Southeast Science Festival 2018 comes to Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny and Tipperary

More than 3,000 places booked out in the first hour

Over 3,000 places for primary school events at the Southeast Science Festival were booked out in an hour. At venues across the Southeast, Calmast, Waterford Institute of Technology’s STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) outreach centre, will be running more than 100 events over two weeks. Each event is showcasing the wonders of science and, with a variety of interactive shows, engaging workshops and fascinating lectures, there is something for everyone. 

More than 100 events in the Southeast

The Southeast Science Festival is part of National Science Week (co-ordinated by Science Foundation Ireland) and will take place from 5th to 18th November 2018. Funded by Science Foundation Ireland, pharma companies EirGen, GSK, Sanofi, MSD and Bausch and Lomb, the festival brings unique science events to Clonmel, Carrick-on-Suir, Kilkenny, Mullinavat, Ferrybank, New Ross, Enniscorthy, Dungarvan, Lismore, Tramore and Waterford City. Top local, national and international scientists and science presenters from Ireland’s Southeast will present shows, presentations and lectures on important scientific issues and current challenges. Fun shows and activities for children and families will keep everyone engaged while at the same time introducing scientific concepts.

Events are taking place in schools, libraries and theatres all across the Southeast.

High quality programme for everyone

The week kicks off with The Real Science of the Circus presented by James Soper, the Juggling Scientist. This show is a spectacular combination of top quality circus skills and science education. James, a Guinness World Record holding juggler, fully qualified teacher and ex-professional circus performer, demonstrates scientific principles in a way that is guaranteed to enthral and inspire all audiences. The Juggling Scientist will be presenting his show to school students in Waterford, Dungarvan and Clonmel. He will be peforming at the Theatre Royal on 10 November, 1pm and 3pm and at the Lismore Sunday Funday for families on 11 November.

At the Sunday Funday in Lismore, visitors will also have the opportunity to do hands-on science and explore the wonderful world of colours, build reactive volcanos and do their own magic chemistry experiments with the Calmast STEM Outreach team. All activities are linked to the rich science heritage of Lismore - birthplace of famous Irish scientist Robert Boyle.

During the week, the Calmast STEM Outreach team will be supported by a group of TY students from Waterford and Tipperary who will be trained in science communication and present their own workshops to primary school pupils at libraries in the Southeast.

“We are delighted to have such a programme of high quality academics and science presenters from around the world to the Southeast for Science Week”, said Cordula Weiss of Calmast. “We believe we have something for everyone, exciting events for the very young to engaging events for all the family and adults: Bubble Shows for the younger audience, interactive hands-on workshops for everyone, talks on the Science of Gin for adults and much more. It is very important that we all have an appreciation of the importance of science and technology in our lives, and we are never too young or too old to start”.

Science is for everyone

Science Week is for everyone. The organisers are pleased to announce a variety of afternoon and evening events for members of the general public.

On Saturday, 10 November, James Soper, the Juggling Scientist will present The REAL Science of the Circus at the Theatre Royal in Waterford at 1pm and again at 3pm. This fast-paced and engaging show is not to be missed – while amazing the audience with fascinating circus skills, James explains the forces behind juggling, unicycling, balancing and more with the help of many volunteers.

James will also present in Clonmel Library and Ferrybank Library.

On Monday, 12 November, the London Science Museum will present their totally gross but equally captivating show It Takes Guts for families with children of 8 years or older. Follow the journey of your food from your mouth through the acid bath in your stomach, along metre after metre of pulsating guts and out the other end! This show will take place at 7pm in the Auditorium of Waterford Institute of Technology.

For the younger audience, the London Science Museum will present their ever popular Bubble Show on 13 November, 7pm, Auditorium Waterford Institute of Technology.

The London Science Museum will also present to the families in Loughboy Library and Central Library Waterford.

On Wednesday, 14 November, 4-6pm, GSK Dungarvan are opening their doors to secondary school students, teachers, career guidance counsellors and those interested in a career in the area to showcase the many opportunities in science careers and to tell the story of “Made in Ireland – Trusted Worldwide: The Story of Panadol”.

Making science accessible to all and engaging the audience in current scientific questions and challenges – the Science Week is for everyone which is why WIT PhD candidates will present their research to the public on Thursday, 15 November. Three postgraduate students will discuss their projects in science and maths in the Munster Bar at 7pm.

