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The Machine: A computer science education podcast

The Machine: A computer science education podcast

By Rob O'Connor

Faculty and students from the South East Technology University (SETU) Ireland explore a wide range of topics related to computing and technology. Hosted by Rob O'Connor.

All opinions are personal and do not represent University views.
Currently playing episode

COVID-19 Treatment Research at WIT

The Machine: A computer science education podcastMay 19, 2020

00:00
37:44
Indrakshi Dey - Autonomous Systems and Artificial Intelligence
Mar 14, 202446:56
Nuria Oliver - Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Addressing Imbalances
Mar 07, 202455:45
Jobs in Computing (Live Panel Discussion)

Jobs in Computing (Live Panel Discussion)

Here's a live panel discussion we recently hosted at SETU, in which a bunch of computing professionals talked about what it's like to work in the tech sector in Ireland. This took place in front of approx. 200 Leaving Cert students, tied in with Computing Week at SETU. If you're a student or someone who's interested in starting a career in IT, this discussion might be very useful. The panel is comprised of:

  • Padraig O’Neill – UNUM
  • Sinead Queally – VoxGig
  • Mick O’Brien – Kargo
  • Donna Tilson – Sun Life
  • Brendan O’Farrell – Red Hat
  • Amanda Freeman-Gater - SETU

Please excuse the poor audio in places. This was held as a live event and not a podcast. However, there were some great nuggets of info in there so we decided it was better to get it out there, warts and all.


Feb 20, 202435:06
Building a Local Large Language Model (LLM)
Feb 08, 202451:31
How AI is changing the ICT work environment
Feb 07, 202447:12
Quantum Computing and Quantum Communications

Quantum Computing and Quantum Communications

Don't know your q-bits from your bytes? This is the podcast for you! Quantum Computing is one of the next-gen technologies that can truly usher in a new era in computing. Quantum Communications has the potential to provide a truly secure infrastructure for communications across small or vast distances. Deirdre Kilbane (Director of Research at the Walton Institute) joined Rob O'Connor in the studio to talk about all of this and the recent announcement of a large research investment in Ireland QCI (Quantum Communications Infrastructure). Deirdre breaks down some of the theoretical elements in an easy to understand manner and lays out the practical applications for this technology across Europe (and beyond).


For more information on Ireland QCI, check out this web story https://waltoninstitute.ie/projects/ireland-qci For more information on Deirdre Kilbane, check out her profile https://waltoninstitute.ie/about/staff/dr-deirdre-kilbane Stay up to date with The Machine podcast by following us on Twitter @machine_podcast

May 05, 202337:21
ChatGPT and AI in the Classroom w/ Hazel Farrell and Pete Windle
Mar 27, 202348:44
Red Hat Academy w/ Brendan O'Farrell & Leigh Griffin
Nov 28, 202201:04:16
3D Printing and AMASE
Jun 30, 202231:30
Wireless Comms on the Farm ... and Mars?
Jun 23, 202234:55
Religion & Video Games (with Frank Bosman)
Jun 16, 202243:09
I Wish I Knew Then What I Know Now (II)

I Wish I Knew Then What I Know Now (II)

A rerun of an episode we published a few years back - Rob sat down with some final year students who'd just completed their undergraduate degree. He asked them to reflect on their time studying in Waterford, highlight the areas of computing they liked most/least and also offer advice to their 1st year-selves. The students in the room were Ciaran Malone (Games Development), Dimitri Saradakis (Applied Computing) and Erinn Whitty (Internet of Things).

Jun 09, 202246:33
StudyAtHome with Martin Deinhofer and Brendan Jackman
Jun 02, 202233:18
Learning Your Second Programming Language

Learning Your Second Programming Language

To kick off a short season at the end of the academic year, Eamonn Deleastar and Siobhan Drohan joined Rob O'Connor in the studio to discuss issues around learning your second (or third!) programming language. They touched on the the programming language family tree, how tools and tech have changed over the years and identified some programming trends to watch out for in the coming few years. 

May 26, 202232:29
From There To Here: 50-Odd Years of WIT

From There To Here: 50-Odd Years of WIT

A documentary tracing the 50+ years history of Waterford Institute of Technology, from its initial creation as Waterford Regional technical College in 1970, through to its re-designation as the South East Technological University in 2022. The documentary features a number of voices including: Caroline Corcoran; Willie Donnelly; Ray Griffin Sr & Ray Griffin Jr; Mary Lacey; Venie Martin; Denis Moran; Marie Morrissey (RIP); Anne Phelan; Jim Phelan; Tony Whelan; Liz White. It also contains some music performed by Joe Phelan and Dave’s List.

