Celebrating 30th Anniversary of University Industry Centre

May 13th 2015 will go down in UCD EGA history for many reasons. It was the date we celebrated the 30th Anniversary of the official opening of the EGA funded University Industry Centre in UCD It was also the date of the first EGA Corporate Member Reception hosted by the UCD President in the lovely setting of Ardmore House.

It was also the first time later that evening that a UCD President gave the EGA Annual Lecture. His chosen topic was very apt - 'The Challenge of Engineering Education in the 21st Century' and it was extremely well attended.

 

It was a very busy afternoon and evening for President Andrew Deeks. We in UCD EGA are most grateful to him for giving us his time and wisdom over the extended period of these three events on the same evening.
 

Prof. Andrew Deeks, UCD President

 

I will post Blogs with photographs on each event later today. In addition we will be placing a video of the Annual Lecture by President Deeks on the EGA website over the coming days.

 

The history of the University Industry Centre (UIC) was told in an earlier blog and does not need repeating. Suffice it to say that the new authorities in UCD led by President Deeks have responded most positively and sympathetically to quickly rectify the wrongs of 10 years ago and the matter is now resolved to everybody's satisfaction. The future of the UIC building is in the safe hands of the UCD President and his management team as part of the UCD Strategy 2015 - 2020. The EGA are happy that wise decisions will be made in the best interests of UCD and with due regard to the original funding of the building.
 

In UCD the College of Engineering is the largest in Ireland and now looks forward positively to a growing international reputation which will be a key driver in delivering President Deeks' vision of UCD as Ireland's global university.

 

I am also very grateful to Vice President Professor Orla Feely, NovaUCD Director Brendan Cremen and NovaUCD Marketing Manager Miceal Whelan for facilitating and assisting the erection of the new UIC plaque in NovaUCD. Orla also acted as Facilitator/MC for the event introducing the President and other speakers. Another plaque with similar wording will be erected in the UIC in the next week or two.

 

The plaque commemorates the founding of the University Industry Centre in 1985 funded entirely by engineering firms and graduates including UCD academic staff.

 



Prof. Orla Feely, UCD Vice President Research, Innovation and Impact who
introduced the President and other speakers.

At the event President Deeks said 'The opening of University Industry Centre 30 years ago this month with the significant support of the Engineering Graduates Association was a transformational initiative for university-industry co-operation at UCD. Since then our cooperation with industry has gone from strength-to-strength. In the last 10 years over 250 companies have funded research at UCD and over 1,000 companies have collaborated on research programmes. In addition over 50 companies, ranging from early-stage high-tech startups to established innovation-led companies are currently located at NovaUCD or NexusUCD and collectively have a staff of over 370 based on the University campus'.

 

 

Professor John Kelly said 'we set up the UIC in the 1980s as we thought there should be greater  co-operation between the university and industry. The success of the UIC under its Director Pat Frain grew and grew in the 80s and 90s and eventually moved here to Merville as NovaUCD where there has been phenomenal success in terms of Research Innovation and Impact. I wish NovaUCD under Vice President Orla Feely and Director Brendan Cremen every success going forward.'

 

 

I then thanked President Deeks for helping us to celebrate these past events and to Vice President Feely and NovaUCD  Director Brendan Cremen for hosting this event and for helping in every possible way together with Dean of Engineering David FitzPatrick who has been very supportive. It is very much appreciated by the EGA and by all engineering graduates.

 

Standing at the new EGA plaque in the NovaUCD is PJ Rudden, UCD EGA President,
Prof John Kelly & Prof Andrew Deeks.

 

It was a tremendous coming together of two UCD generations separated by some 20 or 30 years. We had the first President of the EGA Dr Tom Hardiman (1983 - 1985) and the first Hon Secretary Clodagh O'Donnell attending. Clodagh was then a young graduate while Tom had already been Director General of RTE and was by then President of the Confederation of Irish Industry (CII).
 

Group photo at NovaUCD (from L to R back row):
Prof. David Fitzpatrick, Prof. John Kelly, Prof. Orla Feely, Prof. Andrew Deeks, PJ Rudden, Dr. Liam Connellan, Dr. Vincent Hargaden,
(from L to R front row): Sean Murphy, Clodagh O'Donnell, Dr Pat Frain, Dr John Bourke, Dr Tom Hardiman, Eoin O'Cathain

 

Also heavily involved in were two other national industry leaders from that period Dr Liam Connellan as Director General CII and Dr John Bourke, Director Allied Irish Investment Bank, members of the original UIC Educational Trust. I was delighted to see former NovaUCD Director Dr Pat Frain joining us for the occasion. Three of the current EGA Board Dr Vincent Hargaden (currently EGA Hon Secretary), Sean Murphy and Eoin O'Cathain were also present.
 

The early summer sun shone brightly on NovaUCD last Wednesday afternoon and I'm sure there are even brighter days ahead for this leading international centre of Research and Innovation excellence.

 

At the same time let us not forget the courage and leadership 30 years ago of John Kelly, Tom Hardiman, Liam Connellan and John Bourke who in the early 80s in the midst of national recession led the funding, building and setting up of the UIC which in time contributed to the establishment of NovaUCD.