| Date | Speaker | Title | Further Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep. 21 | Artemis Parvizi | Automatic Ontology Evolution with the Aid of Graphs and Semantics | Abstract: In recent years, the emphasis has shifted from ontology development to evolution, and different attempts have been made to overcome this issue. This work is using graph theory and semantic similarities to develop a system for predicting taxonomic and non-taxonomic relations. A rule- based system for discovering taxonomic relations, and a framework to improve its results is proposed. Also, a pattern recogniser has been implemented to discover non-taxonomic relations. |
| Sep. 28 in C210 | Kailash Nadh | Modelling Emergent Phenomena in Associative Memory with Neural Cell Assemblies | Abstract: The fundamental mammalian behaviours of perception, recognition, categorisation, generalisation, and many other psychological phenomena are intrinsically bound to the basic cognitive process of memory formation and association. While many mechanisms for creating artificial associative memory exist, Hebbian Cell Assemblies(CAs) offer a neurobiologically plausible means of doing so. This thesis is an exploratory study of the dynamics of CAs and CA based associative memory. It looks into how complex phenomena emerge from associative memories by modelling and simulating the cognitive processes of formation, association, and retrieval of memories as CAs. From these elemental processes, higher order behaviour are obtained, namely, emergent context sensitivity, spatial cognitive mapping (modelled in an embodied virtual agent), and emergence of novel behaviour (explored via an autonomous game playing agent). The thesis also confirms that CAs are capable of performing real world tasks, with a natural language processing model capable of resolving with better accuracy than many symbolic machine learning models, the prepositional phrase attachment ambiguity, a common syntactic and semantic ambiguity. The results from the models are novel and manifold, hinting at a unified model of associative memory. They suggest that neurobiologically inspired models---in particular, the CA model---may be better at performing certain AI tasks than other traditional computational models. They also suggest the possibility of a CA based associative memory model that may be able to account for many higher order processes, and demonstrate how CAs can be used to model tasks in AI that resemble processes in the brain. |
| Oct. 5 in CG47 | Prof Tony Clark | Model Driven Context Aware Reactive Applications | Abstract: Context aware reactive applications (CARA) are of interest because of the explosion of mobile, tablet and web-based platforms. The complexity and proliferation of implementation technologies makes it attractive to use model-driven techniques to develop CARA systems. There are several proposals for model-driven approaches, but many are weak in terms of how behaviour is represented and the scope for system analysis. This talk proposes a simple model driven approach that uses a UML-style modelling language and a simple calculus, called Widget, to express CARA. The languages are explained using a case study, called Buddy, that provides notifications when two phones become co-located. |
| Oct. 12 | Prof Martin Loomes | From Aristotle to Anarchy | According to Wikipedia (and who am I to question such authority) “The word seminar is derived from the Latin word seminarium, meaning "seed plot" ”. This seminar will attempt to remain true to the term, and I will avoid becoming a florist selling neatly packaged, pre-grown plants. Moreover, we will follow the current trend so useful to lazy gardeners like me, of scattering seeds regardless of intended form, fencing off the ground and calling the result a “natural area”. In selecting the seeds to sow, I have adhered to the traditional values of academic authority, also known in public culture as grumpy old men”, allowing people who are of a dignified age to say and do what they like. (I have deliberately avoided the more accurate term “Grumpy Old Dean”, in case the acronym offends!). As a point of departure for this “seminar”, which must, of necessity, find its own development, I want to sow the seeds of questioning a few terms that we all use effortlessly, frequently and confidently. The two principle attractors around which this chaotic system must inevitably meander are “research” and discipline”, although we will inevitably come close to method”, “science” and “knowledge” in our travels. As a purely intellectual exercise, this will be a (hopefully) pleasant way to spend an hour or so. I hope, however, it will also help us to focus attention on what we need to do to clarify what we “mean” by terms such as research informed curriculum”, “research training”, cross/multi/inter disciplinary research”. It may also help us to discuss what we need to do to nurture the growth of research” in our “discipline” (where “growth” is defined by totally naïve metrics). In passing, I expect to allude to such topics as “Why EPSRC rarely funds exciting research”, “Why PhD students should be banned from using the term ‘literature review’ “, and “Why research in Computer Science should be fun”. |
| Oct. 19 | Dr Ian Mitchell | A Formal Logic for Digital Investigations: A case study using BPB modifications |
Introduction:
Forensic Computing involves analysing evidence. The seizure and
duplication of evidence follows important guidelines provided by ACPO
(Association of Chief Police Officers) on "Good Practice Guide for
Computer-Based Electronic Evidence". Principle 1 from these guidelines
states, "No action taken by law enforcement agencies or their agents
should change data held on a computer or storage media which may
subsequently be relied upon in court". It is the modification of data
this paper challenges and provides a case study and a formal way in
which the data can be modified, without tampering with the evidence -
the presentation asks, "Is this possible?".
