Virtual Conference: Digital Transformation

 

 

Digital Transformation

4th-5th May 2022

#TFNetworkSpring22

Another great virtual conference for industry and academia in collaboration with DIGIT Lab a UKRI Next Stage Digital Economy Research Centre !

"The UK must build on its innovative foundations and focus on leading the way to a future underpinned by the next generation of responsible technologies."

Esra Kasapoglu

Director of AI and Data Economy, Innovate UK

TEDx style virtual pre-conference Thought Leadership event

Prof Alan Brown, Digital Economy, University of Exeter

 Delivering Digital Transformation - Facing 5 dilemmas for a sustainable future

The Conference Days!

We explored why research in the digital world is fundamentally different and what that means for the future of research. This session offered insights especially for early career researchers into their future challenges and opportunities and showed ways in which they can join the Digital Transformation community.

Please click on the speaker names to find their profiles, synopsis and recordings

10:00 - 10:05    Prof Tim Whitley, MD Applied Research and Adastral Park will be opening the conference. 

10:05 - 10:15    Esra Kasapoglu, UKRI Director,  AI & Data Economy, "Why is research in the digital world so different – the UKRI view". 

10:15 - 10:30   Prof Gerard Parr MBE, UEA, "Setting the Scene and Vision for the EPSRC DIGIT Lab Project". 

10:30 - 10:45    Dr Sally Howes OBE,  of the University of East Anglia (UEA) Council, Advisory Board of DIGIT Lab, and many more speaking on "The importance of digital transformation in government".

10:45 - 11:00    Stephen Cassidy MA MInstP CEng FIET, BT, Behaviours, Organisations & Systems Research on "Digitisation Dynamics – maintaining the human and business connection through time: some critical research questions".

11:00 - 11:15    Dr Will Venters, LSE, on "How do we research digital transformation? Thoughts on qualitative research approaches".

11:15 - 11:30    Rahim Tafazolli, of  the Institute for Communications Systems (ICS), University of Surrey on "The role of 5G+ on future digital transformation strategies of large organisations". 

11:30 - 12:15    Panel Discussion: Research Challenges and Opportunities in Digital Transformation. 

• Esra Kasapoglu
• Dr Sally Howes OBE
• Prof Gerard Parr MBE
• Dr Will Venters
• Rahim Tafazolli    

12:15 - 12:30    Prof Saeema Ahmed-Kristensen: Call for Action! Including opportunities of engagement for Early Career Researchers.  

With incredible activities around digital transformation happening all over the world, we asked the questions: What are the big impact opportunities where we can really make a difference? What are the barriers for big companies to make progress? Where does Digit Lab come in? And again this session offered opportunities especially for practitioners who deal with large amounts of data to join the Digital Transformation community.

Please click on the speaker names to find their profiles, synopsis and recordings

10:00 - 10:15    Kevin Lee, BT Chief Digital Officer, opening Day2. 

10:15 - 10:30    Theo Kanellos, Director Business Development and  Commercial Alliances, Zoetis on "The Opportunities for Digital Transformation in Animal Health". 

10:30 - 10:45    Yvonne Gallagher, Director, Digital, National Audit Office on "Lessons from Digital Transformation in Large Government Organizations". 

10:45 - 11:00    Dr Paul Gosling, CTO Thales UK on "A Thales perspective on Future Digital Transformation Research Opportunities". 

11:00 - 11:15    Marc Geall, COO HANA Data & Analytics, T&I at SAP on "Helping Businesses become Intelligent Enterprise the sustained Digital Transformation". 

Joining us at the Hybrid Studio live: 

11:15 - 11:30     Prof Ben Azvine , Global head of security research and innovation at BT. Ben was our host for the "Security and Trust - How to empower and protect all users" conference in 2017. 5 years on he is catching us up on how Digital Transformation has impacted Cyber Security and Cyber Security Research. 

11:30 - 12:15    Panel Discussion: How to deliver impact in Digital transformation
Recording coming soon

• Yvonne Gallagher
• Dr Paul Gosling
• Marc Geall
• Prof Ben Azvine

12:15 - 12:30    Prof Alan Brown, University of Exeter, Call for Action! Including opportunities of engagement for people dealing with large amounts of data. 

iSee teamed up with TFNetworkAutmn21 Conference on "Data Science - The beating heart of AI"

Workshop: 13th - 14th October 2021

At the Tommy Flowers Network Autumn '21 Conference on Data Science - The beating heart of AI

Download the agenda

Registration is closed now

The iSee project is funded by national European funding councils and co-ordinated by the CHIST-ERA programme.

