Our first day both UCD and DCU students came together was on Wednesday June 6th in the historic building Newman house, Stephens Green, Dublin. This was the ODCSSS kickoff event which went down very well with all that attended. It included talks from various academics on research do's & don't's, and also from industry people from Microsoft and IBM. Afterwards the talks we vacated Newman house, to go to O'Neil's pub on Suffolk street to get to know each other over some drinks.

One of the most memorable outings was the Viking Splash Tour around Dublin City Center. The tour was given in an old US WWII amphibious personel vehicle or DUKW converted to a tour bus. The tour started at 17:00 and lasted a hour and a half, showing us all the sights of Dublin, from U2's recording studio in the docklands to the spire on O'Connell street.Every part of tour was entertaining, the tour guide's cynical persona, the viking hats, floating in the docklands and scaring pedestrans with our viking cries. A worth while trip for us all.

A nicely mixed combnation of Computer and Non-Computer related events. All of the students from UCD and DCU went to visit the headquarters of Microsoft in Ireland, to see what the industrial research enviroment looks like. Our time there was interesting and informative, which after we left for the beauty of the Wicklow Mountains. Regards of the persistent rain Of course it made for a great time.

Everybody prepared to present their work in the best light, as optimystic as a scientist can be in the middle of the work. For the many of us this was the first presentation, or the first poster session. Anyway it was a great way to prepare ourselves for a life where those are the best who sell themselves the best.

As good friendships were made during this ODCSSS summer, all the internship students gathered for a dinner in a cozy Italian restaurant to say goodbye for those of our friends who had to depart earlier. It was a good time to get to know each other better and have fun.