Details of all events including booking details can be found at www.calmast.ie

The Southeast Science Festival

The Southeast Science Festival is coordinated by Calmast, the Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths Outreach centre at Waterford Institute of Technology. “In my 20 years coordinating Science Week in the Southeast, it has been wonderful to see the festival  grow from a few events in Waterford city to now over 100 events across the Southeast in counties Waterford, Wexford, Tipperary, and Kilkenny“ said Sheila Donegan of Calmast. “Over the years many children who came to our children’s science events have gone on to study science at third level and are now working as scientists and engineers in the many pharma and tech industries in the region. It is really important to introduce Science to children at a young age, to develop their curiosity and to foster in them a sense of enquiry, which can help them develop into the scientists and engineers of the future”

The full programme is available on www.calmast.ie and public events are also posted on social media.

All events during Science Week are FREE, but should be booked through Eleanor Reade, School of Science WIT: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 051 302037, unless another booking contact is given. This festival follows closely on the heels of Maths Week Ireland which over 400,000 students and members of the public participated in. Maths Week Ireland was coordinated nationally by Calmast, the award winning STEM outreach centre at WIT. Science Week is nationally coordinated and supported by Science Foundation Ireland.

Speakers: Elaine Dooley & Jon Hawkins, Waterford City & County Council

Date: Tuesday, 13th November 2018

Time: 18:00 – 20:00

Venue: WIT Arena, West Campus, Carriganore, Waterford.

Register: click here to book your place

The WIT RIKON Centre Academy of Lean Enterprise Excellence and the South East Lean Network present the WIT Annual Lean Practitioner Seminar Series, free monthly events which bring together practitioners in CI and Lean enterprise, operational, and process excellence to share their knowledge, experience, expertise, and good practices. The WIT Annual Lean Practitioner Seminar Series is brought to you in association with Waterford Chamber Skillnet.

About the speakers

Elaine Dooley is Project Leader with over 29 years’ experience in Finance, Housing, HR, and primarily Information Systems. Elaine leads the newly established Continuous Improvement Section where engagement and process review come together to improve service to the citizen. Elaine holds a BA (Hons) in Local Government and a Higher Diploma in Computer Studies, and she is presently undertaking year-2 of the Master of Business in Lean Enterprise Excellence at Waterford Institute of Technology.

Jon Hawkins is a Geographical Information System (GIS) specialist with over 18 years’ experience of implementing, managing, and using GIS in the Public Sector. Jon is presently completing the Executive Master of Business Administration at Waterford Institute of Technology.

About the topic – Process Improvement in Local Government

Local Government has gone through a profound change in recent times, weathering a financial crisis along with reductions in staff and budgets putting service delivery under strain. The Local Government sector has had to deal with enforced change and is tasked with doing more with less. Short timelines and public sector organisational culture for change implementation often make staff engagement and buy-in difficult. The focus now has to be on efficient processes, high levels of customer service, and a workforce that feel valued and motivated.

In this Seminar, Elaine will present our journey so far and share experiences to date working with the Housing Department using the Continuous Improvement Process and ‘Lean Toolkit’. She will reflect on the old way, lessons learned, and detail the new collaborative approach which creates better services for users and citizens. Jon will present how he introduced the Continuous Improvement Process to the Planning Department of Waterford City and Council as part of his MBA Action Research Project (ARP). He will share his experiences and demonstrate how good stakeholder engagement was used to empower staff, create a Standard Operating Procedure, and deliver a solution that was adopted across the department.

This book has just been written by Liam Murphy, who is a native of Waterford. The book will be launched in the Book Centre in Waterford at around 6.30pm on Friday 2 November.

The book deals with those Waterford merchants who were forced to leave Waterford by the new Cromwellian authorities in the 1650s because they had lost their rights to trade and to hold civic positions in the city. The book is based on sources in English, French and Spanish and deals with the subsequent careers of these emigrant merchants and their families and descendants in the port cities of France, Spain and the Spanish Netherlands. Some of them became very successful such as John Aylward, who lived in Málaga, St Malo and London.

