News
1.1
Enterprise Challenge: Guest Speaker
4th March 2026
Dr Con Kennedy was a guest speaker for the final-year students on the TU981 BA (Hons) Creative Digital Media Students programme at the TU Dublin Blanchardstown campus. The students were engaged in their Enterprise Challenge module, which focuses on entrepreneurship and innovation management skills vital to future-proofing their careers. Dr Kennedy spoke about his career spanning 3 decades in the design industry and design education.
1.2
National Student Survey
18th February 2026
Dr Con Kennedy has joined the TU Dublin Working Group on the National Student Engagement Survey. This group was founded under the Academic Quality Assurance and Enhancement framework as a sub-committee of the Academic Council.
The purpose of this Working Group is to promote the National Student Survey (www.studentsurvey.ie) and maximise the response rate, so that the University receives data representative of the student body and can utilise it to enhance the student experience on taught programmes. To develop an action plan to ensure impact from the feedback provided by students on their engagement during their programmes of study.
The Working Group will:
Develop a promotion strategy for the Student Engagement Survey which utilises HEA promotional resources to encourage students to complete the survey and staff to support its completion
Consider how to distribute Student Survey Merchandise across TU Dublin campuses
Consider how best to disseminate survey responses across the university
Develop a draft action plan to address key trends and issues arising from the response
Consider how to maximise the impact of student feedback provided through this survey
The Working Group will submit a final report to the Academic Quality Assurance & Enhancement Committee, including recommendations for future survey cycles and a suggested action plan to address key trends and issues arising from the responses. The Group will complete its work during both the 2025/2026 and 2026/2027 academic terms.
1.3
Ellenfield Community College Visit
12th February 2026
Dr Con Kennedy has returned to Ellenfield Community College and has spoken with first- and second-year Junior Certificate students. As part of a visit to Ms Hayes' art class, Dr Kennedy gave a presentation on potential career opportunities in the creative sectors and study options at the TU Dublin School of Art and Design.
1.4
Design Principles and Practices; Design Tolerances 2027
26th January 2026
The Twenty-First Common Ground Research Networks International Conference on Design Principles & Practices will be hosted by TU Dublin School of Art and Design, 10-12 March 2027.
The theme of the conference is Design Tolerances, reflecting Ireland’s enduring commitment to dialogue and diversity. Design Tolerances will examine this delicate balance seen across the entire design landscape, from an idea to materiality, from systems to trust, from information to collective space through social and cultural contexts, and from the crafted to the technical or conceptual design interventions. Design Tolerances 2027 reflects Ireland’s enduring commitment to dialogue and diversity. Here, tolerance is not only a social value but a creative principle; visible in how communities balance heritage with innovation, information and language, and craft with technology.
Dr Kennedy is part of the organising committee along with Dr Aija Freimane (Chair), Ceri Almrot, Brenda Dermody, Brenda Duggan, and Benjamin Readman.
You can find out more about the conference here, and the call for papers here.
1.5
TU Dublin Learning, Teaching and Assessment Showcase 2026
23rd January 2026
Dr Con Kennedy will participate in a teaching practitioner panel discussion at the TU Dublin LTA Showcase 2026. The theme for this year’s showcase is “Teaching that Connects”. Dr Kennedy will be discussing the continued importance of retaining relational teaching through studio-based learning and the connection between student learning and emergent technologies.
1.6
Design Management Institute ADMC Reviewer
18th January 2026
Dr Con Kennedy has been appointed as a reviewer for the 2026 DMI Academic Design Management Conference (ADMC), to be held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, from August 11-12, 2026.
1.7
Centre for Entrepreneurial Behaviour, Inclusion and Innovation
19th November 2025
Dr Con Kennedy has joined the Centre for Entrepreneurial Behaviour, Inclusion and Innovation (CEBII), a new research centre at TU Dublin, founded by Professor Thomas Cooney. CEBII's purpose is to enhance the entrepreneurial and innovative capabilities of individuals, organisations and countries through excellence in research, dissemination and advocacy.
The CEBII will advance academic research across the fields of entrepreneurial behaviour, inclusion in entrepreneurship, innovation in entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship policy and ecosystem development, education and training, global and comparative studies and impact measurement and evaluation.
CEBII have developed the following terms of reference:
Entrepreneurship Education and Training
Research Excellence and Visibility
Global Partnerships and Recognition
PhD Development
Funding and Sustainability
Entrepreneurship Events and Conferences
The CEBII prioritises the dissemination of research to wide-ranging audiences and the advocacy of regulatory and legislative changes to support entrepreneurship. The goals of the CEBII are supported by a globally networked, cross-disciplinary body of researchers from TU Dublin.
1.8
Dr Con Kennedy Appointed Reviewer for Elevate at IADT
10th November 2025
Dr Con Kennedy will review IADT Elevate Post-Doctoral research grant applications delivered through the TU RISE Programme.
