor William O’Connor, Head of Teaching and Research at UL Graduate Entry Medical School. Events such as this seminar aim to promote an increased understanding for students on the importance of looking after their mental health and to seek help and support when required. High Praise for Scholarly Publication and New Research Initiative at LIT One of Ireland’s leading educationalists, Professor Tom Collins posed the question; ‘Why are so many teachers unhappy’ when speaking at the launch of a highly acclaimed publication at LIT Thurles recently. The publication arising from a doctoral study by LIT lecturer Dr. Michael Ryan, is an investigation into the professional lives of second level teachers in Ireland. The book entitled: The Teaching Triangle: Pedagogy, Professionalism and Vocationalism was highly commended by Professor Tom Collins (Education Policy Analyst) and Professor Sarah Moore (Chairperson of the National Forum for Teaching and Learning), for the rigorous manner in which it explored educational practice at second level in Ireland. The book can be purchased online from global academic publisher Morebooks, or at Bookworm Thurles, Co. Tipperary or by contacting the author directly at: michaelfrancis.ryan@lit.ie Limerick and Tipperary Charities benefit from LIT MarketLink Once again, Limerick and Tipperary based charity organisations have benefited from the thousands of euro raised by LIT students across our campuses in Limerick, Thurles and Clonmel through our annual MarketLink initiative. Students from the Marketing and Management, Business and Social Care Work programmes worked in teams where they developed commercial business ideas and sold their products or services at the annual MarketLink Fair in LIT to raise funds for local charitable causes. MarketLink is a hugely successful event in LIT and has raised thousands of euro for various charities since its inception in 2009. This year, the event also featured Ireland’s largest Mannequin Challenge which involved over 200 students on ‘The Street’. Proceeds from this year’s events in Limerick benefited the Children’s Ark Unit at University Hospital Limerick, Rape Crisis Mid-West and Limerick Marine Search and Rescue, while proceeds from MarketLink in Thurles and Clonmel were donated to St Vincent de Paul, Pieta House, Cuan Saor, Novas, Mo Chara Animal Rescue and the Deise Animal Sanctuary. SciFest@LIT 2017 Post primary students from schools all over Limerick, Clare, Tipperary and Laois took part in SciFest@LIT 2017 at Moylish campus on April 26th and Thurles campus on May 3rd. With over 200 projects on display across the two campuses, students really put their knowledge of science to the test. Top prize at SciFest in Moylish was awarded to Ruth Daly from Coláiste Chiaráin, Croom, Co. Limerick for her project ‘An Investigation of the Effect of Water and Soil Toxicity on Daphnia’, while the Thurles competition winners were Seamus Ryan, Christine Delaney and Kate Madden from St Joseph’s College, Borrisoleigh, Co. Tipperary with their project ‘When in Doubt Swing it out’. The Limerick and Thurles winners now go forward to the National SciFest final in Dublin in November and we wish both projects the best of luck. SPOTLIGHT
AWARDS LIT Fashion student scoops ‘Student Designer of the Year’ at the 2017 Irish Fashion Innovation Awards 4th year LIT Art & Design student, Kate O’Doherty has won the overall Student Designer of the Year award for her unique and creative design at the Irish Fashion Innovation annual awards show. Fashion student Kate beat off stiff competition from forty two other students from across Ireland who showcased their designs to over 500 guests at the awards show. A bright future beckons for Kate in the fashion world and her complete collection will be on display at Limerick School of Art & Design’s annual graduate show in May in Limerick. Clonmel Animation Graduate wins National Award Jodi Henry, a graduate of LIT’s Digital Animation Production degree short film ‘Let’s be Friends’ won the prestigious Best Music/Sound Design category at Animation Dingle Film Festival this year. The animated short was her final year project while studying in LIT Clonmel. As well as the major award, Jodi was also nominated for the Best Irish Student Animation Award. Two other short films created by LIT Animation students were also screened and made the Official Selection at the prestigious Dingle Festival - “A Little Light” by graduate Rachel Barrett and “Encounter of the Purple Kind” by 2nd year students Evan Maher, Aidan Wall and Martin Whelan. The BSc (Hons) in Digital Animation Production at LIT Clonmel is designed for students who wish to design, create and animate for both 2D and 3D platforms such as TV, Film and Games. The programme blends traditional art practices with creative technologies to produce the future of animation talent in Ireland and abroad. Throughout the 4 years, there is a focus on developing students’ core skills in traditional animation disciplines of drawing, illustration, character and environment design with a strong emphasis on animation principles. Building on this base, students continue to develop their creative voice and are trained in industry standard processes, software and technologies to see their visions brought to life on screen. Information on the programme is available at: www.lit.ie/courses/LC518 LIT’s Limerick School of Art & Design gets the ‘Vogue’ seal of approval LSAD got the Vogue seal of approval recently after being picked up by the prestigious ‘Vogue Italia’, the Italian edition of Vogue magazine. LSAD’s Fashion Department has been ranked within the top 50 Fashion Design schools in the world along with famed schools Central Saint Martens in London and Parsons in New York. Speaking to Vogue Italia, Head of the Fashion Design programme at LIT, Anne Melinn said the students in Limerick are paving the way for innovation in creativity “Our students are creators and producers. The courses are based on the reality of the fashion industry, with strict deadlines and multi-tasking assignments. Their creations are then exposed to Graduate Fashion Week in London to give the student the opportunity to promote their hard work”. LSAD prides itself on former graduates which include Joanne Hynes, Kevin Finn, Karen Morgan, Natalie B. Coleman, and Danielle Romeril who are trailblazing through the Fashion world. Follow LSAD’s Facebook page to keep up-to-date with news and events at the award winning centre: Facebook.com/LIT.LSAD SPOTLIGHT