May 03, 202201:13:44
Update and Introducing 9plus (Female Researchers)
Mar 08, 202241:29
Automotive Computing
Nov 26, 202145:38
Mícheál Ó'Foghlú (Google Engineering Director, Core Developer unit)
Nov 03, 202159:53
The Internet of Things

The Internet of Things

Continuing our explorations of sub-topics of Computer Science, WIT lecturer Frank Walsh and student Dominik Wawak joined Rob O'Connor in the studio to discuss the Internet of Things. The discussed some samples projects, the technologies involved, how it all fits together and where it might be going. There is also a conversation about beer - as Frank used a homemade IoT setup to help him brew his own!


Oct 19, 202149:14
What is Cloud Computing?
Oct 11, 202144:43
What 3rd Level Needs To Know About 2nd Level Computer Science

What 3rd Level Needs To Know About 2nd Level Computer Science

An unexpected episode for the academic year 2020/21. What does 3rd Level need to know about Leaving Cert Computer Science? This podcast is an edited live recording from the ACM SIGCSE Eire’s annual meeting (held on Zoom). The panel is comprised of Keith Quille (TU Dublin), Brett Becker (UCD), Siobhan Drohan (WIT) and is chaired by Machine host Rob O’Connor. Towards the end of the panel chat, there’s contributions from audience members. Thanks for listening this year and we’ll be back in September!

Jun 23, 202101:02:10
Leaving Cert Computer Science & more with Brett Becker
Apr 22, 202101:00:39
Gianluca Wants a Record Player

Gianluca Wants a Record Player

A different episode to our normal programming. 'Gianluca Wants a Record Player' is a documentary that follows an Applied Computing student's quest to get into vinyl music. What is so appealing about vinyl? Who’s listening to the format? Does it really sound better than music streaming services like Spotify? What gear should Gianluca buy? Should he even make a purchase at all?

This piece was originally broadcast on Beat 102-103 on 4th April 2021 (Easter Sunday)

Apr 05, 202155:17
Final Year Projects & The Sun Life Awards

Final Year Projects & The Sun Life Awards

Final Year Projects are one of the most exciting (and daunting!) parts of an undergraduate degree. WIT have a close relationship with Sun Life, a multinational company with a strong presence in Waterford and who also sponsor a number of awards for final year computing students. To talk about all of this on the podcast, we had Lucy White computing lecturer at WIT, Shane Corbett of Sun Life and Jonathan Gillespie, a recent graduate from WIT and winner of a Sun Life Award.

Mar 26, 202142:44
Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality
Mar 19, 202151:15
The Walton Institute and ICT Research at WIT

The Walton Institute and ICT Research at WIT

In March of 2021, the TSSG (tssg.org) will rebrand as The Walton Institute. Rob spoke with co-directors Sasi Balasubramaniam and Kevin Doolin about the change is taking place, the shift in focus of ICT (Information & Communication Technology) research over the past 20 years and what this means for the South East region as a whole. The conversation touches on cross discipline research subjects such as agri-tech, neurological modelling and artificial intelligence, we well as working with SMEs in the region. Up until now, the TSSG has been one of the most successful research groups in Europe. This podcast should give you an insight as to how it's all put together and where they plan to go in the future.


Mar 05, 202148:03
Work Placements & Internships

Work Placements & Internships

Despite the ongoing COVID situation, work placements and internships are still going ahead in the tech industry. Rob spoke with three stakeholders to get different perspectives on how things have been proceeding. James Richardson is a final year computing student at WIT who completed his placement with Red Hat (https://www.redhat.com)last year, during the first phases of the pandemic. David Ryan of TSSG (http://www.tssg.org) gave the employer’s perspective on interns are managed and mentored, during COVID times and normal times. Finally Tracy Murphy, the work placement manager in the Dept. Of Computing & Mathematics at WIT (https://www.wit.ie) was on hand to provide the academic viewpoint and “bigger picture” view.

James kept an insightful blog about his journey from serving in the US Navy to studying in WIT, to interning in Red Hat here which you can read here -> https://medium.com/@jamricha

Feb 19, 202156:12
Christmas Recommendations

Christmas Recommendations

Ho ho ho! Five of the regular podcast hosts from WIT got together to record a joint episode recommending some books, TV programmes, films, podcasts and tech that you (or a loved one) might enjoy over the Christmas period. Features Jenny O’Connor from The Nerve, Bruce Wardrop from Win Win, Niamh Maguire from Engendering Change, Tom Grinsell from WIT Talks Student Life and Rob O’Connor of The Machine.

