TOP ELECTRONICS COMPANY VISITS ABBEY TO SPEAK TO TECHNOLOGY PUPILS

Ms Ann O'Sullivan, Analog Devices presents Mr. Tony Mooney, Head of Technology with his Educator of Excellence Award that he won at the recent Esat BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition to acknowledge the success that his pupils have had at this competition over the last four years, this includes an all expenses paid trip to America.

Mr. Bill Hunt, Analog Devices presents Mr. Dermot McGovern with a framed wall display to be mounted in the school. It showed two different views of a microchip, the actual size and a fascinating image of its internal makeup magnified many times.

The Abbey Technology Department welcome their visitors from Analog Devices. (l-r) Mr. Dermot McGovern, Headmaster, Mr. Bill Hunt, Analog Devices, Mr. Gerard Savage, Technology teacher, Mr. Tom O'Dwyer, Analog Devices, Ms. Ann O'Sullivan, Analog Devices, Mr. John Rath, Senior Teacher and Mr. Tony Mooney, Head of Technology.

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Three high profile Electronics Design Engineers from Analog Devices based in Limerick, took time out of their hectic schedule to travel to Newry to speak to the senior pupils and staff of the Technology Department in the Abbey Grammar School.

Bill Hunt, Director of Technology, Ann O'Sullivan, Wafer Fabrication Manager and Tom O'Dwyer, Design Engineer from the multi-billion dollar company, gave a presentation to 87 GCSE pupils in 4th and 5th year and also to 33 A Level pupils in 6th and 7th year.

Analog Devices has been the primary sponsor of the Technology Category in the Esat BT Young Scientist and Technology exhibition since its inception in 2000.

The 3 visitors have been judges in the Esat BT Young Scientist Technology Exhibition over the last four years. During this period the pupils of the Abbey have entered projects in the Technology Competition and have had success in Junior, Intermediate and Senior sections.

"The Abbey performance over the years has been extraordinarily high and we were keen to learn how it is done," said Bill Hunt. Part of their visit involved a tour of the facilities of the Abbey Technology department and discussions centred around how pupils manufactured their projects and the types of electronic circuitry that exam pupils used to solve the various design problems, especially at A-level. The guests were amazed at the high number of pupils that left the Abbey after their A-levels to follow engineering type courses. 12 out of 31 pupils that completed A-level Technology last year were presently studying engineering at university.

Analog Devices is on the cutting edge of signal processing technology and a world leader in the manufacture and marketing of high performance analog, mixed signal and digital signal processing integrated circuits.

Analog Devices (ADI) founded in 1965 by Ray Stata and Matt Lorber in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. The Limerick division of ADI was opened in 1976. With three centres across the country and approximately 1,400 employees, of whom 700 are technical engineers and scientists. Analog Devices Ireland plays a leading role within the worldwide Analog Devices Incorporated. The company is one of Ireland?s largest and most established. Exciting new products developed in Ireland are marketed all around the world.

Following their long trip from Limerick the electronics experts were welcomed by Mr. Dermot McGovern and the staff of the Technology Department. After lunch Bill Hunt presented the Headmaster with a display to be mounted along the corridor to mark the visit and Ann O'Sullivan presented Mr. Tony Mooney, Head of Technology with The Analog Devices Educator of Excellence Award that he won at last months Esat BT Young Scientist and Technology Competition to acknowledge the success that his pupils have had at this competition over the last four years, this includes an all expenses paid trip to America. Tom O'Dwyer then gave a presentation to the pupils that were studying GCSE or A-level Technology. This included the background to Analog Devices and what they do, career opportunities that are available and what is looked for in university graduates. This was followed by an interesting question and answer session. Pupils asked the experts a range of questions including starting salaries, grades/subjects that would be required at A-level, types of jobs that are required at their company and the opportunity for travel.

Their trip was concluded with a tour of the Technology Block before they began the long journey home.

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