AWARDS AWARDS LIT students win 5 awards at Games Fleadh 2017 Fifteen LIT students have been recognised for their achievements in games design and development at Games Fleadh 2017, an all-island games design and development competition for third level students. Supported by Microsoft Ireland, EA Games, First Data, Game Sparks, Game Stop, and the Irish Computer Society, the 14th annual Games Fleadh event took place in March at LIT Thurles campus which is home to the BSc (Honours) degree in Computing in Games Design and Development. The 2017 event was the busiest to date with over 30 teams taking part in various competitions, while the entries were viewed, played and tested by over 400 people – including second level students and the general public who also attended the event. For more information on Games Fleadh, visit www.gamesfleadh.ie Road Transport Technology & Management students pick up national awards LIT strongly represented at Smarter Travel Student Multimedia Awards 2017 Final year students on LIT’s degree in Road Transport Technology and Management claimed first and second places in the annual National Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Student Ideas Awards recently. LIT students were among the award winners again at the National Transport Authority’s annual Multimedia Awards. The competition is open to third level institutions who are partners of the Smarter Travel Campus programme. Participating students created videos, animations, audio files, radio adverts and poster illustrations in the competition, with entries produced by the students designed to encourage other students to consider choosing ‘smarter’ modes of transport; particularly walking, cycling, public transport and car sharing. The scope of the awards is for innovative ideas that would be of benefit, and advance and improve the fields of logistics, transport and supply chain management. This is the third year in a row that a Road Transport Technology & Management student from LIT has won the top award. Further information on the Road Transport Technology & Management programme is available at: www.lit.ie/courses/LC286 On the day, LIT took home six out of a possible nine awards, with a clean sweep in the Audio category with Audio and Sound Technology scooping 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes. Commenting on the competition entries, member of the judging panel, Will Goodbody, Science and Technology correspondent, RTE said he was “very impressed with the overall standard and quality of the entries. Collectively, they showed creative conceptual thinking, clever writing and skilled technical execution”. SPOTLIGHT
AWARDS SPORTS LIT students break Guinness World Record with ‘Scrum for Axel’ Tuesday 4th April 2017 will go down in the official record books and will be long remembered in the LIT community as 1,740 people - young and old came together to break a world record in memory of the legendary Munster and Ireland Rugby star, Anthony Foley. The late Anthony Foley’s legacy shone bright as students of LIT, with assistance from people across the Mid-West region entered the Guinness World Records with their ‘Scrum for Axel’. Held at LIT’s headquarters at Moylish, Limerick, where Foley himself attended before taking up a professional career in rugby – the event saw the existing World Record for the largest scrum ever (almost 1,600) turned over as 1,740 put their shoulders behind the LIT initiative. The workshops consisted of 4 modules which were a mix of theory and practice; Performance Testing, Sports Nutrition, Fundamental Movements and Sports Psychology. Workshops can be organised for specific groups. For more information, contact the Schools Liaison Office at 0504 28021 or email: schools@lit.ie LIT students achieving on & off the field The undertaking which was the brainchild of a group of LIT Business with Sports Management students caught the public imagination as young and old, from LIT students and staff, to local primary and secondary schools, rugby clubs, parents, children right up to pensioners all joined to create this special tribute to the heroic Shannon, Munster and Ireland rugby legend. Appropriately and poignantly, Anthony’s sister Rosie – herself a former Ireland Rugby international - was even on hand to help set the scrum and spoke of how touched the Foley family were by the effort and commitment the students put into organising the event and raising money for charity. LIT boasts a lively clubs and societies scene and there are many opportunities for students to get involved in the extra-curricular activities across our campuses. As another sporting year draws to a close, LIT again enjoyed numerous successes in inter-varsity competitions across a range of sports from GAA and Boxing to Judo and Basketball. Thurles based student Christina Desmond represented LIT and Ireland with pride at the World University Boxing Championships earlier in the year and won Ireland’s