Other successful merchants were Juan Murphy and Tomás Quilty who both also lived in Málaga, and Bernardo Valais (Walsh) who settled in Tenerife. Eustaquio Barron made so much money in Mexico that he was able to go on a two-year holiday in Europe with his family. Two of the descendants of these Waterford merchants became Cardinals, namely Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman and Cardinal Merry del Val, who were both born in Seville. Another descendant, José Blanco White, was a well-known writer and changed his religion twice, while María Gertrudis Hore, who was described as the most beautiful woman in the Cádiz of her day was a leading woman writer in Spain in the eighteenth century.

Antoine Walsh and Pierre-Joseph Lincoln were slave-traders in Nantes, and Antoine Walsh also brought Bonnie Prince Charlie to Scotland for the 1745 Jacobite uprising there. Nicolas Geraldino (Fitzgerald) from Cádiz commanded the Spanish flagship in the Spanish-Franco victory over the British fleet at Toulon during the War of the Austrian Succession. Luis Power of Bilbao was an officer in the Spanish army and he died alongside his cannon defending the city against the invading French troops.

There are many other interesting characters also discussed in this book, which should prove of particular interest to those who like reading about these old Waterford families.

Winterval, the largest Christmas festival in Ireland, is to feature over 60 free and ticketed events across Waterford city as part of an exciting new programme for 2018. Launching its programme today (22 October), Winterval will run from 17 November to 23 December. For more information on Winterval, Ireland’s Christmas Capital, visit www.winterval.ie.

Attracting over 500,000 visitors each year, Waterford city will be transformed into a magical winter wonderland for the duration of Winterval. New attractions for 2018 include Enchanted Christmas, a brand-new Santa experience at the Old Postal Sorting Centre and the free  12 Days of Christmas attraction, taking place across Waterford city. Twelve events — from spoken word to street theatre — will run during the Festival, each representing a gift from the iconic Christmas song. Details of each event for  12 Days of Christmas will be revealed in advance on  www.winterval.ie, Winterval’s social media platforms, and the Winterval app.

Newly appointed Winterval Festival Director, Tommie Ryan said: “We’re delighted to present the new jam-packed programme for the seventh annual Winterval festival. Along with new attractions, we welcome back some family favourites such as Winterval Illuminates, the Christmas light show on Cathedral Square.

“There will also be fantastic markets, selfie stations, the Winterval Express Train and Sleigh, and a 600sqm ice rink at the Waterside carpark with Winterval on Ice. To top it off, this year there is a wonderful new Christmas attraction by the award-winning Waterford street arts and spectacle company, Spraoi, at Wyse Park. Full details of what to expect from Spraoi will be revealed in the coming weeks.”

Tommie added: “We have set out this year to acknowledge and celebrate what makes Christmas truly special — the creation of unforgettable memories with plenty of festive magic.”  

The 2018 Winterval Festival kicks off on 17 November from 4pm with the arrival of Santa and International Rose of Tralee, Kirsten Mate Maher, at John Roberts Square for the turning on of the city’s lights at 5pm.

Other highlights include the return of the Waterford Eye, the iconic Big Wheel on Merchants Quay. A VIP experience on the attraction is available, which includes warm blankets, chocolates and prosecco, or non-alcoholic fizz for children’s groups.

A giant post box for Santa letters, situated at The Applemarket, will see free special performances from the Waterford Academy of Music and Arts every Saturday and Sunday afternoon during the festival.

Other performances include  Handel’s Messiah, performed by the City of Dublin Chamber Orchestra and the Notable Works Chorus at St John’s Church on 2 December; a free Lions Club Christmas Carol Service at the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity on 15 December, and two special concerts at City Hall on 17 November and 17 December.

For charities, Waterford Rotary Club Memorial Christmas Tree Appeal will support Waterford Hospice on John Roberts Square. At the Cartamundi Giving Tree at Georges Court Shopping Centre, for every homemade decoration hung, a donation of a toy to the St Vincent de Paul will be made by Cartamundi, the leading Waterford-based games manufacturer.

Tommie added: “Every year, sponsors, stakeholders, local businesses, volunteers and the general public rally behind Winterval, to make this magical festival possible. Through their support, they have made Winterval the leading Christmas festival in Ireland.”

