CELEBRATION OF RESEARCH, INNOVATION, SCHOLARSHIP & CREATIVITY

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Professor Frances RuaneDirector, The Economic and Social Research Institute

Professor Frances Ruane has been Director of the ESRI since December 2006. Her previous position was as Associate Professor in the Department of Economics in Trinity College Dublin, where she also held the posts of Director of the Policy Institute and Director of the MSc programme in Economic Policy Studies.

Earlier in her career, Professor Ruane held positions in the Industrial Development Authority, the Central Bank of Ireland and Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario. Following her undergraduate studies in Economics, Politics and Statistics at University College Dublin, Frances Ruane studied at Nuffield College and was awarded the degrees of B.Phil. and D.Phil. from the University of Oxford. She is member of the Royal Irish Academy, the Council of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland, the Council of Economic and Social Studies, and the editorial boards of the Journal of International and Economic Policy and the International Review of Economics and Finance. In April 2010 she was elected an Honory Fellow of Trinity College Dublin.

In March 2007 Professor Ruane was appointed a member of the Higher Education Authority and in May 2007 she was appointed a member of the Health Research Board. In July 2009 she was appointed to the Commission of the National Pensions Reserve Fund and in July 2010 she became a member of the Economic Advisory Group in Northern Ireland.

Between October 2007 and September 2010 she served as a member of the Council of Economic Advisor to the First Minister of Scotland, and from April 2009 to June 2010 she chaired the Expert Group on Resource Allocation and Financing in the Health Sector, which reported in July 2010.

Frances Ruane was Chair of the National Statistics Board from 1996 to 2003 and represented Ireland on the European Advisory Committee on Statistical Information in the Economic and Social Spheres (CEIES) from 1998 to 2008. She has also served as a member on a number of Irish State Boards, including the National Board for Science and Technology, the Industrial Development Authority, Forfás and Bord Gáis Eireann. In addition, she has participated on numerous Governmental advisory committees/groups, including Funding of Third Level Education, Tax & Social Welfare Reform and Future Skills Needs.

Frances Ruane is currently a Research Associate of the Institute of International Integration Studies and an Honorary Professor at the Depatrment of Economics at Trinity College. She has published extensively, especially in the fields of international economic and industrial development. Her current research interests centre on exploring enterprise heterogeneity.

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CELEBRATION OF RESEARCH, INNOVATION, SCHOLARSHIP & CREATIVITY

Organising CommitteeDr. Willie Donnelly Research & Innovation Ms. Kathryn Kiely Research & Innovation Ms. Susie Cullinane Research & Innovation Ms. Eimear Fitzpatrick Research & Innovation Ms. Martha McIlvenny Research & Innovation Ms. Siobhan Harkin Research & Innovation Ms. Mary Mosse School of Business Ms. Niamh Owens School of Business Dr. Jane Russell-O’Connor School of EducationDr. Joe O’ Mahony School of Engineering Mr. Eoghan O’Donoghue School of Engineering Dr. Niamh Murphy School of Health SciencesDr. Louise Murphy School of Health SciencesDr. Colette Moloney School of Humanities Mr. John Sheppard School of Science Dr. Sarah Hudson School of Science Dr. Helen Hughes School of Science Dr. Chamil Kulatunga School of Science

RESEARCH|DAY

Opening Address: Prof. Kieran Byrne, President, WIT

KEYNOTE ADDRESSResearch Funding Policy: What might Ireland do next?

Prof. Frances Ruane, Director, The Economic and Social Research Institute

Research Funding Policy: Models used for funding research and innovation in Ireland in the period 1995 to 2008Dr. Mícheál Ó Foghlú, Executive Director Research, Telecommunications Software & Systems Group

Towards a Common Strategic Framework for EU Research and Innovation FundingDr. Willie Donnelly, Head of Research & Innovation

Open Discussion

Environmental Nanotechnology - Energy harvesting and sensor technologiesDr. Joe O’Mahony, Department of Engineering Technology

‘The Paper Witness’: The Analysis of Irish Music Manuscripts as Information Sources Dr. Colette Moloney, Department of Applied Arts

EXCITEing Irish Communities: A 4 lens model to support the use of Information and Communications Technology for Irish Voluntary Organisation

Mr. TJ McDonald, Department of Computing, Mathematics & Physics

Exercise Self Confidence in Trainee Gardaí Following an E-Counselling InterventionMs. Ciara Losty, Department of Health Sport & Exercise Science

The Role of Information Systems in Supply Chain ManagementMr. Liam Doyle, Department of Computing, Mathematics & Physics

The Role of Affective Equality in Community EducationMs. Maeve O’ Grady, Department of Adult & Continuing Education

