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School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science

The Head of School cordially invites you to attend the

Inaugural Lecture by Professor Dimitrios Nikolopoulos

entitled

'Searching for data: The ever increasing role of memory hierarchies
on the performance and sustainability of computing systems'

on Thursday 7th March 2013 at 4:00pm in
Peter Froggatt Centre, Room 0G/007
and reception afterwards in the Peter Froggatt Centre Foyer

RSVP by Wednesday 27th February 2013 to:
Fionnuala McCrink,
Bernard Crossland Building,
School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science,
18 Malone Road,
Belfast, BT9 5BN
(Tel: 028 9097 4669; Email: f.mccrink@qub.ac.uk)

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[Belfast, Northern Ireland, February 13^th 2013]

Leading Belfast based IT software and telecoms services provider, Asidua, has today announced that 4 of N. Ireland’s brightest Computer Science and Engineering students have been awarded places on their prestigious Scholarship Programme, each securing a package worth up to £25,000.

Launched in 2008 in co-operation with Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Ulster, the Asidua Scholarship Programme aims to attract fresh talent into the N.Ireland IT sector, by offering successful Computer Science and Engineering students an unrivalled packaged worth up to £25,000.  

In addition to paid bursaries, the programme helps supplement the academic learning from University with real-life business experience through paid placements and full time job opportunities after graduation.  Due to its success in Northern Ireland, the initiative was expanded in 2012 to include universities in the UK Midlands area (Aston University, Coventry University, University of Birmingham and Warwick University).

Since 2008 Asidua, an Investor in People Gold company, has successfully awarded 16 scholarships to local students. This year, the Belfast based IT software and telecoms services provider has announced that 4 more of Northern Ireland’s brightest IT and Engineering students – Andrew Fletcher, Andrew Kingston, Jake Mercer and Michael Drury – will be joining their prestigious Scholarship Programme.

During a recent award ceremony, each of the scholars were formally welcomed to Asidua by Chief Operations Officer, Angela Canavan. “I would like to welcome Andrew, Michael, Jake and Andrew to Asidua and congratulate them on their outstanding achievement of being awarded places on our prestigious Scholarship Programme.”  Angela continued: “Each year the standard of applications to the programme increases in both quantity and quality, and I am confident that each of our newly selected scholars will have a bright career with Asidua.”

The award ceremony, which was also attended by family members and representatives from Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), allowed the new scholars an opportunity to meet future work colleagues and discover more about the company from current and previous scholars; many of whom have since returned as Graduate Engineers.

Speaking during the event, Director of Education at Queen’s University Belfast, Dr Lillian Greenwood, described the programme as “an excellent example of how seriously Queen's University Belfast and Asidua take the development of future professionals in the IT and technology sectors.”

“The ability to study at university and combine it with the professional experience gained at Asidua leads to highly skilled, better prepared graduates. The skills learned by the award winner strengthens their academic development by being given the opportunity to put theory into practice- key to becoming a well rounded professional.”

New Asidua scholar Michael Drury agreed by adding: “I was very interested in the type of work that the organisation was engaged in and believed that the experience I could gain from working with Asidua would be very beneficial to my degree as well as my future career in IT.”  Electrical and Electronic Engineering QUB student Jake Mercer continued: “I applied as soon as I could.  I hope to take every opportunity to learn and develop as an engineer and I have no doubt that in the future I will have benefited from this unique and invaluable experience.”  

Agreeing with his fellow scholars, Andrew Kingston outlined how he feels the programme will help him throughout his future career. “I'm confident the programme will give me invaluable real-world experience of working within this sector and I'm looking forward to putting the knowledge and skills I've learned on my course into practice.”

QUB Computer Science student, Andrew Fletcher was also excited to have been awarded a place on the prestigious programme and outlined his aims for the future. “As an Asidua scholar, I want to fully grasp every single opportunity available to me so as to allow me to further my technical skills and my development as a whole. I aim to further build my computing skills to a level far above that attainable solely in the class-room, by working in this world class setting alongside experienced IT professionals on innovative projects.” 

The sense of achievement was also extended from the scholars’ families.  “The ceremony gave us a great sense of what Asidua is all about and I am delighted that Andrew is going to be part of such a welcoming team,” explained Andrew Kingston’s father Kevin. “Having the assistance and support of Asidua over the next few years is definitely going to give Andrew a great start to his career.”

A view that was shared by Michael Drury’s mother Angela. “The Team at Asidua made us feel extremely welcome and it was evident that their success is built on the hard work of a very effective team, with staff and clients at the heart of everything they do.” Jake Mercer’s mother, Sharon Robinson, also agreed by adding that her son’s achievement was “a great opportunity from a company that values its staff and invests in its future and is going from strength to strength.”

Proud mother, Donna Fletcher, concluded the day’s events by saying: “Having learnt a lot about Asidua, I feel proud to be associated with a company which is so innovative, which values its employees and fundraises so regularly for a wide variety of charitable causes.”

The four new Asidua scholars will continue with their first year studies at Queen’s University Belfast and will return in the summer to begin their first placement with the global IT software and telecoms services provider.

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Professor Andrew Blake

Laboratory Director, Microsoft Research, Cambridge
Council Member ESPRC

Professor Andrew Blake, is a pioneer in the development of the theory and algorithms that can make it possible for computers to behave as seeing machines and will speak about the latest developments in this area. Andrew and his colleagues were presented with the Royal Academy of Engineering MacRobert Award for their machine learning work on the human motion capture in Kinect for Xbox 360.