What do users want when explaining an AI system? 

An Introduction to the iSee Project and Co-Creation Activities

Can you explain the outcomes of AI models for your business? Not everyone can.

There are increasing legal pressures and social obligations for businesses to be able to explain the outcomes of their complex intelligent systems. It is difficult to follow best practice or industry guidelines for a very new and growing aspect of research and development. However, selecting and developing an appropriate explanation strategy is a daunting task. 

To address these challenges, we introduce the iSee project. iSee aims to enable Intelligent Sharing of Explanation Experience by users for users. 

The project will enable the recommendation of the most appropriate explanation strategy to suit the needs of an individual AI system, task and user group. The recommendation will be underpinned by a state-of-the-art AI platform, extracting knowledge from the past explanation experiences and adapting them to ensure compatibility. 

We are employing a User-Centred Design methodology to capture input from a range of stakeholders., making sure that iSee actually supports the users it is built for.

Find out more about iSee and our aims on our website or watch our user story video on YouTube 

 

Virtual Conference: Smart Connected Manufacturing

#TFNetworkSummer21

 Another great virtual conference delivered to industry and academia!

Industries operating today may all be different but they face a common challenge as we head towards the 4th industrial evolution. 

In partnership with the newly launched nexGworx, we explored the challenges and technologies driving Industry 4.0, including Cyber Security, 5G, Internet of Things and AI that play their part in this amazing transformation.

Subscribe to the nexGworx newsletter for progress and activities.

Teaser

Over 3 days we had great quick fire presentations from Universities; Catapults; Composite Centres; County Councils and BT. The panel sessions created some very interesting discussions and we’re excited about future collaboration and engagement.

Discussions included the role of the Catapults; the role of Research & Development; training and connecting to employees; core features and attributes of 5G; the context of 5G and open network standards; where does culture come into Industry 4.0; the role of Government and involving supply chain partners; the benefits of Digital Twins; helping smaller companies scale up and adopt new technologies; communication & trust and Security….

Our thanks to Ste Ashton, Managing Director at nexGworx for sponsoring the event; Sam Turner, CTO HVMC; Paul Coles, Advalus and the Quatreus event production team.

Day 1 - Challenges and Opportunities

We'll explore both the opportunities and challenges. Will it lead to an increase in productivity driven by new capital investments and data driven insights? How do we make sure that with “connectivity” we don't encounter issues over security and cyber threats? What role does big data have to play to benefit the industry as a whole?

Please click on the speaker name for bio and presentation

Prof Tim Whitley, MD Applied Research and MD Adastral Park

Setting the scene for Smart Connected Manufacturing!

Katherine Bennett CBE, FRAeS, CEO HVMC

HVM Catapult: Their role and the importance of Smart Connected Manufacturing

Mark Stansfeld, Chair WM5G Board

5G the Driver for UK Productivity

Juergen Maier CBE, Chair of the Digital Catapult 

Made Smarter in support of Smart Connected Manufacturing

Jon France, Head of Industry Security, GSMA 

GSMA: The technology road map – from 4G to 5G and onto 6

Paul Ceely, Director of Technology Strategy at Digital Catapult

5G and OpenRan

Panel Discussion

Smart Connected Manufacturing – Q&A to the big questions

    ⇨ Smart Connected Manufacturing and the UK Productivity

    ⇨ Education and Skills 

    ⇨ Big Data – to share or not to share?

Panel chair

• Rab Scott, Professor of Industrial Digitalisation. Head of Digital at the AMRC

Panellists

• Sarah Walker, Director of BT’s Enterprise business in the Midlands and North of England
• Oliver Swift, Manufacturing Engineering Team Leader at BAE Systems 
• Steven Carter, Digital Manufacturing Integration Lead, Rolls-Royce

Day 2 - Real World Activities

Hear about real world activities in Smart Connected Manufacturing from the likes of the High Value Manufacturing clusters and its partners.

We'll debate questions such as how do we accelerate innovation out of the clusters and into the rest of UK manufacturing? What support do we need from government to make this acceleration of manufacturing innovation happen? What do we need manufacturing supply chain partners to be focussed on?

