1,800 AIT graduates to be honoured at conferring ceremonies

Athlone IT's annual conferring ceremonies are underway, with 1,800 graduates receiving their parchments at the local Institute today (Thursday) and Friday. Qualifications ranging from higher certificate through to PhD were presented to the graduates, who are attending from all over Ireland and around the world. Four doctoral awards were awarded in science and engineering. Jennifer Hayes was conferred with a PhD for her research into a comparison of pulsed UV light and pulsed plasma gas discharge systems in treating cryptosporidium in water. The late Alison Smyth, who died in December 2011, was conferred posthumously with a PhD. Dr Smyth's research was a toxicological and photopharmaceutical study of sunscreen ingredients as potential endocrine disrupters. In engineering, the doctoral awards were conferred on Dr Jude Ngadaonye for his thesis, "Synthesis and characterisation of novel thermo-responsive co-polymer hydrogels for biomedical applications" and on Dr Mohd Najmuddin Hassan for his research on improving the quality of service for real-time applications in wireless sensor networks. AIT President, Professor Ciarán Ó Catháin, said: "The diversity of life experiences and personal stories represented at the ceremonies is the proof that education can make a difference to people's lives. "This difference is not just evident in terms of the store of knowledge graduates have acquired or the know-how to do certain things, it is also about renewed self-confidence, it is about the ability to express yourself, it is about possessing the resolve to find solutions, and the motivation to make your mark upon the world." Acknowledging that while the jobs market is tight, Prof. Ó Catháin said that: "AIT is taking initiatives to better support graduates secure employment. One example is a memorandum of agreement which we have signed with the Midlands Simon Community that, amongst other things, provides for a graduate programme for social care graduates. "Equally, the collaboration between AIT and RTÉ, where the national broadcaster is locating its Midlands facilities on campus, will create myriad learning and placement opportunities for our digital media and design students," he stated. * See next Wednesday's edition of the Westmeath Independent for Athlone IT conferring photographs.