---

TechLife | 30 May 2012 :  Some 300 representatives from companies in the IT sector at the launch of the graduating students' final year projects in the Helix on DCU's campus yesterday. The students, from the schools of computing, electronic engineering and mechanical and manufacturing engineering, developed the projects aimed at demonstrating their knowledge and experience. The event was sponsored by SAP.

There was a strong focus on cloud computing, mobile and Web applications among the 82 projects on display. Key areas were the collection, analysis and storage of data.

The expo also included the projects of the first ever graduating class from the new Enterprise Computing degree which began four years ago.

Students presented demonstrations of their projects and spoke about how they developed the programs to potential employers. Representatives from Facebook, Google, Amazon, Magnet, TerminalFour, Version 1, Storm Technology, iQ Content, Marino Software and Vilicom were among the attendees.

Among the projects was a number of cloud computing programs for public and private sectors, including a web-based solution for the health service creating a centralised location for storage of medical records.

Projects aimed at the private sector included an application which can be used to monitor core system resources and provide reports based on the collected system data.

Liam Ryan, managing director of SAP Ireland congratulated the students on completing their projects and said he was impressed by "the quality and calibre of the students."

Prof Ann Scott, deputy president of DCU said she saw the college as "a university of enterprise" and welcomed the opinions of visiting professionals.

Fiona Donnellan