For full details, visit www.winterval.ie or see:

Facebook: @WintervalWaterford

Twitter: @Winterval_WAT

Instagram: @winterval_waterford

Join Broadcaster Lorraine Keane and a panel of experts for an evening of “Let’s Talk Hormone Health” supported by Cleanmarine® MenoMin and Full of Beans Health Store

Cleanmarine® MenoMin is delighted to join forces with Full of Beans Health Store to bring an informative evening focusing on women’s hormone health to Waterford. This unique event, which will be hosted by Lorraine Keane, will take place on Wednesday, 24th October 2018 at the Granville Hotel from 7.30pm – 9pm, this is an evening not to miss for every woman over 40!

Every stage of womanhood comes with a new set of hormonal changes and challenges. Get the key information you need to feel capable, confident and empowered to take control of your hormone health! Experts that will be speaking at the event include Dr. Mary Ryan, Consultant Endocrinologist and Sarah Brereton, Nutritional Therapist who will be there to offer advise and information on how best to deal with hormonal changes.

Perimenopause can start as early as 35 and is a transitional time which can last anything between 4 and 10 years prior to menopause where women may suffer from many of the negative symptoms associated with menopause including fatigue, mood swings, weight gain, dull hair and skin and even night time sweats, hot flushes, decreased libido, due to the decrease in oestrogen production.

When we enter the peri-menopause phase it can be very draining on our energy, play havoc with hormones, whist having an effect on the condition of our skin and hair. There is a must have supplement which can help minimise the effects and naturally too. Irish brand, Cleanmarine® MenoMin is a premium quality all-in-one Omega 3, Phytonutrient and Vitamin blend, formulated specifically to give extra nutritional support for peri-menopausal and menopausal women.

Tickets for this unique evening are priced at just €10 each and include refreshments and a goody bag. Secure your place today by booking your ticket with Eventbrite – www.hormonehealth40plus.eventbrite.ie

For more information on the event pop into Full of Beans Health Store today or visit www.cleanmarine.ie. 

Christmas is coming, and this year Christ Church Cathedral has something new for the annual Winterval Festival. Individuals, schools, businesses, charities and shops are being asked to create a Christmas tree.

You can make your tree from socks or books, bottles or ties, your challenge is to be as creative as possible. The trees can be twelve inches to twelve feet tall, once they look like a tree and can be displayed during Winterval at Christ Church Cathedral.

Waterford Christmas Tree Festival will run from 7-15th December 2018 with a wide range of Christmas Trees imaginatively created and decorated by local community groups, youth groups, schools, businesses, artist and craft groups & individuals. We encourage creativity & imagination.

Come visit or be inspired to create your own. Entry forms available at Christ Church Cathedral, Waterford Chamber offices or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The trees will be displayed in Christ Church Cathedral. Come & see all the different concepts. An ideal outing for all the family.

The award-winning artificial intelligence (AI) software firm, Artomatix, has completed a funding round lead by Suir Valley Ventures totalling €2.7m.

The investment will help the Dublin-based firm, whose patented software has been proven to reduce the time needed for expensive 3D art creation by as much as 80%, to accelerate their market delivery worldwide.

Artomatix uses machine learning to radically speed up the slowest part of the scan-based artistic workflow.

Textures and backgrounds in 3D game-space have been radically enhanced by scan-based design, and photogrammetry is fast becoming the gold standard for high-end 3D content in games, movies, industrial prototyping and interior design.

End results of photogrammetry can, however, take months or even years to deliver, and requires significant investment.

The hotly anticipated remake of cult classic game Resident Evil 2 from Capcom has been in development since 2015.

The game uses scans of real world clothing to ensure movie-quality textures and finishes.

Artomatix uses neural-nets to reduce the time needed to handle many aspects of the scan-based artistic workflow.

Their software has been exciting 3D artists at AAA Studios around the globe, who took note when NVIDIA awarded the firm $100K and the label of most promising start-up in 2015.

Since then, it has been further developing its software and building its client base, now focusing on using the funds of €2.7m to accelerate market delivery worldwide.

Artomatix CEO, Joe Blake, said: "The really exciting thing for me is to see how 3D design concepts pioneered in the entertainment space have become standard for product design and visualisation within mainstream industries like fashion, furniture and automotive."

