Speedie's Blog: threesis

Showing posts with label threesis. Show all posts

Well done to Adam Collison in the 14th year of THREESIS

I was delighted to have been asked by Marina Ansaldo, PhD of the Vice President Office of Research & Innovation at the University of Galway to mentor Adam Collison, one of the finalists in this year’s Threesis, a competition for postgraduate researchers to explain their work in 3 minutes on 3 slides in front of 3 judges in a way that is clear, engaging & relevant to a lay or public audience
Adam is a final-year PhD student in Physics and his research focuses on evaluating the impact of energy retrofits on indoor air quality in public buildings, specifically offices and schools. He is passionate about his research. As he said himself “…What excites me most about my work is that air quality affects absolutely everyone, no one can survive without air, yet the factors that shape it indoors are poorly understood by most…”

Air quality is something that I too have a strong interest in, having being involved through Insight Research Ireland Centre for Data Analytics in citizen science projects such as 'The Air We Share' (part of decarbonising Galway)with Liz Coleman & Galway City Council.
At the Grand Finale yesterday, Adam came second in a very strong field.
So a big ‘Bualadh Bos’ to Adam for achieving Silver!! A well deserved award and recognition!
I ensured that I got my photo taken with him & Prof Donal Leech, Dean Of Graduate Studies!

Though not involved anymore in an organisational role, I have had a long association with Threesis having being one of its founding members in 2012 along with Ann Lyons, Dave Finn, Ena Brophy, Dr Lorraine Tansey, Louise Nolan, Ruth Hynes, Sarah Knight & Valerie Parker.
I got the idea for it from the national Thesis-in-3 that was then organised by SFI (now
Taighde Eireann) specifically for research centres personnel which had started in 2010, with the first winner being Eyal Oren from my own NUIG institute of DERI. I felt that we could do something similar in Galway & that ‘Threesis’ would be a catchy name!
The original committee, comprising a fantastic lively bunch of visionaries, agreed. But we expanded it to include both students & staff from across all disciplines, ensuring too that the judging panel reflected the wider Galway society. In the early years, we also hosted the finals in the city centre & soon got GMIT(now ATU) involved. In our first year (2012), the grand final (see right image on dual photo) was held in the Galway building of the local branch of Jigsaw, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health. The audio-visual technical manager then & now was the highly professional Cormac Staunton
At the first final the 3 judges were Liam Bluett, Director of Ballybane Enterprise Centre; Frances Shanahan, RTE Journalist; & Prof Terry Smith, Vice President of Research at what was then NUI Galway

After 14 years, it's so good to see the University of Galway’s Office of Research & Innovation team keeping Threesis going from strength to strength. Maith daoibh!

Dr. Sarah Knight: A Wonderful Advocate for Science Outreach in Galway

'Saving the Planet', Planting trees with her son Cian, Terryland Forest Park, 2013

A damper was put on my Christmas a few days ago when my good friend and long time university colleague Dr. Sarah Knight finished up as Outreach Officer at the Ryan Institute of NUI Galway. I will miss her so much.

Sarah with Lindsay Cody, 'Open Your Mind' research talk on 'Violence Against Women', NUI Galway, 2009

For Sarah was an inspiration and a positive role model for so many of us involved in bringing science and technology into schools. By her departure, our university has lost one of its greatest assets.

Sarah in Clontuskert National School, 2011

Sarah’s focus was in promoting marine, environmental and energy science with an emphasis on the research being undertaken in these areas by the Ryan Institute. Sarah took what are exciting fields of science and amazingly made them even more exciting much to the enjoyment and benefit of pupils in schools across Galway city and county.

Science Festival, Leisureland, Nov. 2009

With her happy persona, radiant smile, infectious laughter and deep scientific knowledge she was always a big hit with children.

The range of hands-on projects that she coordinated had a common denominator -the WOW factor! One of my favourites and probably one of her finest creations was a large 3D tabletop model of Galway Bay that wonderfully demonstrated how sea currents moved along the Galway coastline.

A smiling face in the crowd, 'Open Your Mind' research talk, NUI Galway

Sarah was a permanent fixture at a myriad of science festivals over so many years including Baboro, the annual Galway Science and Technology Festival, school tours of NUI Galway’s research centres, and the annual Ocean Day at the National Aquarium of Ireland aka Atlantaquaria. Not surprisingly she was selected as a university representative on the board of the Galway Science Forum (formerly known as the Galway Science & Technology Festival).

Sarah with her fellow Outreach Officers, NUI Galway, January 2009

Within NUI Galway, she was part of the organising committee of the pioneering Open Your Mind research competition and later took on the role as chief coordinator of the Thesis-in-3 challenge aka Threesis where speakers had to present three slides in three minutes in front of three judges.

Thressis Poster - designed by Sarah Knight

The latter is now a permanent fixture in the university calendar.

Science Advocates at NUI Galway

Sea Science Exploration Zone

But her greatest legacy amongst many legacies that she has given to Galway science is the establishment of an interactive Sea Science Exploration Zone at the Galway City Museum that she and museum official James Reynolds spent many months planning, designing and securing funding for.

With James Reynolds at the Submarine exhibit, Sea Science Exploration Zone, Oct 2014

One of my most abiding memories of Sarah and what typified her 'gung-ho' and hands-on approach was seeing her a few months ago decked out in rough clothing, sleeves rolled up, working away like a beaver with hammer and nails as she putted the finishing touches to the Sea Science exhibition just days before it was opened to the public.

Community Clean-Up, Terryland Forest Park, 2008

Yet Sarah’s interest in science extended beyond her official duties. She was also an active community environmentalist, participating in many seashore, park and forest cleanups, in tree plantings in Terryland Forest Park, and getting involved in the successful 2008 community campaign to stop a road being built through Terryland Forest Park which garnered over 10,000 signatures.