The Cooperative Education Award recognises exceptional student performance on Cooperative Education placement. Each college makes one award every year and the award is presented to the successful students on graduation day.
Nominations for the award are accepted from both employers and faculty members involved in any stage of the assessment viz. CoOp visits, discussions with the employer, grading of CoOp reports. The final selection for the awards is made by the Cooperative Education Sub-Committee to Academic Council, which is made up of academic representatives and the Cooperative Education & Careers Division. The following students are the 2010 CoOp Award winners:
History, Politics, Sociology and Social Studies student, Maeve Fenton is the recipient of the Cooperative Education Award for Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences. Maeve, from Cappagh in Co Waterford, undertook her placement between February and August 2008 in the Cardinal Nsubuga Senior School in Nyenga, a rural community near Lake Victoria in Uganda.
Maeve worked in a teaching capacity where her main focus was on improving English and Computer Literacy in her classes. According to the School Principal, her major contribution was her ability to motivate her students to speak English both in and outside class. He cited several examples of students who were unable to use good English before Maeve’s arrival but improved immensely as a result of her efforts. Maeve believed that if the students spoke English regularly enough they would also improve in their grades, since the language of instruction was English. The school had a population of almost 500 students, 60% girls and 40% boys, and a full-time teaching staff of 14. Approximately 60% of students were day scholars, with the other 40% living in the school.
Maeve also showed that a teacher can be close to students while maintaining the necessary boundaries between students and teacher. By being close to the students, she was able to inform the school administration of their needs and perspectives. Through this contact with students she also learnt a lot about family life in Uganda and the students learnt a lot about life in Ireland.
Maeve says “The most notable aspect of personal development extracted from my CoOp placement was the ability I developed to empathise with, relate to and understand a culture so diverse and opposite to the one I have been used to. This has enabled me to be culturally sensitive”.
Anna who is from Bandon, Co Cork has received the Cooperative Education Award for Business Studies. She completed her placement with Roche Ireland Limited in Co. Clare between January and September 2009. She initially worked as a Junior Buyer, but as a result of organisational change Anna acted in the role of Shipping Coordinator. The post carried a considerable level of responsibility. She worked as part of a team responsible for a procurement budget of approx €3m. As Shipping Coordinator she was responsible for detailed logistic and document management systems.
Roche Ireland Limited is a leading international healthcare company with principal businesses in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. The company is active in more than 150 countries and employs 74,000 people worldwide. The corporate headquarters are based in Basel Switzerland. Roche Ireland Limited (RIRL) is a subsidiary of the Roche Group. The Irish manufacturing facility established in 1974 as Syntex Ireland was acquired by the Roche group in 1994. Roche Ireland is a manufacturing centre of excellence in the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients destined for the conversion to medicines in dosage format at other Roche facilities throughout the world.
In line with RIRL commitment to the local community, Anna participated in the Junior Achievement Award, an education programme delivered in partnership with Ennis National School. She describes Coop as “one of the most beneficial parts of my years at the University of Limerick” .
From January to August 2009 Financial Mathematics undergraduate Liam Hynes from Limerick undertook his Cooperative Education placement in London with Occam Asset Management, a specialist fund management company offering both traditional and alternative investment strategies for professional investors across Europe and Asia.
Liam worked as a Junior Analyst in the Emerging Markets division where his role was to build spreadsheet financial models of companies, primarily in the metals & mining and energy sectors, to support the investment decisions of the two key fund managers. The Emerging Markets division of Occam was launched in January and Liam was involved in the initial set-up of the fund
Liam built spreadsheet models of around 25 companies, including quarterly historic and forecast P+L, balance sheet and cash flow statements. He showed impressive diligence and initiative in extracting the right information from publicly available sources, structuring the information so that it reflected the company’s business dynamics and profitability. This kind of financial modelling requires significant thought and analysis to identify the correct way to think about companies and analyse their businesses. Liam significantly exceeded the company’s expectations in his ability to do this in an intelligent and insightful way.
James D’Arcy, a Product Design Student from Minane Bridge in Co Cork, has been awarded the 2010 International Cooperative Education Award.
Between January and September 2009, he completed his placement in the Netherlands with 2Mel, a leading engineering company based near Eindhoven. The company creates innovative products for health, entertainment, sports, environment and industry. 2Mel has extensive experience in new technology, new products and new business development. The creation of breakthrough innovations through to commercialisation is at the heart of the company’s mission.
James undertook a number of design projects as part of his placement brief. At the time of his placement, 2Mel were working on a new SKUNKX product and James was given responsibility for the design of the new product as well as the packaging and gift box for same. He also designed and implemented the website together with another 2Mel employee. Using his product design background, he designed the log for a new product which 2Mel released at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 2010. The company was very impressed with James’ natural talent for design and, because of this, he was often asked to sit in on the assessment of product presentations and 2Mel found that he had a very quick grasp of technical and creative issues and that he gave very valuable feedback.
Regarding his placement James comments “To say I learned a lot would be an understatement. Not only did I develop as a designer, but I grew as a person. I developed many skills and improved on skills I already had. The work I did has given me a great insight into the working world and has prepared me for when I graduate. Working with 2M Engineering has made (me) not only a better designer but also a better person.”
Kevin Condren from Co Wicklow, who studied Material and Engineering Technology Education, has been awarded the 2010 Teaching Practice Award following his fourth year Teaching Practice completed between September and December 2009.
He completed his assignment at St. Killian’s Community School in Bray. St. Killian’s is a well-established school with links with the University of Minnesota and at least two American or Canadian teachers work in the school every year. The school has a record of academic and sporting achievement and past pupils have contributed to local and national politics, sport and the professions.
Kevin’s use of various technological resources in the classroom, including overhead projection and animation, complemented and reinforced his verbal teaching and made for highly interesting lessons. His command of his subject gave him an authority that impressed the students and gave them the confidence in him that made for effective teaching. His passion and enthusiasm also helped the students to learn and to participate more fully in their lessons. His preparation by way of the three dimensional models also helped the students to fully grasp the lessons and increased their desire to achieve more.
He integrated very well with the staff and played football with the younger staff after school. He never lost his cheerfulness and passion for his subjects and teaching.
Kevin saw his Teaching Practice as a very rewarding part of his undergraduate programme at UL. He sees his future in education and looks forward to working in Ireland.