Reflecting on a great year at MTU and looking to 2024

AS we welcome in a new year, it’s fitting to look back at the events of 2023 and start looking forward to what I hope will be a happy, healthy and successful year for everyone at MTU and our neighbouring communities.

One of the highlights of our academic year is the Conferring of Academic Awards. It’s a busy and joyous time as new graduates from all six MTU campuses across Cork and Kerry take centre stage for the day, surrounded by family, loved ones, friends, and faculty members. For many of our graduates, it might be the last occasion to reunite with their classmates for some time, as they set off into the world of work or continue their education through advanced degrees. However, they’ll always be a welcome and important part of MTU’s alumni community, spread across Munster, Ireland, and the world.

This year’s Conferrings were also extra special as it was the first time that our Bishopstown campus held ceremonies in the new MTU Arena which opened its doors in February. The Arena was officially opened by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Simon Harris TD, in November. As he remarked, the Arena is a symbol of the investment not only in our students but also in the wider community in which MTU operates.

Community has always been, and will always be, hugely important for all of us at MTU. Since opening its doors, the Arena has hosted a range of events. Our students and faculty use it on a daily basis for research and education. Likewise, it’s home to many groups like the Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig basketball team and Rebel Wheelers who are staging training days in the state-of-the-art facility. We’ve also hosted a number of corporate and industry events, as well as our Careers Fair and Open Days at the Arena.

The Arena is just one of several key buildings under construction on our campuses in Cork and Kerry. We’re also building a new Learning Resource Centre on Rossa Avenue and earlier this year, we embarked on a significant project to build a new Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) Building at MTU’s Kerry North Campus in Tralee.

When completed, the new STEM building will play a vital role in achieving MTU’s vision to significantly enhance the number of STEM graduates in Munster. This is especially noteworthy as the Japanese pharmaceutical giant, Astellas Pharma, is set to invest more than €330 million in a new cutting-edge facility at the Kerry Technology Park, adjacent to MTU’s Kerry North Campus in Tralee.

A university never stops growing and evolving. Every time I am on one of our MTU campuses, whether it’s at MTU Crawford College of Art and Design, MTU Cork School of Music, the National Maritime College of Ireland in Ringaskiddy, or at MTU campuses in Tralee or Bishopstown, it seems like there is some new and exciting project in the works. This underscores the breadth of our vision and ambition. But, as we evolve and grow, we want to do so in a way that is sustainable and ensures that we are protecting our environment for current and future generations.

That’s why next year, MTU will release a ten-year university-wide Sustainability Strategy. This strategy will cover everything from how we teach and learn about sustainability at MTU to developing and adopting new solutions for our university in energy, transport, food and much more.

This year also revealed the work we have to do to build sustainable solutions around transport, mobility, and active travel. Together, we are delivering a university and community-wide response to ensure we can meet this challenge. It truly takes a village, and a university.

2023 was also marked by acute challenges, none more so than the cyber-attack on our Cork campuses at the start of the year. However, the response to the attack from staff and students was an example of the incredibly supportive and positive community that is a hallmark of MTU. Similarly, the goodwill from local businesses and organisations, all of whom offered to assist MTU in any way they could following the attack, once again revealed the warm sense of community that surrounds MTU.

Looking forward to 2024, MTU will continue to ensure that we are a university for all. We aim to build on the significant achievements of 2023, such as our partnership with Cork ETB, the Irish Association for Social Inclusion Opportunities (IASIO), and the Irish Prison Service, in which we provided education and training opportunities for prisoners to learn new skills in the hospitality industry. That partnership and pop-up restaurant were one of the highlights of the last year as it won the ACEEU Triple E European EDI Community Engagement Initiative of the Year Award. We also celebrated many successes for our education programmes at MTU that combine with our links to industry. It was no surprise to me that links like this resulted in an MTU student, Hazel Johnston, being crowned the first-ever female apprentice of the year in 2023. Nor do I believe she will be the last.

In 2024, I want to continue to develop MTU into a world-class university where students of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds can excel. We will continue to promote the best opportunities for education in a vast range of areas from engineering, IT and science to fine arts, music, healthcare and sports giving our students the tools for fulfilling careers and to make meaningful contributions to society not just across Cork and Kerry but right around the globe.