Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT ) has been named as a runner-up in the Institute of Technology of the Year Awards in the Sunday Times Good University Guide, while coming in 10th place of all institutions nationally.
AIT moved one place up the rankings and finished 10th this year in the top 10 of all institutes nationally. DIT took the top spot for the Institutes of Technology of the Year 2017, and UCC came out as the winner for the University of the Year, with Trinity College Dublin taking the runner-up spot.
AIT’s leading position in graduate employability, strong applied research, and raising academic performance were among the reasons for the awards. The Sunday Times commented that it is a reflection of AIT’s high academic standing combined with the fact that AIT has been granted the authority to award PhDs in software engineering and network communications this year, in addition to the current areas of polymer engineering, microbiology and toxicology.
Government departments are increasingly looking to AIT to develop and boost jobs in the Midlands, and also to improve production outputs. This year, the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine is funding a project run by AIT and NUI Galway to upgrade management and efficiency at inland aquaculture sites.
Commenting on the award, President of AIT, Professor Ciarán Ó’Catháin said: “This award recognises the significant contribution, hard work, and dedication of all of our staff across the Institute, in making AIT a fantastic institute for our students, our staff, our stakeholders and the wider community in the Midlands region. We are a small but growing community that continues to expand as we drive forward to be a leader in the IoT sector in innovation, teaching, applied research, and student welfare.
“We set out the vision of the type of higher education institute we wanted to be in our Strategic Plan 2014/18 and we are well on the route to fully realising that vision and this award today is part of that. AIT is an institute that continues to adapt and this achievement will add to our bid in making the case for a standalone technological university in the Midlands.”