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US Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs,Dr. Kerri-Ann Jones has visited Newry to announce the first telecommunications project to be funded under the US-Ireland R&D Partnership... read more

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Frank Taggart, a MEng student in Electronics and Electrical Engineering, has been awarded a prestigious Belling engineering grant by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). Set up in memory of the late Charles Reginald Belling, the cash bursaries are awarded to high achieving students in Electronic and Electrical Engineering entering their final year of study.

Frank is a key member of the student body within the school, being a peer mentor and class representative, in addition to his studies.

Speaking on his award Frank said “I am delighted to have been awarded a Belling Scholarship from the IET. The prize will go a long way in supporting me through my final year of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Queens. The application required me to demonstrate my commitment towards promoting engineering within the community, support of my peers and evidence that I am a potential future leader. With the benefit of this scholarship I look forward to completing my final year of my MEng and obtaining graduate employment in 2013.”

Frank attended St Mary’s Grammar School in Magherafelt before coming to Queen’s University Belfast to study Electronics and Electrical Engineering

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Are you a girl with ambition? Want an exciting and challenging career? Are you looking for a placement? Well... Microsoft wants YOU!!

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Queen’s University Belfast invites applications from outstanding Chinese students from Project 985 and 211 universities to pursue PhD study at Queen’s University Belfast in collaboration with the China Scholarship Council (CSC). There are up to 20 fully funded three year research studentships, commencing October 2013. The studentships provide fees and living costs.

Click Here for more information

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More than 120 students attended Citi’s Technology Roadshow in Belfast earlier this month at an event designed to promote Citi as a ‘Centre of Excellence for Technology’.

The Citi Technology Roadshow visited Queen’s University Belfast on November 7^th, explaining to students the variety of IT roles that help to support the global banking business and the employment opportunities available to technology graduates. It also served as a reminder of the commitment of the the School of Electronics, Electronic Engineering and Computer Science to partner with industry on events to benefit the future employability of our graduates.

Five main stalls where set up on campus, representing some of the major IT roles:  Development, Quality Assurance, Support, Business Analysis and Project Management. Using posters and software demonstrations, local Citi staff explained the skills required for each position and what a typical day might entail.

In order to demonstrate how the roles interact, a typical software product lifecycle was presented,  allowing students to visualise the contributions required of each role.

Representatives from Citi’s social and community volunteering clubs also attended, explaining Citi’s focus on a work-life balance and the company’s ethos of giving back to the local community.

The feedback from the students was fantastic, with many talking with staff in great detail to hear about the exciting opportunities a career in IT offers. 

There was also a competition taking place on the day with an Amazon Kindle as top prize.  Student Conor Watters was the eventual winner:

"I found the careers event that Citi organised very worthwhile and informative. It allowed myself and other classmates the opportunity to view the vast number of positions available within Citi. I got the chance to meet employees, ask them questions on how to gain placements and they offered advice on interview techniques and CV's. All the staff of Citi were very approachable and honest about any questions we had and I found the eventvery rewarding as it gave me a better insight into the area I want to work in as well as picking up a few freebies and the chance of winning a Kindle."

 

(L-R) Ann Doris, Placement advisor from Queen's University Belfast; Mark McCormack from Citi present Conor Waters with his prize.

Overall the roadshow proved to be a huge success providing local students with an insight into a career in IT and encouraging them to apply for the full range of opportunities available, such as Citi Quest and the various Citi Academy and student placement programmes.

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The Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) in Cheltenham has agreed in principle to sponsor a PhD/Doctoral Studentship at The Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT) in the area of Novel Application of Advanced Machine Learning Techniques for use in Side Channel Analysis Attacks. 

This GCHQ-sponsored PhD studentship provides funding for 3.5 years and commences on 31 September 2013 with a proposed end date of March/April 2017. GCHQ will cover the costs of university fees and will provide an annual stipend to the student corresponding to the National Minimum Stipend (currently £13,590 per annum) plus an additional sum of £7,000 per annum (both tax free). For comparison this is equivalent to approx. £26,555 annual salary. A further £5k of funding will also be available per annum for travel to conferences, collaborative partners, and GCHQ visits.

The studentship is only open to UK nationals and the successful candidate will be required to spend in the region of 2 - 4 weeks per year at GCHQ headquarters in Cheltenham. To be considered for this studentship, candidates must therefore be prepared to undergo GCHQ's security clearance procedures.

More information on this exceptional opportunity is available here.

 

 

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Be part of the app revolution

Join thousands of developers worldwide, November 9-11, 2012, as we build apps for the next generation of Windows.

The BCB will be one of the event venues this weekend joining the global app revolution, all buzzing with energy, music, free food and more.

Expert help, free resources

Microsoft app experts, developers and trainers will be available to assist your learning and coding.

What to do next

Get Windows 8 onto your laptop and download Visual Studio 2012 (both free through DreamSpark). Then Register for the event through http://wowzapp2012belfastnorthernireland.eventbrite.com/

Time and place

So come along to the BCB starting at 17:00 on Friday 9th November through to 17:00 on Sunday 11th November 2012.  The BCB is one of four venues on the island and currently the only UK venue.

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Present around the World (PATW) is the IET’s presentation competition for students, recent graduates, apprentices and young professionals aged 18 to 26. Competitors are asked to give a presentation for 10 minutes on a subject related to engineering and technology, and to answer questions for a further five minutes.  It is perfectly acceptable to use your final year project presentation, a presentation from your graduate scheme or any other presentation which you already have.

The event is mainly to judge presentation skills although the topic should be appropriate to the intended audience of students and young professionals.   The prizes are £150 for the winner and £100 for the runner-up. The runner-up prize will only be awarded if there are four or more competitors (maximum of eight).