Abstract: A Formal Logic is developed and the following presented: i) Notation for Formal Logic; ii) developing the Formal Logic for Digital Investigations Experiments (FDIE); iii) Case study modifying BPB and demonstrating the Formal Logic in ii); and iv) extending the Formal logic to Digital Investigations (FDI). A case study using BIOS Partition Block (BPB) modifications to render the partitions unreadable is used to successfully demonstrate the FDIE. From this experiment the Formal logic (FDIE) is extended to Formal Logic for Digital Investigations (FDI). Keywords: Formal Logic, Recovery, Anti-contamination, Evidential Integrity, BPB, FAT, NTFS. |
| Oct. 26 | Dr Mark Springett | A Unifying Framework for Understanding and Assessing Affective Human-Computer Interaction | HCI has traditionally used models to explain perceptual and cognitive aspects of interaction, e.g. models of goal structures and environmentally-led action. However, affective and emotional aspects of interaction have tended to be seen as rather less available to such an approach. Some models have been developed to capture specific phenomena (e.g. semiotic-based models applied to trust in e-commerce), but there is no unifying model that help designers characterise UX issues and in turn inform the selection of analysis tools. However, component process models are increasingly cited as having the potential to characterise emotion in ways that inform design and evaluation, linking felt states to cognitive processing, aesthetics and the landscape of social and cultural phenomena in which they occur. This talk will explain the relevance of this approach in user experience research, and its potential to provide theoretical knowledge to inform key design activities. |
| Nov. 2 | Prof Richard Bornat and Dr Saeed Dehnadi | New Insights into Learning and Teaching Programming | Historically a high proportion (round 30%, sometimes up to 50%) of novice programmers fails to learn to program, and the level of achievement amongst the successful is often disappointing. Until recently the reasons for this miserable state of affairs were mysterious. Now we have some insight, we have a test which reveals important differences between novices, and two potential explanations. The gloomy explanation is that there is a 'geek gene'; even if that is true, we may be able to identify the geeks. The hopeful explanation is that there is something peculiar about programming courses, which elevates difficulties into show-stopping obstacles; if true, we have at last identified one such obstacle, we can hope to identify others, we can diagnose those who are stuck and we may at last be able to do something about it. |
| Nov. 9 | Dr Jade Qian | MIRAGE(I&II) | Abstract: MIRAGE (Middlesex medical Image Repository with a CBIR ArchivinG Environment) is JISC funded project and aims to develop a content-based medical image retrieval system benefiting the students and researches in providing a rich supply of medical images for data mining. MIRAGEI&II includes two JISC funded projects. MIRAGE phase 1(Start-up project) had been completed and borne fruit in archiving around 100000 medical image and adopted the framework of Content-based Image Retrieval(CBIR) to index and retrieval images based on its visual features (e.g. colour, texture). MIRAGE phase 2(take-up and embedding project) responds to the two major technical enhancements, one is visualization of higher dimensional images (e.g. 3D MRI brain images) and the other is uploading a query dataset provided by a user, aiming at enriching the current repository MIRAGE I with more functionalities to meet user's needs. In this seminar, I will introduce and demonstrate the MIRAGE system applied in medical repository and art images. And also I will give brief introduction of the techniques in Content-based Image Retrieval (CBIR) and its application. |
| Nov. 16 | Dr Simon Attfield | Team Sense-making Assessment Method (TSAM): An Approach to the Evaluation of Collaborative Analysis Environments | ABTRACT – In this talk I will describe the Team Sensemaking Assessment Method (TSAM). TSAM is a result of a collaboration between BAE Systems’ Advanced Technology Centre (Human Factors Capability), Middlesex University’s Interaction Design Centre, and the Cognitive Solutions Division of Applied Research Associates Inc. (USA). TSAM focuses on collaborative sensemaking with a particular interest in intelligence analysis, offering a principled inspection method for human factors specialists to evaluate technologies for supporting teams. TSAM is grounded in a detailed review of empirical evidence and scientific theory drawn from various disciplines that have contributed to an understanding of collaboration in complex sensemaking environments. |
| Nov. 23 in CG60 | Dr Stephen Prior | Nano Unmanned Aerial Systems | Autonomous Systems Laboratory The most recent survey of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) adoption rates shows that the area of small, man-portable systems (generally defined as Micro or Nano Air Vehicles (MAVs or NAVs) of maximum take-off weight between 0-2 kg) has one of the highest growth rates of any of the market sectors. There is a growing realisation by military planners that to win the insurgency wars of the present and future, forward units will have to operate within the close confines of urban conurbations and for prolonged periods of time without support. Real-time information and intelligence on enemy strength , dispositions and tactics is therefore essential for battlefield success. Due to the small size of these systems and the close confines in which they operate, there is a need to investigate sense and avoid strategies, tools and algorithms which provide such systems with the intelligence to be able to function in an autonomous way in real-time and within the threat of hostile activity. The UK MoD's recent Nano UAS tender has highlighted the way forward in terms of the broad specification for such systems, i.e. around the sub-60 g mark for Nano and around the sub-2 kg mark for micro UAS. |
