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Institute of Technology Blanchardstown

Annual Report

1 September 2017 – 31 December 2018

Contents

Governing Body Chairperson’s Statement 3

President’s Introduction 4

Governance and Management 5

Academic Activities 8

School of Business 9

School of Humanities 13

School of Informatics and Engineering 16

Learning and Innovation Centre (LINC) 18

Student Services 21

Library 23

Human Resources 26

Campus Development 27

Technological University for Dublin 28

Student and Staff Profile 30

Diversity 36

Energy Efficiency Progress and Overview of Energy Usage 2017-2018 38

External Funding Received from other Government Agencies 38

External Consultancy Firms 38

Formal Representation of the Institute on External Boards/Groups 39

Selection of Notable Highlights 41

Selection of Staff Publications 44

Financial Statements 49

Appendix 85

Governing Body Meeting Record 2017-2018

Annual Report 2017-2018

Governing Body Chairperson’s Statement

As Chairperson of the Governing Body, I am delighted to present the final Institute of Technology Blanchardstown (ITB) annual report for the period 1 September 2017 to 31 December 2018.

A submission in April of our technological university application represented a significant milestone for ITB and our partners in Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) and Institute of Technology Tallaght (ITT). I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved, whose hard work and commitment over seven years has brought the project to this point. This university has the potential to be ground-breaking by providing a new, flexible teaching and learning framework to students that is informed by research and offers opportunities for students to pursue diverse programmes across the range of levels on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ).

With news in July that ITB, along with our partners in DIT and ITT, will be designated a Technological University in January 2019, we believe it can deliver a modern university with a clear identity and purpose. TU Dublin will further strengthen and enhance the potential of the sector, creating significant opportunities and innovations in education. It will be the first university in Ireland to offer programmes from Level 6 to Level 10 across the qualifications framework, as well as being the leading practice-based, research-informed university in Ireland with learning pathways from apprenticeship all the way through to PhD. This will enhance our original mission of supporting the needs of the people of Blanchardstown and the greater Leinster region.

Professor Tom Collins

Governing Body Chairperson


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President’s Introduction

As President of the Institute, it is bittersweet to be presenting the final ITB annual report for the period 1 September 2017 to 31 December 2018.

ITB has served our community well since its establishment in 1999 and will continue to support the needs of the community in Blanchardstown, Fingal and beyond long into the future. Our ambition for Dublin is to join those well-established technological universities internationally which have made immensely positive contributions towards the economic, cultural and societal vibrancy of their local cities and regions. Already ITB and its partners DIT and ITT have a history of partnership with local communities, businesses, and many other organisations and stakeholders. These links will only be strengthened by a new technological university in Dublin which has the potential to be transformative in terms of the overall social, cultural and economic impact on the Greater Dublin Region and for the international competitiveness of higher education in Ireland.

Technological Universities are an established feature of many international educational systems in Germany, Austria, Finland, the Netherlands, Canada and New Zealand, acting as a dynamic catalyst for economic, technological, social and cultural progress. TU Dublin will comprise a joined-up approach to the third level experience that involves connecting students, employers, researchers and the wider academic community to facilitate economic transformation and sustainable growth.

While ITB will be no more, this is not the end. This is a time of growth, maturity, change and a transformation to TU Dublin, where our students, staff and societal partners will connect with academic programmes to create Ireland’s skilled graduates of tomorrow.

Dr. Diarmuid O’Callaghan President


4

Governance and Management

Governance and Management is controlled primarily by three interconnected bodies, namely the Governing Body, the Senior Management team and the Academic Council.

Governing Body

The Governing Body is constituted in accordance with the Institute of Technology Act 1992–2006. Its membership is as outlined in Section 6 of the Regional Technical Colleges Act 1992 and its core functions are as outlined in Section 8 of the Institutes of Technology Act 2006.

Following is a list of the Governing Body members for the term of this annual report:

Prof. Tom Collins (Chairperson) Dr. Diarmuid O’Callaghan (President)

Ms. Maura Cassidy Ms. Sharon McGrath

Mr. Patrick Bowler Mr. Paul McEvoy

Ms. Naomi Dixon Cllr. Mary McCamley

Mr. Mike O’Byrne Cllr. Sarah Reilly

Cllr. Vincent Jackson Ms. Rose Callan

Mr. Tom Mulvey Ms. Pamela Kelly

Mr. Peter Hodson Dr. Eoghan Hanrahan

Mr. Mark O’Brien Mr. Krzysztof Sulkowski

Ms. Siobhan Clarke

Ms. Bronagh Elliott (In attendance)


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Executive Management

0

Academic Council

Governing Body

10 20 30 40 50 60 70

% Female% Male

Governance and Management Structure

Governing Body Fees & Expenses

The Governing Body fees and expenses for the relevant year are listed below:

Senior Management Group

The Senior Management Group is comprised of the President, the Registrar, the Heads of School, the Head of Leadership and Organisational Development, and the Secretary/Financial Controller. Its functions as a management team are to:

• agree and pursue strategic goals for core activities of the Institute

• make decisions and assign actions relating to resource management and communications

• review key performance dates

• report to the Governing Body and staff bodies as required

The members for the period of this report were:

Dr. Diarmuid O’Callaghan (President) Dr. Larry McNutt (Registrar)

Ms. Eileen Quinn (Leadership and Organisational Development)

Ms. Bronagh Elliott (Secretary/Financial Controller)

Dr. Anthony Keane (Head of School of Informatics and Engineering)

Ms. Assumpta Harvey (Head of School of Business)

Dr. Pat O’Connor (Head of School of Humanities)


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Governing Body Fees & Expenses

Travel & Subsistence

Interview Honoraria

Other

Total

173

6,221

6,394

2017/18 �

0

Academic Council

The Academic Council is constituted in accordance with Section 10 of the Regional Technical Colleges Act 1992 and carries out the functions as outlined therein. The Academic Council is a statutory body responsible for academic matters within the Institute. It has the major task of formulating and implementing the Institute’s academic policies.

The Academic Council is responsible for the quality of all academic activities within the Institute and is comprised of 13 unelected ex officio members, 17 elected members of academic staff, 1 elected support staff member and 2 elected students. Each Academic Council is elected for a term of three years, except for the student members who are elected annually.

Members of the Academic Council for the period 28 February 2018 to 31 December 2018 shall be as follows:

Dr. Diarmuid O’Callaghan (ex officio) Dr. Larry McNutt (ex officio)

Dr. Anthony Keane (ex officio) Dr. Pat O’Connor (ex officio)

Mr. Bob O’Mhurcú (ex officio) Ms. Fiona Malone (ex officio)

Mr. Michael Keane (ex officio) Ms. Assumpta Harvey (ex officio)

Ms. Aidín O’Sullivan (ex officio) Mr. Krzysztof Sulkowski (ex officio)

Mr. Daniel McSweeney (ex officio) Ms. Lavinia McLean (ex officio)

Mr. Richard Gallery (ex officio) Ms. Ann Murphy

Mr. Kevin Farrell (until 28/02/18) Mr. David Murphy

Dr. Matthew Smith Mr. Damien Cox

Mr. Aiden Carthy Mr. Gerome Donnelly

Ms. Fionnuala Darby Mr. Michael Hagan

Ms. Geraldine Gray Mr. Barry Kirkpatrick

Dr. Jennifer Cowman Mr. Tom Nolan

Ms. Georgina Lawlor Mr. Stephen Sheridan

Ms. Sandra Radcliffe Ms. Sinead Dunne

Ms. Shauna Garry Ms. Mabel Azibora Amob

Mr. Conor Dempsey


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Academic Activities

ITB provides a broad range of academic programmes between Level 6 and Level 9 on the Irish National Framework

of Qualifications (NFQ). These are designed to meet regional and national requirements with an emphasis on:

• specialist higher education for leading-edge industries in the region

• upgrading of specialist technical/technological skills

• continuing education and meeting the needs of mature students

• in-service courses, retraining and updating of skills

• addressing learner special needs arising from educational disadvantage or disability

37 full-time programmes and 24 part-time programmes were offered for the academic year 2017/2018. In addition,

the Institute responded to the needs of the economy and offered 5 programmes to the unemployed under the

Springboard+ upskilling initiative in higher education. This initiative offers free courses at certificate, degree

and master’s level leading to qualifications in areas where there are employment opportunities in the economy.

Springboard+ is co-funded by the Irish government and the European Social Fund as part of the ESF programme

for Employability, Inclusion and Learning 2014-2020.

The ladder system of progression between courses provides opportunities for students to progress from Higher Certificate to Ordinary Bachelor Degree and on to Honours Bachelor Degree and Postgraduate levels.

To see the full range of courses currently available in ITB, check out our webpage at www.itb.ie.


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School of Business

In October 2017 the School of Business launched its strategic plan. Developed through a consultative approach, the plan built on the ITB strategic plan ‘Transforming into a Technological University’.