The winner and runner-up of the Local Networks (LNs) Heat also receive one year’s free student or associate level membership of the IET.

The winner may also qualify for the later stages of the worldwide competition, which offer greater prize money and the opportunity to travel. More information is available at http://conferences.theiet.org/patw/about/index.cfm

HOW TO ENTER

If you would like to enter the 2012-2013 Present around the World competition, then please register your interest by providing a brief synopsis of your intended presentation (100-200 words) to the event organiser (k.rafferty@ee.qub.ac.uk) by Monday 12^th November.  Ideally we would like four presenters on the evening, so in the event that more than four people apply, competition places will be awarded to those that first registered their interest.

 

COMPETITION DATE AND VENUE.

This year the PATW will be held:

Thursday 22nd November
Main Lecture Theatre – Ashy Building, Stranmillis Road, Belfast.

Refreshments served from 6pm, Presentations commence 6.30pm.

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Professor Vincent Fusco, Queen’s University of Belfast, is awarded the Mountbatten Medal for outstanding, dedicated, lifetime leadership in establishing the field of active antenna technology for advanced wireless applications, and for his seminal contributions to the fundamental understanding of self-tracking antennas and non-linear phase conjugating surfaces.

Professor Fusco will receive his award on 15^th November 2012 at the Mountbatten Memorial Lecture

The Mountbatten Medal celebrates individuals who have made an outstanding contribution, over a period, to the promotion of electronics or information technology and their application that benefits the UK. Contributions can be within the spheres of science, technology, industry or commerce and in the dissemination of the understanding of electronics and information technology, whether to young people, or adults.

The Mountbatten Medal nominations are judged by representatives of the IET, the British Computer Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering.

In selecting a winner, the Panel gives particular emphasis to:

• the stimulation of public awareness of the significance and value of electronics;
• spreading recognition of the economic significance of electronics and IT, and encouraging their effective use throughout industry in general;
• encouraging excellence in product innovation and the successful transition of scientific advances to wealth-creating products;
• recognising brilliance in academic and industrial research;
• encouraging young people of both sexes to make their careers in the electronics and IT industries;
• increasing the awareness of the importance of electronics and IT amongst teachers and others in the educational disciplines

 For more information please visit http://conferences.theiet.org/achievement/senior/mountbatten.cfm

Contact

Andrew Norton
Marketing and Student Recruitment Officer, School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Queen’s University
tel. 028 9097 4618  
07854 439792 (mobile)
email a.norton@qub.ac.uk

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Research produced by Dr Simon Cotton, Lecturer at the Centre for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT), and colleagues took centre stage at the recent “UK research: building bridges, building prosperity” event held at The Royal Society, London. The event, jointly organised by the Royal Society, Academy of Medical Sciences, British Academy and Royal Academy of Engineering, featured Dr Vince Cable, the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with responses from Roland Aurich, the UK CEO of Siemens, and Paul Nurse.

Only eight institutions were invited to showcase their research at the event. The fact that Queen’s University Belfast’s CSIT was one of the two institutions invited by the Royal Academy of Engineering is testament to the quality of the research carried out at the Centre.

Dr Cotton used the event as an opportunity to demonstrate his latest work on body centric communications and how the research is already being adopted for use in commercial products for the real-time localisation market. He commented “It was a great honour to be invited to such a prestigious event organised by some of the UK’s leading Academies and being able to show case some of the cutting-edge research being conducted in CSIT as well as our strong links with Industry.”

Dr Cotton added “It was also nice to be able to demonstrate some of the entrepreneurial aspirations of the Institute, through the promotion of QUB/CSIT spin out company ACT Wireless of which I am a co-founder especially in the context of a meeting of so many prominent figures such as the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Dr Vince Cable.”

Speaking about the event Prof. William Scanlon, Director of Research, Digital Communications Cluster said “This event highlighted the link between world leading research and its transformational impact on our society and our economy. I am therefore delighted that the Royal Academy of Engineering chose Dr Cotton’s research on wireless communications as an exemplar for this event.”

More information on the “UK research: building bridges, building prosperity” event can be found on the Royal Society website here: http://royalsociety.org/events/2012/uk-research/

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The UK Universities Brightest Business Brain student graduates from Queen’s University today (Wednesday 4 July) before embarking on a prestigious entrepreneur programme, which will see him have one-to-one meetings with the likes of David Cameron and Richard Branson.

David Galbraith, from East Belfast, outshone more than 3,000 competitors to be crowned the UK’s Universities Brightest Business Brain earlier this year. Since then, he beat over 6,000 other students to secure first place in the GradIreland National Student Challenge, and competed in the AB InBev European University finals.

David is taking a break from his award-winning run to graduate today with a degree in Computing and Information Technology. Having received job offers from a number of international companies, he has chosen to spend a year on the prestigious New Entrepreneurs Foundation programme, which gives up to 30 of the UK’s brightest, entrepreneurially minded young people the opportunity to work for a year with some of the country’s leading business, including Virgin Active, 2 Sisters Food Group and DFS.

Most recently, David’s Q Consulting team of Queen’s students beat off strong competition to become Irish champions at the Chartered Institute of Management Accounting (CIMA) Global Business Challenge (GBC). David will travel to Sri Lanka to represent Queen’s and Ireland at the GBC Global Final at the end of July. The CIMA GBC is designed to give students a taste of the boardroom and business, by casting them in the role of a firm of consultants reporting to the board of a fictitious company.

The honour is the latest in a list of accomplishments, which also saw David and fellow Queen’s students win the Belfast City Council Meximum Business Challenge, taking over the running of  Mexican eaterie Boojum in Belfast for four days.