Please click on the speaker name for bio and presentation

Ste Ashton, Managing Director at nexGworx and Digital Infrastructure and Connectivity Manager at Worcestershire County Council

5G – So What? A Testbed's view on Industry 4.0 and the future with nexGworx

Prof Sam Turner, CTO HVMC

The HVMC and opportunities for UK Smart Connected Factories

Marc Funnell, Director of Digital Engineering at the National Composites Centre (NCC)

NCC - Transforming to a digital exemplar

Stephen Phipson CBE, CEO at MakeUK

How UK manufacturing can build a digital, global and green future

Rab Scott, Professor of Industrial Digitalisation. Head of Digital at the AMRC 

The 5G Factory of the Future

Dani Anderson, 5G Engineer, University of Strathclyde (recording TBC)

Software Defined Radio and Shared Spectrum for Industry 4.0

Panel Discussion

How can we accelerate innovation?

    ⇨ Accelerating innovation out of the clusters and into the rest of UK manufacturing

    ⇨ Government Support needed to make this acceleration of manufacturing innovation happen

    ⇨ Manufacturing supply chain partners – Where does the focus need to be?

Panel chair

• Katherine Bennett CBE FRAeS, CEO HVM Catapult

Panellists

• Marc Funnell, Director of Digital Engineering at the National Composites Centre (NCC)
• Ste Ashton, Managing Director at nexGworx and Digital Infrastructure and Connectivity Manager at Worcestershire County Council
• Sam Turner, CTO of the HVMC
• Stephen Phipson CBE, CEO at MakeUK
• Dani Anderson, 5G Engineer, University of Strathclyde 

Day 3 - Down to the heart of Smart Connected Manufacturing

We'll take a more in-depth look at some of the research and challenges relating to Smart Connected Manufacturing; explore issues around security and trust and also look at example business cases for Smart Connected Manufacturing with a view on SMEs.

John Davies, Chief Researcher at BT; Visiting Professor at The Open University
Data: The oil for smart manufacturing

Steven Carter, Digital Manufacturing Integration Lead, Rolls-Royce

Smart Factories: Taking advantage of telecommunication infrastructure advancements

Simon Pearson, Founding Director of LIAT at The University of Lincoln

Robot Highways

Duncan McFarlane, Professor of Industrial Information Engineering at the University of Cambridge
Low Cost Digital Solutions for SMEs - Digital Manufacturing on a Shoestring

Andy Corston-Petrie, Core Networks & Systems Research at BT

5G Futures

Carsten Maple, Professor of Cyber Systems Engineering in WMG
The Role of Trust in Unlocking the Potential of Industry 4.0

Dan Brooks, Strategy Lead for Digital Manufacturing at NPL
Confidence in data to support the adoption of Industrial Digital Technologies

Ian Bouquet-Taylor, Operations Director of AE Aerospace
Digitising the SME - A private 5G network to drive quality and efficiency

Stephen Douglas, Head of 5G Strategy, Spirent Communications
Accelerating 5G With the Network Digital Twin

Mehdi Daoudi, CRO at VRtuoso
Up-skill & Re-skill workforce with Virtual Reality

Mohammad Zoualfaghari, IoT Architect & Technical Lead at BT
Value-Added Services for Industry 4.0 (VASI4)

Gary Bruce, Research Manager and Ecosystems Architect, BT Applied Research
Digital Business Marketplace - Partner Ecosystems for the Industry 4.0 age!

Panel Discussion

"Testbed as a Service" and building a business case

    ⇨ Where do you start in order to build a case?
    ⇨ What is the role of Testbed As a Service capability? 

    ⇨ What are the key elements of a strong business case?

Panel chair

• Sam Turner, CTO HVMC

Panellists

• Ste Ashton, Managing Director at nexGworx and Digital Infrastructure and Connectivity Manager at Worcestershire County Council
• Ian Bouquet-Taylor, Operations Director of AE Aerospace
• Stephen Douglas, Head of 5G Strategy, Spirent Communications
• Duncan McFarlane, Professor of Industrial Information Engineering at the University of Cambridge
• Geraldina Iraheta, Chief Commercial Officer at Digital Catapult

Meet our conference sponsor

5G and beyond!
Our journey started in 2016 when Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership along with Worcestershire County Council started to explore the potential benefits that 5G could bring to Worcestershire.