Teaching & Learning During this period the School continued to focus on the delivery of programmes to nearly 1,000 students with sixty

full-time and part-time staff.

The programmes include the disciplines of:

• Business • International Business (incl. languages)

• Accounting & Finance • Digital Marketing

• Business and Information Technology • Sports Management and Coaching

The newly validated Digital Marketing programme saw the second and third intake of students to both the Level 8 (honours) degree and Level 7 (ordinary) degree. The first intake also started their work placement with industry, supporting the students to apply their learning in the workplace. A Level 6 minor award from this programme ‘Certificate in Digital Enterprise’ was also funded under the Springboard+ 2017 and 2018 awards.

Peer Mentoring continues to be a cornerstone to enhance the first year experience. More experienced students from second to fourth year volunteered to act as mentors and provide help and support to first year students to help them successfully make the transition to college life. To support students with assessments and enable integrated learning across modules, assessments were integrated across some modules while other modules used different assessment techniques such as visual assessment using Photo-Voice Methodology, online maths assessment and student-led seminars. Students’ learning was further enabled through innovations such as song writing, working with communities and industry, and using tools such as MindTap in Accounting & Finance.

In the Accounting & Finance programme, students undertaking the Level 8 honours degree programme had the option of taking work placement. Most students who undertook this module were offered internships or jobs when they would finish their degree programme of study.

Professional Accreditation is seen as one way of linking to industry standards – Accounting & Finance students continued to get exemptions from the professional bodies including ACA, ACCA, CIMA, ICPAI and CTA; all business students were able to partake in Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) accreditation; and marketing students were able to apply for Marketing Institute of Ireland certification MMII Grad.

Students’ intercultural awareness was further developed through their involvement in the ‘Global Class’, which linked students with experts and other students from Durham College in Canada and international thinkers in areas such as business ethics, inequality in society, the interactive classroom and racial discrimination. ePortfolios were also introduced to students to enable them to gather evidence of their development and learning.


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Engagement

The School remains relevant through its engagement with both industry and the community. Engagement is

maintained in the School through activities such as:

• guest speakers

• project work

• work placement

• business seminars/colloquia

• involvement of industry in the design, development and review of programmes

• involvement of industry in the hiring of staff

In October 2017 and November 2018 the School hosted ‘Pathways to Success’, a careers-focussed event for all

business students. The events involved a plenary session with keynote speakers, programme sessions with industry

practitioners relevant to their programme and careers-focussed workshops on CV preparation, interview skills

including Skype/video interviews, use of tools such as LinkedIn to manage your profile and develop your career,

and managing your digital footprint. In 2017 the speaker was Dr. Norah Patten, currently training to be Ireland’s

first astronaut, while in 2018 Tim Hannon, GM Harvey Norman Electrical Ireland, and Bernard Dunne, IABA High

Performance Director and Former World Boxing Champion, shared their experiences with the students. 91% of the

students identified the importance of this event and the benefits it had for them in their career development.


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Figure 1: Global Class

Engagement also takes place through the community in the provision of seminars: for example, social media training was provided for community leaders/representatives organised through the Fingal Public Participation Network. Through the Sports Management and Coaching programme, students coach children of St. Patrick’s Senior National School Corduff and Scoil Bhríde Boys National School Blanchardstown, while also coaching staff on practical physical activities. The students also coach specific minority groups within the community (that is, vulnerable adults, persons with intellectual disabilities and persons with physical disabilities).

Students also attended conferences to increase their understanding of areas such as manufacturing and supply chain management.

Engagement also takes place internationally with partner institutes in Europe, the US and Canada to facilitate student exchanges, particularly for those taking languages as part of their courses.

Members of the School are also part of boards and committees including Regional Skills Forum, Fingal Skills Advisory Group and School Boards of Management.


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Figure 2: Pathways for Success 2017

Research

Research is seen as a core activity for staff and for our students as we move towards a Technological University and thus research activities increased in this period among our academic staff, while also enabling the undergraduates to develop key research skills. Many academics are enhancing their research by undertaking PhD studies, supervising postgraduate students, applying for funding to develop research capability, writing research papers, attending conferences and/or partnering with international institutes. Congratulations to three staff members who were awarded PhDs - Dr. Fiona Malone, Dr. David Gaul and Dr. Siobhan Killion.

Funding was received by two members of staff for four students to undertake research as master’s projects in the area of social return on investment and in the area of digital marketing and its impact on the user.

Funding was received from the FAI to complete research on their behalf in the area of social return on investment and also evaluating projects such as walking football. Staff presented papers at the UDHEIT Conference, ICEP Conference and the British Accounting & Finance Association, and also reviewed papers for UDHEIT and NACADA.

Future Plans

In 2019 the School of Business has decided to implement a model to support students to track the development of transferable or employability skills. This model, referred to as “Student Transformative Learning Record” (STLR) tracks, assesses and provides information to help students develop and use skills critical to their workplace, citizenship and personal success. The model has been developed by the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO). Currently over 65% of students in the School work part-time. The School recognises that this STLR model will assist students to progress and use their part-time working and other experiences to further develop their education.


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Figure 3: FAI Research

School of Humanities

The School of Humanities was established in 2017 and has one department, the Department of Humanities. For the period of this report from September 2017 until end of December 2018, student numbers in the school/department grew from 844 students in 2017/2018 academic year to 876 students in 2018/2019 academic year. This represents an increase of approximately 3.8% in students on Humanities programmes.

The School of Humanities delivers programmes from NFQ Level 6 to NFQ Level 9 and had one PhD student in the period. The activities of the School are supported by 32 academic staff and 2 full-time administrators.

Department of Humanities Programmes

The Department of Humanities delivers programmes in:

• Applied Social Studies in Social Care

• Community and Youth Development

• Early Childhood Care and Education

• Information Provision and Advocacy Practice (IPAP)

Both NFQ Level 7 ordinary degree and NFQ Level 8 honours degree programmes are offered through the Central Applications Office (CAO) system, with Early Childhood Care and Education also being offered in blended mode as a work-based programme in addition to the CAO. The Information Provision and Advocacy Practice (IPAP) programme is an NFQ Level 6 Higher Certificate, co-created with the Citizens Information Board (CIB) and management and staff of Citizens Information Services across the country.

November 2018 saw the graduation of the first cohort of students from the IPAP programme. The period also saw the development and co-creation of a Special Purpose Award at NFQ Level 6, a Certificate in Leadership in Intercultural Communities. The programme is currently being delivered to groups in Balbriggan and Tyrrelstown, with funding from Fingal County Council.

Engagement Activities in the School of Humanities

Collaboration with stakeholders through the practice-based programmes in the School continued through the period with links with placement partners a vital part of the education and training, and the regeneration of the Social Care, Community and Youth Development and Early Childhood sectors.

The recently co-created IPAP programme is delivered in blended mode across the nationwide network of Citizens Information Services to volunteers and employees of the services.

The School collaborates and works with a range of public and commercial organisations and groups as part of its ongoing engagement activities, for example, childcare committees; local schools; charitable organisations such as the Daughters of Charity; youth and community organisations such as Foróige; Fingal Public Participation Network; and Blanchardstown Travellers Development Group.

November 2017 and November 2018 saw the continuation of engagement between the School of Humanities and the social justice group AFRI. The Community and Youth Development programme hosted the AFRI Hedge School for the fifth and sixth time during the month of November in 2017 and 2018. The hedge school reflects on contemporary issues of injustice, peace, human rights and sustainability.


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The strong links with Fingal County Council have been maintained with the Head of School actively involved with Fingal Age Friendly Alliance and chairing Fingal Local Community Development Committee (LCDC), a committee that administers community funding in the county, including the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) and the Community Facilities Fund. The Head of School is also chair of Dublin Rural LEADER LAG (Local Action Group) which administers rural funding in County Dublin.

The School continues to maintain strong links to schools at primary and secondary level and with colleges of further education in the region.


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Research

There has been a marked increase in research activity in the School over the period. There has been an increase in research degrees, driven in the main part by Technological University preparations. At the end of the period, there were nine students involved in research degrees with supervision being provided by lecturers from the School. The period also saw an increase in lecturers and students presenting research at conferences and publishing articles in research journals and academic books. The School accessed research funding from a number of organisations, including TUSLA, and from Fingal County Council for research commissioned as part of the Fingal Migrant Integration and Social Cohesion initiative.

Research activity and publication was also driven by a number of academic staff members who are currently engaged in doctoral studies. Two academic staff members graduated with PhDs in 2017 and we are expecting a number of academic staff members to complete doctoral studies within a year or two. The period also saw the graduation of an academic staff member with an MSc in Obesity and Weight Management (Public Health).

Future Plans

Activity in the School has been directed towards the establishment of the Technological University Dublin and there was significant activity during the period across the three founding institutes as part of preparations and for integration and future planning.

