Computing Department News & Events
News
Computing Department featured on BBC !
Click here to watch last night's episode of North West Tomorrow, a science and technolgy series for the BBC. It featured the Computing Department's Prof. Alan Dix and Dr. Joe Finney inside InfoLab21.
From Copacabana to Morecambe Sands: Computing Department link with Brazil praised!
The Computing Department receives a number of PhD students every year from several overseas postgraduate programs of excellence, such as PUC at Rio de Janeiro. The Computer Science Department at PUC-Rio has consistently been ranked as the top postgraduate program in Brazil for years. In a interview to one of the most influential Brazilian newspapers, "O Globo", Dr. Alessandro Garcia, a Software Engineering Lecturer at Lancaster, was quoted on the mutual benefits of such a long-term Lancaster-Rio partnership.
Project ISIS reported in the Lancashire Evening Post and Investigative Practice Journal!
An article was written by the Lancashire Evening Post about Project ISIS which is run by researchers at the Computing Department. Prof. Awais Rashid, who is the lead researcher on the project, was quoted heavily. Read the full article. The project has also been featured in the latest issue of the police magazine, 'Investigative Practice Journal', in an article about what benefits the project will bring to the police and how it will assist them in protecting children who participate in online social networks.
BBC TV Manchester interview Prof. Alan Dix and Dr. Joe Finney for a series on Science and Technology!
BBC TV Manchester were on Campus last week filming a number of Lancaster University Research Projects. Prof. Brian Cox (a familiar face on programmes such as Horizon) interviewed Prof. Alan Dix and Dr. Joe Finney from the Computing Department on their Project Firefly.This interview will be broadcast as part of a series on science and technology in the North West called North West Tomorrow. The programme will be broadcast in 4 parts starting on 8th July and then the following next three Tuesdays.
Dr. Nick Race quoted in the Lancaster Guardian!
The Computing Department's Dr. Nick Race was quoted in the Lancaster Guardian, June 27, in an article about the University helping villagers in Wray go online through the installation of broadband.
Prof. Awais Rashid interviewed on BBC Radio Lancashire!
Prof. Awais Rashid was interviewed on BBC Radio Lancashire, 20th June, about Project Isis - a three-year Child Protection Initiative which aims to develop new tools for policing websites and supporting law enforcement. Professor Rashid is lead researcher on the project which is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and The Economic and Social Research Council. Listen to the interview here. The story was also reported in The Citizen on 25th June.
Researchers at the Computing Department Join the Fight to Protect Children Online
Members of the Computing Department (including Prof. Awais Rashid, Dr. Danny Hughes, Dr. James Walkerdine, Dr. Paul Rayson, Dr. Phil Greenwood and Prof. Geoff Coulson) are now harnessing new developments in langauage analysis to identify paedophiles posing as childen in online chat rooms, to pick up on their vocabulary choices and trail them as they move around the internet. Led by Professor Awais Rashid, Lancaster, Swansea and Middlesex Universities have joined forces with specialist UK law enforcement to develop tools to identify paedophiles masquerading as children in online chat rooms.
This month the University launched Project Isis - a three-year Child Protection Initiative which aims to develop new tools for policing websites and supporting law enforcement, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and The Economic and Social Research Council. Read more here.
Congratulations to Professor Laurent Mathy and Dr. Pete Sawyer!
Congratulations go out to Laurent Mathy for being awarded a personal Chair, and also to Dr. Pete Sawyer who has received a readership.
Lancaster University has shot up the rankings to be placed 19th in the UK and the top institution in the North West by The Times!
In The Times Good University Guide 2009, Lancaster is one of the biggest movers in the table, jumping eight places from 27th last year. Read more here. The University was also featured in The Times Higher Education on the 19th June, see here.
NEMO project shortlised as a finalist in the North West IET Innovation Awards 2008!
Academics and researchers from the Computing Department; Prof. Nigel Davies, Dr. Joe Finney, Dr. Christos Efstratiou and James Brown, were shortlisted as finalists in the North West IET Innovation Awards 2008 for their NEMO hardware/software platform entry. Their submission was 'highly commended' by judges and made it to the top 10 finalists out of 28 entries! In partnership with the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), the IET aims to recognise and reward innovation in engineering, science and technology across the region. Read more about the competition here.
Computing students contribute to a workshop helping create a new approach to distributing television across the internet!
Researchers from Computing in collaboration with Pioneer Digital Design carried out a workshop with undergraduate Computing students. The workshop was carried out in relation to the P2P-Next project, a pan-European conglomerate of 21 industrial partners, media content providers and research institutions which has received a €14 million grant from the European Union.
"The aim of the workshop was to discuss the future of Internet based TV services and specifically a service based around the use of peer-to-peer (P2P) technology for future distribution of Television" says Dr Keith Mitchell. "We were very pleased with the level of student interest, involvement and enthusiasm during the session despite it being a busy time of year for them. Although we are yet to fully analyse the results, there were numerous contributions by the participants and these will act as valuable input into the project".
The ambitious 4 year project will conduct large-scale technical trials of live streaming and Video on Demand (VOD) services which will be delivered to users through both PC clients and a High Definition digital set top box. The user trials will involve students on campus and residents in local communities, such as Wray.
The Computing Department's Prof. Alan Dix quoted in The Guardian!
The Computing Department's Prof. Alan Dix was quoted in an article on supercomputer 'Roadrunner' in The Guardian on Tuesday 10th June. Read the article. The story was also featured in The Hindu.
Computing Department's Multitag project features on Euronews Channel!
Research conducted by the Computing Department's Dr. Enrico Rukzio, Prof. Hans Gellersen and Robert Hardy, and NTT DoCoMo Euro-Labs, was shown on Euronews Channel. It featured a 30 second prototype of their project. See the programme here.
Computing Department's Research on touch technology featured on the BBC!
The Computing Department's Dr. Enrico Rukzio, Prof. Hans Gellersen and Robert Hardy's research on Touch Technology was featured on 'Click', a bbc technology programme last week (Watch the programme here). Lancaster University is mentioned 16 minutes into the programme in a feature on NFC. Read more here.
