A spin-out company of NUI Galway's Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI) – Peracton Ltd. features in a new book by SOGETI which offers guidelines to successful cloud computing. The book 'Seize the Cloud' is aimed at business professionals in finance and introduces them to cloud based technologies. The book also illustrates how various companies have made use of cloud computing. As a start-up, Peracton provides a unique insight to the challenges as well as angles it has to address the financial services needs and legal requirements of a company through the use of MAARS technology. The technology used by Peracton was initially developed within DERI at NUI Galway and through Peracton, the MAARS technology is being offered to the finance/business world. The original MAARS technology development research has been funded by Enterprise Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland. MAARS is a platform that provides complex analytics decision support for most common equities selection (stocks, funds, ETF etc.), audit and compliance as well as forensic capabilities. A report by Forrester in 2010 claimed that Peracton s MAARS was the Hot Technology to Watch for 2010. A Forrester excerpt says: "Focusing on solving the core industry-specific business problems is the next big wave in the tech industry. Nowhere is it more evident of technology s unique role in solving business problems than in the highly tech-dependent banking market." For further information contact: info@peracton.com -Ends-

Building on its introduction and success last year, the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics at NUI Galway continues to partner with local businesses to challenge its students through its Bachelor of Commerce and B.Sc. in Business Information Systems 'Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise(ICE)' module. For their final year of studies, all students of the School are given the opportunity to innovate in all aspects of business and community enterprise. Michael Campion, ICE Module Director at the School stated: "The overall objective of the Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise course is to encourage self-confidence in students of business in their ability to be creative and innovative in whatever future business and/or community settings that they are working in." With the support this year of an expanded number of 33 local business and community leaders who have mentored the students since January, this module provides opportunities for over 360 students to engage in group-based projects requiring them to innovate with the community in a variety of interest areas. The Innovation, Creativity and Enterprise module is part of a wider initiative within the J.E. Cairnes School of Business and Economics, supported by funding from the NUI Galway Students Projects Fund, to focus on student personal development planning, and employability skill development. As a competitive part of the module, groups of students from the class were required to present their innovation projects to mentors through a number of stages of judging, resulting in the selection of five finalist groups to compete for a prize fund of €6,000, sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants(CIMA). On Friday, 1st April, these groups presented to the final judging panel consisting of Denis McCarthy, Regional Director CIMA, Michael Corless, Chairman of Galway Airport and Judy Greene, Managing Director Judy Greene Pottery. The overall winners were James Kenny from Mullingar, Co Westmeath; Patrick Flanagan and Mark Ruane, both from Sligo. Their project was 'Pipe Protect' – a new product which makes use of mobile phone technology to monitor and control pipes during freezing weather. Denis McCarthy, Divisional Director, The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) said: "CIMA is forging strong linkages with NUI Galway and in particular the JE Cairnes School of Business and Economics. This bursary is designed to support students in a practical way that underpins the importance of bringing real time expertise to learning which is at the core of the CIMA qualification. I am delighted to congratulate all the finalists who demonstrated their entrepreneurial skills in what was a competitively contested final." Michael O'Keane, Industry Mentor of the winning group commented: "I was delighted to be involved as a mentor on this year s ICE programme. Michael Campion and his colleagues in NUI Galway offer a very unique programme and their drive and enthusiasm is much appreciated by the students. The quality of ideas which emerged is clear evidence that entrepreneurship is alive and well and now more than ever this needs to be exploited to help get our economy back on it s feet." -Ends-

The James Hardiman Library at NUI Galway is the venue for an exhibition of 48 photographs that illustrates the early history of An Garda Síochána, including its precursors: The Royal Irish Constabulary and The Dublin Metropolitan Police. This fascinating collection of photographs is on loan from An Garda Síochána Historical Society. There are scenes of Gardaí on duty in Dublin and important occasions such as the funeral of Kevin O'Higgins in 1927. There are several photographs showing the scenes of crimes, including the discovery of a ton of salmon in a derelict house in Blackrock in 1927. The salmon are laid out for all to see. Photographs of Gardaí from the Library's Ritchie-Pickow Collection also feature in a slide show. The exhibition will be launched by Chief Superintendent Dónal Ó Cualáin, An Garda Síochána, Galway Division, at 5.30 pm on Thursday, 7 April at the Library. Dr. Mary Harris, Senior Lecturer in History at NUI Galway, comments: "This intriguing exhibition provides insights into various aspects of police work and prompts interesting questions about crime in early twentieth-century Ireland." John Cox, University Librarian, adds: "The James Hardiman Library is delighted to host this exhibition, and is extremely grateful to the Garda Síochána Historical Society for affording us the opportunity to make it accessible in Galway. Members of the public are very welcome to come and view it." The exhibition will be located in the Library Foyer until 6 May. Admission is free, and the Library is open until 10pm weekdays and 5.30 on weekends. Please check the Library website for opening hours over Easter www.library.nuigalway.ie -Ends-

