The Machine: A computer science education podcast
Episodes
CodeGirl and the Conversation: Women in Computing
20 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this special live-recorded episode of The Machine, Rob O’Connor hosts a panel discussion following a viewing of the CodeGirl documentary at SE...
Why Study Computing?
17 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Are you interested in studying computing but feel a bit daunted by entering a field that can seem overwhelming? As professional computer science educa...
Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau
04 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Coming out of our latest Computing Week on campus in SETU, Rob spoke with two members of the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau – Detective Sergeant ...
Indrakshi Dey - Autonomous Systems and Artificial Intelligence
14 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Autonomous Systems are the jumping off point for this podcast episode with Indrakshi Dey of the Walton Institute at SETU. We talk about how computer s...
Nuria Oliver - Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Addressing Imbalances
07 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
To help celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, Rob spoke with Spanish computer scientist Nuria Oliver about her work to da...
Jobs in Computing (Live Panel Discussion)
20 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Here's a live panel discussion we recently hosted at SETU, in which a bunch of computing professionals talked about what it's like to work in ...
Building a Local Large Language Model (LLM)
08 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Another #ComputingWeek talk turned into a podcast! Two Red Hat software engineers, both recent graduates of SETU, returned to discuss the issues surro...
How AI is changing the ICT work environment
07 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On the back of a packed #ComputingWeek talk at SETU, Rob nabbed two speakers from UNUM Ireland – Gary Kenneally and Shourjya Sanyal – and recorde...
Quantum Computing and Quantum Communications
05 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Don't know your q-bits from your bytes? This is the podcast for you! Quantum Computing is one of the next-gen technologies that can truly usher in...
ChatGPT and AI in the Classroom w/ Hazel Farrell and Pete Windle
27 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Hazel Farrell and Pete Windle are academics at SETU who have been playing with ChatGPT (and other AI tools) to see how they can be used in the classro...
Red Hat Academy w/ Brendan O'Farrell & Leigh Griffin
28 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Red Hat are the world's largest open source software company. Senior Engineers at Red Hat - Brendan O'Farrell and Leigh Griffin - joined SETU lecturer...
3D Printing and AMASE
30 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Two colleagues at SETU from the School of Engineering, David Alarco and Natalie Romanyatova, joined Rob in the podcast studio to discuss additive manu...
Wireless Comms on the Farm ... and Mars?
23 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Can we detect an excess of carbon in a field using equipment that already in place? Rob spoke with SETU academic Bernard Butler and his graduate stude...
Religion & Video Games (with Frank Bosman)
16 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What place does religion have in video games? Why should developers be concerned with religion, theology or morality when creating games? Frank Bosman...
I Wish I Knew Then What I Know Now (II)
09 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A rerun of an episode we published a few years back - Rob sat down with some final year students who'd just completed their undergraduate degree. He a...
StudyAtHome with Martin Deinhofer and Brendan Jackman
02 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
StudyAtHome is a collection of eLearning courses approved by Universities across Europe where students can pick up extra credits in a variety of speci...
Learning Your Second Programming Language
26 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
To kick off a short season at the end of the academic year, Eamonn Deleastar and Siobhan Drohan joined Rob O'Connor in the studio to discuss issues ar...
From There To Here: 50-Odd Years of WIT
03 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A documentary tracing the 50+ years history of Waterford Institute of Technology, from its initial creation as Waterford Regional technical College in...
Update and Introducing 9plus (Female Researchers)
08 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's not a new episode, but Rob gives an update as to where The Machine podcast current stands (HINT - will be back soon!) and also reposts an episode...
Automotive Computing
26 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Continuing our series looking at sub-disciplines of computer science, in this episode we're discussing Automotive Computing (yes, the computers that r...
Mícheál Ó'Foghlú (Google Engineering Director, Core Developer unit)
03 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Mícheál Ó'Foghlú is a former computing faculty member at WIT, one of the founders of the TSSG research group (now Walton) and instrumental in the ...
The Internet of Things
19 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Continuing our explorations of sub-topics of Computer Science, WIT lecturer Frank Walsh and student Dominik Wawak joined Rob O'Connor in the studio to...
What is Cloud Computing?
11 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the first episode of the new season of the podcast, the panel have a chat about cloud computing, what's involved, some of the big techs to watch ou...
What 3rd Level Needs To Know About 2nd Level Computer Science
23 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
An unexpected episode for the academic year 2020/21. What does 3rd Level need to know about Leaving Cert Computer Science? This podcast is an edited l...
Leaving Cert Computer Science & more with Brett Becker
22 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Rob chats with Brett Becker, one of the co-authors of the Computer Science for Leaving Cert book. They talk about computing as a 2nd level school subj...
Gianluca Wants a Record Player
05 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A different episode to our normal programming. 'Gianluca Wants a Record Player' is a documentary that follows an Applied Computing student's quest to ...
Final Year Projects & The Sun Life Awards
26 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Final Year Projects are one of the most exciting (and daunting!) parts of an undergraduate degree. WIT have a close relationship with Sun Life, a mult...
Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality
19 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
VR/AR and MR are acronyms that are becoming increasingly prevalent in the tech world. We delved into what that means from a tech and business perspect...
The Walton Institute and ICT Research at WIT
05 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In March of 2021, the TSSG (tssg.org) will rebrand as The Walton Institute. Rob spoke with co-directors Sasi Balasubramaniam and Kevin Doolin about th...
Work Placements & Internships
19 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Despite the ongoing COVID situation, work placements and internships are still going ahead in the tech industry. Rob spoke with three stakeholders to ...