A web development and online marketing company based at InfoLab21 has taken two awards at one of the biggest ceremonies in the digital industry!
EduNation won in two categories at the prestigious Big Chip awards in Manchester. The company won the Best E-Business Project award and also the Best from Lancashire award. This is the second InfoLab21 company to win in the Best from Lancashire category after NuBlue won in 2006. Read the full story.
The Computing Department's Dr. Joe Finney, Prof. Alan Dix and Dr. Paul Rayson have all won University Awards!
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Dr. Joe Finney and Professor Alan Dix received the award for Commercialisation with Professor Bahram Honary for their project Firefly, pictured here.
Dr. Paul Rayson also received
a Research award for inter-disciplinary
work jointly awarded between the research and commercialisation prize committees. Read the full story.
The Inaugural Doug Shepherd Memorial Lecture is to be given by one of the world's leading experimental computer scientists - Prof Mahadev Satyanarayanan
The Computing Department at Lancaster University is pleased to announce details of the inaugural Doug Shepherd Memorial Lecture. The lecture is to be given by Prof Mahadev Satyanarayanan, the Carnegie Group Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. Prof Mahadev Satyanarayanan is an experimental computer scientist who has pioneered research in mobile and pervasive computing. The lecture will focus on Diamond - a new system for data exploration that is likely to be of interest to a wide cross section of the scientific community. It is in memory of Professor Doug Shepherd who made an enormous and lasting contribution to the University in his various leadership roles as Department Head, School Dean, ISS Director and was an inspiration to all who worked with him. Read more here.
The Inaugural Doug Shepherd Memorial Lecture
Tuesday 20th May, 16:00, Management School LT1
Firefly: LEDs With Attitude!
Prof. Alan Dix of the Computing Department presented "Firefly: LEDs With Attitude" at a two day knowledge transfer event at De Montford University in March on Investigating 3D and Projection Displays. The event brought together academics and industry in the field of 3D Lighting. Read the full story.
The Computing Department's Adam Lindsay was quoted on CNN.com!
Adam Lindsay was quoted on CNN.com while attending a conference on memes (virally-spread ideas). Adam created a computer language spinoff of LOLcats called LOLcode. CNN.com's coverage of the conference made the front page of its US edition, see here.
Adam was also quoted in the
Guardian and Maine Today.
Computing Department Researchers win first place in the research track and The Most Innovative NFC Research Project of the Year 2008!
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Massimo Paolucci, Robert Hardy, Dr. Enrico Rukzio and Matthias Wagner with their prize and project using Google Maps. |
A Lancaster Computing Project that uses NFC
technology to allow mobile phone handsets and
public information screens to share display space,
overcoming the screen size limitations of mobile
phone displays was one of the winners in a
competition held this week at the 2nd European
NFC developers summit in Monaco.
Robert Hardy, a researcher from the Computing
Department and Matthias Wagner (DoCoMo Euro-
Labs) won first place in the research track and
The Most Innovative NFC Research Project of the
Year 2008. The winners were selected from a total of 20 finalists and over 50 entries from 21 countries.
This story was reported on Calibre website, 6 May, read here.
The Guardian place Lancaster 8th in the UK for Computer Science!
The Computing Department at Lancaster University has been ranked 8th in the country for Computer Science and IT in the Guardian's University Guide 2009. See the table here.
The Computing Department's Dr. Gerd Kortuem was quoted on the Technology Review website!
Dr. Kortuem was quoted on the 28th April, within an article looking at wearable computer systems for the military,read the full story.
Dr Kortuem was also featured on the RFID journal website, 28 April, in connection with research into the safety of construction employees at risk for hand/arm vibration syndrome (HAVS), also known as "white finger," as a result of over exposure to heavily vibrating equipment. Read the full story.
The Guardian League table sees Lancaster rise 10 places to be ranked 12th nationally and also top in the North West!
Only a week after the Independent's Good University Guide placed Lancaster in the Top ten of Universites and top in the North West, the Guardian League table, published online on May 1, sees Lancaster rise 10 places to be ranked 12th nationally and also top in the North West. Lancaster's League Table ranking in The Guardian was featured in the Lancashire Evening Post, 2 May. Read the full story.
Lancaster rose nine places to be ranked in the top ten in the Independent Good University Guide 2009!
The Guide, published on 24th April 2008, ranks Lancaster 10th nationally and number one in the North West in the regional rankings. The top ten position overall sees Lancaster in the same group as Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College. The ranking was mentioned in the Times Higher Education magazine, May 1, which called it a "strong performance". The rankings also featured in the Lancashire Evening Post, April 25, the Morecambe Visitor, April 30, and in the Lancaster Guardian, May 2. Read the full story.
The Computing Department's Dr. Awais Rashid mentioned on the Algerian News Agency website!
Dr. Awais Rashid was mentioned on the Algerian News Agency website on 19th April, following his lecture on computer applications via a video-conference link to an international workshop held at Mentouri University. Read the full story.
Researchers at the Computing Department are developing a New Generation of Mobile Interactions and Applications!
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| Multitag technology using Google Maps |
Researchers in the Computing Department;
Dr. Enrico Rukzio, Prof. Hans Gellersen and Robert
Hardy
are collaborating with NTT DoCoMo Euro-Labs to develop
a new generation of mobile interactions and applications
using RFID/NFC technology.
MULTITAG is a two-year industry funded research project
and is the first collaboration between NTT DoCoMo Euro
-Labs and a University in the UK. Read the full story.
Computing Department's PhD student quoted in The Daily Telegraph!
One of the Computing Department's PhD students, Mr. Kiel Gilleade, a Computer Games Researcher, spoke to the Daily Telegraph about biofeedback games on the 12th March. Read the article.
Computing research mentioned in The Guardian and The Hindu!
Research in the Computing Department to develop a new generation of 'smart tags' to help keep workers safe on construction sites is mentioned in The Guardian and in The Hindu.
The Computing Department's Dr. Nick Race was interviewed on BBC Radio Cumbria on February 20th!
The interview was about Lancaster University's involvement as part of a team of leading research and industrial partners, developing a new approach to distributing television across the internet. The story also featured on various websites; Cordis website, February 20th, CNET website, February 20th, Innovations Report website, February 19th, The Tech Report website, February 21st. There was also a blog post by George Wright (BBC) on the BBC Internet Blog. See here.