President Mary McAleese officially opens the new Prostate Cancer Institute at NUI Galway today. The Institute, of which President McAleese is a Patron, is directed by Professor Frank Sullivan, Consultant Radiation Oncologist. The Institute, which is primarily focused on developing better therapies for patients with prostate cancer, will benefit from a close association with the extensive clinical services already offered to these patients at Galway University Hospitals and other regional hospitals. The Institute will also collaborate with the wide-ranging biomedical research programmes of the National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Sciences (NCBES) at NUI Galway and with a number of research institutes in Ireland and internationally. Cancer Biology and Developmental Therapeutics are strategic research priorities at NUI Galway. Over the last number of years, NUI Galway and Galway University Hospital have built a strong team of internationally recognised pre-clinical, translational, and clinical cancer scientists. Galway University Hospital is the major academic-medical centre in the West of Ireland, and is one of the eight specialist cancer centres established under the National Cancer Control Plan. As such it offers the full range of prostate cancer diagnostics and treatments, and is one of the country's leading centres for treatment of this form of cancer. Prostate cancer still claims around 550 lives a year in Ireland, rivalling the number of deaths due to breast cancer. The Prostate Cancer Institute will draw on the expertise of clinicians and scientists from the University and Hospital in its commitment to develop effective new therapies for patients with prostate cancer. While many advances have been made in the management of early stage patients, a subset of these men will relapse and die of the disease. New and more effective therapies are urgently needed for patients with relapsed disease or disease which is relatively resistant to current standard therapies. Initial funding for the Institute has been provided by Galway University Foundation. This has enabled the Institute to appoint Dr Sharon Glynn as Director of Laboratory Research. Early work at the Institute will involve the collection and bioprocurement of prostate tissue which will provide the base for its primary and collaborative research programme. The aim is to investigate (as is already being done with breast cancer) which molecular or genetic markers can predict those patients who are likely to relapse, so that they can be targeted with more advanced and novel treatments. The Institute will commit its research to the development of new therapies which will address the challenge in treating those relapsed cancer patients who are unresponsive to currently available treatments. The Galway HRB Clinical Research Facility provides the environment in which patients with prostate cancer will receive novel therapies. The CRF is led by the NUI Galway/Trinity College Dublin Professor of Cancer Therapeutics, Frank Giles, who also serves as the Prostate Institute's Scientific Director, thus optimising the integration of NUI Galway's resources devoted to improving therapy for patients with cancer and to giving patients access to new approaches within their own local community. NUI Galway President, Dr James J. Browne said: "This is an important development for NUI Galway as it marks a new direction for translational research at the University. Our research achievements in cancer biology and therapeutics will be given added impetus by the establishment of the Prostate Cancer Institute, which we believe will have a significant impact on both the quality of life of sufferers and on our knowledge of this common disease." Director of the Prostate Cancer Institute, Professor Frank Sullivan, said: "This represents an important milestone in collaboration on prostate cancer in Ireland. Bringing together the breadth of clinical and basic science experience in our region, and linking it with national and international research groups, can only be good for patients diagnosed with prostate cancer, now and into the future. We intend to add to the treatment options for men with the most difficult prostate cancers. A tough but hugely important challenge." -Ends-

After a year in operation on the NUI Galway campus, the New Tech Post – a daily publisher of articles on innovative and emerging technologies – has announced that it will open a second office in Silicon Valley in partnership with the Irish Innovation Center in San Jose. New Tech Post aims to create a 'news bridge' between its headquarters in Galway and its new office in the US. New Tech Post s coverage of innovative and emerging technologies is reflected in its five main newsfeeds: Video; Mobile; Business; Technology; and Social Media. According to founder John Breslin, who is a lecturer in electronic engineering at NUI Galway: "The main aim of the New Tech Post is to cover emergent technologies and share new, innovative ideas with an audience interested in learning what future trends to think about and how they might be affected by them. We're very excited to work with the Irish Innovation Center in San Jose since they are ideally placed in Silicon Valley and are extremely well connected to the heart of the tech universe." New Tech Post writer Tom Murphy says: "Technologies that are sometimes obscure and difficult to decipher are explained in such a manner that an average reader can explain the essential ideas with ease to a third party not familiar with the area: to their boss, co-worker, friend, and so on. Natural areas of activity are innovations and ideas emerging from large companies such as Cisco and HP, as well as the bubbling undercurrents of start-ups and early-stage ventures." John Hartnett, the founder of the Irish Innovation Center (IIC) and also of the Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG), says: "We are delighted that the New Tech Post will launch its US base in the IIC on 5 April at our yearly ITLG/Irish Times Silicon Valley Awards. We have been working with the New Tech Post in the run up to the awards on the Irish America 'Silicon Valley 50' magazine, recognising the top Irish American tech executives in the Valley and also profiling various Irish technology companies of note." With its origins in Ireland, one goal of New Tech Post is to promote Irish technology wherever possible, in the belief that Irish companies and entrepreneurs are on the same footing as other international contributors when it comes to technology, business and innovation. Some of the tech leaders interviewed on New Tech Post during its first six months include: Carlos Dominguez (Cisco); Dylan Collins (Jolt Online); Andrew Parish (Wavebob); Nova Spivack (Live Matrix); Bernardo Huberman (HP Labs); and Iain MacDonald (SkillPages). A varied set of topics are covered on New Tech Post, including: pervasive computing and mobile networking; how to measure influence on Twitter; similarities between neurons and social networks; robots learning from their environments; and solar technologies for harvesting light. -Ends-