Braving Dublin’s blustery weather today (a mix of winds, snow flurries, and showers that would make my blizard-ravaged friends back in the USA weep–for joy), I made a field trip to northwest side of Dublin to visit Dr. Larry McNutt and the Institute of Technology in Blanchardstown (ITB). Larry has expertise in engineering and education–and he does sociological research to boot.

ITB, DIT, and the Institute of Technology in Tallah (ITT) are in the process of merging, with the goal of becoming Ireland’s first Technological University (TU). Larry is part of the “TU4Dublin” team that’s managing the merger.

Today, Larry and I spent a couple of hours discussing ways to improve the experience for third-level learners (i.e., college students). We both aim to make higher education more interesting and effective by helping post-secondary teachers hone their skills in teaching.

Before our meeting, Larry gave me a tour of ITB, an energy-efficient campus constructed since 1999. Because the focus of my PhD dissertation was green buildings constructed by post-secondary institutions in the USA, I was quite interested in seeing the design of the ITB campus and its individual buildings.
I also enjoyed discussing:
*educational improvement initiatives Larry is involved with.
*the design of various degree programs for teachers and for students.
*hot cross buns (I’d never seen one before today)

It’s a banner day for me when my interests in sustainable architecture, educational planning, and engineering education (plus food!?!) weave together so nicely. Imagine finding a person who can discuss all these topics with ease.

Larry McNutt is such a person. I look forward to bumping into him around TU-Dublin again soon.