The Computing Department's Dr. Nicholas Race helps develop a new approach to distributing Television across the Internet!
Lancaster University is part of a team of leading research and industrial partners developing a new approach to distributing Television across the Internet. Lancaster's role within the P2P-Next project launched this week, is to deliver this new technology to real users as part of a large-scale technical trial, known as a Living Lab. Dr Nicholas Race from the Computing Department will be utilising the University's regional network and strong community links to conduct live trials with a wide variety of users, from local students to rural villagers. Read the full story.
Researchers at the Computing Department are developing a new generation of 'Smart tags' to help keep workers safe on construction sites!
The research project is creating tiny Radio Frequency ID (RFID) tags, with sensors and memory, which can be embedded in everyday objects - such as tools - and communicate via a network using wireless technology.
These can be used for example to help monitor people using heavy machinery - ensuring they are working safely within the recommended guidelines.
In an interview with the BBC online, Dr Gerd Kortuem of Lancaster University's Computing Department, said RFID tags were getting smarter and more communicative as bigger memory, basic processing power and wireless technologies are added to them. Read the full story.
Dr. Gerd Kortuem quoted on the BBC News Website!
The Computing Department's Dr. Gerd Kortuem and colleagues were quoted on the BBC News Website, January 5th, talking about their NEMO project that combines smart tags and personal identifiers to keep an eye on people working on construction sites using heavy machine tools. Read the full story.
Neil Loughran was quoted in the North West Evening Mail!
The Computing Department's Neil Loughran was quoted in the North West Evening Mail, January 8, talking about the earliest recorded film of Barrow-in-Furness made at the turn of the 20th century. Read the full story.
A workshop, sponsored by Microsoft, on Social Interaction and Mundane Technologies was held at Melboune University this month
The workshop attracted researchers from Australian, European and American universities. Organised by Lancaster University researchers Connor Graham and Dr Mark Rouncefield (Microsoft European Research Fellow), the workshop was in response to the growing use of 'mundane' and unremarkable technologies and applications including mobile phones, word processing packages and blogging.
Amongst a wide range of topics workshop participants discussed issues involved in the use of electronic tagging for monitoring offenders; how people could use mobile phones to manage the information they gave to others (and coincidentally 'lie' to the boss); the use of video in the search for 'a better life'; how families used photographs as reminders of shared history and family obligations and responsibilities; and how electronic displays could be used to maintain a sense of community in rural districts. Read the full story.
For more details including the workshop papers and presentations see the workshop website.
Firefly brings Christmas to CityLab!
CityLab in Dalton Square has been chosen as the guinea pig for one of the latest innovations to come out of the Infolab21's Computing Department- Project Firefly. At a first glance they could be mistaken for a set of fairy lights but the Computing Department's Joe Finney and Alan Dix have given them given a technological upgrade! Read the story on the Infolab21 website and on Lancaster University's website .
Lancaster University 30th for Student Satisfaction!
LANCASTER UNIVERSITY was featured in the Westmorland Gazette, December 7, the Lancaster and Morecambe Citizen, December 12, and the North West Evening Mail, December 13, following the Times Higher Supplement survey for Student Satisfaction. Lancaster has been ranked number 30 out of 106 institutions.
Artificial Personality Goes Clubbing!
An interactive Artificial Personality was installed at a Leeds nightclub. The installation (a giant projected human character) was a collaboration between Lancaster University Department of Computing, the Communication Systems Department, UCREL, KBC resident company BigDog Interactive and Leeds Metropolitan University's Department of Fine Art. Clubbers could send text messages to the character to change its facial expressions. Read the full story here.
Congratulations to Rene!
Rene Mayrhofer, who has been in the Computing Department on a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship since 2005, has been appointed to a replacement chair position at the University of Vienna. Congratulations Rene!
Dr Jamie Ward was quoted in the India Times!
The Computing Department's Dr Jamie Ward was quoted in the India Times, 19 November,
in an article looking at the practical application of accelerometers in exercise. Read the full story
Professor Alan Dix interviewed on BBC Radio Cumbria!
The Computing Department's Professor Alan Dix was interviewed on BBC Radio Cumbria, November 22, about computer security following the loss of two government computer disks containing the personal details of up to two million people.
Dr Rene Mayrhofer and Prof Hans Gellerson quoted in the New Scientist!
The Computing Department's Dr Rene Mayrhofer and Prof Hans Gellerson were featured in the New Scientist, November 13, talking about software they have developed to enable gadgets such as cellphones to be connected wirelessly simply by shaking them together. Read the full story
They were also mentioned on the Slashdot website on the 17th November regarding the same software. Read the story here
Lancaster University Rises 81 Places in the Times Higher-QS World University Ranking
Lancaster is now placed 147 ( from 228 last year) in the rankings of the top 200 universities in the world and 25th out of the UK universities who were included in the list that was published on November 9th 2007. Read the full story.
Dr. Kave Salamation
Dr. Kave Salamation has been appointed as reader in a joint post with Computing and the Communication Systems Department. Kave joins us from Universite Pierre et Marie Curie and is an expert in the role of information theory in computer networking (specifically collaboration theory) and also in internet measurement.
Professor Jon Whittle
Professor Jon Whittle has taken up a Chair in Software Engineering within Computing. Jon joins us from George Mason University, USA, and is an expert in the area of Model-Driven Engineering and more generally the modelling of complex, software-intensive systems.
Lancaster University is the Top of the League Table of North West Universities
According to the Sunday Times University Guide. The good news was featured in the Westmorland Gazette on the 24th September, the North West Evening Mail on the 22nd September and the Lancaster Guardian on the 27th September.
Girls Get Set for Science
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| Girls at Setpoint Science and Technology Day in InfoLab21 |
Girls from ethnic minority communities across Lancashire got a glimpse of the magic of Science and Technology at Lancaster University this week.
As part of an initiative run by Setpoint Lancashire, around 42 year 8 and 9 pupils visited the University to take part in workshops in Computing, Engineering and Communication Systems.