| Nov. 30-postponed | Ravinder Singh (King's College) | Managing Cross Cultural Issues in a Global Environment | Culture shock and cultural adaptation are phenomena that international organisations experience, while working in global scenario. In order to fully derive business value from the knowledge of employees, organisations introduced various knowledge management initiatives to overcome challenges of cross cultural risks, issues and boundaries. However, knowledge sharing is still a delicate process because the willingness to share knowledge might be hindered by the lack of favourable cultural antecedents or functional and geographic distances between the persons involved. The talk will focus on some of the challenges and how to overcome them while working in global environment. |
| Dec. 7 | David Miller | The Business and IT Relationship Model and its Importance as an IT Management Framework | Further Information: There are many examples of IT failing to deliver the desired business outcome and this is probably costing more than $2 trillion per annum in wasted investment globally. The speaker is the Managing Director of ITDYNAMICS Ltd, the author of "Business-Focused IT and Service Excellence" (BCS, 2008) and a PhD student at Middlesex University. His research shows that the current working relationship between business and IT is based on an incomplete and unsatisfactory model and suggests that a service based relationship model can improve the business experience and provide more comprehensive methods of alignment and governance. The findings are timely because the dynamics between business and IT are changing such that the basis for the current management methods is becoming invalid. This event will be relevant to those with an interest in the delivery of IT solutions and services to business. |
| Dec. 14 (postponed) | Dr Jonathon Loo | On the Quality of Service Security of the “Internet of Things” | Abstract: In a nutshell, the main concept of Internet of Things (IoT) is the networks of interconnected smart objects i.e. embedded devices with sensors and actuators, via the Internet using standard communication protocols such as IPv6. The web of smart objects is envisaged to work autonomously to deliver services and solutions by mean of identification, locating, tracking, monitoring, managing etc., without human intervention, which are largely applicable in real-life applications, from transportation and logistics, health care, smart environment, to personal and social, gaming, robot, city information. Fueling to bring IoT concept to real life, IEFT is working on 6LoWPAN, which is a standard to integrate IPv6 with the IEEE 802.15.4 based Low-power and Lossy Wireless Personal Area Network (LoWPAN), also referred to as Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN). This standard allows the use of existing IP network infrastructure and the huge address space of IPv6; ideally, vast number of smart objects can be deployed in local WSNs which be used to harvest enormous data and information through the Internet. In this talk, I will present some potential security threats in 6LoWPAN and will then reveal some potential research works in the area of intrusion detection system (IDS) as a second line defence for the protection of 6LoWPAN network’s operation, resources and Quality of Service (QoS) performance. |
| Dec. 21 | Christmas | ||
| Dec. 28 | Christmas | ||
| Jan. 4 | Christmas | ||
| Jan. 11 in WG05 | Dr Chris Lim (Surrey) | Creative Sandpits: Engaging and using the creative potential of older people in design. | We are living in a society where developments in technology not only are changing the way people work, play and live but also have to accommodate a greater diversity of users. This growing proportion of our society is represented by older people and contributes to a very diverse population with different physiological and psychological capabilities as well as economic and lifestyle profiles It is known that Digital ICT products have the potential to support and enhance the quality of life (QoL) of older people by allowing them to live independently, mediate their wellbeing and prevent social exclusion. However with the continual development of technology, this will disadvantage some groups of older people who have never engaged with digital technology, or find it increasingly difficult to do so because of changing capabilities, product complexity social and/or economic circumstances. To engage and include older users in the digital age, it is crucial that designers are not only sensitive to older people's changing needs and capabilities but are also able to mediate the appropriate technology developments into new products and services. It is also vitally important that potential users (i.e. older people) are involved early in the design process especially in the conceptual stage as any potential issues like viability, usability or desirability can be assessed and if need be, any mismatch between product specifications and user capabilities and profiles can be quickly resolved This talk shares a strand of work done in Sus-IT (a New Dynamic of Ageing funded research project concerned with understanding better the relationships between aging and digital disengagement) where a new methodology for engaging older people in the design of new digital technologies called 'sandpit process' will be introduced. This process involves giving older participants a voice and role in specifying requirements for new and emerging digital technologies by engaging them in the redesign of product concepts with design facilitators. |
