September 2002 NEW PROGRAMME TARGETS NEXT GENERATION OF MANAGERS

To meet the challenges facing Irish industry in increasingly competitive global markets, a new postgraduate programme has been designed specifically to equip managers with the expertise to develop the innovative capacity of their organisations. The first on-line programme of its kind, the M.Sc. in Technology Management is also the first collaborative university postgraduate degree in Ireland. Funded by Enterprise Ireland, through the National Development Plan, the two-year, part-time programme is under the auspices of the Atlantic University Alliance (AUA), which includes NUI, Galway, the University of Limerick and University College Cork.

The M.Sc. in Technology Management will be launched in the Aula Maxima, NUI Galway on Friday 27th September, at 2.30 p.m. The programme is directed to professionals and managers in all businesses, but particularly those in new businesses and those expanding or introducing new technology or developing new product and processes.

"This programme which is designed to enable participating companies to gain competitive advantage through technology innovation and R&D, lays the foundation for economic recovery which will be based on high value added products and processes so that the structural changes within the Irish economy can be consolidated and developed in the future", says Professor Roy Green, NUI, Galway, Academic Director of the programme.

The programme is designed and developed in a distance-education format, allowing participants to access it remotely, by conventional means and via the Internet. Access is therefore greatly improved and the interruption to a participant's work and the corporate workplace will be minimised. "Research has shown that a course offered entirely on-line is not the most effective learning tool", says Professor Eamonn Murphy, University of Limerick, Associate Academic Director of the programme. " We therefore intend to use a blended model of on-line material together with class contact at regular intervals".

Dr. Barry O'Connor, University College Cork, Associate Academic Director of the programme supports this innovative mode of course delivery stating that "the programme provides students with an opportunity to apply course content in a practical context through work-based assignments and an in-company research project. Indigenous companies and SME innovative applications will be of special focus in the programme."

The M.Sc. in Technology Management will bring together lecture material on strategy, policy (both national and international), recognised methodologies, skills and processes which will enable the participants and their companies to make fully-informed decisions relating to all aspects of technology innovation. Students on this exciting programme will have full access to the expertise, libraries and research facilities of the three Universities collaborating in this unique venture. Graduates of the programme will be in a position to guide their companies to exploit technology effectively in the short, medium and long term.

The Atlantic University Alliance was established in 1999 with the objective of making the collective expertise and resources of NUI, Galway, University College Cork and the University of Limerick available to industry. The formation of the AUA demonstrates the commitment of the three participating universities to playing a full and dynamic role in the development of the Irish economy, especially along the Atlantic seaboard.

Information: Máire Mhic Uidhir, Press and Information Officer, NUI, Galway. Tel: 091 750418