Since then we secured substancial funding, built important connections leading to world leading trials, won innovation awards and most importantly, alongside our technology partner BT, established an ongoing ‘Testbed as a Service’ with our new trading entity ‘nexGworx’ to be launched prior to this conference.

Expanding on our success stories we are proud to sponsor this conference on "Smart Connected Manufacturing", bringing together the world leaders in the field and discussing an exciting future.

Virtual Conference: Creating Value for Economies - Collaborate, Innovate, Educate

Spring 2021 - Virtual Conference
Creating Value for Economies: Collaborate -  Innovate - Educate

We've been bringing you the conference that is written into our vision and is close to our heart.

The Tommy Flowers Network brings together the ICT industry and Academia with the new generation of universities' postgraduate researchers to understand the biggest challenges we're facing. We're living connected, digital lives in a world that's been radically changed by our use of technology and now through the pandemic as well. 

Many of the devices, applications and services we rely on today, and the technologies that underpin them, were inconceivable to previous generations. What happens next will be driven by the next generation of researchers coming out of universities. We need this new generation of research leaders to understand the ICT industry they will be inheriting - because they will be shaping our world from now on, and we want to support them to get it right!

The CONFERENCE

Now more than ever this conference is well positioned to challenge the old and embrace the new. We will explore how this changed world can create opportunities for new ways of collaboration.

Download agenda (PDF)

Recordings!

• Watch all recordings on YouTube 
• Find individual talks via the speaker profile links below.

Day1

Tuesday 23rd March 2021

Leaders from industry, academia and governance bodies will provide collaboration and innovation stories to inspire the future. 

Carol Fletcher, BT's Head of Academic and Research Partnerships and Mike Williams, our compere opened the conference

Talk: Please watch the recording of Dr Andrew Bourne, EPSRC – UKRI, Director Partnerships, for his view on the impact of collaboration on the UK economy in his presentation on "EPSRC - Creating Value for Businesses".

Talk: Please watch the recording of Joseph Spear of MVINE, providing his industry view on the impact of collaboration for his company and the economy in general. 

Demo: Shane Allum, BT will give a bite size demo from the Adastral Park Innovation Showcases.

Talk: Please see the profile and slide deck of Prof Idris Eckley, Lancaster University, who gave insights into his experience of collaboration with industry and the impact on innovation and the economy. 

Talk: Please watch the recording of Dr John Drake's italk of "I was a PGR once", a career that lives and breathes collaboration.

Keynote: Please watch the recording of Russell Beck Director of ImagineThinkDo. He gave an inspiring view on this new world of work, and asking the question: "Is Meaning the new Money?"

Panel: Please watch the recording of the lively panel discussion about "Creating Value for Economies"  with Dr Amanda Chmura form EPSRC, Joseph Spear, Prof Idris Eckly, Dr John Drake and Russell Beck answering the questions from the audience.

Day 2

Wednesday 24th March 2021

We'll showcase collaboration successes, with industry and academia driving latest innovations together. 

13:00 PM Carol Fletcher, BT's Head of Academic and Research Partnerships, will be opening the day and will be joined by Simon Parry, BT University Programmes.

13:05 PM - Panel Case study: Please join BT’s Dr Gilbert Owusu, Service & Operational Transformation. He will lead a case study panel discussion on "Maximising the value of Research". He'll be joined by expert collaboration leaders from Essex University, University of Loughborough, Robert Gordon University and Michigan State University. This sees Gilbert's former postgraduate research collaborators joining the team once again, showing the impact of collaboration on young careers.

13:40 PM - Demo: Shane Allum, BT will give another bite size demo from the Adastral Park Innovation Showcases.

13:45 PM - Keynote and interactive session: Ken Shaw from Benchmark Communication Techniques will add his view on this new world we live in, the skills needed and the questions that need to be asked in a talk on "Presentation Skills: New thoughts on an old subject". 

14:15 PM Carol Fletcher has a Fireside chat with Dr Alastair McGibbon from Compound Semiconductor Applications (CSA) Catapult.

14:30 PM Peter Brady from Orbital will give a deep dive on “MYSPIRA - A collaboration between Orbital, the NHS and the University of Suffolk”

14:45 PM Dr Jon Chamberlain will deep dive as well on “Investigating Human Impact on Norfolk's Chalk Reef Using 3D Photogrammetry”

Day 3

Thursday 25th March 2021

We'll dive deeper into collaboration stories and we explore the impact of a Digital Future on collaboration and innovation across sectors.