| Jan. 18 in WG05 | Dr Ray Adams | Forgotten Websites- a study of human memory in the wwwild | Abstract: Human memory is a central component of most laboratory-based theories of human cognition. However, emerging research appears to contradict these theories, suggesting that human memory for website contents, for example, is characteristically meager! Perhaps memory is not the backbone of cognition after all, but just an optional by-product? When people expect to have future access to facts, they typically remember them poorly, suggesting an increasing reliance on external systems (transactive memory) rather than internal human memory. Do current concepts of human memory survive in the context of website navigation, or does transactive memory dominate? These questions are important for both practical and theoretical reasons. Our four experiments investigated human memory for website navigation, measuring memory performance with a set of operationally designed, unexpected cued recall tasks (free recall, cued recall or context-cued recall). Experiment One showed that participants in a web evaluation task could perform well on unexpected free recall and cued recall tests. In Experiment Two, a significant superiority of cued recall over free recall suggests that our memories of websites may be strongly context specific. A significant primacy effect in the serial position curve also replicates a familiar laboratory result. However, both results are significant, new results in this context, generalizing laboratory results. Experiment Three compared forward cued recall (“Where does this hyperlink lead?”) versus backward cued recall (“Where did this hyperlink come from?”) and context-cued recall within the same page. As predicted, forward cued recall was significantly superior to backward cued recall, reflecting the direction of main use. More surprisingly, context-cued recall (within webpages) was much better than either forward or backward cued recall (between webpages). Clearly the context of the webpage was very influential. In Experiment Four, cued recall performance increased significantly with quantity of contextual information provided. Our four experiments raise some important conclusions, explaining why the recall of websites often appears poor. First, we often can recall substantial amounts of web-based materials in unexpected tests. Second, traditional laboratory findings can be replicated in and generalize to interactions with webpage environments. Third, within-webpage encoding appears to be much more influential than between-webpages encoding. Fourth, recall of web-based materials is highly context sensitive and may fail when the context is not adequately reconstituted. In conclusion, contextual encoding seems to be very influential in the wild, in real-world contexts such as the World Wide Web. Judging by the present results, failure to remember website content may be ameliorated to some extent by designing in better support for between-webpage associations in the user’s memory. |
| Jan. 25 in WG05 | Elli Georgiadou | The origin, nature and purpose of education and lieflong learning | Europe has around 4000 higher education institutions, with over 19 million students and 1.5 million staff. Some European universities are among the best in the world, but, overall, the potential of European higher education systems is not being fully realised. The long-term strategic objectives of EU education and training policies are: to improve participation, make lifelong learning and mobility a reality, improve the quality and efficiency of education and training, promote equity, social cohesion and active citizenship and enhance creativity and innovation. Much emphasis has been placed on lifelong for the realisation of a Europe of knowledge which maximises the talents and capacities of its citizens while widening participation in Higher Education. This talk will trace the origins of the nature and role of education (institution and non-institution based), lifelong learning and the contribution of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle to the intellectual process and the very joy of reasoning and using this way of thinking in order to understand issues, to carry out research and to reach conclusions. They pioneered in their analyses of intellectual development and in the importance of the use of the mind throughout the life span. Plato and Aristotle added metaphysical arguments to support their systems of thought. Both outlined a specific sequence of studies to develop the powers of reasoning, and both established institutions [schools, lyceums, academies] wherein students and scholars could pursue learning for an indefinite period of time. The talk will outline the holistic nature of the Socratic (dialectic) method of 'questioning not telling ' in developing transferable skills. The talk will pose questions on the challenges and contradictions between widening participation and the current funding (non-funding) of education, quality and productivity, personal fulfilment and societal utilitarianism. The talk will conclude with some reflections from 34 years of teaching (and twice as many learning of course!) in secondary, further and higher education and 25 years of research (on aspects of quality and pedagogy) as well as active involvement in European and International initiatives and projects. |