Christmas Recommendations
16 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Ho ho ho! Five of the regular podcast hosts from WIT got together to record a joint episode recommending some books, TV programmes, films, podcasts an...
Developer Stories: Rocketship Park Games w/ Shane McCafferty
04 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
"LOVE: A Puzzle Box Filled With Stories" is the recent release from Canadian studio RocketShip Park Games. Rob spoke with their chief games designer a...
SEE Space Network
20 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Quantum communication! Cybersecurity! Controlling tractors from space! Rob spoke with Mark White (Head of Research WIT) and Niall Smith (Head of Resea...
A Beginner's Guide To Cybersecurity
13 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We have three IT security and forensics experts in the virtual studio for this episode! Rob knows next to nothing about cybersecurity so was able to h...
Developer Stories: COVIDTracker App
06 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The COVIDTracker app, developed by NearForm in Tramore Co. Waterford has become the basis for exposure notification apps across the globe. In this epi...
Online Learning: The Student Perspective
12 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A companion piece to our last episode, this time Rob is speaking with two computing students - Sinead O'Neill (2nd year Computer Forensics & Security)...
Online Learning: The Lecturer Perspective
09 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Rob O'Connor discusses the new academic year with Colm Dunphy and Siobhan Drohan and the shift from on-campus to remote teaching and learning. They di...
COVID-19 Treatment Research at WIT
19 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Following on from our previous episode, here's a discussion about two more Covid19 projects that are being actively worked on during the lockdown by r...
Technology vs COVID-19 from WIT Research
01 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Applying their expertise in information communications technology (ICT), researchers from TSSG at WIT are working to develop both short as well as lon...
Research at WIT
17 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Mark White (VP for Research & Innovation) and Kathryn Kiely (Industry Services Manager) spoke with Rob about research activities at WIT. What kind...
Danny O'Dwyer (NoClip)
07 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Rob and podcast regular Colm Dunphy sat down with former student Danny O'Dwyer, now well known across d'internet for the documentaries he's created at...
Alternative Nativity Play
23 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
As a special Christmas treat, we present a radio nativity play which was produced by computing students from WIT back in 2012, made in conjunction wit...
FAQ on Computing at WIT
20 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
WIT has an Open Day coming up for prospective students. We thought it'd be a good to publish a podcast answering some of the frequently asked question...
Student Experience of Online Learning
08 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Two students of the HDip in Computer Science at WIT were drafted in to describe their experiences of being a student on a totally online programme. Sa...
How The Internet Works
11 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
It's hard to imagine life without the Internet. Podcasts wouldn't exist without the infrastructure provided by a collection of interconnect technologi...
Teaching Kids To Code
04 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
As it's #CodeWeek across the EU, we thought we'd record an episode offering advice on starting coding with younger folk (primary and secondary school ...
Tips On Buying a Computer
13 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We've all gotten questions like "what laptop should I buy?", "any recommendations for a computer?" or "is this a good deal for a PC?" The short answer...
I Wish I Knew Then What I Know Now
17 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In what is likely to be the final episode of The Machine for this season, Rob chatted with some outgoing final year undergraduate computing students a...
Tech News Roundup - Global Tech Workers, Myspace Data Breach and Google Stadia
22 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Rob is joined by Siobhan Drohan and Brenda Mullally to discuss a few tech news stories making headlines this week. - Canada is becoming a tech h...
Women in Tech
07 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Four women chat about how they began their careers in computing & technology. Features Phil Healy (Irish Athlete and postgraduate computing student at...
Bluffer's Guide To Artificial Intelligence
27 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Ahead of the AI2 Applied Artificial Intelligence (www.ai2.ie) conference taking place in Kilkenny this week, Rob sat down with Glen Collins (Conferenc...
Technology Enhanced Learning
15 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
How can technology assist in the learning experience? How have these systems evolved over the years? What kind of access opportunities to education ca...
Evolution of Mobile App Development
01 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
How did we get here from there? Rob O'Connor is joined by podcast regulars Siobhan Drohan and Eamonn De Leastar along with Jason Blood and Padra...
Tech Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future
07 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We have a festive themed episode today! Rob is joined by Mairead Meagher, Siobhan Drohan, Brenda Mullally and Colm Dunphy to reminisce about tech gift...
Efficiency
30 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This podcast is all about efficiency! The panel (Mairead Meagher, Siobhan Drohan, Peter Carew and Rob O'Connor) discuss the concept of efficiency, how...
BONUS! HDip in Computer Science/ICT Skills
16 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A special bonus edition of The Machine! Colm Dunphy, Eamonn de Leastar, Joan Mangan and Rob O'Connor discuss the part-time HDip in Computer Science/IC...
Approaching IT as an Adult Learner
16 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Eamonn de Leastar and Colm Dunphy join Rob for this podcast episode in which they discuss how someone might get into ICT from another industry. They d...
Beginner's Guide To Web Development
09 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Eamonn de Leastar and Brenda Mullally join Rob on this episode of the podcast to discuss Web Development. They contrast the difference between the Web...
Data & Big Data
25 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Everything you wanted to know about Data but were afraid to ask! Rob is joined by Brenda Mullally and Siobhan Drohan for a chat about Data. What is it...
Advice On How To Start Coding
12 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Following on from the last podcast in which the panel attempted to describe what programming is, this time the same group (Siobhan Drohan, Eamon De Le...
What Is Computer Programming?
01 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In our first episode, Rob O’Connor chats with Mairead Meagher, Siobhan Drohan and Eamonn de Leastar about Computer Programming. They approach it fro...
Trailer
27 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A trailer for the new podcast 'The Machine' in which lecturers and students from Waterford Institute of Technology will discuss issues surrounding com...