A very Happy Christmas to all our listeners.

Recommendation Notes:

Bruce Wardrop

Niamh Maguire

Tom Grinsell

Jenny O’Connor

Rob O’Connor

Extra Notes:

Dec 16, 202042:19
Developer Stories: Rocketship Park Games w/ Shane McCafferty
Dec 04, 202043:53
SEE Space Network
Nov 20, 202054:54
A Beginner's Guide To Cybersecurity

A Beginner's Guide To Cybersecurity

We have three IT security and forensics experts in the virtual studio for this episode! Rob knows next to nothing about cybersecurity so was able to honestly ask questions like "what is a denial of service attack?' and "how does encryption work?." Thankfully Judy Kelly (Security Architect with Red Hat), Jimmy McGibney and John Sheppard (both Lecturers from WIT) were on hand to provide the answers. It also includes some practical hints and tips on how you can best protect your personal data and devices. If you're searching for a starting place to understand computer security, look no further ...

Nov 13, 202001:01:22
Developer Stories: COVIDTracker App
Nov 06, 202001:23:32
Online Learning: The Student Perspective

Online Learning: The Student Perspective

A companion piece to our last episode, this time Rob is speaking with two computing students - Sinead O'Neill (2nd year Computer Forensics & Security) and Dimitri Saradakis (3rd Year Applied Computing) - about their views on the online teaching and learning situation we find ourselves in.
Oct 12, 202027:58
Online Learning: The Lecturer Perspective

Online Learning: The Lecturer Perspective

Rob O'Connor discusses the new academic year with Colm Dunphy and Siobhan Drohan and the shift from on-campus to remote teaching and learning. They discuss some things they enjoy and dislike, some tools they find useful and outline other observations and tips.

Oct 09, 202045:41
COVID-19 Treatment Research at WIT

COVID-19 Treatment Research at WIT

Following on from our previous episode, here's a discussion about two more Covid19 projects that are being actively worked on during the lockdown by researchers from TSSG at WIT. Rob chats with Director of Research at TSSG Sasitharan Balasubramaniam along with Dixon Vimalajeewa and Bruna Fonesca to discuss "Treating Lung Tissue Damage due to COVID-19" and "Molecular Communication modelling of COVID-19 in the Respiratory System", projects that are collaborations with the PMBRC research group at WIT, Teagasc, the University of Tampere (Finland) and Rochester Institute of Technology (USA).

The conversation goes off on a bit of a tangent about data sets, molecular computing, remote working and some other subjects. Please excuse the glitchy sound quality in places - obviously, due to the Covid19 lockdown this podcast was recorded remotely.

May 19, 202037:44
Technology vs COVID-19 from WIT Research

Technology vs COVID-19 from WIT Research

Applying their expertise in information communications technology (ICT), researchers from TSSG at WIT are working to develop both short as well as long term solutions for COVID-19. Rob O'Connor spoke with Frances Cleary and Stepan Ivanov of TSSG to discuss some of their projects including 1) ensuring social distancing though wearables 2) blockchain based certification of public health policies 3) clinical data as a service software platform and 4) contact quotas to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Details on these projects (and more) can be found on www.tssg.org and www.wit.ie.

Please excuse the sound quality in places. This podcast was recorded remotely over low-bandwidth internet connections.

May 01, 202051:19
Research at WIT

Research at WIT

Mark White (VP for Research & Innovation) and Kathryn Kiely (Industry Services Manager) spoke with Rob about research activities at WIT. What kind of work goes on? How important is it to the Institute? What does it mean for students? What does it mean for SMEs? Recorded remotely during the Covid19 lockdown.

Apr 17, 202043:38
Danny O'Dwyer (NoClip)

Danny O'Dwyer (NoClip)

Rob and podcast regular Colm Dunphy sat down with former student Danny O'Dwyer, now well known across d'internet for the documentaries he's created at NoClip and his work in the world of video games journalism. They discuss Danny's journey from student to web developer to games journalist to media entrepreneur. Danny was in WIT to chat with current students about the game dev industry and then facilitated a seminar for faculty about crafting digital stories. Thanks to the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (https://www.teachingandlearning.ie) for funding this seminar. 