| Feb. 1 in WG05 | Prof Nigel Forman and Dr George Sadamas (MDX Psychology) | Limits on Gathering Information from Virtual Environments: why the hell are they so useful? | The concept of virtual "reality" has always been regarded as optimistic. Even head-immersion and cave systems are limited in terms of their conveying any sense of transportation to an alternative reality. On the other hand, primitive systems using desk-top displays and manual input devices have proved beneficial in conveying information - particularly spatial information - so that children, adults, older adults and disabled individuals can all be shown to benefit; they can be provided with information via virtual exploration that is almost as good as equivalent real world exploration. Information transfers readily between virtual and real equivalent environments. We will talk about our work, including recent work (that has been well received among educational technologists) on the teaching of historical chronology using virtual spatial displays. We will discuss the benefits of using VEs (compared with 2-D displays) in recruiting visual-spatial memory. However, we will also discuss drawbacks: issues relating to visual-spatial working memory capacity when in virtual driving simulators, and when navigating using various input devices, also the apparently universal tendency to underestimate virtual distances. |
| Feb. 8 back in G229 until further notice | Chris Rooney | The CRISIS Project: What we've accomplished so far | We are 20 months into the 36 month FP7 CRISIS project, which is centred around the development of critical incident management system that uses an interactive simulation environment. The consortium consists of 12 partners, and is led by Middlesex. The talk will detail the work that has been completed so far, including the initial 12 months of the project that focused on gathering requirements from our three end users (British Transport Police, and Icelandic and Portugese airport management companies), and last 8 months that has focused on the development of the 3D training simulation. I will also talk about the research that has been carried out in parallel to the development work, and the lessons that we've learnt along the way (both in terms of the research domain, and in coordinating such a consortium). |
| Feb. 15 | Dr Georgios Dafoulas | Middlesex University Skills and Education Planning Tools (MUSKET) - Improving Course Information Flow (ICIF) | The MUSKET-ICIF project is the contribution form Middlesex University to the Course Data Management programme. Recent changes in the education sector have affected the way students search for course related information. Evidently students are increasingly affecting the way course information is created and disseminated. The reduced funding available for higher education intensified the way information is produced, disseminated and filtered. The role of new technologies will be a critical factor in differentiating course providers with an effective marketing strategy against those failing to adapt to the new requirements. The MUSKET-ICIF project builds on previous experience on using XCRI-CAP for developing course transformation and mapping tools in order to provide the means for comparing course related information. During the first stage the project established an understanding of the university's readiness with respect to the feasibility of a possible XCRI-CAP initiative deployment. Previous self-assessment on XCRI-CAP at operational levels was enriched with further reflection at more strategic levels, with the input of various stakeholders. |
| Feb. 22 | Dr Franco Raimondi | On-the-fly Hybrid Model Checking for Software Verification | Abstract: This work presents a novel hybrid model-checking algorithm for the exploration of large state spaces. The algorithm represents part of the state space symbolically using Binary Decision Diagrams, thereby reducing the total number of states to be explored. The correctness of the algorithm is proved and an implementation for the verification of Java code is provided on top of Java Pathfinder. The approach is validated by means of three Java applications, demonstrating that the hybrid approach is, on average, 90 times faster than traditional techniques, and creates, on average, 39 % fewer program states to be explored. |
| Feb. 29 | Prof Richard Bayford (HSSc) | An overview of Middlesex University Cancer centre's research | |
| Mar. 7 | Dr Purav Shah | UHEED: an Unequal Clustering Algorithm for Wireless Sensor Networks | Prolonging the lifetime of wireless sensor networks has always been a determining factor when designing and deploying such networks. Clustering is one technique that can be used to extend the lifetime of sensor networks by grouping sensors together. However, there exists the hot spot problem which causes an unbalanced energy consumption in equally formed clusters. UHEED, an unequal clustering algorithm which mitigates this problem and which leads to a more uniform residual energy in the network and improves the network lifetime. Furthermore, from the simulation results which will be presented, it will be shown how to deduce the the most appropriate unequal cluster size to be used in wireless sensor networks. |
| Mar. 14 | Dr Bob Fields | Keeping It Physical: Interactins With Physical Stuff In a Digital World | |