10:15 AM Carol Fletcher, BT's Head of Academic and Research Partnerships, will be opening the day.

10:20 AM - Panel Case study: Stephen Cassidy will be leading the Fireside chat and panel on "Prosperity: the Next Generation Converged Digital Infrastructure  NG-CDI "

10:50 AM - Talk: A collaboration deep dive from a different sector by Dr Malcolm Skingle, GlaxoSmithKline: "Driving Science through Collaboration"

11:10 AM - Talk: Lisa Perkins, BT Adastral Park & Research Realisation Director is talking on "Mind the Gap: How collaboration can help to address the skills gap".

11:35 AM - Demo: Shane Allum, BT will give another bite size demo from the Adastral Park Innovation Showcases.

11:40 AM - Keynote: Please join Prof Susan Halford, Professor of Sociology, University of Bristol, UK for the closing keynote on "Collaborative research for sociodigital futures: interdisciplinary and cross-sectional perspectives".

Conference Sponsors

Carmen Palacios-Berraquero, CEO Nu Quantum: Speaker at our virtual Autumn 2020 conference "Let's get Physical"

Let's Get Physical - Autumn 2020 Virtual Conference
QUANTUM

Held on 12th - 16th October 2020 - 5 days of Physics goodness on 

- Optics
- Wireless
- PGR Spotlight day
- Quantum 
- Data Science & AI

Find out more.

Carmen Palacios-Berraquero is CEO of Nu-Quantum. 

Nu Quantum aims to be the platform technology for the Quantum Internet. Our key is that we have technology that can generate quantum light: this means single particles of light (single photons) that will carry single quantum bits of information, and this will be the medium through which links are established between the nodes of a quantum network. This network, the so-called Quantum Internet / Quantum Cloud, is the predicted parallel network of the future, where super secure and super powerful computations will be done. 

Before starting her company, Carmen was a research scientist at the University of Cambridge. Her PhD thesis title was: 'Quantum-confined Excitons in 2-dimensional Materials'. The family of 2D materials she studies are transition metal dichalcogenides (2D-TMDs). She won the 2018 Jocelyn Bell Burnell prize for discovering and patenting a method to create single-photon emitting sites in atomically-thin materials and for using a 2-dimensional decive to all-electrically induce quantum emission from these sites.

Read more about Carmen here.
LinkedIn

Quantum, an Industry Perspective
Download slides (.pdf)

Prof Robert Piechocki, University of Bristo: Speaker at our conference "Let's get Physical"

Let's Get Physical - Autumn 2020 Virtual Conference
WIRELESS

Held on 12th - 16th October 2020 - 5 days of Physics goodness on 

- Optics
- Wireless
- PGR Spotlight day
- Quantum 
- Data Science & AI

Find out more.

Robert J Piechocki is Professor in the School of Computer Science, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and Engineering Maths. His research interests span all areas of connected intelligent systems. His domain expertise is Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAV), and wireless sensing for eHealth.  

He has published over 200 papers in peer-reviewed international journals and conferences and holds 13 patents in these areas. Robert is leading wireless connectivity and sensing research activities for the IRC SPHERE project (winner of 2016 World Technology Award). Robert is also a PI for several current high-profile projects in networks, connectivity and sensing funded by industry, Innovate UK and EPSRC such as VENTURER, FLOURISH, NG-CDI, OPERA.
LinkedIn

Wireless Systems, Self-driving Vehicles and Digital Twins
Download slides (.pdf)

Maria Cuevas, BT: Speaker at our virtual Autumn 2020 conference "Let's get Physical"

Let's Get Physical - Autumn 2020 Virtual Conference
WIRELESS

Held on 12th - 16th October 2020 - 5 days of Physics goodness on 

- Optics
- Wireless
- PGR Spotlight day
- Quantum 
- Data Science & AI

Find out more.

Maria Cuevas is the head of the research core networks and services team in BT’s Research and Technology organisation. 

She has 17 years’ experience in the telecoms operator business, having held positions in design, architecture and research organisations. She has taken part in transformational projects in BT, including the development of an all-IP network architecture or the design of the first converged residential voice product offered by BT to their customers, amongst others. 