The increasing drive towards professionalism across areas in which the School is engaged has been an important aspect of our operations with significant resource and effort going into a submission to the All-Ireland Endorsement Body (AIEB) for professional recognition of our Community and Youth Development programme. This programme is now recognised by AIEB. The forthcoming registration process for social care workers through the multi-profession health regulator CORU has also been an important driver of activity in the School with formal submission of programmes in October 2019 and a panel visit scheduled for April 2020.

The School worked with an Early Childhood consortium of providers to make a submission to the Apprentice Council under the New Apprenticeship scheme. This proposal is still under consideration by the Apprentice Council and remains firmly in the plans for the School in the future.

Programme development plans for the future include the development of an award for Leadership and Management in Social Care and the creation of a programme in Counselling and Psychotherapy.


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School of Informatics and Engineering

The School of Informatics and Engineering is made up of two departments: the Department of Informatics which has three main disciplines, Computing, Cyber Security and Creative Digital Media, and the Department of Engineering which also has three main disciplines, Engineering, Trades and Horticulture. Engineering is composed of two sub-disciplines, Mechatronics and Computer Engineering. The School has continued to grow and currently has 80 full-time lecturers, 10 part-time lecturers and 1,600 students, and delivers taught programmes from Level 6 to Level 9 in full-time and part-time modes.

The mission of the School is to support and implement the Institute’s strategic plan and uphold the mission statement of the college. Key priorities for the School have been to increase the course provision and flexible access to courses; improve retention and progression of students by improving the quality of the student experience and providing more flexible pathways through courses; and increase the research capacity within the School. Other goals are to increase the number of partnerships with companies and continue to make a positive impact on the business and social community of the region. As well as the undergraduate degrees, we have a wide range of postgraduate degrees leading to master’s qualifications to support people in their professional development in areas covering Data Science, Cyber Security, Internet of Things, Natural Language Technology and UX.

Funding by the HEA Springboard+ initiative has continued for several programmes within the School and this has been a great success in helping people to return to the workforce. Other collaborations with Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet have helped employees to reskill and upskill in the workplace and make themselves more resilient to changes in their jobs. The School has a number of eTenders to deliver education support to Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet for Cloud Computing, Data Centre Operations, Cyber Security and Data Science. They also support the new Learn & Work programme in Networking Technologies which is an apprentice-like alternative course to CAO for students, with two thirds of the students’ time spent in the workplace and one third of their time in the college. This course started in September 2016 with 26 students who then began their work experience at the end of January 2017, and there are over 50 current students either on the course or just finishing it. The following new programmes were added to the School’s portfolio this year:

• Master of Arts in Creative Digital Media - UX and Interaction Design • Master of Arts in Creative Digital Media - Lens Based Media • BSc in Computing in Cloud Enterprise Architecture • BSc in Product Innovation & Design • BSc in Data Centre Maintenance and Support, developed in collaboration with Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet and Amazon, for Amazon employees

Some notable achievements for the period of this report have been:

• A student in CDM received Short Film of the Year at the annual SMEDIAS awards.

• Over 50 IBM employees applied for the Master’s in Multimodal Human Language Technology as complementary training for using the IBM Watson’s technology.

• Liberty IT has sponsored a new scholarship programme to support a student throughout their degree and provide a paid work placement in their company over the summer break.

• Creative Digital Media and Draíocht launched the inaugural Draíocht Visual Culture Award in September

and ended the year with the annual Kaleidoscope to showcase the final year projects of the students.


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• A student of Computing was part of a team that won the grand prize (€8,500) at the “Blockchain For Good

Hackathon” event hosted by Accenture.

• Another student on the MSc in Applied Data Science & Analytics was shortlisted in the Best Use of Data to

Achieve Social Impact category at the 2017 DatSci Awards.

• Engineers Ireland sponsored the “Achievement of Excellence” Award which recognises outstanding

achievement in Year 1 of an engineering programme.

• LEVITUS was an initiative to develop a framework for engineering educators that promotes, recognises

and evidences professional development in teaching and learning.

• Horticulture hosted a workshop in May in seed sowing and planting out in the courtyard garden of

Genesis Psychotherapy and Family Therapy Service, who provide professional, low-cost, community-

based therapy and support services to Dublin 15. The workshop engaged with staff of the centre,

Riversdale secondary school boys, their Foróige Leaders and local FETAC Horticulture students.

• Horticulture were delighted with the success of the Bloom Garden achieving a gold medal at the Bloom in

June. The garden was created in collaboration with Fingal County Council.

• A Horticulture student made it through to the national finals of the Student Entrepreneur Awards.

• The DESSI National Forum is a funded initiative which aims to assist institutions as they develop effective,

sustainable strategies for using learner data to support student success.

• Gender balancing in the student cohort is an area of continuous concern for the School and several

initiatives are hosted to introduce female second level students to the STEM areas with workshops and

visits to companies to experience the wide range of roles already performed by females in the STEM

areas. The Young Women In IT programme was aimed at increasing awareness and engagement in

school girls around STEM-related educational and career possibilities. To date we have brought groups

of transition year girls from local schools onto the programme. The School has also reached out into

the community by running a series of gender-specific Summer Camps such as Coding4Girls and Cyber

Security. These have been very popular and successful at generating awareness among the 12- to

18-year-old students.

• The number of international students coming to study in the School has continued to increase from China,

India, Oman, Malaysia and Africa. Strategic MOUs have been signed with India, Malaysia and Brazil to

allow staff to engage in exchanges. The Erasmus programme continues to bring EU students into the

School, mainly from Spain, France, Austria and Bulgaria.

• There is also a growing number of research postgraduates studying for MSc and PhD awards in a number

of different research areas like Network and Cyber Security, Cyber Bullying, Linguistics and Natural

Language Technology, Teaching & Learning, Data Science & Analytics, Gamification, Biomedical, Internet

of Things and Energy Conservation and Sustainability.


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Learning and Innovation Centre (LINC)

The Learning and Innovation Centre (LINC) is the Research, Innovation, Enterprise & External Engagement Hub

at the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown (ITB). Our centre provides a front door through which industry can engage with ITB. There are many ways that industry can engage with ITB ranging from work placements, graduate recruitment and industry training programmes through to start-up business supports and partnerships for

research and development.

Achievements of the LINC during this period are listed under the three areas of:

1. Industry Training & Engagement 2. Research 3. Start-Up

Industry Training & Engagement

Certificate in Water Mains and Supply – In 2012, the Water Services department of Fingal County Council collaborated with ITB in the design and validation of a bespoke Special Purpose Award for the upskilling of water mains crews involved in the upgrading of the water supply infrastructure. ITB continues to date to deliver this 8-day training programme to Fingal Water Crews through the Certificate in Water Mains and Supply programme. The delivery in April/May 2018 involved 16 participants.

The LINC, in collaboration with the Department of Humanities, facilitated the delivery of the Higher Certificate in Arts in Information Provision and Advocacy Practice to 150 (75 Year 1 and 75 Year 2) information providers from Citizens Information Board nationally. It is a blended learning programme with 3 tutorial centres, Dublin, Athlone and Cork.

Evolution of Learn + Work during this period

Learn + Work – Learn + Work is an innovative learning model, designed in collaboration with industry, which combines five months of traditional academic study with a seven-month industry placement block in each year of the programme. The Higher Certificate in Science in Computing in Networking Technologies was the first ITB programme to be offered under the Learn + Work model. Launched in September 2016 with 25 students, course fees for the programme are co-funded by ICT Skillnet and partner companies. A second Learn + Work programme, BSc in Process Instrumentation & Automation, was successfully validated at ITB in May 2017. During the academic year September 2017/May 2018, the LINC delivered the Higher Certificate in Science in Computing in Networking

Technologies to a cohort of 19 Year 1 students and 18 Year 2 students.

During the academic year 2017/2018, the recently validated BSc in Process Instrumentation & Automation was actively marketed and promoted to potential participants. There was also an active engagement campaign of on-boarding industry partners and placement companies to successfully fulfil the stakeholder requirements of the programme pre-launch in September 2018.


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Research

ITB staff led two Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Projects during this period:

1. SR2: A Low Speed SR Generator for Marine Renewable Energy (Dr. Garett Brady) 2017 - present

The SR2 project will design and build a novel electrical generator that could help wave energy devices generate electricity more effectively, and test it under simulated ocean conditions in the lab. The project aims to develop a generator for use in these wave energy devices that is simpler and cheaper than what is currently on the market, and better able to withstand the hostile environmental conditions on the sea. The plan is to build a prototype and test it in the lab here in ITB, using a ‘programmable power train’ to simulate the irregular, ‘wild-speed’ forces that a generator in a wave energy device on the ocean would experience.

2. Cloud Stream (Dr. Christina Thorpe) 2016 - 2018

The Institute of Technology Blanchardstown (ITB) and University College Dublin (UCD) are working together on a project, the technical goal of which is to demonstrate how Software Defined Networking (SDN) concepts can be used to monitor and adapt a VoIP service and the networks that carry the traffic to provide a holistic view of the

service ecosystem. This project was completed in April 2018.

