Major new STEM building unveiled at TUS in Athlone

By Rebekah O'Reilly

The state-of-the-art STEM building on the Technological University of the Shannon Athlone campus was officially opened by Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless last Wednesday (May 15).

The 6,075 square-metre building provides an impressive and modern learning environment comprising of 20 science laboratories, as well as a number of studios, IT facilities, office spaces, and meeting rooms.

The new building, named the Mary Ward Centre for Science, was delivered by a Public Private Partnership (PPP), and is part of a €250 million package which includes five other buildings.

It is expected to allow TUS Athlone to increase enrolment numbers by making space for up to 1,300 new students on the Midlands campus.

Dr Don Faller, Dean of Faculty, Faculty of Science and Health, Department of Pharmaceutical Science and Biotechnology said the opening of the new STEM building marks a milestone in TUS Athlone’s mission to provide transformative opportunities in the Midlands.

“As enunciated in the TUS Strategic Plan mission statement, this university will be a catalyst for sustainable change through education and research that transforms the lives, our region, and the world beyond.

“The opening of the Mary Ward Centre for Science represents an inflection point in the provision of this transformative education and research opportunities in the Midlands.”

Facilities in the new STEM building will cater for the Faculty of Science and Health which includes a range of courses from Biological Sciences, Pharmacology, and Chemical and Pharmaceutical Analysis to Sports Science, Athletic Therapy, and Physical Therapy.

“Within the Faculty of Science and Health, we have responded enthusiastically to calls for expressions of interest from government to increase enrollment numbers on programmes from which there is a national shortage of graduates with key skills.

“We commenced an increase in our general mental health nursing student intake to 140 annually in 2023.

"Last month, we submitted an expression of interest for initial funding to extend TUS’s MA in social work to run on the Athlone campus from September."

Dr Faller also said the faculty recently joined the Consortium of Technological universities and now offers a higher certificate and a BSc degree in Laboratory Sciences via the apprenticeship route.

“As a result, and in line with securing Ireland's future, a 2025 programme for government to TUS Midlands will be welcoming our first intake of apprentices this September and this group of students will have their laboratory practical classes here within the Mary Ward Centre. We are very excited and honoured to welcome this group of students, along with all of our incoming and continuing students who will benefit from learning, developing, collaborating and making lifelong friendships in this state-of-the-art facility.”

Speaking to the Westmeath Independent, Minister Lawless said the newest addition to the Athlone campus will play a key role in feeding local industry.

“The TUS Athlone campus is very close to industry and has been working collaboratively with lots of industry partners in the region. The new STEM building is effectively supposed to be supporting science in the area.

“We need so many STEM graduates and part of our economic offering has always been our talented workforce and that would be very much the heart of it. This new building is part of commitments from government. It's supporting the Midlands region.”

The new building is named in honour of Mary Ward, cousin of William Parsons, the third Earl of Rosse, Birr. Mary was a self-taught expert in natural history and microscopy.

Chair of TUS Athlone Josephine Feehily said the building will help people to remember Mary Ward for her truly remarkable life.

"She was a naturalist, an astronomer, a microscopist, an author and artist. During her lifetime she was referred to in Britain as the Queen of Science. She published five scientific books and illustrated many, many more.

"She was one of only three women who received the monthly Bulletin of the Royal Astronomical Society, along with Queen Victoria and Mary Somerville. And she achieved all of this and much more at a time when universities and most societies would not accept women, including Mary, as students.

"We see Mary as a forerunner of today's women in STEM, and we know how important it is to have good role models for women in the STEM discipline."

Highlighting the importance of the naming of the building as the Mary Ward Centre for Science, Minister Lawless said he hopes it will encourage young women to consider a career in STEM.

“The building is named after Mary Ward, who was a scientist born in 1827 from the area and she went on to do amazing work. It's important that she's recognised in the naming of this building.

“It’s a signal to other women to embrace STEM and to get involved. I'm a big believer in equality of opportunity and we achieved that equality through education - this is a great tribute to that.”