Waterford Institute of Technology
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Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) is a state funded university-level educational institution situated in Waterford, Ireland.The institute opened in 1970 as a regional technical college and adopted its present name in 1998.
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[edit] History
The institute was founded in 1970 as Regional Technical College, Waterford with an initial intake of just 200 students. In the past there had been two third-level level institutions in the city, St John’s Seminary and De La Salle Brothers teacher training college, but both had closed. Waterford politicians made strenuous but unsuccessful efforts to locate a university in Waterford at the time of the formation of the Queen's University of Ireland in the 1840s. The cause was led by Thomas Wyse, Waterford’s then Member of Parliament, who was perhaps chosen unwisely as he was not influential in Parliament, having strong Napoleonic links (he married a niece of Napoleon I of France), being a Catholic and leaning towards an independent Ireland. Galway, a much smaller city at the time, won out over Waterford, perhaps because of the necessity for geographical dispersion or to bolster the Irish language. Wyse wrote in the round on the matter in his text "Education reform or the necessity of a national system of education" (London, 1836).
Once founded, the regional technical college grew very quickly as a result of the strong regional need for tertiary education. In 1998 the college adopted its present name by order of the Minister for Education Niamh Bhreathnach, with Dublin Institute of Technology being the only other institute with the institute of technology title at the time in Ireland. Following a change of government and enormous political pressure on behalf of other regional technical colleges, especially Cork Regional Technical College, all other regional technical colleges were renamed institutes of technology by Minister for Education Micheál Martin. Later the institute became autonomous and it now awards its own bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees, which were previously awarded by the Higher Education and Training Awards Council.
[edit] Recent developments
The institute now has a student population of approximately 10,000 full-time and part-time learners studying in the humanities, computing, science and technology, education, health care, engineering, architecture, and business. The institute has a staff of 1,000. The institute has developed on four campuses in the city of Waterford. The main campus on the Cork Road was originally established in 1970 and has had many buildings and facilities added over the years. The latest of these are a state-of-the art Library, Health Care Education Building and Information Technology Centre. In late 2005 the Minister for Education and Science Mary Hannafin announced four new buildings (an Engineering & Science Building, an Architecture Building, a Business & Enterprise Building and a Tourism & Leisure Building) as part of a €1.2 billion investment in higher education. These may well be the last buildings located on the main campus. The second largest campus is at College Street and comprises some very historical buildings purchased from the Good Shepherd Order of Nuns and a beautiful Pugin-designed chapel which is used for concerts and ceremonies. In September 2005, the institute opened a new campus at the edge of the city at Carriganore to house a Research and Innovation Centre, and this campus will over time become the college's main campus.
A significant portion of the institute's students live in halls of residence, which adds to the levels of participation in the social and cultural life of the college. Like many other Irish universities and institutes, the institute has an increasingly international student body. The institute has had strong links with many European universities for many years and has more recently grown its links with American and Asian universities.
In October 2005 the institute was selected by the The Sunday Times newspaper as the "Institute of Technology of the Year" in Ireland.
[edit] The quest for university status
There are growing calls for a university to be located in the south-east of Ireland, and the most pragmatic way of achieving that is widely regarded as upgrading and investing in the institute. Whilst the region has very strong natural assets such as a good port with easy access to European markets, improving infrastructure, high quality agricultural land and a proximity to both Cork and Dublin, during the 1990s the region has underperformed economically. This underperformance has been attributed, in part, to the lower level of participation in third level education in the south-east region (19.7% of the region's population have a degree compared with the national average of 26%).
In recognition of the needs of the institute's stakeholders (such as the Waterford Chamber of Commerce, the management of many local subsidiaries of multinationals and IDA Ireland), the institute formally applied in 2006 for university status in accordance with the Universities Act, 1997 [1], and the process of examining the case for redesignation has commenced. Dr Jim Port has been appointed to carry out a "preliminary assessment" of the institute's case[2].
[edit] Organisation
[edit] Schools and Departments of the institute
- School of Business
- Dept. of Accountancy & Finance
- Dept. of Management & Organisation
- Graduate Business Studies
- School of Education
- Adult and Continuing Education
- Literacy Development Centre
- School of Engineering
- Dept. of Architecture
- Dept. of Construction & Civil Engineering
- Dept. of Engineering Technology
- Dept. of Trade Studies
- School of Health Sciences
- Dept. of Health, Sport & Exercise Studies
- Dept. of Nursing
- School of Humanities
- Dept. of Languages, Tourism & Hospitality
- Dept. of Creative Arts
- Dept. of Applied Arts
- School of Science
- Dept. of Chemical & Life Sciences
- Dept. of Computing, Mathematics & Physics
[edit] Research within the institute
The institute is a research centre within Ireland; amongst the research institutes of the institute are:
- Advanced Automotive Electronics & Control Group
- Advanced Manufacturing Technology Research Group
- Art/Design History & Practice Research Centre
- Centre for Automotive Research
- Centre for Film Studies and Comparative Studies in Literature
- Centre for Health Behaviour Research
- Centre for Management Research in Health Care
- Centre for Newfoundland and Labrador Studies
- Centre for Social and Family Research
- Creative Multimedia Centre
- eLearning Technology Group
- Environmental Sensing Research Group
- Estuarine Research Group
- Flexible Wireless Research Group
- Forestry Vegetation & Alternative Management Systems (FORVAMS) Research Group
- Information Systems, Organisations and Learning Research Group
- Macular Piglet Research Group
- Materials Characterisation and Processing Group
- Metal Complexation Research Group
- Microelectronics and Systems Research Group
- Molecular Ecology Research Group
- Nanotechnology Group
- Optics Research Group
- Semiconductor Research Group (SRG) & Solid State Research Laboratories (SSL)
- Separation Science Research Group
- Smart Card Operations Research Enterprise Group
- Surface Science Research Group
- Telecommunications Software and Systems Group
- Waterford Crystal Marketing Studies Group
[edit] List of notable former students
- Martin Cullen (TD & Government Minister)
- David T Croke (Professor of Biochemistry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland)
- Setanta Ó hAilpín (GAA & Australian Football League player)
- Louise Heraghty (98FM)
- Philip Lynch (businessman, CEO of IAWS Group)
- Tom Mulcahy (Former CEO AIB Group; Former Chairman Aer Lingus)
- John Paul Phelan (Senator and currently the youngest member of the house of the Oireachtas)
- John Ronan (Property developer & joint founder of Treasury Holdings)
- Henry Shefflin (GAA player)
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official WIT website
- Telecommunications Software and Systems Group (TSSG) website
- University of the South East Petition
Athlone • Blanchardstown • Carlow • Cork • Dundalk • Dún Laoghaire • Galway-Mayo • Letterkenny • Limerick • Sligo • Tallaght • Tralee • Waterford
See also: Dublin Institute of Technology