Elevate is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union through the ERDF Southern, Eastern & Midland Regional Programme 2021-27.
1.9
TU Dublin School of Art and Design Celebrates Outstanding Success at the 2025 IDI Graduate Awards
17th October 2025
TU Dublin School of Art and Design students have once again demonstrated exceptional creativity and innovation at this year’s IDI Graduate Awards, held at MTU. They earned recognition across multiple disciplines and took home several major prizes, including the prestigious Grand Prix Award.
Visual Communications Design graduate Ruby Aron won the overall Grand Prix Award, in addition to receiving top honours for her typography project Tree Text and a Highly Commended for Cneasú don Gaeilge.
In the digital and experimental categories, Nicole Preece secured two category wins for her project Automated Affection, while Dan Kinlay’s Lissajous: An Audiovisual Experience received Highly Commended in Experimental Design and Commended in Design for Moving Image.
Recognition also went to Tom Whitfield, who won Product Design for his project Synapse Socket 1, and to students Genevieve Carolan and Sarah Marica, who both achieved Highly Commended in Design Research – Written.
Further commendations were awarded to Lenny Sanches, Aoife Roche, Nicole Preece, Oisín McPhillips, Katie Condren, Praise Akintokun, and Niamh Fanning, reflecting the depth and diversity of talent across the TU Dublin School of Art and Design’s creative programmes.
This year’s results underline TU Dublin’s continued strength in design education and celebrate the university’s commitment to fostering critical, socially engaged design practices.
TU Dublin School of Art and Design 2025 IDI Graduate Award Winners and Commended Students:
GRAND PRIX – Winner
Ruby Aron – Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin School of Art and Design)
BOOK DESIGN – Highly Commended
Cneasú don Gaeilge – Ruby Aron
TYPOGRAPHIC DESIGN – Winner
Tree Text – Ruby Aron
TYPOGRAPHIC DESIGN – Highly Commended
Cneasú don Gaeilge – Ruby Aron
TYPOGRAPHIC DESIGN – Commended
The Cacophony Prevents Us From Singing – Niamh Fanning
DESIGN FOR DIGITAL – Winner
Automated Affection – Nicole Preece
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN – Winner
Automated Affection – Nicole Preece
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN – Highly Commended
Lissajous: An Audiovisual Experience – Dan Kinlay
DESIGN FOR MOVING IMAGE – Commended
Lissajous: An Audiovisual Experience – Dan Kinlay
Spiral succession. Selective silence. – Lenny Sanches
Into the Foxgrove – Aoife Roche
PRODUCT DESIGN – Winner
Synapse Socket 1 – Tom Whitfield
GAMES DESIGN – Commended
Chrono Connect – Oisín McPhillips
ILLUSTRATION – Commended
Nocturnal Singers – Nicole Preece
INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN – Commended
The Cloisters Kinsale – Luxury Events and Conference Venue – Katie Condren
The L’Oréal Hub: Corporate Headquarters and Experiential Flagship – Praise Akintokun
DESIGN RESEARCH – Written – Highly Commended
Marketing The Imperial Premier League: English Football Jerseys and the Conquering of the Global Everyday – Genevieve Carolan
The ESB Head Office Building Redevelopment: Biophilic Design and Urbanisation in Dublin – Sarah Marica
TYPOGRAPHIC DESIGN – Commended
The Cacophony Prevents Us From Singing – Niamh Fanning
A huge CONGRATULATIONS to the winners and highly commended, commended and shortlisted entries of the IDI Graduate Awards 2025!
Winning TU Dublin School of Art and Design Graduates: Nicole Preece and Ruby Aron.
TU Dublin School of Art and Design Graduate Exhibition 2025
15th May 2025
Opens daily: 30th May – 5th June, 10:00am – 5:00pm (closed Sunday, but will re-open bank holiday Monday)
Location: The East Quad building, TU Dublin, Grangegorman, D07 XFF2.
This is the fourth year that we have hosted our exhibition at the East Quad, the creative and cultural hub in the heart of TU Dublin’s Grangegorman Campus. The East Quad is home to our state-of-the-art new studios, workshops, practice, and performance spaces.
The exhibition is the highlight of the academic year for students and staff. It features an exciting, innovative range of work from over 200 degree students from our programmes in Fine Art, Product Design (in partnership with the School of Mechanical Engineering), Interior and Furniture Design, Visual Merchandising, Visual Communication Design, Creative Industries and Visual Culture, Film and Broadcasting, Game Design, Photography, and Journalism.
This year, we are also joined by the TU Dublin Conservatoire, which will host performances from Music graduates and screenings of Drama and Opera.
The work presented in this exhibition, print publication and on our GradX website represents the culmination of many years of full-time study. It allows our students to showcase the results of their imaginations, hard work and significant creative skills.
1.10
