Galway Chamber, National University of Ireland, Galway and Galway Mayo Institute of Technology have announced details of The Paddy Ryan Memorial Lecture to honour the memory of the late Paddy Ryan which will take place on Wednesday, 5 September, 2007 at Áras Moyola, NUI Galway at 8.00 p.m. Declan Kelly, International businessman and President and CEO of Financial Dynamics in the United States, has been announced as the guest speaker and will deliver a lecture entitled, Business 2007 – How the lessons of the past will shape the realities of the future. Following the lecture, Mr Kelly will be presented with a specially commissioned medal designed by the artist and sculptor, Padraic Reaney. Patrick Denis Ryan was born in March 1920 at 18 Shop Street, Galway. An alderman, former Mayor of Galway, honorary member of Galway Chamber, honorary graduate of NUI Galway, Chairman of Galway Race Committee, Oyster Festival, Rotary Club, Tidy Towns and the Amicable Society, Dr Paddy Ryan lived an exemplary life of public service and will be remembered by many as the man who welcomed US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy to Galway in 1963. Professor Ger Hurley, Vice-President for Strategic Initiatives and External Affairs, NUI Galway said: "The University is very proud to be associated with The Inaugural Paddy Ryan Memorial Lecture, which honours a lifetime of public service that serves as a beacon of the highest ethical standards." Speaking on behalf of Galway Chamber, Dr. Chris Coughlan, said: "Galway Chamber is proud to institute this inaugural Paddy Ryan Memorial Lecture in recognition of the life long contribution and service of our former President Paddy Ryan and his family to Galway's business, civic and community life." The event will alternate between NUI Galway and GMIT on an annual basis and is kindly sponsored by APC. Attendance will be free and open to members of the public. ENDS

NUI Galway's Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI) is to host the 7th IEEE Peer to Peer Conference which will examine the changes P2P makes to the way we exchange information on the Internet. The conference will be launched at DERI's centre at the IDA Industrial Park, Dangan on Sunday 2 September and continues until Wednesday, 5 September, at the Meyrick Hotel, Galway. Peer-to-peer (P2P) technology has come into the limelight recently with applications like Skype and collaboration applications like Groove. Peer-to-peer has already been used in the design of the original Internet where it has enabled global scalability and robustness against failures. The next stage in its development will see the application of semantics technologies to P2P technologies that will enable more effective inter-business communication and personal collaboration. IEEE P2P is the flagship conference gathering the leading international experts both from academia and industry. It is the pronounced goal of the conference to promote the collaboration in research among academic institutions, government organizations, and companies. This is also reflected in this year s conference program which features tutorials and keynote talks from the world s leading academic and industrial experts. "P2P2007 is another high-profile event hosted by DERI at NUI Galway which demonstrates the international reputation of research in Ireland," says Professor Manfred Hauswirth, Vice Director of DERI Galway and program chair and local organiser of P2P2007. "This conference will provide an opportunity to demonstrate the state of Irish technology base to experts from around the world, and will give Irish companies access to expertise from abroad. As a helpful side-effect, such high-profile conferences allow local Irish companies and Irish subsidiaries of multi-nationals to take a 'cost-free' look at the next generation of experts in the domain." Prof Hauswirth added that the P2P conference would attract a large number of PhD students and post doctoral level experts in ICT, who would be vetted by leading international experts both in industry and academia. "Companies attending the conference have the opportunity to see what these highly qualified individuals have to offer. This in turn delivers a desperately needed injection of know how given the dramatically low numbers of Irish students in the ICT area." The high profile speakers at this year's conference include; Dr Sandeep K. Singhal, Director Windows Networking, Microsoft Corporation, who will give a tutorial on the Peer-to-Peer and Collaboration Platform used in Microsoft s Windows operating system; Dr Wolfgang Kellerer, Senior Manager Future Networking Lab, NTT DoCoMo Euro-Labs, whose keynote speech will address 'The Bright Future of P2P: a Telecom Operator s Perspective'; and Prof Karl Aberer, Director of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research - Mobile Information and Communication Systems, who will discuss how P2P can be used to improve search engines. ENDS

