TU Dublin and Amazon Web Services Strengthen Commitment To Sustainability, Skills, And Inclusion

Published: 15 Nov, 2022

Pictured from L-R Brendan Cannon, AWS Community Engagement Regional Manager, EMEA, Professor David FitzPatrick, TU Dublin President, Joanne Reynolds, Community Engagement Manager, AWS and Dylan Wray, an Electrical and Electronic Engineering student at TU Dublin.

Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) today announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with leading cloud computing services provider, Amazon Web Services (AWS), to cooperate on skills, sustainability and inclusion projects that support local communities and deliver a positive impact on a national and global scale. 

The collaboration will span a broad range of activities including targeted educational programmes to address national digital skills needs in fields such as cloud computing and data centre operations. It will also encourage an interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) careers amongst young people through mentorship, hackathons, competitions and fairs. The organisations will work together on training programmes to create technical career opportunities in the local community for those seeking to return to the workplace, and for minority groups traditionally underrepresented in Ireland’s tech sector. 

As part of the MoU, the organisations will launch the AWS Renewable Energy Lab. Located in the University’s Central Quad in Grangegorman, the facility will provide a space for undergraduate and postgraduate laboratory-based education in the technologies associated with renewable energy generation and distribution. AWS will provide students with training and support, including guest lectures, mentorship programmes, and tailored workshops. 

Speaking at the signing of the MoU in the Central Quad at Grangegorman, Thomas Stone, Vice President for Partnerships, said

TU Dublin welcomes this opportunity to strengthen our long-standing relationship with AWS, and we look forward to a varied programme of activity in strategic areas of mutual interest in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Sustainability and targeted education programmes to address skill shortages in Ireland’s high-tech sector. This work will complement the University’s involvement in the Tallaght District Heating Scheme in South Dublin County, which will provide recycled heat from an AWS data centre to our Tallaght Campus, and our Data Centre Technician and Data Centre Operations part-time courses, designed in consultation with AWS

Mike Beary, Country Manager, AWS Ireland, added: 

AWS has invested in Ireland for over fifteen years and we want to do more to ensure we continue to make a positive impact on Irish society, the environment, economy, and education. This MoU further strengthens the long and enduring relationship we have with TU Dublin, and will help to advance the creation of new programmes in areas we are both committed to: sustainability, skills, and inclusion, diversity and equity. We are delighted to work with the University and look forward to seeing the results of this collaboration come to fruition in the coming years

Read more about Partnerships at TU Dublin here