| Mar. 21 | Dr Geetha Abeysinghe | As Everything Goes Digital, What Does the 'E' Imply? | Abstract: This week, I am going to present to you, a few ideas that I have been deliberating on, rather than a well research published work. I hope this will instigate an interesting discussion. Today we seem to be living in a world of e-s. Almost daily we are bombarded with a new term, so much so, that we often find that the e’ is over-used and hyped. What exactly does the e- imply? Does the implication vary in different terms and different contexts? Originally the ‘e’ implied electronic’ – the role of technology in its delivery. Has this changed? Commonly we associate the Internet when we see the prefix ‘e’. The common perception is one of universal availability and accessibility. I am looking at two perceptions: from the point of view of the service provider and that of the user. Since both these stakeholders are humans, the universal interpretation of a service depends on individual perceptions. There is no exact definition for e-services in the current literature. Not all e-services are globally adopted. Even commercial e-commerce, which has been around since 1991, has not been universally adopted. Especially, SMEs of developing countries are faced with many challenges doing so. According to statistics more than half the world population lives in urban areas. Yet, even the most developed countries have not yet achieved 100% Internet penetration. So: Are the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) goals set in 2005 unrealistic? Are Shneiderman’s universal usability and accessibility achievable? Is the ‘e-‘ for everyone or exclusive’? Does the ‘e-‘ widen the digital divide and distance the information inclusiveness? |
| Mar. 28 | Dr Jeremy Wyatt (Birmingham) | A systems approach to cognition in robotics | In this talk I'm going to give a survey of work we have been engaged at Birmingham over the past seven years. The problem we tackle is how to design intelligent robot systems so that they are robust and retaskable. To this end I will talk about the importance of architecture: how information from different sources should managed and used. I will also talk about how it is essential that robots plan in information spaces. In particular I will talk about a number of robot systems we have developed where the robot is able to reason about the effects of its actions not just on the physical world, but also on what it believes. I'll demonstrate the power of this approach on tasks from looking for underwater volcanoes, to mapping and object search, using amongst other evidence video examples of our robots in action. |
| Apr. 4 | Dr Devika Madalli (Indian Statistical Institute) | Faceted approach to Knowledge Organization | Knowledge Organization is essential for providing better retrieval. Traditionally libraries used classification, metadata and indexing techniques to be able to cater to different approaches of users to information resources. In the web scenario, Semantic Web technologies are being applied to better organize vast amounts of unstructured information on the Web. To actually apply these technologies over large bodies of information requires construction of detailed "maps" of particular domains of knowledge, in addition to accurate description (i.e. annotation or cataloging) of information resources on a large scale. Faceted approach to knowledge organization helps provide a semantic knowledge map of a given domain. “Facets” have been defined and adopted in different ways in knowledge organization and representation. The seminar presents a perspective of facets from the analytico synthetic approach that identifies distinct constructs of domains and guides in achieving semantic knowledge representation. Application of the same is illustrated for Media content analysis. |
| Apr. 11 | Easter Break | ||
| Apr. 18 | Dr Glenford Mapp | Exploiting Location and Context Awareness to Support Proactive Handover in Heterogeneous Networks | Abstract: The development and deployment of several wireless and cellular networks mean that users will demand to be always connected as they move around. Mobile nodes will therefore have several interfaces and connections will be seamlessly switched among available networks using vertical handover techniques. Proactive handover mechanisms can be combined with the deployment of a number of location-based systems that provide location information to a very high degree of accuracy in different contexts. Furthermore, this new environment could also allow context information on location, user profiles as well as the availability of local services to be combined to provide optimal communications for mobile users. Using location-based techniques, it is possible to demonstrate that the Time Before Handover as well as the Network Dwell Time can be accurately estimated. These techniques are dependent on accurately estimating the handover radius. This talk investigates how location and context awareness can be used to optimize communication resources and also explores how such techniques may be integrated into the development of future mobile networks. |
| Apr. 25 | Dr Leonardo Mostarda | Path Loss Effect on Energy Consumption in a WSN | Energy consumption of nodes is a crucial factor that constrains the networks life time for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). WSNs are composed of small sensors equipped with low- power devices, and have limited battery power supply. The main concern in existing architectural and optimisation studies is to prolong the network lifetime. The lifetime of the sensor nodes is affected by different components such as the microprocessor, the sensing module and the wireless transmitter/receiver. The existing works mainly consider these components to decide on best deployment, topology, protocols and so on. Recent studies have also considered the monitoring and evaluation of the path loss caused by environmental factors. Path loss is always considered in isolation from the higher layers such as application and network. It is necessary to combine path loss computations used in physical layer, with information from upper layers such as application layer for a more realistic evaluation. In this paper, a simulation-based study is presented that uses path-loss model and application layer information in order to predict the network lifetime. Physical environment is considered as well. We show that when path-loss is introduced, increasing the transmission power is needed to reduce the amount of packets lost. This presents a tradeoff between the residual energy and the successful transmission rate when more realistic settings are employed for simulation. It is a challenging task to optimise the transmission power of WSNs, in presence of path loss, because although increasing the transmission power reduces the residual energy, it also reduces the number of retransmissions required. |
| May 2 | Prof John Cave (director Mindsets Ltd) | Smart Materials transforming education: a perspective from the university's own company | This seminar, illustrated with actual products for the Mindsets range, will look at how Mindsets developed over 25 years as a commercial entity within the university. The presentation element will include accounts of working with educational partners such as the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, organisations such as the BBC, NPL, national museums, visitor attractions and others. The seminar will also provide an opportunity to think about new directions. |
| May 9 | Dr Serengul Smith, Paula Bernaschina, Vanessa Hill and Adam Edwards | Superhighways into the Curriculum and Employability: A Three-Way Collaboration | extended abstract |
| May 16 | Dr Roman Belavkin | Evolution as an Information Dynamic System | Abstract: I will speak about the the EPSRC funded research project `Evolution as an information dynamic system', which is lead by Middlesex University and in collaboration with Universities of Warwick, Manchester and Keele. The aim of the project is to develop new understanding of information dynamics in evolution and biology. In particular, we are going to derive new optimality conditions for some evolutionary operators, such as mutation and recombination. Evolutionary states are be represented by probability measures on the space of genetic sequences, and different operators produce different evolutions of the states. We define the optimality conditions for evolution based on the maximisation of utility (or fitness) of information principle. The optimal evolution in this sense achieves the shortest `information distance', and it can be different from an evolution optimal in another sense, such as the shortest convergence time. We argue that the former achieves a better adaptation of organisms living in a dynamic environment. I will present several early results related to the optimisation of mutation rate parameter. I will review these results in the light of the classical theories of adaptation (e.g. Fisher's geometric model) and error threshold. Then I will outline some future theoretical and experimental work of the project. |
| May 23 | Cancelled | ||
| May 30 | Will Wood (IEEE Explore) | IEEE Xplore - Learn time-saving techniques and find out what's new | You are invited to attend a free training session to learn
time-saving techniques for finding engineering, computing and
technology content using IEEE Xplore, the online delivery
platform for the university's IEEE subscription.
|
| June 6 | Dr Kai Xu | Social Media and Provenance - How Visual Network Analysis May Help | This talk will give a brief overview of my previous work and how they link to the projects I am currently working on. Before joining Middlesex University, my research interests are mainly network visualisation, with application in sociology, bioinformatics, ontology, and e-Research. I will discuss a few examples including designing new visual form for network data and algorithm for computing network layouts. Recently, I started to spend more time on social media and provenance related issues. Problems associated with social media (e.g., Twitter) are usually challenging because not only the size of the data involved (i.e., the ‘Big Data’ problem) but also the various data quality issues: errors, missing data, etc. This leads to one of my current research interests ‘provenance’, which usually refers to the process that lead to a piece of data. I will briefly describe an EPSRC-funded research project that aims to apply social media analysis, provenance, and network visualisation to the ‘Human Terrain Analysis’ in the Defence domain. |
| June 13 | PhD Student Talks |
Joshua Nwokeji: Alignment Architecture Model: A new approach to Business
and Information Technology Alignement in Enterprise Architecture Francis Ahaotu: Improving Quality of Service for "Internet of Things" networks through Bayesian Inference Swapna Silva: A Software Based Solution to Facilitate End to End Information Supply Chain Visibility | |
| June 20 | Dr Huan Nguyen | MIMO Techniques for Broadband Communication Systems | Abstract: Recently, the use of multiple antennas in advanced broadband wireless communication systems (e.g., WLAN 802.11n, LTE, WiMAX) for improving the spectral efficiency and reliability has drawn significant attention worldwide. It is found that thesystem capacity can grow linearly with the number of antennas. The resulting system is called multiple input multiple output (MIMO) system. To exploit the increased capacity (via multiplexing gain) and reliability (via diversity gain), various space-time transmission methods can be considered. In this talk, I am overviewing fundamental MIMO techniques and then discussing our two recently proposed MIMO schemes that help achieve near-optimal diversity-multiplexingtradeoff: Group-wise Space-Time Block Code and List-based Lattice Reduction Detection. |