Through a competitive call of the AIB Innovation Fund 6 projects received funding to enhance research capability in the Institute. These projects allowed students to work on projects over the summer months.


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ITB Level 9 Professional

ITB Level 9 Research

ITB Level 10 Research

ITB Subtotal

7

14

26

FT

5

34

6

48

PT

8

41

20

74

TOT

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Start-Up

• This period saw the completion of two New Frontiers Programmes:

• 31 companies supported through the Phase 1 programmes to identify and develop the

opportunity

• 14 companies supported through the full-time programme bringing these companies from concept to either trading or investment ready

• Over 100 jobs created through these companies

• Occupancy reached 100% with over 13 companies in own door office units and 10 entrepreneurs hot

desking and over 150 supported through incubation space, clinics, mentoring and networking events.

• The Enterprise Garage, ITB’s student business accelerator programme, gave ITB students an

opportunity to work on their business ideas under the expert guidance of a panel of mentors, industry

experts and entrepreneurs at the LINC.

Throughout this period the staff at the LINC have worked with local agencies and boards to enhance the industry

network and also the supports to local industry. This has involved a close working relationship with Enterprise

Ireland, the Local Enterprise Offices, Dublin Regional Skills Forum, the County Councils (Fingal and Dublin City)

and Fingal Dublin Chamber of Commerce. Staff at the LINC also sit on the boards of the Drinan Enterprise Centre

in Swords and the BASE Enterprise Centre in Mulhuddart as well as Dublin Regional Skills Forum. Networks

are also maintained through THEA with the Industry Liaison Managers, the Incubation Centre Managers and the

Research Managers of the other Institutes of Technology.


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Student Services

All ITB students, while pursuing academic goals, can avail of the extensive and varied sports and social events organised by numerous clubs and societies within ITB. ITB also provides professional support services that will advise and offer guidance to help students work, rest and play during and even after their studies.

Services and supports are available to students in various locations and departments throughout the campus, including:

• The Student Services Office

• Student Counselling

• Careers Office

• Sports/Sports Facilities

• Student Health Centre

• National Learning Network Assessment Service

• Student Clubs and Societies

The Student Services Office provides a range of financial, academic and personal supports for students attending ITB. The staff there are available to meet with any student who has individual difficulties, and aim to provide both advice and practical supports in a wide variety of circumstances. It is a totally confidential service and is free to all registered students. The Student Services Team can also provide information and assistance to students on funding initiatives including the Student Assistance Fund, the Fund for Students with Disabilities, and the Hardship Fund.

The Student Services Team can also offer special assistance for examinations to students with learning difficulties, disabilities or other special requirements, such as additional time or the provision of a scribe or separate room.

The Student Counselling Service at ITB offers a free, confidential, professional counselling service to all students attending the college. Counselling can give students time and space to explore any issues that might be of concern such as: Stress/Anxiety, Academic/Relationship Difficulties, Grief or Bereavement, and any other issues students may experience with their mental wellbeing. The Counselling Service also offers a range of workshops on issues such as consent.

The ITB Careers Office supports students and graduates of the Institute who are looking for advice and guidance on career-related issues. The team encourages students to come and talk to them about their future plans, and can assist students either individually or by providing class presentations and workshops.

The role of ITB Sport is to facilitate any student who wishes to partake in physical activity while they complete their studies in ITB. The Sports Development Officer, Ronan Keaskin, along with two sports interns (graduates from ITB’s Sports Management and Coaching course) work with ITB students to provide an excellent sporting environment.

ITB’s state-of-the-art pavilion building, located adjacent to the Sports Pitches, comprises a fully equipped Fitness Suite (185m²), changing facilities, an athletic therapy room, a sports science lab, and a number of lecture theatres.

The ITB Health Centre is a free service open to all registered students and apprentices. No appointment is necessary to see the nurse. This service is totally confidential and offers nursing services five days per week and GP services on Tuesdays and Thursdays.


21

The National Learning Network (NLN) Educational Support Service works in conjunction with ITB Student Services

staff to provide a holistic, inclusive and psychologically based service to ITB students. The service adopts a

holistic approach and recognises that student wellbeing is intertwined with their academic experiences. The NLN

Educational Support Service team includes educational psychologists, assistant psychologists and access to an

occupational therapist to support students attending the college with both academic and personal needs that may

arise during their college year.

With the excellent sports facilities available at ITB, the level of student participation and club membership has

increased each year. Involvement in student societies is a great way to meet new people while developing more

interests.

A number of societies are already established in ITB, including: Computer Society / LGBT / Film / Photography

/ Golf / Poker / Piano / Surfing / Dynamic in Christ / Islamic / Geocaching / Dance / Airsoft / Horticulture / Harry

Potter. Society activities are coordinated by the Societies Intern, in conjunction with the Students’ Union Clubs &

Societies Officer.

ITB’s clubs include: Athletics / GAA / Soccer / Futsal / Pool / Basketball / Swimming / Athletics / Mixed Martial Arts

/ Rugby / Ultimate Frisbee / Badminton / Boxing / Golf / Olympic Handball / Ski Club.


22

Library

This 16-month period was a very busy one for ITB Library as there were many developments on the library systems.

The new Library Management System (LMS), Koha, went live in September 2017 and all student records were

loaded into it. This enabled students to search, borrow, reserve and renew library materials and execute many

other library functions on the new system. Staff attended many Koha-related training sessions and workshops

during this time. Other features which accompanied the new LMS, such as the discovery layer, EDS, and the reading

lists tool, Keylinks, were also implemented.

As part of the suite of products made available to us from Educampus, there was the opportunity to have a new

library website designed. Our Systems Librarian managed this project and a new site was launched in 2018. See

the image below with the new TU Dublin colour palette. The new website, which is much sleeker and more intuitive

than the previous one, makes it easier for students to access library facilities and online resources, both on and off

campus.

The Library continued its Teaching and Learning remit, providing 71 information literacy workshops and tutorials

to 1,282 students as well as many one-to-one sessions on using the Library’s online databases, referencing and

academic writing.

In keeping with the civic engagement mission of ITB, the Librarian represented ITB at the graduation ceremony

in Dunboyne College in May. The Library once again opened its doors to Leaving Cert students from our local

secondary schools in May and June 2018. Furthermore, our Systems Librarian, Fiona Lacey, did a work exchange

with a librarian in Blanchardstown Public Library, thus furthering the engagement between our two libraries.


23

Library staff in this year sought to increase their social media presence and so a library mascot was “born”. José,

photo below, began to appear on the library website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, advertising library events

and information notices to students and staff. The “sloth from Paraguay” was an instant hit with the students and

has created a positive, welcoming association with the library space for students.

It was yet another very busy 16 months at the Student Information Desk (SID), as the statistics below will confirm.

A review also commenced on the business processes at SID and some staff achieved a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt

in the process.


24

Month

Lett

ers

Issu

ed

Form

s St

ampe

d

Pas

swor

d R

eset

Pho

nost

ats

Que

ries

Pho

ne

Que

ries

Des

k

Cha

nge

of

Add

ress

Lost

& F

ound

Libr

ary

Que

ries

Em

ail

Acc

omm

odat

ion

Stud

ent

Ass

ista

nce

Fund

GO

ATPA

C

Exam

Slip

s

Gar

da V

etti

ngTotals

Sep 17 637 321 854 101 1,016 3,650 24 29 65 1,754 84 50 312 - 20 8,917

Oct 17 315 132 607 22 607 2,153 22 17 61 1,214 60 215 221 - 18 5,664

Nov 17 120 71 820 59 849 1,200 13 14 82 1,154 56 - 140 9 15 4,601

Dec 17 40 57 211 84 259 284 36 0 96 960 11 10 90 - 110 2,248

Jan 18 166 198 140 3 460 440 12 18 72 988 46 149 110 252 80 3,134

Feb 18 139 185 200 55 584 518 13 36 84 1,207 19 80 140 - 60 3,320

Mar 18 68 126 189 14 224 435 7 48 65 631 7 - 96 - 40 1,950

Apr 18 112 87 192 10 202 230 10 40 105 824 - - 97 - 2 1,911

May 18 98 95 21 21 240 405 7 60 120 1,043 55 - 82 147 - 2,394

Jun 18 34 29 40 9 268 268 11 4 14 1,091 15 - 210 - - 1,993

Jul 18 30 20 60 33 105 106 12 1 13 942 26 - 80 - - 1,428

Aug 18 172 34 296 39 240 412 10 12 30 1,609 32 - 115 70 18 3,089

Sep 18 867 369 854 18 1,150 3,110 49 25 80 2,280 20 40 312 - 26 9,200

Oct 18 346 134 230 18 541 1,123 19 21 97 1,245 4 233 200 - 25 4,236

Nov 18 211 63 431 22 460 685 17 6 113 984 3 80 143 - 110 3,328

Dec 18 58 69 210 59 340 532 22 25 89 1,086 4 20 102 - 120 2,736

Library staff represented ITB on the Professional Services Steering Board, THEA Librarians’ Group, Library Project

Working Group (for Koha), Library User Group (for Koha), and on the following external committees: Acquisitions

Group of Ireland and the LIR HEAnet User Group for Libraries.