The girls were given an introduction to a number of developments in the University including a string of futuristic fairy lights which are being developed by researchers in the Department of Computing.
The lights - which are each embedded with a tiny computer – communicate with one another and can be manipulated by a computer programme. This innovation, known as project firefly, has the potential to revolutionise all kinds of lighting displays in the future - from home use to large scale outdoor advertising.
Lancaster University Science Partnership Officer Dr Alan Darragh said: “It was great for the pupils to be able to get hands on and to discover some new technology for themselves. They met researchers and had a look around the campus, getting a feel for some of the first class science and technology happening at the University.
“We hope that some of the pupils visiting today will be inspired and enthused to continue their studies in science and technology in the future.”
Lancaster University is the Top Ranked University in the North West and the Joint Top Ranked University in the North of England
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| Professor Paul Wellings |
Lancaster University is the top ranked university in the North West and the joint top ranked University in the whole North of England, according to the 2007 National Student Survey, published this week.
Overall, Lancaster is in the top 20 – ranking equal 15th in the survey which contains the views of final year students on the quality of the education they received.
Students were asked about the teaching, support and feedback they received during their course, as well as the way that their course was managed and the sorts of learning materials they had access to.
Overall, 89% of Lancaster students were satisfied with their course at Lancaster, against an average for the sector of 81%.
Vice Chancellor, Professor Paul Wellings, said: “Lancaster University, with its college structure and high quality teaching departments, places great emphasis on the student experience. I am delighted to see the efforts of all our staff reflected in this feedback from our students.”
Doctor Gerd Kortuem quoted in the New Scientist!
The Computing Department's Dr. Gerd Kortuem was quoted in the New Scientist on the 10th September on 'Smart Homes' technology.
Professor David Hutchison quoted in the New Scientist!
The Director of InfoLab21, Professor David Hutchison was quoted in the New Scientist on the 30th August on new ways to distribute and share media.
International Workshop on Self-Organizing Systems 2007
Self-Organizing Systems (SOS) is a new research area exploring the theory and engineering of distributed computing systems that can self-configure, self-manage and self-adapt. The aims are first to develop systems that have better properties such as high availability, strong security and the ability to evolve, and second to produce a more fundamental understanding of the ways in which future distributed systems may be designed.
IWSOS is an International Workshop series dedicated to these issues. The 2007 workshop, which is being held in the Lake District (http://iwsos.comp.lancs.ac.uk/), focuses on networked systems in particular, and is co-chaired by David Hutchison and Randy Katz.
Women come first for the Computing Department!
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| Sara Bury, Rachel Burrows and Emily Griffiths |
All the Women graduating from the Computing Department this year succeeded with First Class honours degrees.
Of 36 students only three were women but all three, Emily Griffiths, Sara Bury and Rachel Burrows were among the 10 students who achieved a first.
When interviewed about her achievement, Emily Griffiths said, "Lancaster has been great, and I'm still excited about my 1st. Now I'm in the front of the queue for jobs all round the world. The thing I enjoyed most about Computing was the amount of practical and hands on experience I gained."
Sara Bury added, "The choice to study Computer Science at Lancaster was one of the best decisions I've made. The University has an excellent social environment and I've been heavily involved with the student radio station Bailrigg FM, but more importantly I've really enjoyed both the level and choice of courses available within the Computing Department, from networking and concurrent programming to embedded systems.
"My ultimate aim has always been to move on to further academic study and my degree from Lancaster has given me an excellent grounding to start from. I've been awarded a Studentship to continue onto the MSc in Advanced Computer Science and I'm hoping to remain at Lancaster, moving onto PhD research in the future."
Rachel Burrows said "I've really enjoyed my last 3 years at Lancaster, the course structure offers a wide range of core subjects which has given me a good grounding to continue my studies towards a PhD next year within the department.
"I particularly enjoyed the experience I gained from the lab sessions as it gave me lots of exposure to key technologies.
"The course structure is flexible, allowing me to specialise in certain topics which I was interested in and would help me fulfil my future career goals. Alongside the studies, the support available from the department (and its great reputation within industry) has provided me with many employment opportunities."
Vacancy: Lectureship in Software Engineering
Applications are invited for a new Lectureship in Software Engineering in the Computing Department at Lancaster University (this post is equivalent to an assistant professorship in the US). The Computing Department is a leading research centre with a major international reputation for its work on experimental and systems-oriented computer science. Applications close 15th August 2007.
Headstart 10th-13th July
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| Dr. Adrian Friday at the Headstart Course |
15 year 12 pupils from schools across the UK will participate in this residential course offering a hands-on study of mobile and ubiquitous computing. Organised by the Computing Department at Lancaster and sponsored by Microsoft Research.
6 PhD studentships announced! (applications by 15th August 2007)
Studentships in AOSD, HCI, WSNs and Mobile Interaction Design announced. Prospective applicants, who should have an excellent first degree in a relevant discipline, are encouraged to initiate informal contact with prospective supervisors in the Department by providing a detailed statement of their research interest and a brief summary of their qualifications to the Department's admissions team.
Computing 40th Anniversary Studentship holder completes PhD in 33 months
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| Dr Pete Sawyer and Andrew Stone |
Andrew Stone, who was funded by one of the University's 40th Anniversary Studentships, had a successful viva on the 25th June, just 33 months after starting his PhD in October 2004. A sub three-year PhD is very rare (between 3 and 4 years is typical). Key factors for his success were identifying the research questions to address early and participating in the research community from the start: as Andrew puts it, "what really helped was early exposure to the international research community". Andrew presented a position paper at an international workshop (REFSQ'05) in June 2005, in addition to being recruited to serve on the committee of the British Computer Society's RE Specialist Group (Chaired by his supervisor, Pete Sawyer) and opportunities to present at international conferences and attend others as a student volunteer. While these all absorbed time, the pay-off in terms of access to some of the field's leading researchers more than compensated.
Andrew's thesis, "Performing Pre-Requirements Tracing using Latent Semantic Analysis" described the novel application of information retrieval techniques for tracing documented system requirements back to the material used by the analyst in their synthesis - interview transcripts, ethnographic field reports, process descriptions, etc. Analysts seldom record how they derive requirements and this is a major cause of problems in software projects. Requirements almost always change during the course of a project, and the impact of those changes on the system's stakeholders is hard to assess unless the motivation for the requirements can be recovered. Andrew's work provides a means to mitigate this, while also offering a tantalizing insight into the role of tacit knowledge in requirements synthesis.
