This is a subscriber-only article
IT Tralee will be one of several educational institutions exhibiting at the Irish Farmers Journal’s inaugural careers fair and it will be worthwhile visiting this particular stand.
IT Tralee has significantly developed its offering in recent years and now runs a number of courses linked to the sector, particularly in the area of agri-engineering. The college runs both Level 7 and Level 8 programmes in agricultural engineering, as well as Level 7 and Level 8 programmes in agricultural science.
The ag engineering programmes are fundamentally about design, but also involve a mixture of mechanical and electronic engineering, based on ag machinery. Students will come out of the degree understanding the processes in ag machinery factories.
“These graduates can get jobs in companies like Dairymaster, designing milking machines, for example, or jobs in companies like Keenan’s or in McHales as test engineers, draftsmen and drawing engineers,” explains Fergal O’Sullivan, who is a lecturer in agricultural engineering at IT Tralee. They could also get jobs in sales and marketing and work for companies like John Deere, Claas and C&H, where they’ll work on strategies and on roadshows.
The Level 8 course is the same as the Level 7 for the first three years – but the fourth year of the Level 8 course has more of a business element and includes modules like marketing.
One course that has developed recently at IT Tralee, out of a direct need to ensure there are enough adequately qualified people to meet a particular requirement within the sector, is the Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Mechanisation. This course was developed because the Farm Tractor & Machinery Trade Association (FTMTA) and its members felt there was a need for it.
“The colleges in recent years have been producing ag engineering graduates, but engineering has maths and physics, which lead to design,” says Fergal O’Sullivan.
“Then there has always been the traditional apprenticeship route where apprentices were taken on by machinery dealers, and there will always be a need for that fitter-type trade. But it’s not just a fitter trade now, you’re not just taking off parts and replacing them. There is a lot of diagnostics with laptops. There are so many computers on a modern tractor. There was a need for a course with more electronics and there was no course in Ireland that filled that need,” he explained.
This course now incorporates elements of computer science and computer applications, thanks to input from and consultation with the industry.
IT Tralee also runs a Level 6 and Level 7 programme in culinary arts.
If you are interested in further education or a career in the agri sector, come along to our Agri Careers Fair in the RDS on 3 March or visit www.agricareers.ie.
SHARING OPTIONS: