EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Embedded Intelligence 2014 – 2015 Newsletter
cdt-ei@lboro.ac.uk www.cdt-ei.org
Welcome Welcome to the first edition of the CDT-EI newsletter, in which we hope to provide you with a snapshot of our first year of operation. The Centre works with funding and support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Loughborough and Heriot-Watt Universities and our industrial collaborators, to train high calibre postgraduate researchers within the field of Embedded Intelligence.
Design for EI
Packaging & Interconnect
Intelligent Software Applications Engineering
Manufacturing Solutions
Contact Details: Donna Palmer, Centre Manager Email: d.j.palmer@lboro.ac.uk Tel: 01509 227 688
System Services
The partnership between the Universities of Loughborough and Heriot-Watt provides a range of resources for our students. We take a multidisciplinary approach with academic supervision contributed from science, engineering, computer science, design and business. This is strengthened by the industrial co-supervision that all of our students receive. The challenge themes we address are illustrated on the left, and our main research interests are in the areas of autonomous products, functional materials, high performance connected systems, data-to-knowledge solutions, and engineering for industry, life and health. Click on the image to visit our website. Since the launch in April 2014, our first cohort has successfully completed the first year of their programme. The technical skills, commercial awareness and industrial experience gained during their first year will be built upon throughout their ongoing research practice. We are now being joined by our second cohort and are looking forward to the supporting inter-cohort interactions that will develop and grow as new students join.
What does Embedded Intelligence (EI) mean to us? The integration of intelligence into products, processes and services so they work better and increase productivity, efficiency and connectivity. At its core, EI requires the use of sensors, communications and processing and is underpinned by diverse areas of expertise from science and engineering to information management and computing.
An example of EI: In the automotive and electronics sectors there is a need for companies to be able to monitor components throughout their operational lifetimes. RFID technologies can be used to track and trace components throughout the supply chain.
• Design of intelligent ‘smart’ products and systems • Manufacture of embedded/on-bedded devices
• Software behind data collection • Data processing and analytics • Hard/soft integrative technologies • Communication networks
• Novel sensor applications
Embedded Intelligence
Embedded Intelligence can be defined as making products and services intelligent by enabling them to react to their environment and adapt their behaviour accordingly
Cohort 1: commenced 2014/15 year
Name Adrian AyastuyRodriguez Arturo MartinezInsua Rodriguez Craig Fisher
PhD Project Smart Sensors for Detection of Lack of Appetite in Cattle
Co-Sponsor Moredun
Real Time Monitoring of Oil Based Lubricants for Performance Characterisation Embedded Intelligence in Data Visualisation
capricorn Automotive Prof Homer Rahnejat Babcock Group
Dr Russell Lock
Dimitrios Pantazis
M2M Wireless Intelligence
HSSMI
Prof Andrew West
Ian Park
Coherent Measurement of Surface Geometry on a Large Scale Design and Manufacture of Functionally-tailored Multimaterial Structures with Embedded Intelligence
Taylor Hobson Ltd
Prof Jeremy Coupland
Far UK
Dr Carmen TorresSanchez
User Experience of Driving for the Future
BMW
Dr Mashhuda Glencross
Mohamed Alrefaie Deploying Future Materials for Responsive Car Interiors
BMW
Dr Mashhuda Glencross
Pawel Ladosz
Support Autonomous Operation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems with Computer Vision
Multi-partner consortium
Prof Wen-Hua Chen
Samantha Gunn
Microwave Sensors for the Quality Control of Food Products
Macphie
Dr David Flynn
Joe Holt Michael Johnson
Cohort 1 Click to view biographies
Supervisor Dr Paul Record
2014 Timeline Recruitment for Cohort 2 begins
Cohort 1 join for their induction at the Burn, Edinburgh
SEP
OCT Cohort 1 at HeriotWatt
Christmas Holiday
Kraft Foods Case Study
Site Visit:: Semefab Glenrothes
NOV
DEC Group Project at Renishaw
lab experiments at Heriot-Watt University
Taught modules at each University Group project, reading club and foresight seminars led by Heriot-Watt
Cohort 1 move to Loughborough
“Biomimetic Workshop” with Prof Desmulliez
Summer School
Welcome to Loughborough
Cohort 2 Induction
Engineering YES
Cohort 1 move to their home institution
IeMRC Conference and Connect Event, Loughborough
JAN
Donington Park Social: BBQ and Feedback
Recruitment RoadshowPatras, Athens, Madrid, Almeria and Seville
FEB
ILM Modules
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
Jon Bruner, O’Reilly: Public Lecture
JUL
AUG
SEP
UDRC
SIGGRAPH
Group Projects at BAE Systems, Diamond Microwave and MOOG Group
Taught modules at Loughborough Group projects, reading club and foresight seminars led by Loughborough
Year 1 Progress Review
2015 Timeline
Induction Week The Burn, Edinburgh
Coaching and Mentoring Activities
Situated in the beautiful countryside of southern Aberdeenshire, The Burn provided the perfect setting for our first cohort of students to bond, meet with CDT-EI staff and begin the first days of their CDT-EI programme with transition training .
The Burn Induction Programme: The transition zone is key to the CDT-EI training ethos, continuing throughout the cohort’s studies, it begins with the topics initiated during induction week: •
Industry & Entrepreneurship
•
Leadership, Individuals and Teams – Belbin approach,
Leadership, Individuals and Teams: interactive sessions and games
human motivation and collaboration •
Teaching, Learning, Coaching and Facilitation – building coaching into your daily work
•
Business Model You – building your career and reputation
•
Connecting to Your Purpose – creativity and self reflection
•
Managing time, expectations, resources and people
The Burn estate contains garden areas, fields and ancient woodland and is bounded by the North Esk River. The Burn provides a tranquil space in which to think and study.
Engineering YES Joe Holt, Dimitris Pantazis, Mohamed Alrefaie, Arturo Martinez-Insua-Rodriguez, and Adrian Ayastuy Rodriguez represented the CDT-EI at Engineering Yes Business Challenge competition in Birmingham held from the 17th – 20th May. The team was required to prepare a business plan for an engineering start-up company. Throughout the four days they were introduced to all aspects of business planning, operation and startups, covering a range of topics such as finance, intellectual property and marketing.
Following a mixed reception to their first idea at the initial ‘elevator pitch’ stage, the team switched their focus to developing a cooling technology for food transportation. The finalised idea was presented in a “Dragons’ Den” style competition on the last day.
Utilising input from group sessions, brainstorming and one-on-one meetings with the advisors, the team developed and assessed different ideas for their potential business drawing on the strengths within the team.
Participation in this event served as an introduction to the concept of start-up businesses, how to commercialise an idea and was an interesting counterpart to academic research.
The initial idea was to develop a social marketplace for seasonings and spices utilising data mining techniques allowing users to explore different culinary options.
The experience and knowledge gained also informed the Institute of Leadership and Management modules which form part of the CDT-EI programme. Joe Holt, CDT-EI Cohort 1 Student
Steve Lockwood from IBM
Jon Bruner from O'Reilly
Andrew Lamb from World Bank
Prof Marc Desmulliez from Heriot-Watt University Chloe Agg from Cundall
Dr Russell Lock from Loughborough University
Prof Martin Goosey from MTG Research Ltd
Dr Vicky Haines from Loughborough University
Dr Peter Davies CBE
Seminars led by industrialists and academics working at the forefront of EI
Dr Max Zecca from Loughborough University
Dr Kay Owa from Loughborough University Prof Ray Dawson from Loughborough University
Dr James Amor from University of Warwick
Dr Valentin Robu from Heriot-Watt University
Foresight Seminars
Prof Nicholas Taylor from Heriot-Watt University
Pawel Ladosz attended the University Defence Research Collaboration in Signal Processing’s Summer School hosted at the University of Surrey from the 20th - 23rd of July. The course focused on signal processing and pattern recognition and was well attended by professionals from industry, including IBM, DSTL, Thales, R&D Canada, as well as researchers from academic institutions, such as University of Edinburgh, Newcastle University and Strathclyde University.
UDRC summer School 20-23 July University of Surrey
Lectures from Dr Simon Julier, Reader in Situation Awareness Systems at University College London, Prof Mark Plumbley, Professor of Signal Processing at the University of Surrey and Dr James Hopgood, Senior Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, were particular highlights of the event.
Pawel reported that the summer school courses were well planned and excellently delivered. Meeting new friends and brainstorming were important parts of the Summer School, providing the opportunity for attendants to share information and ideas, all of which were enhanced by the wine tasting and group dinner. The course provided current state of the art and also future research directions in areas including Statistical Signal Processing, Tracking, Pattern Recognition and Classification and Source Separation. Pawel Ladosz, CDT-EI Cohort 1 Student
UDRC Summer School
SIGGRAPH 2015 It was an amazing experience to attend the SIGGRAPH 2015 conference. It's an annual conference that lasts for five days giving an interdisciplinary educational experience in the latest computer graphics and interactive techniques, including a three-day commercial exhibition that attracts hundreds of exhibitors from around the world. In the courses, I learned from basic to advanced information about computer graphics, augmented reality and virtual reality. These courses were taught by the top researchers in each field and usually lasted from half to a full day. Also, I attended several sessions given by Nvidia, Autodesk, Ford, ShapeWays and NASA researchers presenting their work in this field. Some of these companies even announced new technologies, software libraries and new products in the exhibition which was very interesting to have a look at and try it for the first time. Other remarkable events were given by researchers working in commercial movies like Terminator Genisys showing surprising new techniques in rendering plots and scenes that look realistic even though they were totally rendered on a computer. It was also great to meet peers, researchers and professors working in the same field to learn a lot from them and exchange research experiences. Indeed, it was a great opportunity to expand my network overseas and see what other labs and researchers are doing. Hopefully, I will be there next year but as a presenter or exhibitor not just a visitor. Mohamed Taher Alrefaie, CDT-EI Cohort 1 Student
SIGGRAPH 9 – 13 August, LA
Attended by
Michael Johnson and Mohamed Taher Alrefaie More images available courtesy of SIGGRAPH 2015 http://s2015.siggraph.org/attendees/vr -village
Virtual Reality Demo: flying like a bird “RealTime Live! Chair Nico Gonzalez”
Siemens
Diamond Microwave To investigate thermal management solutions for solid state pulsed amplifiers
To develop a low-cost antenna for partial discharge detection
Moog Group Katawave To investigate use of an application program interface (API) for visualisation of knowledge base data
To design the interconnect of an acuator area network
BAE Systems Renishaw
To create an antenna and its array that operate over a high range of frequencies
To assess the use of Raman Spectroscopy as a potential online inspection tool for hermeticity testing in microelectronics
Group Projects 2014/15 year
PhD Spotlight
“The aim of the research is to use coherence measurements of large engineering surfaces, such as turbine blades, to detect defects in the order of the wavelengths of light.”
Student: Ian Park Project: Coherent Measurement of Surface Taylor Hobson Ltd are an ultra-precision technology Geometry on a Large Scale company operating at the highest levels of accuracy Company: Taylor Hobson within the field of surface and form metrology. They Ltd provide contact and non-contact measurement Supervisor: Prof Jeremy solutions. Their products are used in the development Coupland and production of technologies such as semiconductors, precision optics and energy technologies. Taylor Hobson understand that to stay at the front of their field they need to invest in research and development. They have co-sponsored a PhD research project which aims to demonstrate a novel optical instrument utilising synthetic aperture interferometry (SAI) that is capable of high resolution inspection of engineering parts over a large area. The ability to measure engineering surfaces to both a high resolution and over a large field of view has been regarded as the “Holy Grail of Metrology”. The development of such a system would meet the increasing need for inspection and quality control within the high-value manufacturing industry. The fact that surface effects are estimated to cause up to 10% of manufactured parts to fail, highlights the need for this capability.
October 2015 ➢ Cohort 2 commence their studies including group projects with HSSMI and Upside Energy ➢ Taught modules @ Loughborough and Heriot-Watt
November/December ➢ Recruitment of Cohort 3 commences ➢ CDT-EI attending Postgraduate Studentship Recruitment Fair ➢ Cohort 2 start ILM modules
January 2016
June 2016 ➢ Annual CDT appraisals ➢ Annual summer school
Coming up in 2015/16 year
➢ Cohort 1 start 4th ILM module ➢ Cohort 2 @ Loughborough University for taught modules, group projects ➢ Annual meeting of CDT-EI Management Advisory Group
Interested in a working with us?
The CDT-EI programme is student centric and industry focussed. All of our PhD projects are co-sponsored by industry and the training they undertake in their first year is directly relevant and applicable to their PhD research project. We believe that through a wealth of technical, industrial and leadership training, combined with mentoring and student centric events, our emerging graduates will become the skilled professionals sought after by the emerging EI sector.
“the project was a really great example of combining the strengths and capabilities of universities & industry….the success was down to the personal commitment, energy & enthusiasm of the team.” Rob Lewis, BAE Systems Group Project
Interested in studying a PhD with us?
Our PhD studentship package can be tailored to suit company need and the individual requirements of the student, project and supervisory team During their first year, students engage with independent group project supervisors enabling them to access a wide range of expertise, skills and knowledge and broad exposure to new ideas and possibilities. Group Project Facts ➢ Students work as consultants for a company ➢ Duration: up to 12 weeks ➢ Company costs: time, travel, consumables
Visit www.cdt-ei.org for details about available projects
Complete a PhD application with Loughborough or Heriot-Watt University
EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Embedded Intelligence cdt-ei@lboro.ac.uk www.cdt-ei.org