Computing Student Founds Worldwide Business
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| Lee Crossley with the car he bought after founding his own business |
A student who set up his own business with help from Lancaster University is now running a successful company with customers from as far away as New Zealand.
Lee Crossley runs a thriving online music business founded with a grant of £1,000 from Create, which was set up by Lancaster University Student Union together with Research and Enterprise Services.
Employers were so impressed by his entrepreneurial skills that they offered him his first job on the strength of the business he founded as an undergraduate. Lee's firm, Backing Music, provides online music for people to download and sing to.
He said: "When the first order came through it was an incredible feeling! Orders were up and down for the first few weeks and then suddenly they went up!"
Lee set up the company in the second year of his studies in Computer Science at InfoLab21. After graduating, he began work for a web design firm in Preston who offered him employment based upon the success of Backing Music.
"I told them about Create and Backing Music during the interview and they told me that's why I got the job. How many students have their own business?"
With Backing Music now really taking off, Lee has left full time employment to dedicate himself to developing the business.
"Things are moving fast. I've got a contract with a major nightclub in the North West and will be supplying all their music and I'm providing the music for a school in Barrow-in-Furness which is having an X Factor type event.
For further information see the press release.
Computing Researchers At Westminster
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| Houses of Parliament |
After helping bring about an IT revolution in a rural community, computing researchers Johnathan Ishmael and Dr. Nick Race are set to present their work in the House of Commons on March 19 as part of SET for Britain - an annual event showcasing the work of Britain's top early-stage research scientists, engineers and technologists.
The researchers were part of a project which enabled an entire Lancashire village to get online and also provided a unique opportunity for the University to carry out research into an emerging technology.
Villagers in Wray in the Lune Valley had been waiting to receive broadband for years when they hooked up with computing experts based in InfoLab21 - Lancaster University's world-class research, development and business centre in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).
For further information see the press release.
Computer Science at Lancaster Ranked Number 7 in the Country
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| Computing researchers listening to one of the mp3 players built and programmed on the new embedded systems course |
The Computer Science Department at Lancaster has been ranked at number 7 in the country (out of 110 institutions considered) in the recently published Guardian Education Guide. This result makes us the highest ranking university in the North West with the nearest being Manchester who are 20th in the rankings.
The Head of Department, Prof. Gordon Blair, on welcoming this news said:
"This is terrific news and is strong recognition for all the efforts that have gone on in recent years to make the department a vibrant place of study. We are particularly proud of achieving the highest possible rating for Spend Per Student (10/10), which reflects our investment in our teaching facilities and labs, a feature that I know is strongly welcomed by our current cohort of students. For example, we recently invested heavily in a state-of-the-art embedded systems lab, allowing students to develop their own software for embedded devices such as MP3 players and mobile robots, reflecting the growing importance of embedded systems in the subject and indeed its relevance to employers."
For further information see the relevant part of the Guardian Education Guide.
Kirsty Wark Praises Infolab21
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| Kirsty Wark at the launch of the NorthWest science strategy |
Lancaster University's InfoLab21 was one of the key regional developments singled out for praise at the launch of the new Northwest science strategy.
BBC Newsnight presenter Kirsty Wark, who hosted the event, said InfoLab21 was one of the examples of improvements in science infrastructure in the region since the launch of the first strategy in 2002.
For further information read the press release or go to www.nwda.co.uk/news or visit the Northwest Science web site at www.northwestscience.co.uk
Department Undergraduate Open Day Dates for 2007
The Department holds regular Undergraduate Open Days for prospective students and their families. You can find out about courses, talk to department staff, and look around the campus. The next round of Open Days will take place on the following dates:
Wednesday, 28th February, 2007
Wednesday, 14th March, 2007
Computing Student Wins National Microsoft Award
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| Computing student Paul Clark and Dr Andrew Sithers from Microsoft's Academic Team |
The Microsoft Award for Student Excellence 2006 has been awarded to an undergraduate at Lancaster University for a novel project looking at how drivers' personalities affect traffic flow.
Paul Clark beat off stiff competition to emerge as the only student in the UK to win the prestigious award for his final year project. Microsoft executives travelled to campus to present him with a laptop and engraved trophy plus £1,000 and a commemorative plaque for the Computing Department.
The national award recognises the most outstanding final year project developed by an undergraduate using Microsoft tools and technology. Paul's project involved a simulation of motorway traffic flow with the novel feature of factoring in the personalities of the drivers.
Find out more about Paul's award-winning project
Postgraduate Open Days
The University will be running a Postgraduate Open Afternoon, on Monday, 27 November 2006, for programmes in the Management School and Faculty of Science & Technology. The afternoon will begin at 1pm with a tour of the postgraduate facilities. A Postgraduate Open Day will also take place on Wednesday, 31 January 2007. Further information and online booking can be found at the University postgraduate open day page.
Two PhD Studentships Available
Applications are invited for two PhD studentships in the area of Content Networking. The studentships are linked to a European Network of Excellence and deal with Content Service Networks and Objective Video Quality Assessment in Content Distributions Networks. The research on the latter project is also carried out in collaboration with Agilent Laboratories. Further information is available on the studentships web page.
Two New Undergraduate International Degree Schemes
The Computing Department is offering two new international degree schemes, one targeted at North America and Australasia and the other at Europe. The two schemes offer a unique opportunity to spend your second year abroad at one of Lancaster's world-class partner institutions. The schemes build upon the highly successful exchange programme the University of Lancaster has operated over 20 years with Universities in the USA and Canada, and more recently Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Find out more at our course description page.
Computing Taster Week 2006
Intel Research will be sponsoring the Headstart course offered by Lancaster University from July 11th to July 14th 2006. The residential course is for year 12 students and the theme will be ubiquitous computing. Visit the Headstart site.
Workshop on Ethnographies of Digital Healthcare
Tim Rapley (University of Newcastle) and David Martin (Computing, Lancaster University) were speakers at a mini-workshop on Ethnographies of Digital Healthcare on Thursday 2nd February 2006. Maggie Mort (Institute for Health Research, Lancaster University) acted as discussant. The workshop was organised by The Institute for Health Research in collaboration with Computing. Tim Rapley visited the Computing department for one week in early February, collaborating with researchers here on using social analysis to better understand and support practice in healthcare. Find out more.
Excellent Review for Computing's AOSD-Europe Project
The Computing Department leads the European Network of Excellence on Aspect-Oriented Software Development. The project, which started in September 2004 and will run till August 2008, recently went through its first formal review. The reviewers rated the project as excellent across the board. A special highlight was the high quality of the coordination and project management from Lancaster. Research activities that the Lancaster team is involved with also received very positive feedback. The Lancaster team includes: Dr. Awais Rashid (coordinator), Ms. Paula Robinson (Project Secretary), Dr. Alessandro Garcia, Prof. Geoff Coulson, Prof. Gordon Blair, Dr. Peter Sawyer, Neil Loughran, Ruzanna Chitchyan, Americo Sampaio, Adrian Colyer, Nelio Cacho, Safoora Shakil Khan and Nathan Weston.
International Workshop on Physicality
This two-day workshop offered a multidisciplinary forum of discussion for researchers who are interested in the way that physicality of digital artefacts influences their use, or in the way that digitally informs our understanding of the physical. The workshop will take place on the 6th and 7th of February 2006, in InfoLab21.
Workshop on Ethnographies of Code
The department hosted a workshop exploring the overlap between social and technical issues in computer programming. The workshop questioned how computer code is written and worked with by communities of programmers. The workshop will take place on the 30th and 31st of March 2006.
InfoLab21 wins major national design award
Infolab21 has won the national British Council for Offices prize for 'Best Corporate Workplace', beating off competition from the BBC amongst others. The building won the regional award and then went on to take first prize nationally. Read the full story in the University press release.
Buses and Butterflies
Lancaster University has launched a piece of pioneering traffic-triggered interactive art. A computing collective at the University has teamed up with a group of artists to produce a sound and vision art installation, which has a technological twist. Metamorphosis opened on October 15th, 2005, in the Lancaster University underpass - a main thoroughfare for university traffic including buses. Find out more.
Lancaster University Top for Research
Lancaster University has been ranked among the top "research star" universities in the country.
The Times Higher Education Supplement (September 23) listed Lancaster alongside Oxford, Cambridge, University of East Anglia, York and Cranfield as a small handful of "research star" universities to emerge from new HESA statistics. According to these figures Lancaster University is the third highest earner of research income in proportion to academic staff costs.
Lancaster University's Computing Department Employs Technology in its Masters Teaching
The department is pleased to announce the imminent completion of a new, purpose-built Masters Training Suite for use from October 2005. This facility is designed specifically for teaching block mode courses and will house our MSc in Advanced Computer Science. Such courses demand flexible space to accommodate the wide range of teaching styles adopted on such courses, including areas for breakout groups.
The Masters Training Suite consists of a number of teaching rooms to accommodate class sizes ranging from 10 to 50 together with breakout areas with soft furnishings together with a cafe area for that well earned rest between teaching sessions. The new suite will provide an excellent high quality environment as well as technical innovations. High quality Audio-Visual equipment will allow recording and playback of lectures. Lecture material can be shared around the European community. There will be an interactive shared display, wireless networking infrastructure in all areas, smart signage displays on every room, and integrated steerable projectors linked to ongoing ubiquitous computing research. The first two features in particular are used to support our novel course on "Advanced Topics in Networking" which is delivered by a number of leading exponents of the subject across Europe.
Professor Gordon Blair, the Head of Department says "We are really excited about the new Masters Training Suite. The high quality of the finish together with the latest technical hardware means it will be a very pleasant, effective and innovative teaching facility. We are expecting our new masters students to be very impressed!"
The Computing Department teaches on eight Master's programmes with over 70 students attending courses each year. http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/postgraduates/masters.html
BT Call Centre expert completes fast track Computing PhD at Lancaster University
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| Nichola Millard, Professor Alan Dix, Professor Gordon Blair |
Nicola Millard, Customer Experience Consultant, BT has taken just two years to complete a part-time PhD in Computer Science at Lancaster University. This incredible feat has been possible through a Computing Department scheme run specifically for industrial researchers. The PhD for Professional Researchers takes into account industrial research previously completed by students within their industrial employment. Nicola registered for her PhD in July 2003 with a large amount of high quality research already completed. This fast track PhD scheme allowed Nicola to build upon her previous work, build prototypes for field testing and complete the thesis within the minimum time allowed of two years part-time. Dedication, determination and, not least, talent has paid dividends with a PhD from one of the UK's best Computing Departments to her name.
Nicola is already recognised as an expert in the field of call centre customer experience, speaking at conferences throughout the world and with many published papers, but having the respect of the academics now gives her great satisfaction. "The PhD for Professional Researcher scheme has been a fantastic opportunity for me because it has given academic validation to the work I am doing at BT. This is a very valuable qualification and opens up the academic world to me.", said Nicola .
Call centre staff have a tough job and high burn out rates are a well documented feature of the industry. Improving the employee experience as well as the customers is now on the agenda of the forward thinking centres and BT is making sure it is at the forefront through sponsorship and support of Nicola's studies. The subject of the PhD thesis is "Designing motivational user interfaces for call centre advisors". It looks at how staff effectiveness may be balanced with a healthy and stress free environment. A prototype of the new interface software was piloted in three call centres - two telecoms and one bank. Its aim was to manage stress levels, allow staff to control their emotions and help them to deal more effectively with irate customers. The prototype interfaces were successfully tested with call centre advisors and some elements of the designs have been taken forward into operational systems. The most notable success was the "emotional widget", a mechanism to off load stress levels. It proved to be an excellent mechanism to help call centre advisors let off steam and makes the workplace a more fun and satisfying environment to be in.