first ever medal at the event when she captured a bronze medal. Christina also retained her IABA (Irish Amateur Boxing Association) Elite Ladies Senior Boxing title recently. Speaking at the event, LIT President Professor Vincent Cunnane said “I’m just very proud of our students, that they would not alone set a world record, which is a huge achievement, but that in doing so they have honoured a legend of Shannon, Munster and Irish rugby, someone who is still very much in our thoughts on a daily basis. Anthony Foley clearly continues to inspire us.” Everyone in LIT is particularly proud of this fantastic achievement. First Year Drug and Medicinal Product Analysis student Calvin Nash was selected on the Ireland Under-20s Rugby team that competed in the 2017 Six Nations Rugby Championship, while Bailey Faloon and Colm Skehan were members of the Combined Irish Students Rugby team that played their English counterparts in April. Congratulations also to Sports Strength and Conditioning student Willie Connors, who was selected on the 2017 Official GAA and Independent.ie Rising Stars Hurling team for his Fitzgibbon Cup hurling exploits this year, while fellow Sports Strength and Conditioning student, Patricia O’Halloran continues to excel in her sport and won the Powerlifter of the Year Award at the recent Thurles Sports Awards Night. Major demand for Sports Performance Workshops at LIT Thurles There was huge demand for LIT’s specialist Sports Performance Workshops for Transition Year students in February where 300 students from schools in Limerick, Tipperary, Cork, Kerry and Kildare attended a series of performance based workshops where they got a first-hand glimpse of how elite athletes train. SPOTLIGHT
AWARDS SPORTS LIT Summer Hurling School of Excellence Our popular annual Hurling School of Excellence will take place again this summer from July 25th - 28th at the Moylish, Limerick campus. Open to 13 - 17 year old students, the residential camp gives students an opportunity to improve and enhance their hurling skills in a fun environment where they will work with some of the country’s best intercounty hurlers. Places are limited and can be reserved with the LIT Sports Office at: sports@lit.ie or 061 293492. Limerick’s Fittest School Based on the TV series, Ireland’s Fittest Family, a team of second year Sports Development & Coaching students developed a programme ‘Limerick’s Fittest School’ in a quest to find the fittest school in the region! Over a seven week period, the students managed fitness training programmes with Transition Year students from four schools in the region. At the end of the seven weeks, two students from each school competed in a final at LIT for the crown of Limerick’s Fittest School 2017. Congratulations to students from Coláiste na Trócaire, Rathkeale, Co. Limerick who took the accolade for 2017, beating students from Askeaton, Newcastlewest and Limerick City. Well done to all the Transition Year students that participated in this healthy initiative. STEM in Sport LIT’s Department of Sport has been successful in winning funding from the Science Foundation Ireland Discover programme. The LIT project ‘STEM in Sports’ is managed and delivered by Dr Philip Hennessy and two graduates from LIT’s Masters programme in Strength and Conditioning. The programme aims to engage students from socially disadvantaged areas at a critical stage of their lives with STEM subjects through the medium of sport. The programme consists of 12 weeks of 4 hour long classes involving physical activity, sporting examples and hands-on inquiry based learning to spark interest in real life application of STEM knowledge. It is hoped that the engagement may lead to a better understanding of STEM in their lives and improved engagement with STEM subjects as they enter the Leaving Certificate cycle. The programme aligns with the National Curriculum for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths and each student will receive a Certificate of Completion and attend a graduation ceremony at LIT. Live Q&A Sessions for CAO Applicants LIT showcased a new initiative in January allowing Leaving Certificate students interested in programmes at LIT to connect with current LIT students via Snapchat, in a bid to help them decide their future direction after leaving school. The live Question and Answer session which elicited a huge response from CAO applicants was designed to assist with any last minute queries Leaving Certificate students may have before submitting their CAO applications. With Snapchat one of the main forms of communication among teenage students, it was an ideal opportunity to connect with current first year LIT students to find out what life in college is like and what to expect when starting college. LIT staff were also on-hand to ensure that students received answers to any course specific questions. Such was the success of the initiative that LIT will run additional Q&A sessions on Snapchat during the week 26th - 30th June to assist students with making their final course selection before the CAO Change of Mind deadline of July 1st. CAO applicants can connect with LIT across all our social media platforms: LimerickIT Contact LIT LIT’s Marketing and Communications Office provides a range of services to schools designed to give students relevant information about our programmes, entry requirements, student support services and student life in general at LIT. Our services can include school visits/presentations, information stands at schools, and attendance at schools careers exhibitions. Contact our Schools team who will be happy to assist - email: schools@lit.ie or telephone: 0504 28021. @LimerickIT LimerickIT LITSNAP Limerick_IT SPOTLIGHT
1 Publizr