Library and SID staff availed of the following training and development opportunities: manual handling,

unconscious bias, copyright, GDPR, and attended LIR, AGI and CONUL seminars. During the summer Library staff

also took a visit to RCSI to see their new library.


25

Human Resources

The Human Resources Department supports and upholds ITB’s mission, vision and values by fostering a

positive working atmosphere, improving efficiency and processes, supporting our staff and providing an open

and welcoming environment for staff as we enter the final stages in our transformation to becoming the first

Technological University in Ireland.

We have achieved this through flexibility, providing high quality service, building partnerships, and by supporting,

developing and retaining our staff. We enable staff and teams to grow personally and professionally by supporting

the evolving needs of our people.

We operate a consistent, fair, supportive environment in line with ITB’s Strategic Plan, by creating conditions for

staff to develop their skills, talents and abilities and grow as professionals within the Higher Education Sector.

During this period, the HR Department actively supported and encouraged staff to engage in further education,

namely obtaining a qualification at Level 9 and above. In addition to this, administrative staff groups participated in

a number of change management and team building workshops to support them through this transitional period.

We built strong working relationships and worked efficiently, effectively and continuously with our colleagues in DIT

and ITT and successfully developed and delivered a significant number of policies, processes and HR strategies for

the benefit of all staff in the new organisation.

We enhanced our recruitment processes and introduced online recruitment to further improve the experience of

the candidates.

Throughout this period, we ensured that our operational responsibilities remained consistent, stable and reliable.

The graph below represents just some of the daily activities we completed during this period.


26

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Recruitment Drives Contracts Issued Staff Developmentand Mandatory

Training Attendees

Educational SupportApplications

Staff Inducted

Campus Development

The 2017/2018 period saw the commencement and completion of the Connect Building (formally Student Services

Building). The building accommodates a number of direct student contacts such as Admissions, Exams, School

Secretaries and the Student Information Desk. It also houses the marketing team, heads of departments, heads of

school, Registrar and Principle. The building was a pilot programme for the SEAI’s EXEED programme (Excellence

in Energy Efficient Design) and received the stage one ‘EXEED Certified’ status towards the end of this period.

This certification is a first for the University and third level sector with a case study compiled by the SEAI. The next

stage is EXEED Verified, a 16-month process which we are eager to continue. The verification review is set, by

Certification Europe on behalf of SEAI, for November 2020.

The Department of Education & Skills and Higher Education Authority’s Review of Capital Requirements in Higher

Education Institutions in 2016/17 (DES/HEA Circular 1 2016) identified a new teaching building for the campus. This

building will be included in the Higher Education PPP Programme announced as part of the Capital Plan 2016-

2021. Throughout this time period the Estates Department has worked closely with the design team/NDFA/DoE/

HEA to create parameters surrounding a building design. The requirement for workshops and information days

also formed part of the design brief with key stakeholders on campus consulted at numerous stages throughout the

process. The planning permission will be lodged in mid-2019.

Energy management is focused in a number of areas with annual SEAI M&R reporting obligations plus our

participation in the OPW’s Optimising Power at Work programme. This OPW programme used 2017 as a baseline

with a focused improvement the key target for 2018. The overall results were extremely good with a 23% reduction

in fossil fuel consumption and 5% reduction in electricity. The work in electricity is particularly notable as it

includes consumption during the building of Connect plus introduction of floodlights on our natural grass pitch. In

essence electrical consumption would have been much higher without the focused reduction programme. The SEAI

M&R reporting has again got us positioned in first place in the third level sector. The targets set were a reduction

of 33% in energy consumption by 2020. Our target is currently 61.9% better than the baseline set and 43.1% better

than the 2020 target set for us.


27

Technological University for Dublin

The governance, structures and funding contexts for the strategy for higher education in 2011 examined the

structural reforms required within the higher education sector, to ensure that the system could continue to

deliver on core missions in a coherent, sustainable, and well-managed manner. As part of the requisite coherent

framework for enabling the reforms, an application process and legal framework were put in place for qualifying

consortia of original Institutes of Technology, based on achievable scale and capacity of regional clusters, to

apply for designation as Technological Universities. A key requirement for the designation was to develop clear

distinction from existing universities by mission and ethos focused on establishing sustainable career-focused

higher education with emphasis on the NFQ Levels 6 through 8, and on industry-focused research and innovation

at NFQ Levels 9 and 10 that are also appropriate to this mission. The latter will be on a structured collaborative

basis that leverages the strengths of the partnering institutions. The technological universities are also expected to

have a pivotal role in facilitating access and progression (particularly from the workforce) by developing structured

relationships with providers of further education and training.

Having satisfied the Technological University designation criteria, An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar TD, formally

announced the decision to approve the establishment of Technological University Dublin with the view to formal

establishment by law on 1 January 2019.

A programme of work was drawn up and is currently ongoing towards meeting and implementing measures for

designation and conditions for compliance with all eligibility criteria. The activity themes in the referred programme

of work cover:

1. Academic Development and the New University Graduate - a portfolio of projects that together identify and

support the acquisition of distinctive graduate attributes.

2. Student Experience and Wellness - a series of projects focusing on supporting the student life cycle by creating

a conducive environment for academic success, personal development and lifelong wellness. Also considers

commitment to enhancing wider participation and easing the transition back to learning regime.

3. Engaged International Institution - a series of projects that collectively drive engagement with wider society,

and promote economic growth, and foster the social and cultural vitality and wellbeing of the communities and

regions of the DTUA.

4. A Force for Innovation - aimed at enhancing the provision, capacity and delivery of research and knowledge

transfer.

5. 21st Century Workplace - a suite of projects supporting the transformational work environment for staff in the

DTUA.

6. Efficient Use of Resources - a portfolio of professional services projects that, upon implementation, will support

the smooth functioning of the new technological university.


28

7. Digital Campus - this is considered a key part of the technological university, which is envisioned as a digital-

first organisation, utilising data and digital tools to empower operations and processes, and enrich our

academic programmes towards high-performance learning and services environments.

The implementation of the above programme of work straddles the pre-designation and the post-designation

integration phase and period.


29

Student and Staff Profile

Student Profile

A brief overview of the main student statistics is presented below.

Total Student Numbers for 2017-2018

The Institute has maintained student numbers over the period of 2017 - 2018, with full-time student numbers

reaching 2,351 with the total full-time equivalent figure of 3,170.

New Entrants

There were 727 new entrants (full-time undergraduate) for the 2017/18 academic year. Most first year students are

from the immediate locality, with 68% of full-time students coming from Dublin. A breakdown of new entrants by

discipline is given below.


30

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

Total Student Numbers 2017 - 2018

Full-Time Part-Time Remote Total

% New Entrants by Discipline

Social Science, Business & Law

Science, Mathematics & Computing

Engineering, Manufacturing & Construction

Agriculture

Health & Welfare

Services

21%

29%

12%

2%

27%

9%

2017/18

Postgraduates

In the academic year 2017/18, at postgraduate level, there were a total of 257 students of which 23% were pursuing

a postgraduate higher diploma, 57% were pursuing a Level 9 taught master’s, 15% were pursuing a Level 9

research master’s, and 5% were undertaking a doctorate.

Undergraduates

Of the undergraduate population of 3,015 in the 2017/18 academic year, 13% were pursuing Level 6 courses, 37%

were pursuing Level 7 courses, and 44% were pursuing Level 8 courses.

An average of 28% of the total student population were on flexible learning programmes, i.e. part-time, distance

learning, e-learning and in-service courses. The international student numbers remained steady at 48 in 2017/18.


31

% Postgraduates by course level

Postgraduate Cert/Diploma

Master’s (Taught) Level 9

Master’s (Research) Level 9

PhD Level 10

Total Students

23%

57%

15%

5%

257

2017/18

% Undergraduates by course level

Cert/Diploma Level 6

Ordinary Degree Level 7

Honours Degree Level 8

Occasional

Total Students

13%

37%

44%

6%

3,015

2017/18

Conferred Awards

A total of 927 students graduated in November 2018 in a conferring ceremony held in Block C.


32

School of Business

School of Humanities

School of Informatics and Engineering

Total

279 21

927 70

30

246

402

12

37

27

43

School Graduates Courses % Total

Research/Specialist Non-Academic

Research/Specialist Academic

Non-Academic

Academic Staff

Staff Gender Profile

% Female% Male

Staff Profile

Of the 262.7 WTE staff that were employed by the Institute over the period of this report, there was a 48:52 ratio of

female to male staff. An average gender profile based on category of post is given below.

Of the 82% of full-time academic staff that hold a Level 9 or higher, 60% are male and 40% are female.