Apply NOW for PhD Scholarships
The Computing Department has a small number of EPSRC-funded PhD scholarships available for highly qualified UK-based candidates starting on 1st October 2005. The scholarships cover fees and a minimum allowance of £12,500 per year for 3 years. In addition, students who demonstrate exceptional talent may be awarded an extra stipend of up to £3000 per year. Full details can be found on the department PhD funding page. The deadline for applications is 31st August 2005.
Computing Taster Week
The Computing Department, with contributions from the Departments of Communication Systems and Engineering, is running a Headstart scheme in July for Year 12 school students. Students will stay on campus and have the fantastic opportunity to be inspired by the multi-faceted and innovative world of Computer Science. Find out more on the Headstart website or read the University press release
METAMORPHOSIS
METAMORPHOSIS, an interactive installation developed collaboratively between the Computing Department's .:thePooch:. and Welfare State International opened on July 1st 2005. Commissioned for the eCampus Underpass project, this interactive video and sound installation provokes questions about the power of natural phenomena and explores the idea that through our actions the pattern of nature is irredeemably altered. METAMORPHOSIS runs Friday July 1st 2005 at the Lanternhouse, The Ellers, Ulverston Cumbria and continues until July 31st 2005.
For more information, see http://www.welfare-state.org or http://www.thepooch.com. This collaboration was made possible with a grant from the Friends Programme at Lancaster University.
Read the University press release
Technology Captures War Memories
Memories of wartime Cumbria are set to be preserved with the help of cutting-edge technology from Lancaster University.
This month The Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal will hold an exhibition called Evidence marking the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. Local people are invited to bring along their own recollections of the war as well as 1940s memorabilia from gas masks to ration books.
These personal accounts and objects will be preserved for posterity with the help of new technology being developed by computer scientists at InfoLab21.
Tales of rationing and every day life on the home front will be recorded in a big brother style video diary meanwhile an interactive installation will allow visitors to create digital live art by arranging war time memorabilia. The installation is called the Kirlian Table and was developed by .:thePooch:. - a new media collective based in the North West.
Read the full press release.
New EPSRC Project: ASSIST
ASSIST (Automated Semantic Assistance for Translators) is a new EPSRC-funded project that aims to address the problem of providing contextual examples of translation equivalents for words from the general lexicon. We will employ comparable corpora, an existing semantic field annotation system for English and develop a new semantic field tagger for Russian.
More information on the project is available at http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/ucrel/projects.html#assist.
Information In Healthcare
The Computing department recently organised a workshop focusing on information in healthcare, which brought together sociologists, computer scientists, healthcare professionals and members of the IT industry. The workshop was organised as part of an ongoing collaboration between members of the department and researchers at the University of Edinburgh. Together we are looking at how healthcare professionals work with information and how information technologies can better support that work.
More information on the workshop is available at http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/computing/research/cseg/projects/ideal/workshop.
Lancaster Gets Rural Community On Line
A remote Lancashire village is now online thanks to a unique partnership between computer researchers and a determined local community.
Villagers in Wray had been waiting to receive broadband in their village for years when they hooked up with computing experts based in Lancaster's new information and communications technology centre InfoLab21. Before then the only Internet access had been a slow, often unreliable, dial-up service.
Researchers at Lancaster were keen to discover how wireless technology performs in remote, rural environments so when they heard of the village's campaign to get on line they decided to offer wireless broadband to the village as a free service and use the network as a research test bed.
The ICT Rural Matrix project has provided Wray residents with valuable advice and training in the basics of using the internet and installing end users onto the broadband network. They are also working with the University and the villagers to test the mesh technology and learn all about it.
Read the full press releaseeCampus Art Project
In April, the Computing Department's technocratic performance group, .:thePooch:. are beginning a month-long collaboration with international artists Welfare State International to create an interactive art installation for the eCampus initiative. The collaboration will take place in InfoLab21 and at the Lanternhouse in Ulverston, Cumbria.
Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt launches InfoLab21
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| Rt. Hon Patricia Hewitt MP, Professor Paul Wellings, Bryan Gray NWDA Chairman |
February 2, 2005: Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt officially opened InfoLab21, Lancaster University's new Information and Communication Technology Centre. She described Lancaster as "a truly entrepreneurial university".
Congratulating the University on its progress she said: "This is a very exciting building and a very exciting partnership making Lancaster a leader in the world's knowledge driven economy."
InfoLab21 is a Lancaster University initiative to establish a world class Centre of Excellence for research, development and commercialisation of Information and Communication Technology. A key aim of the Centre is to promote and accelerate technology transfer between the ICT research in the University and the local and regional industry, especially small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The Centre was made possible with financial support from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), who have contributed £10 million to the project, and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Read the press releaseEuropean Funding for AOSD-Europe
Lancaster University's Computing Department is leading a major European software development project that has been awarded Eur 4.4m - around £3.1m - by the European Commission. The project, called AOSD-Europe: European Network of Excellence on Aspect-Oriented Software Development, will be funded for four years and brings together 11 leading European organisations - nine academic and two industrial - including universities in Germany, The Netherlands, France, Belgium, Israel, Ireland and Spain, plus Siemens AG, Germany, and IBM United Kingdom Ltd. More information.
Lancaster is at the forefront of research into Aspect-Oriented Software Development (AOSD) - earlier this year the University hosted a five-day international conference on the subject, attended by experts from universities and software companies around the world.
"No One Opens Attachments Anymore"
InfoLab21 recently played host to the two day "No One Opens Attachments Anymore" workshop, which brought together artists and scientists from different disciplines. Organised in collaboration with the Folly new media centre, the event produced several prototype projects and ideas for future art/technology collaborations. A review of the workshop is available from Usability News.
High Tec Homes
A Lancaster University researcher has helped give autistic people greater independence thanks to a cutting-edge accommodation project, which opened this month. Lancaster University Computer Research Associate Guy Dewsbury helped put together over 50 unobtrusive, custom-made technology packages for a groundbreaking specialist accommodation development in Aberdeen. Read the full article here.