David said: “The last year has been a bit of a whirlwind for me. I got off to a shaky start at University and had to repeat my first year. It was only after my final year industrial placement that I realised the benefits of throwing myself into University life, giving one-hundred per cent to everything I did, both inside and outside the lecture hall.

“Alongside my studies and competition entries, I signed-up to Queen’s International Buddy Scheme, volunteering to help international students settle into University life in Belfast. I was also a founding member of the Computer Science Mentors programme within the School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, mentoring students through their first year at Queen’s.

“I’ve had a busy few years, but I have realised that I thrive under pressure – an attribute that I’m sure will be useful over the next year as I will be working alongside some of the UK’s leading business people. That said, I am delighted to be taking a day off today to relax and enjoy my graduation – I think I deserve it!”

David will celebrate his graduation alongside his mum Deborah and sister Amy.

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Fidessa, a UK based software company with a development centre in Belfast, has established a prize to reward a top student in computing at Queen’s University each year.  The monetary prize is targeted at final year students on the Computer Science degree, and is aimed at raising the Company’s profile among computing graduates here, as well as providing generous financial support to the winning student.  Fidessa, headquartered in London with offices worldwide, is a leading financial markets software and services company employing over 50 people in Belfast.

The inaugural Fidessa prize at Queen’s has been awarded to Kadri Umbleja from Estonia.  Kadri came to study at Queen’s as part of a study abroad programme.

Dr Patrick McParland, Development Unit Manager at Fidessa, commented “I am delighted to present Kadri with her prize, which she fully deserves, as I believe she only joined the course in the final year as part of a study abroad programme from her university in Estonia.”

Commenting on behalf of Queen's, lecturer Dr Peter Kilpatrick said "We are grateful to Fidessa for committing to this prize at Queen’s.  There are a large number of software companies in Northern Ireland and Fidessa are to be congratulated for adopting a pro-active approach in trying to raise its profile with potential recruits.  It is the ideal partnership as the prize is awarded to the student who performed best in an aspect of software that is aligned to the particular skills that Fidessa require.”

Dr Kilpatrick continued “Kadri proved to be an excellent student, and I wish her well in undertaking her planned doctorate in computing back in Estonia. I understand that she thoroughly enjoyed her stay in Northern Ireland and certainly would be a welcome addition to the local software industry if she chose to return in the future.”

 

Presenting Kadri with her cheque are Dr Peter Kilpatrick from Queen’s University (left) and Dr Patrick McParland from Fidessa

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David Galbraith, a final year Computing and Information Technology student at Queen's, is one of a group of undergraduates from Queen's University who have won the All-Ireland final of the CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) Global Business Challenge (GBC) 2012. The students beat 10 other shortlisted teams to represent Ireland at the global final in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 23 and 24 July where they will compete against 22 other countries for the title of Global Champions.

Pictured from l-r: Colin Stevenson, Lurgan (2nd Year Accounting), Owen McMeel, Moneyglass (2nd Year Product Design Engineering), Julie Niblock, Larne (3rd year Business Management), David Galbraith, East Belfast (Computing), Donnchadh Long, Middletown (2nd year Actuarial & Risk Management) with (centre) Alan Flanagan Chairman, CIMA Ireland.

The CIMA Global Business Challenge is an international business management competition designed to bring out the very best in the next generation of business leaders. It requires entrants to undertake a rigorous analysis of a business scenario and present innovative solutions to the financial issues raised. 

This is one of a long list of achievements for David this year, which includes him winning 1st Place in the UK Universities Brightest Business Brain competition and 1st Place in the GradIreland National Student Challenge.

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Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE), the electricity network company, has awarded two top electrical engineering students a Scholarship worth £24,000 each.

Daniel Robinson and Mark Lindsay are the first students to benefit from the NIE Electrical Engineering Scholarship Programme, which is being run in conjunction with Queen’s University Belfast.

The Scholarship is open to first year electrical engineering students and includes an annual bursary and a book allowance every year and payment towards university fees.  It also includes paid summer placements and a one year training experience with NIE.

Speaking at the event at Queen’s University Belfast, Gordon Parkes, Human Resources Director at NIE said; “There is a significant shortage of electrical engineering graduates and these skills will be in big demand into the future. NIE has struggled to recruit the appropriate numbers of graduates in the past so we took a decision to sponsor our own students. I’d like to congratulate Daniel and Mark in achieving the NIE Scholarship particularly as they came through a thorough selection process.  The NIE Scholarship programme will provide these students with excellent experience working on real engineering projects as they study for their degree.  From day one they will be mentored by a professional electrical engineer who will ensure that their classroom learning is complimented by the appropriate practical experience. Electrical engineering is an interesting and challenging career that offers continuing career development and opportunity. NIE has recognised that in order to attract the best possible engineers we need to be working closely with our local universities in order to generate interest and develop graduates at an early point in their career.” 

NIE estimates that it will need to recruit a number of engineers every year for the foreseeable future to meet the growing demands placed on the electricity network.  The key drivers are the need to replace specialist skills as a result of a significant number of key employees retiring over coming years and the requirement to replace the ageing electricity network in Northern Ireland.

Dr Stephen Farry, Minister for Employment and Learning, presented the students with their scholarship.  Dr Farry said: “I commend Northern Ireland Electricity for providing these excellent scholarships and also their pro-active collaboration with the higher education sector. These scholarships are not just financially valuable, but will provide an excellent opportunity for local students to develop their skills and knowledge in the industry, gaining important experience for their future careers and also making a valuable contribution to the company.

