The School of Computing building has been formally renamed to the McNulty building in honour Kathleen (Kay) McNulty (1921-2006). The Donegal-born computer programmer was one of the six original programmers of the ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer), the first general-purpose, electronic, digital computer developed in the US in 1946.
A total of six building in DCU were renamed as part of the DCU Women in Leadership initiative, Project 50:50 representing a commitment by DCU to name 50% of its major buildings after inspiring female figures.
Kathleen McNulty emigrated to the US with her family when she was just three years old to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She graduated with a degree in mathematics from Chestnut Hill College for Women in June 1942, one of only a few mathematics majors out of a class of 92 women. During World War II, she was hired by the US Army to calculate bullet and missile trajectories at Ballistic Research Laboratory in Aberdeen, Maryland using mechanical desk calculators. The ENIAC was developed for the purpose of performing these same ballistics calculations between 1943–1946. In June 1945, Kay was selected to be one of its first programmers, along with several other women from the computer corps department.
DCU related teams clinched the top three positions among the Irish university teams at the 5th annual UK & Ireland Intercollegiate Programming Competition held in the School of Computing on Saturday 21st October.
Team Ireland departed today from Dublin airport to take part in the prestigious 29th International Olympiad in Informatics in Tehran, Iran. The event attracts the best young programmers from around the world to compete in one of the toughest algorithmic programming contests in the world. Over 300 secondary level students from more than 80 countries will descend on the capital of Persia for a week of intense coding challenges and cultural experiences.
