Our culture of innovation and disruption is underpinned by a spirit of partnership in programme delivery evidenced by our collaborations with companies such as IBM, Intel, Orange Telecoms, Liberty IT, Ward Solutions, Integrity 365, Google and many of Irelands’ leading technology companies and regional SMEs. Our involvement with initiatives such as the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, the National SURE network, and ZeroDays, have enriched the undergraduate and postgraduate experience on a range of our programmes. 

 

Industry

The development of our Learn+Work education model was a direct response to industry demands for work-ready graduates in specific sectors of economy traditionally experiencing high skills deficits. The model was designed in collaboration with industry and seeks to combine the strongest characteristics of apprenticeship and higher education. Unlike most traditional apprenticeship models that require candidates to identify a sponsor company upfront, Learn+Work students are offered access to a wide range of companies engaged with the programme. Citrix, Fujifilm, Eir, Vodafone, Equinix, Microsoft, Viatel, MJ Flood, Liberty IT, LanTech, WiLine Networks are currently some of the companies that partner with the Higher Certificate in Science in Computing in Networking Technologies program.

 

International

Our School maintains a thriving, diverse international student cohort through our on-campus and online programmes. Following on from visits by our academics in recent years, memorandums of understanding have been initiated between the School and international institutions in Brazil, Malaysia, Oman and India. Visits from international institutions located in Vietnam, Canada, Malaysia and the Middle East have also been facilitated in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland. We will continue to actively promote our School’s educational opportunities globally, through programmes such as Erasmus and providing tailored industry-relevant training for international organisations such as Orange.  

 

Community

Initiatives such as our long running ‘Young Women in Technology’ (YWIT) programme has seen a welcome increase in female participation and progression on our undergraduate programmes. The programme has engaged many transition-year and primary school students over the last 12 years. They attend workshops, events and coding camps held on the Blanchardstown campus, and field trips to organised events co-hosted with a range of companies such as Intel, IBM, Paypal, Liberty Insurance, Google, Accenture, Ericsson and ESB. The Programme was nominated for the Best Public Service Excellence Award at the Fingal Dublin Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence and Corporate Responsibility Awards 2016, and is now part of the cross campus WITU (Women in Technology United) group.  

The School’s Zero Days Capture the Flag (CTF) is running since 2015 and is, with over 300 participants, the largest on-site one-day CTF in the world. This event is truly international with participants from countries such as UK, France, Germany, Poland and Lichtenstein. We also run this at secondary school level with generally 15 to 20 participating teams. The European Cyber Security Challenge has grown significantly over the past five years with direct input from our staff as steering committee members.