InfoLab21 Open for business
The Computing Department has moved into InfoLab21 - a major new Information and Communication Technologies facility on campus. The £15m building, which was made possible with funding from the Northwest Development Agency (NWDA) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), houses the Departments of Computing and Communication Systems and hosts 250 academics, research assistants, research students and support staff. Areas of expertise in InfoLab21 will range from software engineering to satellite communications. Designed by FaulknerBrown Architects and built by HBG the copper-clad building with distinctive bronze windows includes state-of-the-art computer facilities, offices, teaching space, a glass atrium and café with a roof terrace. InfoLab21 provides space both for University research and teaching and for business. The next stage of development will see a new 1,500 m2 Knowledge Business Centre (KBC) opened in InfoLab21. Discussions are now well advanced with a range of ICT based SMEs (Small to Medium-sized Enterprises) that are expected to take up residency before the year-end. The facility will also provide space for larger international companies to further strengthen their relationship with the University with co-located research projects. The KBC will act as an innovation hub, enabling the University to strengthen its links with business and enterprise through industry training and technology transfer. The project is part of the Government's "third mission" which aims to bring universities, businesses and communities together. It enables Lancaster University to offer its support to regional businesses, promoting long-term business growth, forging lasting business relationships and enhancing economic prospects in the region.
New BSc/MSci in Computer Science Innovation
From 2005 the Department is introducing a new BSc/MSci degree in Computer Science Innovation, offering students the opportunity to work with word-class research groups on innovative new ideas in the field. See here for further details.
IT Jobs Booming - And Wages Will Follow
According to silicon.com, UK's leading website for IT and Business Decision makers, the IT jobs market is in its healthiest state for two years, with IT organisations falling over themselves to hire new bodies. Research from Reed recruitment has found that 68 per cent of IT organisations will be recruiting in the coming quarter, with an extra 26 per cent saying they'll be making new hires to keep up staff numbers. Read the full article here.
Computing Department receives highest award in Periodic Quality Review
The Computing Department at Lancaster University impressed the judges panel of the May 2004 PQR with the quality of its teaching at all levels: undergraduate, postgraduate Masters and Doctoral programmes. A judgement of "full confidence" was passed with particular commendations for:
- Radical and innovative design and delivery of undergraduate courses
- Highly distinctive Masters programme emanating from research skills
- Strong PhD programme with impressive student numbers
- Innovative and flexible PhD scheme for experienced industrial researchers
- Research-led teaching strategy
- Strong team spirit and collegiate management style
The report also comments on the strong level of student satisfaction across all levels of the teaching programme.
The Head of Department, Prof. Gordon Blair, welcomed the report and said "I am absolutely delighted by the outcome of this review and the strong endorsement of our teaching processes. This is testimony to the hard work of the department at all levels including my talented and enthusiastic academic colleagues and also our outstanding support staff. We have now received very strong recognition for both our research and teaching placing us in the very top tier of Computer Science Departments in the UK and indeed across Europe".
Dr Awais Rashid receives University Staff Prize for Research
Dr Awais Rashid, Senior Lecturer at Computing, has been awarded the University Staff Prize for his outstanding research contributions. Dr Rashid was Organizing Chair of the 2004 International Conference on Aspect-Oriented Software Development (AOSD'04) which was held March 22-26, 2004, at Lancaster University.
Prof Steve Pink joins the Department
The department is delighted to announce the imminent arrival of Prof Steve Pink, an internationally renowned expert on Internet protocol engineering. Lancaster University is already one of the leading groups world-wide in networking and Steve will add considerable value to our work, particularly on studies of next-generation internetworking protocols for use over advanced networking technology links, including high-speed fibre optic and wireless.
Steve has previously led research in this area at the University of Arizona and also SiCS and the University of Lulea in Sweden. Dr Pink was a founder of Effnet AB which has commercialized several new networking technologies developed at Lulea including IP header compression. Most recently Steve, along with colleagues from the University of Arizona, has founded a new company called Procito Inc. that develops solutions for routing and compression in ad-hoc networks.
Dr Corina Sas joins Computing Department as new HCI lecturer
Corina Sas has been appointed as a lecturer in HCI in Computing Department, University of Lancaster, since May 2004. Her current research areas are spatial cognition and behaviour in virtual reality, usability studies, user modelling, individual differences and sense of presence.
Prior to joining Computing Department she was a scholar reading for a PhD in Computer Science at the University College Dublin, Ireland on the topic of individual differences in navigating and experiencing presence in desktop Virtual Environments.
Her previous studies include a MA in Industrial and Organisational Psychology from the Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, a BSc in Mathematics and Computer Science and a BA in Psychology, from the "Lucian Blaga" University of Sibiu, Romania, where she also worked as Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Associated Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology.
Lancaster University Computing Department is founding member of E-NEXT, a new European FP6 Network of Excellence
Lancaster University is involved as a founder member in E-NEXT, a recently launched European FP6 Network of Excellence. The general objective of E-NEXT is to encourage technological excellence in Europe in the area of networking through inter-institutional collaboration.
Research interests of the network members include quality of service, programmable networks, multimedia content distribution, and IPv6, to mention a few. See http://www.ist-e-next.net/ for more information.
Contact person at Lancaster University Computing Department is Prof David Hutchison.
New Computer Linguistics Project Starting May 2004
Funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation: "Unlocking the Word Hoard" applies to highly canonical literary texts the insights and techniques of corpus linguistics. Involves 2 researchers from Departments of Computing and Linguistics, along with a team at Northwestern University (Chicago). Lancaster's involvement in the project is the linguistic annotation of Shakespeare texts. See http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/ucrel/projects.html#wordhoard for more information.
Contact person at Lancaster University Computing Department is Dr Paul Rayson.
Move to InfoLab21
The Computing Department will be moving into the new InfoLab21 building in the Summer 2004. This new purpose built building will house the Computing Department and Department of Communication Systems. The aim is to become the North West centre of excellence for ICT.
Events
Conference: British HCI 2007
3 - 7 September 2007, at Lancaster University. Find out more at the conference website
Open Days
Dates of Department Undergraduate Open Days for the current academic year:
Undergraduate Open Day dates for 2007
- 24th January, 2007
- 3rd February, 2007
- 14th February, 2007
- 28th February, 2007
- 14th March, 2007
There are also University wide open days.
Postgraduate Open Day dates
- 27 November 2006
- 31 January 2007
Find out more information and book online at the University postgraduate open day page.