“A workforce skilled in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths [STEM] is fundamental to Northern Ireland’s future competitiveness. There are a vast amount of varied career opportunities available to those studying STEM subjects. It is important to encourage these individuals to pursue a career in STEM if true success is to be realised.”

 Daniel and Mark, who received the Scholarship, are delighted to have got through the process.  Daniel said, “I am really pleased to be given this opportunity with NIE.  This is a great chance to develop a first hand understanding of the electricity industry.” Mark added, “I’m looking forward to starting my training experience at NIE and developing my skills as an engineer.”

Professor Stan Scott, Head of the School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Queen's is delighted that the students have achieved the scholarship. He said; “I congratulate Daniel and Mark in securing the NIE Scholarships which will benefit them greatly during their studies and future career.  There is a shortage of Electrical Power Engineers not only locally but globally, so NIE should be applauded for adopting a proactive approach in addressing this.  This scheme will offer our students the opportunity to receive financial support during their studies, as well as invaluable work experience with the Company.  Engineers face global challenges including the provision of energy for all.  I would therefore encourage more pupils from schools to undertake a degree in engineering which will equip them to shape and benefit modern society in exciting ways.”

The NIE Scholarship is now closed but it will reopen in Autumn 2012.  For more information on the programme visit www.nie.co.uk.

 

  Left to right, Dr Stephen Farry, Minister for Employment and Learning, scholarship recipients Daniel Robinson and Mark Lindsay, and Mr Joe O’Mahony, Managing Director NIE

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The School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science has been awarded a Silver Award by Athena SWAN in recognition of its good practice on recruiting, retaining and promoting women in SET (Science, Engineering and Technology) in higher education.

Representatives from the School attended a presentation ceremony held at the University of Birmingham on May 3rd. 

The Athena SWAN Charter was launched in June 2005 and the beliefs underpinning the Charter are:

• The advancement of science, engineering and technology (SET) is fundamental to quality of life across the globe.
  
  
• It is vitally important that women are adequately represented in what has traditionally been, and is still, a male-dominated area.
  
  
• Science cannot reach its full potential unless it can benefit from the talents of the whole population, and until women and men can benefit equally from the opportunities it affords.
  
  

Queen's University was also the only UK University to be awarded a Silver institutional honour at the Athena SWAN Charter awards.  In addition to the institutional award, Queen's is the UK University with the most departmental silver awards, with seven individual Schools receiving silver awards. Queen's University will host the Athena SWAN awards next year.

Staff from Queen's with their Athena SWAN Awards

Information on the SWAN activities for the School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science may be found by clicking here.

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Cyber Security Challenge UK runs a series of exciting national competitions aimed at raising awareness of cyber security careers and encouraging more talented people to join the profession. The Challenge is sponsored by some of the UK’s leading security and government organisations and prizes include over £100,000 worth of educational prizes including paid internships and training courses.

https://cybersecuritychallenge.org.uk/

The latest competition sees the Challenge partner with BT and Get Safe Online to launch an exciting competition called 'Can You Talk Security?'  Students are invited to propose innovative ways to help small businesses understand cyber security threats and effective ways to secure themselves. This is a great opportunity for any creative people interested in a career in either cyber security or the communications profession generally to get involved in a national competition.

Winners will get the opportunity to work with a professional creative team to turn their concept into a national marketing campaign featured on the Get Safe Online website. There are also technical and creative training courses, work experience taster days and membership of professional bodies on offer for successful entries. All the finalists will be invited to an awards event which will be held on the revolving 34th floor of the BT Tower in London later this year.

• A video introducing the competition - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG6yptB_OB0
• More details on how to enter - https://cybersecuritychallenge.org.uk/can_you_talk_sec.php

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David Galbraith, a final year Computing and Information Technology student at Queen's, is officially the UK Universities' Brightest Business Brain!

Friday the 9th of December saw 60 of the best students at the UK's top Universities descend on London for the Grand Final of Universities' Brightest Business Brain, with a view to fighting it out to be crowned overall champion. Launched in September, the competition saw more than 3,000 students register and take 4 online exercises designed by cut-e to assess the kind of competencies, traits and aptitudes associated with successful business people as well as identifying commercial awareness. Having taken the exercise students were immediately given their score which was posted on to the Leaderboard showing them their position and highlighting if they had made it through to the Grand Final.

The top 60 from off the Leaderboard were invited to the Grand Final in London to demonstrate further their abilities and commercial awareness through 5 face to face assessment exercises created and run by cut-e and the competition's sponsors including Cass Business School, CIMA, National Grid and RBS. The exercises reflected important competencies each of the sponsors look for in students as well as giving the Grand Final participants a feel for who the sponsors are and what they do. Exercises included a debate, team working and communication exercises and a business case study.

With students attending from all over the UK the competition throughout the day was intense yet friendly as everyone knew they were in with a chance of winning the £1000 first prize. In the end though there could be only one overall winner with 1st prize and £1000 going to David Galbraith from Queen's University Belfast, 2nd prize and £500 went to Will Spain from the University of Exeter and 3rd prize and £250 went to Philippa Naylor from the University of Cambridge. The day finished with drinks, food and networking and lots of excitement around next year's competition.

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Liberty Information Technology Ltd recently announced the recipients of their 2012 Undergraduate Scholarship for Computer Science in Northern Ireland.

Established in conjunction with the School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Queens University Belfast and the School of Computing and Mathematics at University of Ulster, the scholarship aims to increase enrolment and retention of students in computer science and to increase the availability of well-educated and skilled employees in this technical area.

Graeme Brown and Matthew Dorrian, both MEng Computer Science students at Queens University, Belfast, have been awarded the £1,000 annual scholarship which includes an eight week placement at the end of their first year of study, a guaranteed placement year during their undergraduate programme and a potential graduate position upon successful completion of their degree.