She has also participated in standards organisation, including ETSI and is a regular speaker at public conferences. At present, her team focuses on the evolution of 5G technologies to ensure that key requirements like convergence are supported by the next generation of telecoms networks, to ensure that operators can offer an excellent and seamless quality of experience to their customers.
LinkedIn

Wireless Technologies: Emerging challenges and opportunities
Download slides (.pdf)

Francis Mullany, Nokia Bell Labs: Speaker at our virtual Autumn 2020 conference "Let's get Physical"

Let's Get Physical - Autumn 2020 Virtual Conference
WIRELESS

Held on 12th - 16th October 2020. Five days of Physics goodness on 

- Optics
- Wireless
- PGR Spotlight day
- Quantum 
- Data Science & AI

Find out more.

Dr Francis (Frank) Mullany is an end-to-end communications research strategist with Nokia Bell Labs.  He is fascinated by the connection between innovative research and real-world impact. A key question for him is, how can communications technologies change the world for the better.

He received B.E. and Ph.D. degrees in Electronic Engineering from University College Dublin, National University of Ireland, in 1992 and 1998, respectively.  In 1998, Frank joined Bell Labs, first with the Wireless Research Laboratory in the UK and then helped to establish, in 2004, Bell Labs Ireland in Dublin.  Between 2006 and 2013, he built up the RF Antennas and Front-End Technologies department.  

In 2013, Frank established the Internet of Things research program, before moving across to the CTO organization to lead Network Compliance, Reliability, Security and Corporate Standards organization in 2014.  He was also the acting site leader for Bell Labs Ireland that year.  In 2015, he returned to Bell Labs Research to take up his current strategy role, now with the E2E Networking & Service Automation Lab.

Why Can’t Wireless Hardware Be More Like Software?

Virtualization, programmability, cloudification, software-defined networking … all key buzzwords for the on-going revolution in communication networks.  But underpinning all that software flexibility and scalability is the physical reality of the underlying hardware.  In particular, hardware for wireless access networks often stays stubbornly rigid and static, despite years of work on tunability, software-defined radio, and cognitive radio.  Why is that?

This talk explores the underlying physical constraints of wireless networking and the challenge they pose for increased flexibility and agility in RF and baseband hardware.   Various technology approaches are assessed against the harsh realities of those challenges, providing pointers to the future of RF hardware tunability and baseband agility.

Download slides (.pdf)

Alistair Poustie, Rushmere Technology: Speaker at the Optics Forum of our Autumn 2020 virtual conference

Let's Get Physical - Autumn 2020 Virtual Conference
OPTICS

Held on 12th - 16th October 2020: Five days of Physics goodness on 

- Optics
- Wireless
- PGR Spotlight day
- Quantum 
- Data Science & AI

Find out more.

Dr Alistair Poustie is CEO and co-founder of Rushmere Technology, an optoelectronics company developing innovative products for the optical communications industry. 

He has been active in optical comms for 30 years, working for blue chip and startup companies: BT, Corning, CIP Technologies, Huawei and Rushmere. His areas of technical expertise include optical access systems, photonics hardware technology and optical processing. He has published over 150 technical papers, over 25 patents and has worked on many collaborative R&D projects in the EU, USA and UK. 

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and a member of the IEEE and OSA. 

LinkedIn

Prof Andrew Ellis, Aston University: Speaker at our Autumn 2020 virtual conference

Let's Get Physical - Autumn 2020 Virtual Conference
OPTICS

Held on 12th - 16th October 2020: Five days of Physics goodness on 

- Optics
- Wireless
- PGR Spotlight day
- Quantum 
- Data Science & AI

Find out more.

Andrew D. Ellis was born in Underwood, U.K., in 1965. He received the B.Sc. degree in physics with a minor in mathematics from the University of Sussex, Brighton, U.K., in 1987. He received the Ph.D. degree in electronic and electrical engineering from The University of Aston in Birmingham, Birmingham, U.K., in 1997 for his study on all optical networking beyond 10 Gbit/s.

He previously worked for British Telecom Research Laboratories as a Senior Research Engineer investigating the use of optical amplifiers and advanced modulation formats in optical networks and the Corning Research Centre as a Senior Research Fellow where he led activities in optical component characterization. From 2003, he headed the Transmission and Sensors Group at the Tyndall National Institute in Cork, Ireland, where he was also a member of the Department of Physics, University College Cork and his research interests included the evolution of core and metro networks, and the application of photonics to sensing. 

