DEIS elearning Department

On Monday the 22nd of November were given a talk by Shane Croinn a Senior Multimedia developer for DEIS elearning department.The talk was very informative as it consisted of an insight into DEIS's current and past projects and a general framework when dealing with clients. We were given a quick background story of the company which has 4 employees at the moment. As being a student in CIT I always associated DEIS with the blackboard system online for the college and I didn't associate them with anything else. Ciaran was quick to outline their commercial projects they were previously involved in such as citibank and postbank (finical elearning with video and green screens), O2 (Assesment Modules), vodafone (Explaining offers to employees) and AIB (Marketing Animations). They are currently working on Flagship EU (Language practice with a networking platform using ELGG) and HDSLR Video (Shooting & Post production for a CIT Promo). He explained the framework for dealing with customers.

1. Brief with customer
2. Quotation
3. Contract
4. Project work begins
5. Client review
6. Sign off

This was a good insight into a CIT based company who deal with commercial projects outside the college. Shane also informed to us about Enterprise Ireland and their participation in new and upcoming small businesses. He also explained about their innovation vouchers just in case we wish to start up our own business. In conclusion I found the talk very informative and interesting and id like to take the opportunity to thank Shane Croinn for coming in and giving the talk.

Boundary Work I - Technology in practice between art and science

This Art Exhibition was displayed in Wandesford Quay Gallery between Friday 12th November to the 27th of November and was coordinated by Paul Green. The exhibition was separated into three areas. 

1. Scientists who produce images as a by-product of their research activity.
2. Artists who use tools or methods associated with the practice of science .
3. Designers who examine how technologies are redefined through their use in everyday situations.

The exhibition is the first in a series of exhibitions to display artwork that is a mediator between art and science. Boundary Work I is to fill the gap between art and science with the use of technology as a common medium. What I liked about the exhibition was the fact you have images of artists which were done specifically as an artwork and probably done so carefully and precisely next to images from scientists that were only a by-product of their research and would usually be disposed after their basic use but instead their treated as pieces of art. There is a few picture of some of the work below for more information visit their website here. 

Ambient Knowledge & Alan Meaney

On Monday the 15th of November Alan Meaney gave a talk about his Masters project Ambient Knowledge how he came up with the concept and how he proceeded to create the project. His project is a "lamp that glows different colours to display the current energy consumption in a persons home". He used a cct clip over an electricity wire going into the fuse box which was connected to an arduino board which uploaded the data to his website which in turn adjusted the colour of the perspex lamp. Alan researched the area he had interest in and came up with a solution. His project was exhibited at Ars Electronica in Germany where he represented Cork Institute of Technology. He had a very sucessful exhibition there and was invited to do other exhibitions in Paris and Slovenia.

                                                                                          This was a very informative talk as he gave personal accounts and experiences about the Masters project. He really enforced the fact of researching being critical to a successful project firstly learning the terminology and then narrowing down to what interest you. He also mentioned to find the main researchers in your area of interest and study their work to date.

Tips & Advice

Alan was very informative about his experience in the course last year and developing  the project he gave us the following tips for our projects.

• Get drafts up to lecturers as soon as possible so they can evaluate and correct them saving you time in the long run.
• Look at Endnote for referencing when creating proposal and final document as he found it essential.
• Use Google scholar for researching
• Don't be afraid to interact with blogs and forums to look for help as there are plenty of people out there willing to help.

"A Innovation Eco-System"

On Monday the 1st of November we were invited to a private open day of the Nimbus Center on the Cork Institute of Technology campus, for masters and 4th year students of the multimedia department. The Nimbus Center is Ireland’s premier Business Incubation Center. The aim of the Nimbus center is to "Establish a one-stop-shop for innovation which is embedded systems for indigenous industry in the Cork region". They give the chance for young entrepreneurs to make their innovation ideas a reality  while also giving them the opportunity to work with Industry. The center is involved in multidisciplinary  projects as it uses CIT facilities and staff. This facility only opened in 2007 and has been an instant success. The Nimbus center has a staggering 65 researchers/postgraduates and 70 different company partnerships. It has two designated groups  within in the center Research groups and Industry groups. 

Research Groups include

- Adaptive Wireless Systems

- Smart System Integration

Industry Groups include

- Technologies for embedded computing

After the presentation we got to meet Kevin O Mahony a student who is doing his PhD in the Nimbus Center. Kevin has accomplished a MA in Media Design as he was the first student to do our course. He demonstrated his Multi-touch Meettable. 

I found meeting Kevin very beneficial as he gave me good advice for the course as its different talking to some one who actually has done the course in comparison to lecturer's who are more to guide us in the right direction.

FET Enterprise Ireland Conference

This conference informed us about the Seventh Framework Program of Ireland by Stephen O'Reilly. He was quick to mention their 9 Billion Budget for the seven year program. He discussed their different approaches to new projects and how we could propose an idea to them and in which category. It seemed more of a informative recruiting process than explaining new technologies as what I expected, so was let down in that sense but found all the figures quiet extravagant and exciting to think that this is a low time for the global economy but not emerging technologies. 

They seem to be open to all sorts of ideas from technical to "Wacky" in the department of emerging technologies and also impressively encourage graduates to apply to their young explorers scheme only accessible to people who acquired their degree within 6 years . To find out more about them go to http://www.fp7ireland.com/Default.aspx