Commenting on receiving the scholarship, Graeme said, "Being awarded the Liberty IT bursary means a lot to me. It will provide me with essential experience for a future career in IT and the opportunity to develop new skills. I am delighted to have the opportunity to be part of an exciting company providing me with excellent prospects for the future."

Matthew Dorrian stated, "The bursary award validates the hard work I've put into my studies to date. I am looking forward to the summer to start my career as an IT professional. The work experience will help me to choose the programming language I want to concentrate on at university. The extra finance will help reduce the need for part time work. It's also great to know that my placement year is already organised so my sole focus can be my studies. It is an amazing and exciting opportunity."

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Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Queen's has been ranked among the top 100 in the world for this subject in the QS World University Rankings -

http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2011/subject-rankings/engineering/electrical-engineering

It also ranks no 9 in the UK for this subject in the Times Good University Guide (2012).

The University is also a member of the UK Power Academy which consists of the top 7 UK Universities for Electrical Power Engineering.

The School is also the location of the UK Centre of Excellence for Secure Information Technologies (CSIT).

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A group of four researchers from ECIT recently presented their new findings at the "33rd ESA Antenna Workshop on Challenges for Space Applications". This workshop brings together top experts in the design of antennas used for satellites and other space applications, and is held at the European Space Agency headquarters in Noordwijk, near Amsterdam.

Efstratios Doumanis, Research Associate in the High Frequency Electronics Cluster in ECIT, received the ESA young engineer award for the paper co-authored with George Goussetis, Robert Cahill, Vincent Fusco (ECIT) and Herve Legay (Thales Alenia Space, France), "C-Band Linear to Circular Polarization Conversion Surface on Honeycomb Substrate".  This work aims to greatly simplify the antennas on board satellites, allowing for more functionality to be packed into them. Other research presented, included the work by Neil Buchanan, Steven Christie, Robert Cahill and Vincent Fusco on self-steered antennas, which remove the need to accurately point bulky satellite dishes.

This is the second year running that ECIT researchers received the young engineer award at the European Space Agency Workshop on Antennas for Space Applications.

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ESB Electric Ireland have announced that they will be offering a lucrative scholarship package for a first year student studying electrical and electronic engineering at Queen's University.   This is the third successive year that they will be offering a scholarship.

In October 2009 ESBIE (as it was then called) formed a new partnership with Queen's University to provide scholarships to students from the MEng Electrical and Electronic Engineering programme on an annual basis. The package includes financial support, ongoing mentoring and provides practical experience through summer and corporate placements throughout ESB International's many energy sites across Europe. This will be the fifth scholarship provided by ESB Electric Ireland for the School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Queen's.

More details to follow soon……

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Prof George Irwin of the School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science recently received a prestigious international award at a glittering banquet in Italy.

He has been elected a Fellow of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) for his outstanding research contributions. The Fellow's certificate was presented on the occasion of the World Congress held in Milan by Professor Alberto Isidori, IFAC President, and Professor Lennart Ljung, who chaired the selection committee.

Professor Irwin, who is Research Director of Intelligent Systems and Control at Queens University said, 'I am very pleased to be honoured in this way and wish to acknowledge the contributions made by my colleagues and former PhD students over many years'.

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A graduate Of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Queen's has won a top UK Engineering Award for a project undertaken as part of his degree.  Christopher McElroy, who graduated in July from the University, has won the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) Gerald David Memorial Prize for his final year project.  The competition is open to students across the UK who gained entry to their degrees with a vocational qualification.  Chris's project involved developing path planning algorithms for marine vehicles which comply with maritime laws. Chris was supervised in his project by Dr Wasif Naeem, who entered him for the competition. 

Dr Naeem commented "Throughout the project, Chris had demonstrated determination through personal interest, dedication and enthusiasm. This award is a testimony to Chris's hard work and I hope it will encourage more students with vocational qualifications to pursue higher education. A very well deserved award indeed".

Chris commented "I am delighted to have received this award. Five years ago, during my HNC in Portadown I never would have imagined that I would end my academic career with a 1st class honours and a UK award. It is a real honour to have been awarded the Gerald David Memorial Prize, which I think highlights the fact that students who come from a vocational background can excel at degree level. I would also like to thank everyone who supported me throughout my entire academic career, because without them I would not be where I am today."

Chris, who is a past pupil of Southern Regional College in Portadown, is now working as an Electrical Engineer for NIE.  His prize consists of a cheque for £750 and two years free membership of the IET.

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Flish, a team from Queen's University Belfast who have developed a low cost, low power antenna capable of picking up satellite signals automatically, which could make satellite dishes a thing of the past, are 'flying high' after being announced as the 'the next big thing' to come out of Northern Ireland's research community at the NISP CONNECT £25K Awards last night.

They have walked away with a total prize fund of £13,000 as overall winners of the technology entrepreneur awards which are sponsored by the Bank of Ireland UK, QUB, University of Ulster and AFBI (Agri Food and Biosciences Institute) and supported by NI's Health and Social Care Trusts. Designed as a commercial experience the Awards aim to encourage researchers to act on their talents, ideas and energy to produce tomorrow's leading commercial opportunities.

The innovative equipment developed by Flish is a high gain antenna which has the ability to 'point' to distant signals such as a satellite. It does not need to be aligned, like a satellite dish, and has no moving parts.. It enables satellite dishes to be replaced with flat panels on walls or roof tiles that need no set-up or calibration and will have particular relevance to the commercial satellite broadband market with the long-term aim of replacing the cumbersome domestic satellite dishes. It also has potential application in transportation as it can fit around the curves of vehicles or aircraft.  The more compact antenna which has the ability to point to a signal in milliseconds has further application in the military and disaster relief market when a team may only have minutes to setup a lifesaving video link.