Suir Valley Ventures Managing Partner, Barry Downes, said: "We believe Artomatix not only complements our existing portfolio, it also allows us to access the new convergence of 3D design and AI. Artomatix technology is about to change every industry exposed to 3D content, cutting costs, speeding up the rendering process and enabling the creation of truly groundbreaking graphics."

Waterford Institute of Technology’s (WIT) recently published Strategic Plan makes special provision for the Irish language and strongly supports Co Waterford’s Gaeltacht na nDéise.

Dr Richard Hayes, Vice President for Strategy at WIT, said the institute was keen to ensure particular reference to Gaeltacht na nDéise and to WIT’s activities there in its new strategy.

“It is a strong mark of regional distinctiveness that we have a Gaeltacht in Waterford,” he said. “We are very strongly committed to supporting the regional Gaeltacht and are keen to build on existing successful partners into the future.”

An example of existing joint activity is WIT’s collaboration with Nemeton TV in An Rinn which has been beneficial to the community, the language and partner organisations within the television, media and related industries.  The postgraduate Higher Diploma in Arts in Television and Digital Media Production, developed by WIT and Nemeton TV in partnership with Údarás na Gaeltachta, has been successfully preparing new media talent since 2006 and is widely recognised within the industry for the quality of training graduates receive. The year-long course is designed to provide students with the essential practical skills in order to work as bilingual professionals in the television and digital video industry. Graduates to date have gone on to play key roles in the broadcast media and film industries in Ireland.

According to Course Leader Moira Sweeney, “The participants on the course benefit from learning in both an academic setting and a live television production environment. The collaboration between Nemeton TV and WIT ensures that the course stays abreast of the growth in new technologies”.

According to Dr Hayes WIT plans to create another course to be delivered entirely through Irish in the coming number of years as well as to extend opportunities for staff and students to study the language.

“We will be working with all the partners in An Rinn to bring additional activity to the region. The model we have with Nemeton has been enormously successful and has been industry leading. We would like to continue to assist in attracting talented, creative people to the region by offering these kinds of cutting-edge courses.”

Dr Hayes also notes that Irish becomes an official working language of the EU in 2022, and in July there were more than 70 European Union translator roles in Brussels and Luxembourg advertised.

WIT offers Irish as a language option on a number of undergraduate courses such as Bachelor of Business (Honours) in Business; Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Psychology; and Bachelor of Arts (Hons).

WIT’s Strategy 2018-2021 was published earlier this summer and indicates that WIT plans to be within the Top 100 universities under 50 years old in the world by 2030 through the Technological University process.

Sean Burke from Enterprise Ireland, the National Contact Point for the H2020 SME Instrument and Fast Track to Innovation(FTI) is holding an Information Session in Arclabs, Waterford Institute of Technology on Tuesday, 16th October @ 10.00am in the Boardroom, Arclabs, Carriganore.

This is a great opportunity to learn more about these two Instruments which are specifically designed to support SMEs and engagement between SMEs and Research Centres. More details on each programme below. To register your attendance please email Philomena Treacy on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

SME Instrument

Funding and support for innovative Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)

Are you an innovative, high-flying small or medium-sized business with European and global ambitions? Are you looking for substantial funding to develop and scale up your idea? And could you make use of business development resources and coaching to take your company forward? Then the SME Instrument is for you.

Who should apply? 

We are looking for high growth, highly innovative SMEs with global ambitions. You should be actively investing in innovation, and looking to grow. You should have been established for a while – further than the start-up stage.

EIC Fast Track to Innovation (FTI)

Supports close-to-market innovation activities

The Fast Track to innovation (FTI) scheme targets radically new, breakthrough products, services, processes or business models that open up new markets. It is a fully-bottom-up measure in Horizon 2020 promoting close-to-the-market innovation activities that is open to all types of participants. FTI aims to reduce the time from idea to market and aims to nurture trans-disciplinary and cross-sector approaches.  It offers up to €3 million to consortia composed of 3 to 5 partners (including research centres and SMEs) with time-to-grant (from the cut-off to the signature of the grant) of around 6 months.  The participating SMEs also have access to free business coaching and acceleration services.

Proposals for the Fast Track to Innovation scheme can be submitted at any time with 3 cut off dates per year.