LYIT Student Complete SITA Semester 

Letterkenny Institute Students Complete Software Semester at Air Industry Technology Company SITA

Air transport IT specialist, SITA, has announced the successful completion of the first placement of Letterkenny Institute of Technology (LYIT) students at their software development centre in Letterkenny.

SITA is a leading specialist in air transport communications and delivers and manages business solutions for airline, airport, GDS, government and other customers over the world’s most extensive network, which forms the communications backbone of the global air transport industry. The company employs 1900 people worldwide; with over 100 of those based in Letterkenny.

LYIT is a vibrant modern Institute and has expanded greatly in recent years, adding over 30 programmes to an already diverse and rich curriculum. Its Enterprise Applications Development course, developed in conjunction with SITA, provides both Postgraduate Computing Diploma and eMaster of Science qualifications. The eight students spent one semester working in SITA's software lab, providing them with insight into commercial software development and business experience.

Thomas Dowling, Head of Department of Computing at LYIT, said: “"The Enterprise Applications Development course allows graduates to exercise their skills in a live environment while gaining experience in a world-class company. Our aim is to provide our students with good employment prospects by turning out excellent candidates for companies both here in the North West and across the country.”"

During their time at SITA, the students put into practice technologies such as Silverlight, .Net (Dot Net), WPF, C#, Java Services (SOA), Web Services, Hibernate, Spring, Linux, Oracle and SQL. These are used in systems to run major international airports, integrating the multiple complex systems used across the air transport industry, and also to enable airlines to embrace web technologies.

Maurice Maher, SITA’s Director of Software Development in Ireland, said: “"SITA designs and implements mission-critical enterprise applications that are used every day in the global air transport industry. Our systems are used from airport operations to passenger systems and baggage management. In fact, almost every airline and airport in the world does business with SITA, so during their time with us, the LYIT students experience the complexity of developing enterprise applications for use across this fascinating industry.”"

Talking of his time at SITA, Ray Hogan, a LYIT graduate, said: "My time spent at SITA has been invaluable. The experience I've gained with both cutting-edge technologies and development practices has far surpassed any of my expectations.

During the course-time in LYIT we were studying, using and comparing the leading enterprise technologies and architectures used in real-world business applications. However, it wasn't until the placement that I had the opportunity to use these technologies extensively and combine them in a practical sense. It is like the equivalent of a medical student making the transition from research in a controlled laboratory environment to performing brain surgery."

Maher added: “"As a local employer, SITA is committed to contributing to the Letterkenny community, including working closely with LYIT. We believe in the importance of solid training for the next generation of software developers and with the LYIT placement programme we have the added benefit of assessing potential candidates for future job opportunities.”"

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