Neil Buchanan from Flish said: "It is a great honour to be crowned the overall winner of the £25K Awards. We have worked in conjunction with the European Space Agency to fine tune our unique analogue circuit design and have been able to produce an end product that is more power efficient, lighter and less costly than anything else currently available. The global market value of antennas was estimated to be $10.1billion in 2009 and expected to increase to $13.3billion in 2014 and we believe our innovation has the potential to be a real game changer for the industry. We plan to capitalise on our learning experiences from the £25Ks to seek funding to see the business through to profitability."

The £25k Awards category winners were as follows, each picking up a cheque for £2,500:

• Hitech: Flish (QUB), both category and overall winners
  
  
• BioTech: OncoTech (QUB), Ran Biomarker is a diagnostic assay suitable for both tissue and blood that can identify cancer patients at high risk of metastasis.
  
  
• CleanTech: BMT (QUB), a device for measuring the temperature of a polymer preform profile during the injection stretch blow moulding process largely used in the multi-billion pound packaging industry.
  
  
• Digital Media & Software: Future Healthcare NI Ltd (HSC/ C-TRIC &Altnagelvin), clinical Communicator is a hosted clinical dashboard on the cloud platform which works as an accident reporting tool, task management tool and a change management tool.
  
  

NISP CONNECT Director, Steve Orr, said: "The £25K Awards offers a showcase for regional research talent to display their world-class innovations while providing a valuable training and development process towards commercialisation of their innovations. I would like to congratulate all the category winners for their innovative entries however special acknowledgement must go to the overall winners, Flish, who wowed the judges with their pioneering antenna device, which offers great commercial potential.

"This is an extremely exciting time for the team and moving on from the initial stages of business development I have no doubt that Flish will be able to benefit from other NISP CONNECT programmes which are designed to inspire, encourage and nurture local technology entrepreneurs during  idea conception, growth and improvement stages."

Clare Guinness, Regional Business Manager, Bank of Ireland UK added: "Once again the £25K Awards have been a resounding success with the spotlight shining on Northern Ireland's research community who have worked hard to produce truly innovative projects with real commercial potential. At Bank of Ireland UK we are delighted support the Awards and look forward to developing our relationships with the teams and other local entrepreneurs who are committed to the commercialisation of knowledge for the benefit of our local economy."

The awards were presented at a gala ceremony in the Titanic's Dock & Pump-House at the Northern Ireland Science Park.

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Congratulations to Dr Karen Rafferty and Dr Stuart Ferguson whose Virtual Surgical Simulator, Empedocles, has been selected as a finalist in the 2011 IET Innovation Awards, taking place on November 9th in London.

Empedocles is a laparoscopic surgical simulator which was developed to improve the training and assessment of the laparoscopic technique among surgeons in training. Currently Empedocles is a working demonstrator that can respond haptically and visually to user interaction.

The overall goal of this product is to improve patient safety by reducing the need for on patient training by providing surgical teams with the tools required to improve surgical outcomes. Collaboration is ongoing with doctors in the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children. A working prototype has been used in surgical training field trials and work continues on this.

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There are a number of scholarships available for our undergraduate students this year, as follows.  Don’t miss the deadlines, apply soon!

Asidua Scholarship (worth up to £25K)

Open to first year students on the following courses –

• BSc/BEng/MEng in Computer Science
• BEng/MEng in Electrical and Electronic Engineering
• BEng/MEng in Software and Electronic Systems Engineering

Apply by Friday 28th October at 5pm.
For further information, visit the Asidua website.

Liberty IT Scholarship (worth up to £25K)

Open to first year students on the MEng in Computer Science

Apply by Friday 28th October.
For further information, visit the Liberty IT website

Power Academy Scholarships (worth over £25K)
There are 67 Scholarships (£25K) available to Electrical and Electronic Engineering students in just 7 UK Universities, including Queen’s. 

Please note that Electrical and Electronic Engineering students in all year groups (except final year) may apply.  You can also re-apply if you applied and were unsuccessful before.

There will be an information session for the Power Academy scholarship scheme in the School as follows –

Power Academy Information Session
Wednesday 5th October 2011
1-3pm (light lunch included)
Room GM001 Ashby Building
Stranmillis Road

For further information on the Power Academy Scholarship Scheme, click here.

ESBIE and NIE Scholarships

Please note that ESBIE and NIE will also be offering scholarships this year for Electrical and Electronic Engineering students.  Information will be available on these at a later date.

 

For further information on any of the above scholarships, contact:
Gemma O’Donnell, g.odonnell@qub.ac.uk

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Researchers at the Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology (ECIT) and the Northern Ireland Semiconductor Research Centre (NISRC) at Queen's University Belfast have devised a way to eliminate the need for motors in space borne radiometers by incorporating liquid crystals in their Frequency Selective Surface (FSS) antenna arrays.

The project has attracted funding of £0.5 million from the European Space Agency (ESA) and £100,000 from economic development agency, Invest Northern Ireland. It is expected to result in significant weight savings in satellite payloads and greatly reduced power consumption in weather monitoring instruments.

The technology has other important potential applications as well. These include eradicating the attenuation of mobile phone signals passing through energy efficient glass and creating buildings that can be locked down to block radio signals at the flick of a switch.

The innovative ECIT project addresses frequencies ranging from millimeter wave up to 1 THz. Measuring radiation in this waveband is a key technique used to study the earth’s atmosphere to improve global weather forecasting and understanding of climate change.