Nano-Positioning Research in WITDr. Liam O’ Shea, Department of Engineering Technology

The Educational Merits of incorporating a service-learning component in the Nursing CurriculumMs. Kate Madden, Department of Nursing

Poster Presentation Awards

Clifford Odets and the Theatre of the Great DepressionDr. Richard Hayes, Department of Languages, Tourism & Hospitality

Plastic Antibodies for isolation and purification of pharmaceutical compoundsDr. Panagiotis Manesiotis, Department of Chemical & Life Sciences

Graduate Entrepreneurship Programmes: Entrepreneurs’ Perspectives Ms. Mary Fenton, Department of Adult & Continuing Education

Competitive Activities in New Technology IndustriesDr. Jim Lawlor, Department of Engineering Technology

Optical Fibre Manipulations Enabling State-of-the-Art TechnologiesDr. Dominic Murphy, Department of Computing, Mathematics & Physics

Making Sense of Learning from Experience: Facilitating reflective practice in an undergraduate work placement programmeMs. Corinne Power O’Mahony, Department of Management & Organisation

Finite Element Analysis: A powerful tool for Industrial Research and DevelopmentMr. Eoghan O’ Donoghue, Department of Engineering Technology

Application Management Systems in the CloudDr. Jaime Martin Serrano-Orozco, Telecommunications Software & Systems Group

I am delighted to welcome you to WIT’s Research Day 2011, our annual showcase event where we highlight the diversity, quality and impact of research ongoing within the Institute. As specialists in our own research domains we are accustomed to engaging with our peers to discuss our work and, as experts with deep domain knowledge, this is an academic’s comfort zone. However the objective of the WIT Research Day is to share our research work with academics and experts from other discipline areas. The challenge is to balance between providing a high level description of our work and, at the same time, communicating the novelty and impact of our research. With the downturn of the Irish economy there is increased emphasis on identifying the impact that research can have on our community in particular through enterprise development and employment creation. In the past, Ireland has taken a narrow focus when identifying research areas for national investment. However, with the emergence of the knowledge economy it is becoming more evident that future job creation opportunities require a multi-disciplinary approach. For instance the development of e-health solutions requires experts from health science, computer science, social science and applied arts. Events such as today provide the opportunity for building awareness and collaborations within our community which will enable the development of multi-disciplinary research teams to deliver novel solutions such as those required for e-health. The Institute is strongly committed to collaborating with our external stakeholders in industry and government bodies to exploit the outcomes of our research activities for the benefit of society and the economy.

Throughout the day you will hear presentations from 18 WIT researchers working in the areas of business, education, engineering, humanities, science and health science research. Furthermore, we invite you to view the many posters and research demonstrations on display highlighting the high quality postgraduate research ongoing at WIT. This is an opportunity to provide our stakeholders with a greater appreciation of the broad range of research knowledge and capacity at WIT which hopefully will lead to increased collaboration.

WIT RESEARCH DAY 2011WIT RESEARCH DAY 201108:45 - 09:15 13:05 - 14:00

09:15 - 10:45 14:00 - 14:15

14:15 - 14:30

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14:45 - 15:00

15:00 - 15:15

15:15 - 15:30

15:30 - 15:45

15:45 - 16:00

16:00 - 16:15

11:05 - 11:20

11:20 - 11:35

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10:45 - 11:05

16:45 - 17:00

09:15 - 10:45 | Session 1 14:00 - 16:45 | Session 3

11:05 - 13:05 | Session 2

16:15 - 16:45 | Closing Ceremony

AGENDAAGENDARegistration & Refreshments Lunch & Networking

Tea/Coffee Break

Tea/Coffee & Networking

CELEBRATION OF RESEARCH, INNOVATION, SCHOLARSHIP & CREATIVITY

Welcome from Dr. Willie DonnellyHead of Research & Innovation, Waterford Institute of Technology

Finally, research is carried out in the context of research and innovation policy at both national and EU level. Appreciation of the drivers and developments in the area of research policy can enable research groups and partners to position themselves to maximize their research funding, expand international networks and enhance the impact of their research. I am delighted to welcome Professor Frances Ruane, Director of the Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI) and Dr. Mícheál Ó Foghlú, Executive Director Research at the Telecommunications Software & Systems Group who will lead a timely and undoubtedly very interesting debate examining Ireland’s research and innovation funding models and policies of the past two decades. In the context of the current economic challenges and looking to the future the discussion will consider what the appropriate level of investment in research for Ireland should be and how we might shape our research support environment and priorities for Ireland going forward.

I hope you will find the day insightful, thought provoking and enjoyable, with an opportunity for you to meet with WIT colleagues, students and partner organisations.

Dr. Willie DonnellyHead of Research & InnovationWaterford Institute of Technology