He is now 50th Anniversary Professor of Optical Communications at Aston University where he is also deputy director of the Institute of Photonics Technologies (AiPT), and he holds adjunct professorships from University College Cork (Physics) and Dublin City University (RINCE). He has published over 200 journal papers and over 28 patents in the field of photonics, primarily targeted at increasing capacity, reach and functionality in the optical layer.

Prof. Ellis is a member of the Institute of Physics and a Chartered Physicist and a Fellow of the Optical Society of America. He served for 6 years as an associate editor of the journal Optics Express. Prof Ellis has been a member of the Technical Program Committee of ECOC since 2004 and two three year terms on the TPC of OFC. He is currently participating in the organization of ECOC 2019.
Photo credit to Jackie Ellis
LinkedIn

An "academic" career in photonics
Download slides (.pdf)

 

 

Liam Blackwell from UKRI-EPSRC to speak at the Quantum Forum of our Autumn 2020 virtual conference

Let's Get Physical - Autumn 2020 Virtual Conference
QUANTUM

Held on 12th - 16th October 2020: Five days of Physics goodness on 

- Optics
- Wireless
- PGR Spotlight day
- Quantum 
- Data Science & AI

Find out more.

 

Liam Blackwell is Deputy Director for Cross Council Programmes, with responsibility for the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s participation in the UK’s National Quantum Technologies Programme, its involvement in the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, and its contribution to Health and Healthcare. 

Prior to this he was Head of the Quantum Technologies Theme at EPSRC from 2015-2018.  From 2008 to 2017 Liam was the Head of the Information and Communications Technologies Theme at EPSRC, responsible for the EPSRC’s strategy for ICT research and training. 

Before joining the EPSRC in 2000, Liam Blackwell completed his PhD in material science at the University of Leeds and spent two years working at the technology centre of a Devon based clay mining company. At the EPSRC he has also worked in the Physics Programme team, Engineering Programme team and on delivery of the EPSRC's strategy for nanotechnology. Outside of work Liam is a keen hiker and skier.

LinkedIn

Dr Richard Burguete, Director Postgraduate Institute for Measurement Science, to speak at our Autumn 2020 virtual conference

Let's Get Physical - Autumn 2020 Virtual Conference
PGR SPOTLIGHT

Held on 12th - 16th October 2020. Five days of Physics goodness on 

- Optics
- Wireless
- PGR Spotlight day
- Quantum 
- Data Science & AI

Find out more.

Richard graduated from the University of Sheffield with a PhD in Mechanical Engineering in 1994. Following three years as a postdoctoral researcher working in Experimental Mechanics, he joined the Experimental Stress Analysis group at Airbus in Bristol where he developed and implemented a variety of optical stress and deformation measurement techniques for structural testing. During this time, he sponsored many postgraduate research projects and led the development of the Structures Test R&D strategy for Airbus, as well as managing the associated trans-national test programme.

Having followed a postgraduate training pathway, Richard delivered technical solutions in his field of expertise, with a focus on the usual business challenges of optimising cost, time and quality. He understands the value of collaborative engagement well, and during his career at Airbus, alongside chairmanship of the British Society for Strain Measurement, he fostered the development of stronger links between industry, academia and related technical societies – he is a strong believer in the industrial application of high-level academic research and skills.

As Director of the PGI, Richard continues to fulfil his passion for industry and academic collaboration. It is an ideal platform for postgraduate training, leading to the development of extremely desirable skills and capabilities that the benefit industry and academia alike, but most importantly, because they enhance the career prospects for postgraduate researchers.

You can read all about the first five years of the PGI here
LinkedIn

The Postgraduate Institute of Measurement Science: Celebrating 5 Years of Collaboration
Download slides (.pdf)

Prof Jesse Thaler, MIT: Speaker at our Autumn 2020 virtual conference "Let's get Physical"

Let's Get Physical - Autumn 2020 Virtual Conference
FINAL KEYNOTE

Held on 12th - 16th October 2020: Five days of Physics goodness on 

- Optics
- Wireless
- PGR Spotlight day
- Quantum 
- Data Science & AI

Find out more.