Of the 24% of full-time academic staff that hold a Level 10, 66% are male and 34% are female.


33

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Academic Staff Qualifications

% Male% Female

70.0

60.0

50.0

40.0

30.0

20.0

10.0

0.0

Level 10 Level 9

Of the Core funded academic staff, 13% were Senior Lecturers, 65% were Lecturers and 22% were Assistant

Lecturers. A further breakdown based on gender is shown below:

Of the Core funded non-academic staff, 7% earned >€106,000, 19% earned between €76,000 and €105,000, 46%

earned between €46,000 and €75,999 and 28% earned <€45,999. A further breakdown based on gender is shown

below:


34

Academic Staff by Grade

Assistant Lecturer

Lecturer

Senior Lecturer

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

% Male % Female

Non-Academic Staff by Pay Grade

<€45,999

€46,000 - €75,999

€76,000 - €105,999

>€106,000

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

% Male % Female

Section 47 (1) (a) of the Disability Act 2005 states that a public body shall in so far as practicable take all reasonable

measures to promote and support the employment by it of persons with disabilities. ITB has taken the following

measures to comply with this provision:

• All new works on campus must attain a Disabilities Access Certificate.

• Plans are in place to upgrade existing facilities for disabled staff and students, i.e. toilets for disabled

staff and students.

• ITB has made provision for an improved workspace for a staff member with severe mobility challenges

following a planned surgery. The staff member was provided with a ‘stand up desk’.


35

% of Staff with a disability under the definition in the Disability Act 2005

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 20180

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Diversity

All public bodies in Ireland have responsibility to promote equality, prevent discrimination and protect the human

rights of their employees, customers, service users and everyone affected by their policies and plans. This is a legal

obligation, called the Public Sector Duty, and it originated in Section 42 of our founding legislation, the Irish Human

Rights and Equality Act 2014.

The Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Committee in ITB met ten times between September 2017 and December

2018. Numerous issues were discussed during those meetings, in particular the introduction of gender neutral

toilets on campus, disability access on campus, the implementation of the public sector duty and the structure

of the Diversity and Equality working group. During two meetings in October and November 2017, the group

discussed questions of governance and the structure of the group and in January 2018, following a meeting with the

then President, it was decided to elevate the Diversity and Equality Working Group to the status of a Presidential

Committee. The group thus became known as the Diversity and Equality Committee until a name change was

considered in March 2018 and, in line with terminology across the sector, it was renamed the Diversity, Equality and

Inclusion Committee.

The introduction of gender neutral toilets on campus was a much-discussed issue during 2017 and 2018. A

proposal that came from the Students’ Union was discussed and debated and DIT and Tallaght, the two TU Dublin

partners, were consulted in terms of the changes that they had adopted on campus in terms of gender neutral

toilets. Discussions centred on the signage to be adopted, the location on campus, the physical requirements

around the proposed changes and the communication of the proposed changes. The need for training for staff and

students on transgender issues, for example on questions such as the use of correct pronouns, was identified. The

Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) delivered training to staff on campus in May 2018 that was very well

received. Phase one of the implementation of gender neutral toilets on campus took place in June 2018 with gender

neutral toilets introduced in the S Block, the C Block and the LINC, and the change was communicated to staff and

students via email. Disability rights as well as transgender rights were considered in terms of the decision making

and it was agreed to take any feedback regarding the changes into consideration.

A number of issues around wheelchair access on campus were brought to the attention of the Committee and

discussed at meeting, including the question of fire evacuation from the library for people with mobility issues.

This was forwarded to the Health and Safety Committee for consideration. A second issue raised and discussed

concerned the question of the lifts on campus. A number of challenges regarding the lifts were identified, including

access to the lift for a member of the general public with mobility issues, access for students when they start

initially, insufficient keys as keys go missing, wheelchair access to the gym in the S Block and the question of

communicating to people with mobility issues when a lift is not working. The Committee proposed that there would

be general access to the lifts to overcome some of these issues.


36

The implementation of the public sector duty was also discussed at a number of meetings. Two members of

the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Committee attended the event held by the Irish Human Rights and Equality

Commission (IHREC) in November 2017 on implementing the public sector duty. Feedback was provided to the

Committee, particularly in terms of the experience of UCC, one of the six organisations that took part in a pilot

project regarding the implementation of the public sector duty. The issue of gathering data in the context of the

public sector duty and Athena Swan in terms of gender equality was also debated. One of the members of the

Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Committee is also one of the two representatives on the Athena Swan Ireland

National Committee and updated the Committee on meetings attended.

Additional activities carried out included the delivery of a session on dealing with diverse students on campus by

a member of the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Committee as part of staff induction in September 2018 and

communicating with staff and students around bookings for Ciúnas and usage of the room.


37

Energy Efficiency Progress and Overview of Energy Usage 2017-2018

The primary project focus for efficiencies is the building management system operations assisted by participation in

the OPW’s Optimising Power at Work programme. The programme has an overall aim of identifying and eliminating

energy wastage through metering and reporting with key areas identified for energy savings. The campaign also

aims to further inform staff through a poster and email campaign with a campus event day. The programme will

assist in the operational management of the building management system via an as-is survey with recommended

alterations.

External Funding Received from other Government Agencies

There was no external funding received from other government agencies for the period of this annual report.

External Consultancy Firms

For the period of 2017/18, ITB spent €22,000 on external consultancy contracted to carry out investigations and

mediation on internal matters. €27,000 was spent on external consultancy fees paid to external parties providing

advisory services: €24,000 was spent on PR/Marketing and €3,000 was spent on Pensions.


38

3,550.77 mWh of electricity

3,444.75 mWh (Gross) of fossil fuels

Energy Usage 2017

Formal Representation of the Institute on External Boards/Groups


39

Name External Board/Group Purpose for membership of external Board/Group

Start Date

End Date

Aine Lynch LIR Committee Library Systems Group for HEAnet members

June 2018

Ongoing

Anthony Keane Third Level Computing Forum

Information exchange between Heads of Computing in HEIs with the DOE&S, HEA, IDA, Enterprise Ireland, Irish Computer Society, companies and industries that employ graduates

2015 Ongoing

Anthony Keane Cyber Security Skills Initiative

Supported by Technology Ireland, ICT Skillnet, this board is comprised of government agencies, organisations and businesses that have a growing need to retrain staff and employ new staff in cyber security

2018 Ongoing

Bob O’Mhurcú Board of Irish College Societies (BICS) Adjudicator/Chief Adjudicator/Executive Committee

Representation of ITB at National Society Body

2005 Ongoing

Bob O’Mhurcú Confederation of Student Services Ireland (CSSI) Executive Committee

Representation of ITB at National Level; have also served as Chair, PRO and Webmaster

2010 Ongoing

Bob O’Mhurcú Access Steering Group Representation of ITB at National Level 2017 Ongoing

Bob O’Mhurcú CAO Operators Group Representation of ITB at National Level 2017 Ongoing

Bob O’Mhurcú Admission Officers Association (AOA)

Representation of ITB at National Level 2017 Ongoing

Cormac McMahon

Engineers Ireland Member of Accreditation Board Sept 2017

Ongoing

Diarmuid O’ Callaghan

Technological Higher Education Association (THEA)

Member of the Board Sept 2017

Dec 2018

Francis McGeough

North Dublin MABS Treasurer and Member of the Board Aug 2018 Ongoing

Gael Le Roux Tolka River Project (Dublin 15 Community Based Rehabilitation Centre)

Member of the Board Sept 2018

Ongoing

Geraldine Gray Data-Enabled Student Success Initiative (DESSI)

ITB’s point of contact for DESSI, a T&L National Forum initiative

Oct 2017

Geraldine Gray Ethics Committee, ITT Review applications for ethical approval Oct 2014

Larry McNutt ICEP Organising committee for ICEP conference 2010 Ongoing


40

Larry McNutt NSAI Member of eCompetences and ICT Professionalism committee

2017 Ongoing

Margaret Rushe

Third level Nurse Section INMO

Secretary to the group, education and issues re student health in third level

June 2016

Ongoing

Margaret Rushe

ISHA (Irish Student Health Association)

Health professionals providing student health in third level

March 2016

Ongoing

Margaret Rushe

Healthy Campus/Healthy Ireland

Developing a national framework for healthy campuses

April 2017

Ongoing

Martina Coombes

Ronanstown Community Childcare Centre, Neilstown Road, D22

Member of the Board, creating links with early years services in the community and TU Dublin

Sept 2018

Ongoing

Martina Coombes

TARGET - Trinity Adult Resource Group for Education and Training, Donaghmede, D13

Member of the Board, collaborating in the development of a Degree in Counselling and Psychotherapy with this organisation

Sept 2018

Ongoing

Martina Coombes

QQI Standards Review Group for Early Years programmes, QQI Levels 5 & 6

Member of the Standards Review Group Sept 2018

Ongoing

Matt Smith SURE Network Representing ITB 2017 Ongoing

Matt Smith QQI Computing subject expert 2012 Ongoing

Shauna Garry Student Learning with Communities DIT

ITB Representative for Access & Civic Engagement

2016 Ongoing

Sinead Curran RTÉ Audience Council Digital Media & Visual Arts Expertise Jan 2017 June 2018

Selection of Notable Highlights

This annual report contains a wide variety of achievements from both staff and students, from an ITB student

scooping a Student Entrepreneur Award to a staff member presenting Best Paper at the International Conference

on Engaging Pedagogy. These achievements showcase the talent and success of our various departments and their

staff and students.