| June 27 | Ravinder Singh (King's College) | Managing Cross Cultural Issues in a Global Environment | Culture shock and cultural adaptation are phenomena that international organisations experience, while working in global scenario. In order to fully derive business value from the knowledge of employees, organisations introduced various knowledge management initiatives to overcome challenges of cross cultural risks, issues and boundaries. However, knowledge sharing is still a delicate process because the willingness to share knowledge might be hindered by the lack of favourable cultural antecedents or functional and geographic distances between the persons involved. The talk will focus on some of the challenges and how to overcome them while working in global environment. |
| July 4 | Prof Brian Henderson-Sellers (U. Technology, Sydney) | Toward the integration of models, metamodels and ontologies: the need for a new theory. | Abstract: Creating
models and expressing them with UML or a similar modelling
language has over the last two decades focussed on
conceptualizing user requirements in terms of classes. Each class
in the model is intended to represent a single concept and all
classes are of equal status and construction. Relationships
between those classes are also identified, typically in terms of
generalizations, associations and aggregations. The model
structure, thus composed, is relatively simplistic in that it
cannot represent different kinds of class and relationships that
may only be valid for specific kinds of class are universally
permitted. For example, no account is typically taken of roles
nor the difference between entities (classes) that have instances
with identity and entities that have no individualism. In this
presentation, I introduce some well understood foundational
ontological structures that identify a large number of kinds of
UML classes and, consequently, introduce some new ideas for
modelling. A second viewpoint, that of language use and speech
act theory is then applied to understand the relationship between
ontologies, metamodels and modelling languages and to resolve the
so-called linguistic/ontological metamodelling paradox. Finally,
I will argue that the time has come for a new mindset for
multi-level modelling. Brief bio: Brian Henderson-Sellers received the doctor of science (DSc) degree from the University of London in 2001 for his research contributions in object-oriented methodologies. He is the director of the Centre for Object Technology Applications and Research and a professor of information systems at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). He is the author or editor of 33 books and over 600 other publications. |
| July 11 | Dr Enver Ever | Multi-Dimensional Modelling for Performability Evaluation of Heterogenous Wireless Communication System Integration. | The existing solution approach we introduced is three dimensional and it seems like the 4th dimension is also required http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0377042708000502 |
| July 18 | Dr Rui Loureiro | ROBIN: Strategies for robot driven neurorehabilitation:what matters? | There is
excellent evidence showing that the outcome of cognitive and
motor impairment improves due to the rehabilitation process, but
confirmation for or against the component therapies is scarce and
it has been linked to be the black box of rehabilitation.
Traditional rehabilitation relies on the use of physical (and
cognitive) therapy that is partially based on theories and
heavily reliant on the therapists training and past
experience. Although there is a strong correlation between the
amount of therapy and eventual outcome, there is less evidence to
compare treatment protocols. For almost two decades there has
been a growing interest and activity to explore the use of robots
and robot technologies in the area of rehabilitation, where the
model is to incorporate robot assistance designed to enhance a
persons recovery following a brain injury. In this model it is
expected that the robot will be made available possibly during
the patientshospital stay or possibly in the months that follow.
In this talk I will focus on the importance of transferring skills to functional independence, on conducting therapy in a social context and new ways of using robots (not necessarily to assist movement). I will further demonstrate how strategies that aim to trick the central nervous system can have a positive impact on the recovery of brain injuries, movement disorders as well as on physical and emotional pain. |
| July 25 | Dr Florian Kammueller | Security of Active Objects | Abstract: Programming in large networks of computers, like the Internet, poses new problems of safely implementing parallel activities, code distribution, and complex communication structures. This talk investigates information flow security for distributed active objects. We consider ASPfun, a calculus for functional active objects that communicate asynchronously. It is completely formalized and its properties proved in the interactive theorem prover Isabelle/HOL. We provide a model for information flow security for active objects and a formal type system for static security analysis. |
| Aug. 8 | Summer Break | ||
| Aug. 15 | Summer Break | ||
| Aug. 22 | Summer Break | ||
| Aug. 29 | Summer Break |