15th March 2004

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A unique University of Ulster course in Telecommunications has gained a significant endorsement from one of Northern Ireland’s foremost software consultancy firms.

Asidua Ltd, based in Belfast, has established two annual prizes for the best overall student and best Masters thesis on the Advanced MSc in Telecommunications and Distributed Systems which is run at the University's Coleraine campus.

Announcing the company’s backing for the course, Dr Steve Brankin, Chief Executive of Asidua Ltd, said: “With this course the University of Ulster allows Computer Science and Electronic Engineering students to enter the telecoms sector with a level of experience and skills normally associated with engineering staff with a few years’ experience.”

He added: “While it is true that the sector has had a tough few years since mid-2000, there are definite signs now of robustness and growth in ICT. In Northern Ireland, our universities are fundamental to our innovation, invention and the development of skills and capability and the teaching and research team at Coleraine are playing a significant role in this regard”

“With these foundations, Northern Ireland will continue to be a global player in information technology, telecommunications engineering and the development of technologies and services which will allow more exploitation of the Internet by businesses and domestic consumers globally”.

Commenting on the establishment of the prizes, Professor Gerard Parr, Chair of Telecommunications Engineering, said he was delighted at the linkage between the University and Asidua, a forward looking company at the forefront of technical innovation in the telecommunications industry. “I have a long standing relationship with Asidua and I want to develop our collaboration further in the years ahead”.

The Advanced MSc in Telecommunications and Distributed Systems is the only one of its kind in Ireland and recently has been revised to offer improved opportunities to gain technical skills and enhance job prospects.

Applicants are expected to have a First or Second Class Honours degree in Computing Science/Electrical Engineering or a related discipline, and should be competent programmers. Exceptionally, applicants without these requirements - but with considerable relevant industrial experience - may be considered.

The course is available through full-time (one year) or part-time (three years) study.

The course has a significant international profile for excellence and already has students from Jordan, Thailand, Taiwan, Brazil, USA, Ireland, UK, India, People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong studying the modules and a number of previous graduates have gone on from the course to commence PhD research in topics such as Wireless Communications, GRID Computing and Pro-active High-Speed Network Management.

The course team have developed strong links with the telecommunications industry including important companies such as Asidua, BT, Ericsson, Vodafone, Fujitsu, Sun Microsystems, Cisco, NTT and China Telecom. Further major developments are in the pipeline with institutions in China and the USA.

For further information, please contact:

Press Office Department of Communication and Development
Telephone: 028 9036 6178
Email: pressoffice@ulster.ac.uk