Staff-Student Event: How IBM use AI for Software Development
Next GenAI Lab Staff-Student Event: How IBM use AI for Software Development
Overview
Guided by the question, “In what ways can institutional strategies support critical, reflective, and ethical engagement with AI, rather than compliance-driven implementation?” (HEA, 2025), the Learning, Teaching and Assessment (LTA) team is facilitating a series of Next GenAI Lab events to create space for academic staff and students to learn from industry partners about their practices in using AI. The events include co-creation challenges that bring staff and students together to prototype a solution to a problem posed by the industry partner.
Each Next Gen AI Company Showcase addresses questions such as:
- How is artificial intelligence being applied within leading organisations in Irish industry?
- Which innovative practices and approaches could inform and enrich the TU Dublin curriculum?
- How can staff and students respond to emerging AI-related challenges with integrity, responsibility, and a commitment to ethical and sustainable innovation?
Staff are invited to participate in the events and are encouraged to invite a selection of students to join them to participate in the co-creation activities.
Inaugural Next Gen AI Lab Company Showcase
The Learning, Teaching and Assessment (LTA) team, in collaboration with the Faculty of Computing, Digital and Data, is delighted to welcome IBM to our campuses for the inaugural Next Gen AI Lab Company Showcase event, which focusses on the software development industry.
The event takes place on Wednesday, 25 November 2026 from 1-3pm, simultaneously in Grangegorman, Tallaght and Blanchardstown.
The following representatives of IBM will be presenting at the event on their use of artificial intelligence for software development:
- Seamus McGrath, Public Sector Leader, IBM Consulting
- Edel Meehan, Principal Architect, IBM Consulting
The session will enable participants to learn about:
- How IBM is using AI to support systems development.
- What IBM lessons and practices can shape practice-based learning experiences in TU Dublin.
- How staff and students can co-create prototype solutions for real challenges regarding AI in systems development.
The presentations will take place in Blanchardstown and will be streamed to Tallaght and Grangegorman campuses, so staff can attend in any of those locations. Because of the nature of the activities that will be taking place, the event is organised as in-person only.
Staff, and their students, are invited to register now.
Event Format
The two-hour event is comprised of a Company Showcase, followed by a Staff-Student Co-creation. Staff who are attending are encouraged to attend for the first hour, or for the full two hours. Staff can invite their students to attend for the second hour. Each hour is described below.
1-2pm: Part 1. Company Showcase
The Company Showcase takes place in the first hour, from 1-2pm. This is a conversation in which TU Dublin staff and representatives of IBM can discuss how AI is being used in industry. On this occasion, IBM representatives Seamus McGrath and Edel Meehan will demonstrate how they are using AI to support software development (coding, testing, etc.).
2-3pm: Part 2. Staff-Student Co-Creation
The Next GenAI Lab Staff-Student Co-Creation takes place in the second hour. In this hour, teams of staff and students are facilitated through a co-creative process using an adapted Design Thinking methodology, in which the teams will mock up a prototype to a real challenge brought by the company. The best solution will be recognised at the end of the session.
Venues
The event will take place simultaneously in Blanchardstown, Grangegorman and Tallaght. The room details and facilitators are:
- Grangegorman: Room TBC, facilitated by Róisín Faherty, Faculty of Computing, Digital and Data
- Blanchardstown: Room TBC, facilitated by Ana Schalk, Learning, Teaching and Assessment (LTA) team
- Tallaght: Room TBC, facilitated by Dolores McManus, Learning, Teaching and Assessment (LTA) team
Register to Attend
This event is open to TU Dublin staff. Staff may also invite their students to attend to participate in the co-creation activity. The event is particularly relevant to staff and students involved in teaching or studying software development.
All staff and students who are attending must register using the registration form by Friday, 20 November 2026.