Leading global experts in air quality and climate change are due to gather at NUI Galway for the International Conference on Nucleation and Atmospheric Aerosols (ICNAA) from 13th – 17th August 2007. The University's Centre for Climate and Air Pollution Studies, based at the Environmental Change Institute, and the Department of Physics will host this prestigious event which was last held in Kyoto, Japan, in 2004. The conference will examine the latest developments in nucleation, which is a phase-transition process that produces aerosols or haze particles. While atmospheric aerosols help to reduce the rate of global warming induced by greenhouse gases, they also contribute to poor air quality. The ICNAA event will also hear of the current state of the art technologies being developed globally to combat the effects of climate change. The conference is co-chaired by Dr Colin O'Dowd, Director of the Centre for Climate and Air Pollution Studies and lecturer at the Department of Physics, and by Professor Paul Wagner from the University of Vienna. "NUI Galway has been chosen to host this prestigious event on the basis of our research reputation in the field and complimented by the location of Galway," explains Dr O'Dowd. "This will bring additional international profile to atmospheric, air quality and climate change research, not only in Galway but also in Ireland." Keynote speakers at this year's event include Professor Ramanathan, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, University of California San Diego and Finnish Academy Professor Kulmala, University of Helsinki. These eminent scientists have published numerous papers on aerosols and climate change in the world leading scientific journal Nature and lead large international consortia focused on addressing the key impacts of aerosol pollution on climate. Both have also received numerous international awards for they research achievements. ENDS

Two NUI Galway students will represent Ireland at this month's World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand. Meadbh de Búrca from Newcastle and Niamh Fahy from Killanin will line out with the Irish Ladies Soccer team for the two week tournament which kicks off on 7 August 2007. Meadbh, a third year Commerce student has played internationally at under 17 and under 19 levels, and currently lines out with local club Salthill Devon. Second year science student Niamh has also played at international level with the under 17 and under 19 teams. The talented student is also a first team regular with the Galway senior ladies Gaelic football panel. The girls are pictured receiving sponsorship for their involvement in the tournament from NUI Galway President Dr Iognáid Ó Muircheartaigh and Mr Tony Regan, Sports and Recreation Officer at the University.

Daniel O Mahony, Director of NUI Galway s Technology Transfer Office, Donald Causton, President of Micromill Systems Inc., Frank Ryan, CEO Enterprise Ireland and Maura Glennon, Commercialisation Specialist, Enterprise Ireland. A deal worth Euro 10m was agreed between Micromills and NUI Galway creating a joint spin-out company called Eirzyme to produce high yields of low-cost biofuels. A new company, Eirzyme Ltd., which has been founded on technology developed at the National University of Ireland, Galway and a €10m investment from Canadian company Micromill System Inc., is set to be a major player in the biofuels sector. Eirzyme has incorporated in Ireland and has set up initial R&D laboratories at the Enterprise Ireland funded bio-incubator facility at NUI Galway. The new company will produce low-cost enzymes to convert biological materials such as brewers' grains into bioethanol and biogas. These renewable fuels produce environmental benefits by reducing overall emissions of greenhouse gases and are sustainable alternatives to petrol and diesel. The ultimate goal for Eirzyme is to set up a large scale enzyme production facility which will manufacture specific enzyme cocktails to work on a range of raw materials. Dr Daniel O'Mahony, Director of Technology Transfer at NUI Galway said; "There has been considerable industrial interest in the patented technology developed by Dr Maria Tuohy and her research team at NUI Galway. The formation of Eirzyme is the first step towards unlocking the inherent commercial potential of their breakthroughs. Eirzyme will have global reach and we are confident that the company will make a valuable contribution to addressing future energy needs." Dr O'Mahony added; "Without the funding support received from Enterprise Ireland and other funding agencies, this break-through technology would not have emerged. As a research-intensive organisation, NUI Galway has a strong commitment to supporting technology development leading to technology transfer and commercialization. In the past 12 months the University has executed 8 license agreements across different industry sectors and looks forward to executing a number of other licensing agreements on other technologies later this year." Dr Paul Roben, Director of Lifesciences & Food Commercialisation at Enterprise Ireland said; "Through our Commercialisation Fund and our Commercialisation Specialists we have been working with NUI Galway to find a route to market for this excellent technology. We are very excited about the potential of this venture." ENDS