Current generation remote sensing radiometers that collect this data incorporate a turntable-mounted mirror operated by an electric motor to calibrate the instrument before each scan by directing their field of view between cold and ambient targets.

The ECIT/NISRC research team however has devised a technique for making such motors redundant. This involves sandwiching layers of liquid crystals between the FSS’s metalized quartz layers to act as an electronically controlled shutter. Applying a small voltage to the structure then enables the radiometer to be switched from calibration mode to signal detection mode without mechanical components.

The team believes that using this technique to replace the motor and turntable could produce potential weight savings of 10 per cent per radiometer. It would also greatly reduce power consumption requirements as a motor represents a radiometer’s single biggest power requirement.

Prototypes are being built at Queen’s University’s Northern Ireland Semiconductor Research Centre with ESA support and the devices are expected to be used in space missions from 2025 onwards.    

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The School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science wishes to appoint two new professors to strongly enhance its international reputation for research in the following areas:

• Secure Digital Systems
  
  
• Knowledge and Data Engineering
  
  

Full details on each professorship can be viewed by clicking on the relevant link above.

The deadline for applications is mid-day on Friday 14 October.

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A Belfast engineer, who is working to pioneer networks which will carry mobile phone signals between human bodies, has won the UK's premier award for early-career engineering.

Dr Simon Cotton, a Research Fellow at The Queen's University of Belfast, has won the Royal Academy of Engineering's Sir George Macfarlane Award for outstanding technical and scientific attainment in his work.

The 34-year-old from Greenisland in Co. Antrim, has made a significant impression on engineering in Northern Ireland and across the UK since starting an HND in electrical and electronic engineering in 2000. He graduated from the University of Ulster in 2004 before taking a PhD in Wireless Communications at Queen's, where he went on to become a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. He is currently a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow.

Dr Cotton's work is focused on wireless communications, particularly on how wireless signals transmit around the human body; from person to manmade infrastructure and also from person to person. His research has allowed him to develop innovative short-range applications designed to advance society. The goal is to create "body-to-body" networks in densely populated areas, where wireless devices positioned on people could replace mobile base stations to facilitate voice, video and data traffic.

Recognised as an international expert in his field, Dr Cotton has published papers in several leading engineering journals and has featured in the national press. As well as his academic work, Dr Cotton has recently co-founded ACT Wireless Ltd, a company to take his products into the marketplace. He also regularly gives practical engineering demonstrations in schools.

Commenting on the award, Professor John McCanny CBE FREng FRS, Director of the Institute of Electronics, Communications and Information Technology, based at Belfast's Northern Ireland Science Park, said: "The growth of communications continues apace and pervasive body-area networks are an intriguing future possibility.

"Here we have a top-rate engineer who is establishing a worldwide reputation. He is also an inspirational advocate of engineering and is able to translate cutting edge research into easily-accessible messages to help capture the imagination of the next generation of engineers."

Professor Stephen McLaughlin FREng, Dean for Research at the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Edinburgh, added: "Dr Cotton clearly has a first rate intellect and this is coupled with a desire to see his ideas converted into something practical and useful; key attributes for an engineer."

Story reproduced by permission from www.raeng.org.uk

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Dr Kang Li, a lecturer in the School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Queen's University, has been presented with the Young Author Best Paper Award at the 2011 International Conference on Modelling, Identification and Control (ICMIC 2011), held in Shanghai, China in June.

The Award was for work on "Modelling of Melt Pressure Development in Polymer Extrusion: Effects of Process Settings and Screw Geometry", which Dr Li co-authored with his PhD student Chamil Abeykoon and colleagues from the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Queen's and the University of Bradford.  This work is part of the research linked to two current EPSRC projects on polymer extrusion for energy saving and process quality improvement and the £2.3 million Science Bridge project on sustainable energy and environment, for which Dr Li is the Principal Investigator or a main Co-Investigator.

Prof Dianguo Xu (right), Assistant President of Harbin Institute of Technology, presented the Visiting Professorship Certificate to Dr Li (left)

Dr Li commented "This award represents recognition within a wider research community of the quality of the work carried out by our multidisciplinary research team. In our team, we focus on both research quality of the highest standard as well as knowledge transfer to make impact on industry and engineering sector, especially the work on advanced process control assisted with the latest ICT technology to target energy intensive industry as well as high value added manufacturing to improve the global competitiveness". Dr Li is also one of the recipients of the highly commended paper award by the International Journal of Systems Science in 2008 and the best paper award by the 2010 LSMS-ICSEE conferences. In recognition of his academic achievements and international collaboration initiatives, Dr Li has recently also been honoured by Harbin Institute of Technology as a Visiting Professor in July 2011.

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Paul Kelly, a final year computing student at Queen's University Belfast has been presented with a Dell laptop computer for coming top in a High Performance Computing challenge as part of his degree.  Paul, from Lisburn, completed the program challenge as part of his MEng Computer Science finals at the University.

Colin Boyd, Account Executive with Dell Northern Ireland, who presented Paul with his laptop, commented "On behalf of Dell, I am delighted to present Paul with his prize.   He is obviously a very talented student and I wish him all the best for his future career. 

"Dell has a five year strategic partnership with Queen's University Belfast to develop, enhance and exploit the High Performance Computing Infrastructure available within the University, so we are pleased to have the opportunity to sponsor this prize."

Commenting on behalf of Queen's, lecturer Dr Ivor Spence said "We are grateful to Dell for their continued support at both a strategic level and also in activities such as this, which provide real benefit to our students".

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