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DkIT would like to congratulate all their students and staff, who despite the impact and disruption of the pandemic relentlessly pursued success for themselves, each other, our region, and wider community.

We were delighted to re-open our doors and welcome students and staff back on campus from Monday 27th of September for the first semester of 2021/2022. This year’s student induction days included not only 1st year students but 2nd year students whose college experience to date has been exclusively online.  These 2nd year students may have completed first year but had little knowledge of the campus, or their fellow classmates. Whilst we are living in unprecedented and extremely challenging times particularly for our students, the community in DkIT has been busy achieving and we wish to acknowledge our students and staff triumphs. From on-campus live graduations and Open Days to winning national academic awards and innovation funding, setting new positive gender balance trends to our wholehearted support of local charities. Below are just some examples of what the extraordinary and resilient people of DkIT achieved in the first semester of 2021.

• Over 1,300 students were conferred at Dundalk Institute of Technology from 27th -29th October 2021 in a return to on-campus Graduation ceremonies.
• One of our Midwifery students Caitlyn Murphy was part of the winning team on the esteemed annual National Midwifery Debate.
• Our female students set new gender balance trends in traditionally male dominated courses. 60:40 female to male on our BSc (Hons) in Sustainable Agriculture/Agri-Food Production programme.
• A fantastic four culinary students Peter Garland, Tomas Vesley, Aditya Dhole and Arely Sanchez Alonzo struck Gold at Chef Ireland Competition at CATEX.
• Staff warmly welcomed over 800 potential students and their parents to a live in person Open Day where we showcased our facilities and courses.
• Our colleagues in the Section of Midwifery have been awarded a DELTA Award for Disciplinary Excellence in Learning, Teaching and Assessment which is one of only three awards nationally.
• The students of 3rd year Event Management and staff of DkIT took part in a fund-raising event for the Irish Cancer Society’s Care for your Pair, Breast Cancer awareness event and raised €1,853.
• Our Ladies GAA team went from success to success and proudly won the Division 4 title.
• Two of our research staff members Dr. Bernadette Brereton and Dr. Kate Johnson were awarded the National Ally Prize for their support to research students in the Institute. These awards are nominated by students.
• We were awarded the international Athena SWAN Bronze Award by AdvanceHE in recognition of its commitment to advancing gender equality in academia, and in promoting diversity and inclusion for staff and students in higher education
• The Annual Film Showcase of work from 3rd & 4th year students on the BA (Hons) in Film & Television Production in the Department of Creative Arts, Media & Music took place in the IMC Dundalk.
• Our Digital Marketing & PR Students made memories for local Alzheimer’s day care facilitates, The Birches.
• The 1st year BA Event Management students hosted a fund raiser for our DKIT Colleague Sonia Hoey (Save Our Sonia) return to Mexico appeal raising €2,157.
• Electrical Apprentice Damien Flynn was victorious in becoming the regional candidate in electrical installation for Worldskills Ireland national competition which will be held in 2022.
• Our colleague Dr. Colleta Dalikeni took part in research in conjunction with College Connect exploring access and barriers to higher education with refugees and people seeking asylum.
• A new Connected Health & Wellbeing Cluster was launched. This exciting initiative supports Ireland’s ambition to become a global leader in the sector that merges the latest technology with established healthcare.
• We also launched the dConnect project to stimulate, foster and enhance innovation in Digital Health for creation of enterprises, products and services that address the healthcare needs of society. This project funding also includes an extension to the Regional Development Centre to house the digital innovation hub that will support the incubation and nurturing of start-ups, scale ups and researchers.
• Funding was secured with Enterprise Ireland to develop the Credit Technology Gateway at DkIT. The first technology gateway focusing on energy related supports for industry the CREDIT Tech Gateway has also secured follow on funding for research in heat recover. (3 separate capital grants, 1 for a LIDAR, 1 for a HASS/HALT Chamber and the 3rd one for the Heat Recovery mobile test bed).
• The innovative Blockchain course with Dundalk Chamber, Skillnet and Industry links including the Fintech Corridor was launched.
• We also introduced a Digital Design and Fabrication course in conjunction with Creative Spark FABLAB and Dundalk Chamber Skillnet in 2021 and have secured the partnership for 2022.
• We unveiled a new programme THRIVE from Regional Development Centre at DkIT in partnership with Enterprise Ireland, AIB and Local Enterprise Offices Louth, Cavan and Monaghan, has been introduced to support women launch STEM careers and businesses.
• As an Institute we were delighted to announce the extension of its Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Creative Spark, Dundalk’s Centre for Creativity, and Innovation
• Our Regional Development Centre secured funding for another 5 years management and delivery of the New Frontiers Entrepreneur Development Programme to support early-stage knowledge-based enterprises grow and scale in the region.
• Staff partnered with 19 other Higher Education Institutes to develop a nationally Recognised Prior Learning Framework.
• Together with Louth LGFA we officially launched a new scholarship programme for 2021. The programme is supporting several Louth LGFA minor and senior players who wish to pursue a third level qualification in DkIT. The scholarships are co funded by DkIT and Dundalk Credit Union.
• As an Institute we advocated on behalf of ‘Speak Out’, the Anonymous Violence and Harassment Reporting Tool for higher education institutions.
• Staff took part in a National Academics Integrity week in 2021.
• We partnered with StudyClix to increase access and provide much needed online tuition support to local schools.
• One or our esteemed staff researchers Dr. Bernadette Brereton was elected chair of the prestigious International Research Council.
• The NetwellCASALA team, at Dundalk Institute of Technology, are currently developing and testing new technologies aimed at supporting people with heart conditions to self-manage their own health and wellbeing.
• Department of Creative Arts, Media and Music launch their Semester 1 Visiting Guest Series. The Series included practical workshops and lectures from a range of industry professionals across the Creative Industries.
• DkIT Dundalk 10k Raised €9,000 for Local Charities. The DkIT Dundalk 10k 2021 once again took the form of a virtual run and proved to be very successful with over 1150 people registering.
• We proudly rebranded our student services. The student services in DkIT include support for; disability services and Support, Sports & Societies 65+ student led, Careers and employability, Student Health, Student Finance supports, Counselling, Diversity and Access, Pastoral Care, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion.

The above is only a representation of some of the DkIT’s success stories in the first semester of 2021/22. We are extremely proud of our student and staff’s achievements in such challenging times, and we wish to congratulate them all and wish them a Happy New Year.