Prof Jesse Thaler is the inaugural Director of the NSF AI Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions. He is a theoretical particle physicist who fuses techniques from quantum field theory and machine learning to address outstanding questions in fundamental physics.  His current research is focused on maximizing the discovery potential of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) through new theoretical frameworks and novel data analysis techniques.  

Prof. Thaler is an expert in jets, which are collimated sprays of particles that are copiously produced at the LHC, and he studies the substructure of jets to enhance the search for new phenomena and illuminate the dynamics of gauge theories.  He is also interested in new strategies to probe the nature of dark matter at the LHC and beyond. 

Prof. Thaler joined the MIT Physics Department in 2010, and is currently an Associate Professor in the Center for Theoretical Physics. From 2006 to 2009, he was a fellow at the Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science at the University of California, Berkeley. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from Harvard University in 2006, and his Sc.B. in Math/Physics from Brown University in 2002. He was awarded an Early Career Research Award from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2011, a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from the White House in 2012, a Sloan Research Fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in 2013, and a Harold E. Edgerton Faculty Achievement Award from MIT in 2016.

Fun Fact 

As an undergraduate, Jesse Thaler was a late-night jazz radio DJ on 95.5 WBRU, using the radio name ""Lester"" after the legendary tenor saxophonist Lester Young.
LinedIn

"Collision Course - Artificial Intelligence meets Fundamental Physics"

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Prof Tim Spiller, University of York to speak at the Quantum forum of our Autumn 2020 virtual conference

Let's Get Physical - Autumn 2020 Virtual Conference
QUANTUM

Held on 12th - 16th October 2020: Five days of Physics goodness on 

- Optics
- Wireless
- PGR Spotlight day
- Quantum 
- Data Science & AI

Find out more.

  

Professor Tim Spiller moved to York in 2014 as founding Director of the York Centre for Quantum Technologies and he is now also Director of the UK Quantum Communications Hub. 

Prior to this he was at the University of Leeds in the roles of Head of the Quantum Information Group and Director of Research for the School of Physics and Astronomy.  Prior to 2009 Spiller was Director of Quantum Information Processing (QIP) Research at HP Labs Bristol – an activity that he established in 1995 – and a Hewlett-Packard Distinguished Scientist. 

He has spent 40 years researching quantum theory, superconducting systems and quantum hardware and technologies. He led HP’s strategy on the commercialisation of QIP research, is an inventor on 25 patents linked to quantum technologies and applications, and was additionally a consultant inside HP on networking, communications and nanotechnology.

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Liam Bussey, BT, to speak at the forum of our Autumn 2020 virtual conference

Let's Get Physical - Autumn 2020 Virtual Conference
QUANTUM

Held on 12th - 16th October 2020: Five days of Physics goodness on 

- Optics
- Wireless
- PGR Spotlight day
- Quantum 
- Data Science & AI

Find out more.

 

Liam Bussey graduated in 2018 with a Masters Degree in Physics from the University of Kent. He is working as research professional with the Network Physics team of  BT's Applied Research division.  He is looking at introducing quantum technologies to the communication industry.

LinkedIn

Marco Menchetti, BT Quantum Research Specialist to speak at our Autumn 2020 virtual conference

Let's Get Physical - Autumn 2020 Virtual Conference
QUANTUM

Held on 12th - 16th October 2020: Five days of Physics goodness on 

- Optics
- Wireless
- PGR Spotlight day
- Quantum 
- Data Science & AI

Find out more.

Marco joined BT in 2018, after finishing his PhD in cold atoms physics at Birmingham University with a thesis titled "Experimental set-up for realising long-range interaction using strontium atoms in an optical lattice". During his studies, he worked at NPL in London and the LENS in Florence.

At the moment he's working as a research specialist with the optical networks team. His research focus is  QKD and optical clock with the IqClock project.

He first visited England in 2008 when he worked as a pizzaiolo in London for the summer season.
LinkedIn

Atomic Clocks: The most precise instruments in the world.

If someone had started two atomic clocks during the Big Bang, those clocks wold now agree within about 2 seconds. Atomic clocks are so precise that they can measure the difference in the speed of time between your feet and your head. They do that by cooling a gas to a temperature of few micro kelvins (this is 0.000001 K above the absolute zero) and trapping the atom of the gas in an optical lattice generated by powerful lasers. Those atoms are then used as a reference to calibrate the clock.

Atomic clocks are starting now exiting the labs and now the question is: what can we do with such powerful instrument?
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