With ITB shortlisted for Best Public Service Award in the Fingal Chamber of Commerce Corporate Social

Responsibility Awards, it shows the impact that ITB has had in Fingal to date. The submission was based on the

socio-economic report prepared for the TU Dublin application and also included information on ITB’s mission and

customer service ethos.

By sharing our success stories in the media, over social media and with our stakeholders, we will continue to

celebrate and highlight the achievements of our staff and students.


41

Date Title URL

05/09/2017 ITB student shortlisted for 2017 DatSci Awards

https://www.itb.ie/NewsEvents/newsdetail.asp?Item=16859

02/10/2017 ITB Computing Student wins Grand Prize at Accenture Blockchain For Good Hackathon


05/10/2017 ITB Mechatronic Engineering student receives Achievement of Excellence award from Engineers Ireland


18/10/2017 ITB welcomes expansion on campus with 200m Euro investment in Institutes of Technology


26/10/2017 ITB Engineering Lecturer receives Enterprise Ireland funding for the SR2 Project, a novel electrical generator for ocean wave power


09/11/2017 ITB’s Daughters of Charity Programme nominated for 2017 Fingal Business Excellence & CSR Awards


09/11/2017 ITB Shortlisted for the PG Course of the Year at gradIreland’s Higher Education Awards 2018



42

22/11/2017 Minister of State for Education, Mary Mitchell O’Connor visits ITB


23/11/2017 ITB Accounting and Finance students receive CIMA and CPA awards


27/11/2017 Two ITB students named in Leinster Womens Squad for 2017 Interprovincial Series


28/11/2017 ITB Engineering student presented with an Intel Women in Technology Award


19/12/2017 ITB lecturer awarded best paper at International Conference on Engaging Pedagogy


15/02/2018 Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, guest of honour at ITB


16/04/2018 ITB Student wins Best Fresher at the Board of Irish College Societies (BICS) Awards 2018


17/04/2018 ITB Student Gains Senior Cap for Leinster Rugby


20/04/2018 ITB Department of Informatics to host ZeroDays CTF, Ireland’s Biggest Cyber Security Challenge


24/04/2018 ITB Creative Digital Media Graduate wins Best Short Film at the National Student Media Awards 2018


30/04/2018 TU4Dublin submits application to become Ireland’s first Technological University


05/06/2018 Design Work begins on new Teaching Building at IT Blanchardstown


07/06/2018 Institute of Technology Blanchardstown and Liberty IT join forces to lead the Way for Young Women In Technology with their Coding4Girls Summer Camp



43

20/06/2018 ITB’s Ashling Smith Wins Draiocht’s Inaugural Creative Digital Media Graduate Award


20/06/2018 ITB Horticulture student scoops Student Entrepreneur Award


17/07/2018 An Taoiseach announces Ireland’s first Technological University


23/07/2018 ITB Lecturer authors report highlighting importance of Community Education


14/09/2018 ITB Informatics lecturer publishes Unity 3D Game Development ‘cookbook’


01/10/2018 Universal Design and Higher Education in Transformation (UDHEIT2018) Congress takes place from Oct 30th to Nov 2nd


30/10/2018 ITB shortlisted for best Public Service Award in Fingal Chamber of Commerce Corporate Social Responsibility Awards


05/11/2018 ITB Shortlisted for the PG Course of the Year at GradIreland’s Higher Education Awards 2019


09/11/2018 ITB hosts its 18th Graduation Ceremony


12/11/2018 ITB, DIT and ITT share the Sunday Times Institute of the year award


09/11/2018 ITB Creative Digital Media Graduate Exhibits ‘RESONATE’ at The Digital Hub


12/12/2018 Students receive Intel Engineering Design Student of the Year Award 2018


12/12/2018 Student receives Intel Women in Technology Award


18/12/2018 Memorandum of Understanding with Colaiste Dhulaigh College of Further Education


Selection of Staff Publications

Books

Ní Chonaill, B. (2018) Interculturalism in higher education in Ireland: an analysis from a strategy, policy and

practice perspective. Ebook (256) Transforming our World through Design, Diversity and Education

Smith, M. (2018) “Unity 2018 Cookbook”, Packt Publishers, London, UK. ISBN: 978-1788471909

Journal Publications

Gaul, D., Fernandez, L., Issartel, J. (2018) “It ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it”: does obesity affect

perceptual motor control ability of adults on the speed and accuracy of a discrete aiming task? Experimental Brain

Research, 236(10)

Gaul, D., Issartel, J. (2018) Getting into the Swing of things: An investigation into rhythmic unimanual coordination

in typically developing children. Neuroscience Letters, 671.

Bergner, Y., Lang, C., & Gray, G. (2018). What Does Methodology Mean for Learning Analytics? Journal of Learning

Analytics, 5(2): 1-8.

Goslin, K. and Hofmann, M (2017) A Wikipedia Powered State-based Approach to Automatic Search Query

Enhancement, Journal of Information, Processing and Management, Volume 53, Issue 5, December 2017, Pages 1005-

1025

Patel, S.; Nolan, B.; Hofmann, M.; Owende, P.; Patel, K. (2017), Sentiment Analysis: Comparative Analysis of

Multilingual Sentiment and Opinion Classification Techniques, World Academy of Science, Engineering and

Technology, International Science Index 126, International Journal of Computer, Electrical, Automation, Control and

Information Engineering, 11(6), 624 - 630.

English, V. and Hofmann, M (2018) Business Intelligence as a source of Competitive Advantage in SMEs: A Literature

Review, DBS Business Review.

McGuigan, K., Hughes, MD., Martin, D. (2018) Performance indicators in club level Gaelic Football. International

Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport 17,3: 319-333.

Martin, D., Swanton, A., Bradley, J., & McGrath, D. (2018). The use, integration and perceived value of performance

analysis to professional and amateur Irish coaches. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 13(4), 520-

532.

Martin, D., Swanton, A., McGrath, D. and Bradley, J. (2017). The use, integration and values of performance analysis

to GAA coaches. Journal of Human Sport and Exercise, 12(2proc), S492-S501.


44

Mangan, S., Malone, S., Ryan, M., McGahan, J., O’Neill, C., Burns, C., Warne, J., Martin, D. and Collins, K. (2017).

The influence of match outcome on running performance in elite Gaelic football. Science and Medicine in Football,

pp.1-8.

Mangan, S., Malone, S., Ryan, M., McGahan, J., Warne, J., Martin, D., O’Neill, C., Burns, C. and Collins, D.K.

(2017). The influence of team rating on running performance in elite Gaelic football. The Journal of Strength and

Conditioning Research 32(9), 2584-2591

McCabe, H. (2018) Civil War: A Board Game As Pedagogy And Critique. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics.

256, pp. 643-651.

Cullen, P., Dupraz, P., Moran, J., Murphy, P., O’Flaherty, R., O’Donoghue, C., O’Shea, R. and Ryan, M. (2018) Agri-

Environment Scheme Design: Past Lessons and Future suggestions. EuroChoices. 17 (3), pp. 26-30.

Conference Proceedings

Byrne, D., Carthy, A. and McGilloway, S. (2018) An examination of factors influencing social and emotional

wellbeing in Irish post-primary schools. Irish Social policy Association Postgraduate and Early Career Researcher

Conference, Dublin, Ireland.

Byrne, D., Carthy, A. and McGilloway, S. (2018) Student Wellbeing at Junior-Cycle Level: Teachers’ perceptions of

relevant policies and curricula. Ireland International Conference on Education, Dublin.

Carthy, A. (2017) A Whole New Ballgame: Does engagement with a walking football club lead to increased levels of

social engagement? Football Association of Ireland National Stakeholders Conference, Dublin, Ireland.

Carthy, A. (2017) Developing Emotionally Intelligent Colleges. International Conference of Education, Research and

Innovation, Seville, Spain.

Guiry, E. and Carthy, A. (2018) An analysis of the impact of emotional intelligence coaching on third level lecturers’

perceived level of work-related stress and work efficacy. International Conference on Engaging Pedagogy, Dublin.

Jameson, A., McGuinness, C., Carthy, A. and McSweeney, F. (2018) Making The Transition:Emotional intelligence

coaching for final year students tailored to employers’ expressed needs. Institute of Work Psychology Annual

conference, Sheffield, UK.

