VERY PROUD DAY IN DKIT AS 1,368 STUDENTS ARE CONFERRED
1,368 graduates were conferred with awards ranging from Higher Certificate to PhD across two days of ceremonies at Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT). Amongst the graduates, a total of 38 Postgraduate awards were conferred, including 4 PhD’s and 1 Master of Research in the School of Informatics & Creative Arts and 2 PhD’s in the School of Health and Science. This brings the total number of DkIT graduates with research qualifications to date to 97, including 37 PhD graduates.
This year DkIT celebrated the first PhD graduates of the DkIT-DCU Graduate School which was established in September 2014. It was created to ensure the enhancement of the structured PhD provision in the Institute whilst sustaining current and emerging research collaborations between both colleges. President of DCU, Professor Brian MacCraith was in attendance and officiated the Conferring and the presentation of DCU Awards alongside, DkIT President, Michael Mulvey, PhD.
Six ceremonies took place over the two days across the four Schools of Business & Humanites, Engineering, Health & Science and Informatics & Creative arts. Graduates from across the North Leinster-South Ulster region attended the ceremonies alongside their families, partners and friends. During his address, Michael Mulvey highlighted that graduation is a celebration of great importance, he said,
‘ This is an immensely powerful injection of talent for our region. An injection that can have real impact on the communities, culture and economic life around us. We know that almost 90% of our graduates remain in this region. Today’s graduates, together with a vast number of previous graduates that have gone before, play a huge role in advancing and building up this region make up a powerful community of highly skilled people that will continue to drive this region forward.’
Later, Michael Mulvey thanked the graduates for their valuable contribution to the Institute and its continued progression and growth. In looking ahead for DkIT, he said added,
‘Our unwavering commitment and dedication to serving our region remains stronger than ever. We continue to work with employers, large and small across North Leinster–South Ulster to ensure that our programmes meet the evolving needs they have to make their organisations successful. Our aim is to provide you as graduates with more opportunities when it comes to progressing in learning and in your career. I am pleased to report that according to our Graduate Outcomes Survey last year, more than 94% of graduates were in employment or full-time study within 9 months of conferring. As employment conditions continue to improve, we hope we can improve upon this, again this year.
In his closing statement, Michael Mulvey spoke with pride about the huge community of graduates at DkIT that live, work and have enterprises in this region. He also spoke about the robust global network of DkIT graduates and he invited new graduates to join the DkIT Alumni Network which has been established this year (www. dkit.ie/alumni).
58 graduates from across the four Academic Schools received President’s Awards in recognition of academic excellence in specific programmes. These included 3 sponsored awards:
Intel Women in Technology Award 2018 - Ixora Chuah, Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical and Electronic Systems.
Veterinary Council of Ireland, Veterinary Nursing Graduate of the Year Award 2018 - Laura Mullen, Bachelor of Science in Veterinary Nursing
Failte Ireland Prizes 2018 - Glen McCourt, Higher Certificate in Arts in Culinary Arts and Shauna Mahon Parkinson, Higher Certificate in Arts in Hospitality Studies