The Institute of Technology Tralee (IT Tralee) was established in 1977 as the Regional Technical College, Tralee, celebrating its 40th anniversary last year. In 1992, it became the Institute of Technology, Tralee. The institute currently has 3,500 full and part-time students, employing 350 staff. The college is estimated to provide a financial spin-off of over €60m to the local Kerry region annually.
The Institute has three principal schools – Business, Computing and Humanities, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, and School of Health and Social Sciences. It conducts an extensive range of courses up to Masters and PhD level. The Institute also conducts a wide range of craft, apprentice, and part-time programmes.
IT Tralee offers programmes in a number of areas including agriculture, biological and pharmaceutical, business and management, construction, creative media, engineering, environmental, food, culinary arts and cookery, health, leisure and fitness, hospitality and hotel management, information science/systems, music, TV and radio, nursing, outdoor activity, renewables/energy, social sciences, computing and technology, tourism and wildlife.
University status
The Institute of Technology Tralee and Cork Institute of Technology are working together towards the goal of establishing the Munster Technological University (MTU). The creation of a new university promises more opportunities as well as a significant enhancement in the range and level of activities which can be pursued by students in the southwest of Ireland.
Tim Daly, head of strategy with IT Tralee, said: “The mission of the MTU is to promote the use of knowledge to realise positive effects for society. This mission will be achieved through excellence in education, research and engagement. If all goes to plan, it is likely the first students to enrol in the new university are set to start from September 2019.”
It is hoped the new MTU will have upwards of 17,000 students, more than 1,600 staff and two main locations and six sites across Cork and Kerry.
Agri Tech Centre of Excellence
Another exciting initiative that is starting to gain momentum is the establishment of the Global Agri Tech Centre of Excellence. IT Tralee is in partnership with Dairymaster, Abbey Machinery, McHale Machinery, Enterprise Ireland and Kerry County Council and is essentially setting up a project that will establish IT Tralee as a national leader in agri-tech training, research and development.
Dr Joseph Walsh is the head of school of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and head of IMaR at IT, Tralee. He said: “We want to position Tralee as a leader in this space and put Agritech development from our partner companies and many more on the international map.”
Agricultural Engineering has been a hallmark course for Tralee IT since it first started engineering back in the 1970s. The first graduates of mechanical engineering graduated in 1975 and most of these came from a farming background. Locally, many part-time farmers also have a engineering business that runs alongside the farm business generating additional family farm income.
Campus integration
Another big change on the cards for IT Tralee is the establishment of an integrated campus. Currently, IT Tralee operates on two campus locations in Tralee, Co Kerry: the South Campus located in Clash and the North Campus located in Dromtacker, which opened in 2001. Joe explained: “We have received funding and hope our new STEM building will be ready for 2021 on the North Campus.”
Cow technology
IT Tralee is also involved in another project that has implications for dairy farmers and the wider farming community. In association with Dairymaster, Science Foundation Ireland and the Irish Software Research Centre LERO, it recently launched a new project that aims to allow better management of herds with less labour available and more information on individual cows. It builds on Dairymaster’s existing technology in milking equipment and promises to be a major advance for dairy farmers nationally.
Over the last number of years, Dairymaster has launched Moomonitor Plus, among other products which can help the farmer identify sick cows. This new project will effectively further analyse the data that is being collected to help the farmer make better decisions. In IT Tralee, four PhD students and four post-docs will be involved in working with Dairymaster and IT Tralee to establish new technology and tools to help farmers make better use of data collected.
IT Tralee is clearly aiming to establish itself as the gold standard partner for students in the southwest of Ireland. The development of the University proposal and key research projects with leading industry players is quickly establishing IT Tralee as a premium brand for employers looking for young enthusiastic and well-trained graduates.
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