News in Brief

UL Hosts NASA Astronaut

NASA astronaut, Shane Kimbrough, visited the University of Limerick (UL) last week to talk about his recent 16-day mission.

During his latest mission Col Kimbrough recorded 12 hours and 52 minutes of space walks while on the STS-126 Endeavour.

Col Kimbrough is giving the talk as part of a three day visit where he will also be given a tour of the Controlled Environment Life Sciences Research Unit at Limerick Institute of Technology.

He encouraged the young explorers at UL saying, “In the next 30 years man will land on Mars, that’s some 25 million miles away.  Your generation will be sending someone to Mars – why shouldn’t it be you?”

Harvey Nicks UCD campus for free student catwalk show

Free Harvey Nichols fashion shows and make up sessions took over the UCD campus recently to show off the brand to its next generation of costumers.

A spokesperson for the shop said “what better way to do this than crash their campus?”

Brands such as Juicy Couture and DKNY were part of the on-the-hour fashion shows, as was 2010’s Miss Universe Ireland, Rozanne Purcell.

The show took place behind the Students’ Union as the runway ran from a large shipping container.

IT Employees Return to Education at GMIT

The first group of private sector employees have graduated from the Cisco CCNA course in Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT), Castlebar.

The graduates are employees from private companies in Mayo and Galway including Ergo IT Services and CBE.

The programme facilitates people currently working in the electronics, computers and telecommunications areas looking for a recognised qualification in their area of work.

According to Mark Frain, a lecturer from the Department of Business at GMIT, the year-long course “is an up-skilling exercise and directly relevant to the work the participants are currently doing. Some participants are sometimes between jobs, or looking, and this course certainly increases their employment prospects.”

NASA Makes Space for 3 LIT students

Three Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) graduates will leave to begin internships and further their studies in the NASA space centre.

The internships are thanks to the partnership between LIT and NASA.

One of the graduates, Martin Hayes, says he is very grateful for the opportunity, “I would like to thank the LIT Science Department for making this venture possible and for preparing me for the next step in my career.”

NUIG gives its first non EU student scholarship to Brazilian student

A Brazilian student is the first recipient of a new scholarship at National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG).

Heictor Gonsaga will take part in the Bachelor of Engineering course at NUIG.

Denis Corry, Principal at Mr Gonsaga’s secondary school in Gort, said the scholarship was not just an achievement for him alone, “We are delighted to see Heictor getting this award not just for himself and his family, but for the whole Brazilian community. From not knowing a word of English three years ago, to getting 510 points in his Leaving Certificate this year, is a remarkable achievement by any standards.”

The scholarship is for non-EU students who have done a minimum of the final two years of their second level education in Ireland but do not qualify for fees at EU rates.

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