Deegan, C, Devine J, (2018) Building Digital Capacity in Irish Higher Education 2013-18’, National Forum for Teaching

and Learning in Higher Education, DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.7732271

Deegan, C, Boland, T, Smith, C. (2018) Technology for an Inclusive Higher Education Experience – A Workshop to

demonstrate the diverse range of technology for Learners. A workshop presented at the Universal Design and Higher

Education in Transformation Congress, Dublin, Ireland.


45

Campbell, N, Duffy, J, Deegan, C, (2018) Characterising Human Muscle Postactivation Potentiation by MMG and

Force, Presented at the International Conference of Electrophysiology and Kinesiology, Dublin, Ireland.

Wang,Y, Wang, Z, Clifford, W, Markham, C, Ward, T, Deegan,C, Validation of low-cost wireless EEG system for

measuring event-related potentials, Presented at the 29th IEEE Irish Signals and Systems Conference, Queens

University Belfast, Ireland.

Dubiel, B. (2018) Minority language maintenance in bilingual speakers: from primary school to higher education.

Universal Design & Higher Education in Transformation Congress, Dublin.

García-Magariño, I., Gray, G., Lacuesta, R. & Lloret, J. (2018). Survivability strategies for emerging wireless

networks with data mining techniques: a case study with NetLogo and RapidMiner, IEEE.

Doran, C., Gray, G., & Keane, A. (2018) We Only have First-Class Honours Graduates. Universal Design & Higher

Education in Transformations Congress, Dublin.

Browne, R. J., Raeside, L. & Gray, G. (2018). Gamification in Education: Productivity and Motivation Through

Gamified Time Management Software. 12th European Conference on Games Based Learning, Cannes.

Quinn, R. & Gray, G. (2018) Using Moodle for Learning Analytics. EdTech 2018, Carlow.

Browne, R. J., Raeside, L. & Gray, G. (2018). Android Time Management and Gamification Software: Supporting

Motivation and Productivity of Information Technology Undergraduate Students Through Gamified Pomodoro

Applications. EdTech 2018, Carlow.

Quinn, R., and Gray, G. (2018). Using Moodle for Learning Analytics. EdTech 2018, Carlow.

Farrell, L., & Gray, G. (2018, March). Report on a National Learning Analytics Initiative in Ireland. In Proceedings of

the Eight International Learning Analytics & Knowledge Conference. ACM.

Yourell P. and Hofmann, M. (2017) Do gender and the presence of children have an influence on telecommuting

practices?, 44th Annual Conference “Sociological Futures”, Sociological Association of Ireland, Belfast, UK.

Patel S., Nolan B., Hofmann M., Owende P. and K. Patel (2017) Sentiment Analysis: Comparative Analysis of

Multilingual Sentiment and Opinion Classification Techniques, 19th International Conference on Machine Learning and

Applications, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Singh, L. and Hofmann, M. (2017) Dynamic Behavior Analysis of Android Applications for Malware Detection,

International Conference on Intelligent Communication and Computational Techniques, Jaipur, India.

O’Brien M. and Hofmann, M. (2017) The Potential of Learning Outcomes analytics, EdTech Conference, Irish

Learning Technology Association (ILTA), Sligo, Ireland.


46

Goslin, K., Hofmann, M. (2017) A Comparison of Automatic Search Query Enhancement Algorithms That Utilise

Wikipedia as a Source of A Priori Knowledge, 9th Forum for Information Retrieval Evaluation. ACM, Bangalore, India.

Devereaux A. and Hofmann, M. (2018) Factors that Influence Student Retention, 4th International Conference on

Higher Education Advances (HEAd’18), Valencia, Spain.

Colton, D. and Hofmann, M. (2018) Detection of Cyber Bullying Using Text Mining, 7th International Conference on

Meaning and Knowledge Representation, Dublin, Ireland.

Colton, D. and Hofmann, M. (2018) Sampling Techniques to Overcome Class Imbalance in a Cyber Bullying Context,

7th International Conference on Meaning and Knowledge Representation, Dublin, Ireland.

Goslin, K. and Hofmann, M. (2018) A Qualitative Analysis of the Wikipedia N-Substate Algorithm’s Enhancement

Terms, 7th International Conference on Meaning and Knowledge Representation, Dublin, Ireland.

Smith, R. and Hofmann, M. (2018) A Sociolinguistic Corpus Based Investigation of Irish Sign Language Grammatical

Classes, 7th International Conference on Meaning and Knowledge Representation, Dublin, Ireland.

Lee, B. and Hofmann, M. (2018) Sentiment analysis and comparison of public bike sharing schemes in different

geographical regions, Civil Engineering Research in Ireland CERI 2018, Dublin, Ireland.

Kerfoot, D. and Hofmann, M. (2018) Analysis of Aviation Accident Data, Civil Engineering Research in Ireland CERI

2018, Dublin, Ireland.

Gallagher, S. and Hofmann, M. (2018) Relationships Between Weather, Security Queue Times and Customer

Satisfaction at Dublin Airport, Civil Engineering Research in Ireland CERI 2018, Dublin, Ireland.

Kinane, D. and Hofmann, M. (2018) Insights into Unusual Traffic Events In Dublin City: Data Mining Delivering

Business Intelligence, Civil Engineering Research in Ireland CERI 2018, Dublin, Ireland.

Kinane, D. and Hofmann, M. (2018) Determination of the Critical Economic Corridor Zones Servicing Dublin City,

Civil Engineering Research in Ireland CERI 2018, Dublin, Ireland.

McConnell, O., MacMahon, C.H., Harvey, J. (2018) Design of a Professional Development Framework in Teaching

and Learning for Teachers in Higher Education, ICTLHE.

MacMahon, C.H., McConnell, O., Bowe, B., Cranley, F. (2018) Teaching and Learning Competencies Valued by

Engineering Educators, SEFI.

Craddock G., McNutt L. (2017). “Universal Design as a Transformative Agent in Education for All Learners”. AAATE

Conf. 2017: 977-984


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Craddock G ,Doran C ,McNutt L. , Rice D (Eds) (2018). Preface. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics

Volume 256 : Transforming our World Through Design, Diversity and Education; pp.i – xvi. Proceedings of Universal

Design and Higher Education in Transformation Congress.

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C. Adachi, D. Blake, I. Doherty, S. Krishnan, S. Macfarlane, L. Ngo, M. O’Donnell, S. Palmer, L. Riddell, I. Story, H.

Suri & J. Tai (Eds.), Open Oceans: Learning without borders. Proceedings ASCILITE 2018 Geelong (pp. 456-459

Szczurowski, K. and Smith, M. (2018) Emulating Perceptual Experience of Color Vision Deficiency with Virtual

Reality. Studies in health technology and informatics (256), proceedings of Universal Design and Higher Education in

Transformation Congress (UDHEIT), Dublin Castle, Ireland, p.378-379.

Szczurowski, K. and Smith, M. (2018). “Woodlands”-a Virtual Reality Serious Game Supporting Learning of Practical

Road Safety Skills. In proceedings of IEEE Games, Entertainment, Media Conference (GEM), NUIG Galway, IEEE, pp1-9.

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Lyons, N., McCabe, H. & Smith, M. (2018) “Sensory Seduction and Narrative Pull”. In proceedings of IEEE Games,

Entertainment, Media Conference (GEM), NUIG Galway, IEEE, pp1-6.

Lyons, N. & Smith, M. (2018) “Seeing: The potential for Augmented Reality in the teaching and appreciation of

art”. In Proceedings of DCAC-2018 the International Conference on Digital Culture & AudioVisual Challenges, Ionian

University, Corfu, June 2018.

Ciritoglu, H.E., Batista de Almeida, L., Cunha de Almeida, E., Buda, T.S., Murphy, J. and Thorpe, C., 2018, April.

Investigation of replication factor for performance enhancement in the hadoop distributed file system. In Companion

of the 2018 ACM/SPEC International Conference on Performance Engineering (pp. 135-140). ACM.

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IEEE.


48

Appendices

Governing Body Meeting Record 2017/2018

The Governing Body of the Institute held twelve meetings between September 2017 and December 2018 and the

attendance of members is set out below:


85

Governing Body Meetings in 2017/18

12 Meetings

Number of Meetings Attended

Paddy Bowler (Vice Chairperson) 11

Rose Callan 9

Maura Cassidy 6

Tom Collins (Chairperson) 10

Naomi Dixon 8

Conor Dempsey (Student Rep) 3 Resigned January 2018

Eoghan Hanrahan 10

Peter Hodson 8

Vincent Jackson 8

Pamela Kelly 5

Hayley Keogh (Student Rep) 7 Terminated June 2018

Mary McCamley 6

Paul McEvoy 9

Sharon McGrath 9

Ellen McLoughlin (Student Rep) 2 Commenced October 2018

Tom Mulvey 9

Mark O’Brien 0

Mike O’Byrne 7

Diarmuid O’Callaghan (President) 10

Sarah Reilly 4

Krzysztof Sulkowski (Student Rep) 3 Commenced July 2018

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