Graduates with skills in advanced spectroscopy, analytical science, instrumentation, calibration and data analytics are highly sought after in the food/pharma/materials manufacturing industries. Job readiness is embedded in this programme through both credit bearing and non-credit bearing modules. Here programme director Professor Aoife Gowen tells us more about this exciting course.
Tell us a little about this diploma being offered at UCD?
This new higher diploma is built on nearly 20 years of expertise in spectroscopy and chemometrics developed in the School of Biosystems and Food Engineering.
This cross-cutting interdisciplinary programme was proposed following a consultation process with industry partners and directly addresses the following priority skills needs for enterprise as identified by the Regional Skills Fora and the National Training Fund advisory group: Advanced Spectroscopy, Good Manufacturing Practice, Quality Management in Food/Biopharma/Pharma/Materials production, Analytical Science, Industrial Instrumentation, Calibration, Statistics, Data Analytics. Big Data, Smart Manufacturing IOT and Industry 4.0.
The programme is full time over three semesters and will allow you to upskill or reskill to work in a company process analytical technology team.
What type of student should consider taking this diploma?
Anyone with a good science, technology or engineering degree (or five years equivalent work experience) will be able to successfully complete this programme.
Comfort working with data and doing fairly basic calculations would be an advantage, though this is part of the learning curve in this programme. If you currently work as a member of a quality control team, or want to move your career in that direction, this programme will be idea for you.
Tell us about the course content and the structure of the master's
All modules will facilitate blended learning, but some real-time attendance in lab sessions will be required in well defined, advance scheduled, coordinated blocks of time.
It will be possible for students to complete about 70% of the programme completely online, without the need to attend campus. However, for those who want to attend campus, students enrolled in the programme are free to attend timetabled face-to-face lectures and lab sessions on campus if they wish.
The programme runs over three trimesters.
Term 1: MATLAB and R for beginners; Data Science for Biopharma Manufacturing (optional); Chemometrics 1; Hyperspectral imaging; Engineering Project Management (optional); Biopharmaceutical Industry Regulation and Management (optional); Carbon Footprinting (optional).
Term 2: Sensors and Sensing Systems; Optical Sensing Technology; Chemometrics 2; IoT enabled AgriFood (optional).
Term 3: Experimental Project.
More information or to apply?
Funded UCD Higher Diploma applications now open through www.springboardcourses.ie or for more information reach out to UCD College of Engineering & Architecture Marketing Manager Katie O’Neill, katie.oneill@ucd.ie.