You can find all of Danny's documentaries at http://youtube.com/noclipvideo 

Feb 07, 202040:16
Alternative Nativity Play

Alternative Nativity Play

As a special Christmas treat, we present a radio nativity play which was produced by computing students from WIT back in 2012, made in conjunction with Beat 102-103. It was shortlisted for a number of radio awards at the time and always raises a smile from Rob when he listens. It's a fairly irreverent retelling of the famous story, so if you're easily offended please switch off now. 


The bulk of the work was carried out by four students (in 2012!) who are now all working away with their own careers. We won't name names, but everyone involved should be proud of this work. It's mighty craic, as long as you don't take it too seriously. You might also recognise a few other familiar voices in there if you're an avid radio listener in Ireland. Hope you enjoy and a wishing all our listeners a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year!

Dec 23, 201924:35
FAQ on Computing at WIT

FAQ on Computing at WIT

WIT has an Open Day coming up for prospective students. We thought it'd be a good to publish a podcast answering some of the frequently asked questions we're regularly asked about computing courses at WIT. We gathered a collection of Course Leaders from various programmes to have a chat with Rob O'Connor: Mary Lyng [BSc Software Systems Development]; Mairead Meagher [BSc (Hons) Applied Computing]; John Sheppard [BSc (Hons) Computer Forensics & Security]; Sinead O'Riordan [BSc Multimedia Applications Development and BSc (Hons) Creative Computing] and TJ McDonald [BSc Information Technology]. Details about these courses and more information about the Dept. of Computing & Mathematics can be found at https://bit.ly/33agj20 

Nov 20, 201942:17
Student Experience of Online Learning

Student Experience of Online Learning

Two students of the HDip in Computer Science at WIT were drafted in to describe their experiences of being a student on a totally online programme. Sarah Barron and Bernard Thompson were very generous and forthcoming with their answers! Also on hand were lecturing staff Eamonn de Leastar and Colm Dunphy to give the experience from a teaching perspective.

Nov 08, 201944:53
How The Internet Works
Oct 11, 201934:21
Teaching Kids To Code
Oct 04, 201948:14
Tips On Buying a Computer

Tips On Buying a Computer

We've all gotten questions like "what laptop should I buy?", "any recommendations for a computer?" or "is this a good deal for a PC?" The short answer to all those questions is  "it depends!" Host Rob O'Connor goes through some of the considerations you should make when thinking about buying a new laptop/desktop/computer. The panel go through some of the headline specs of machines and then some other aspects that aren't always apparent to the novice techie.

Sep 13, 201949:03
I Wish I Knew Then What I Know Now
May 17, 201932:28
Tech News Roundup - Global Tech Workers, Myspace Data Breach and Google Stadia
Mar 22, 201943:32
Women in Tech

Women in Tech

Four women chat about how they began their careers in computing & technology. Features Phil Healy (Irish Athlete and postgraduate computing student at WIT), Aisling Furlong (digital media consultant with Glanbia), Mairead Meagher (computing lecturer at WIT) and Judy O'Brien (final year student of Computer Forensics & Security). Hosted by Rob O'Connor.
Mar 07, 201949:52
Bluffer's Guide To Artificial Intelligence

Bluffer's Guide To Artificial Intelligence

Ahead of the AI2 Applied Artificial Intelligence (www.ai2.ie) conference taking place in Kilkenny this week, Rob sat down with Glen Collins (Conference Director) and Susan Gallagher (Engineers Ireland) to chat about some of the main technical issues surrounding AI in 2019. What is Machine Learning? How computationally intensive is it? Will AI take all our jobs? (No!)

Feb 27, 201933:00
Technology Enhanced Learning

Technology Enhanced Learning

How can technology assist in the learning experience? How have these systems evolved over the years? What kind of access opportunities to education can they provide? A very interesting discussion on this episode of the podcast between Laura Widger and Pete Windle of the Centre for Technology Enhanced Learning (CTEL) at WIT, Emma Fahey a 3rd year computing student and our host, Rob O’Connor.

Feb 15, 201951:22
Evolution of Mobile App Development

Evolution of Mobile App Development

How did we get here from there? Rob O'Connor is joined by podcast regulars Siobhan Drohan and Eamonn De Leastar  along with Jason Blood and Padraig Howlin of Distilled (DoneDeal, Daft.ie and Adverts.ie) to discuss how developing apps for mobile has changed from the early 2000s up to the present day. WAP and J2ME, evolving to iOS and Android platforms, eventually getting to the newer languages such as Swift and Kotlin and their associated toolsets. The panel also discuss the as-yet-unrealised goal of cross-platform development. Finally, Rob gets some cooking analogies in there too ...

Feb 01, 201943:24