The issue of retention of students on Engineering programs in Ireland is particularly manifest in the Institute of Technology sector, where a combination of falling numbers of applicants, and reduction in entry points standards, have combined to significantly change the profile of incoming students. In response to the challenges posed by this changing profile the School of Engineering at the Institute of Technology Tallaght secured funding from the Higher Education Authority, Information Technology Investment Fund to establish the Engineering Learning Support Unit (ELSU) in 2003. Analysis of data within the School of Engineering and an examination of the issues facing students in their transition from second level to third level indicated that any retention scheme should, in the first instance, target students in their first year. The rationale of ELSU is to implement a systematic and strategic approach to identifying, developing, and providing the necessary resources and infra-structural supports within the School of Engineering in order to identify at-risk students early and provide the appropriate supportive actions promptly to help students persevere through the adjustment to higher education in their first year of study. In the first year of operation of the unit the retention of first year students across the School rose from an average 60% in the years prior to 2003 to 67% in the academic year 2003-2004. In line with other similar initiatives such as the 'Triple C' approach in Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland, the ELSU initiative is highly structured, has extended intensive contact with students who are most likely to drop out, is interlocked with other programs and services, has a strategy of engagement using qualified staff and has a focus on the affective as well as cognitive needs of the student. In the first section of the paper we outline the operation of the unit, describing software tools such as a class management tool, online quiz tool and student portal which were developed and deployed, as well discussing orientation activities, a mentoring programme and learning styles inventory which were implemented as part of the work of the unit. In the second section of the paper the issue of how to measure the effectiveness of such a highly strategic, systematic and co-ordinated retention approach is addressed. This issue of effectiveness is considered against a belief under-pinning ELSU operations that not only should student retention efforts have an immediate, individual application for the students involved but also that work of any support unit should lead in the longer- term to substantive, lasting changes in institutional culture. We discuss the set of criteria developed and used by ELSU to identify a priore students who are at risk of non-completion of first year. We present data from the academic year 2003-2004 (which was the first complete year of operation of the unit) regarding usage of the unit, learning styles of the students involved, the accuracy of the at-risk criteria employed and the performance of the students. Finally we examine the initial impact of the unit on the institutional culture as evidenced by plans to expand the School of Engineering ELSU's operation to supporting first year students in the School of Science at the I. T. Tallaght also.