Dr. John Drake University of Leicester and a Visiting Research Fellow at BT

Conference Talk!

At our TFNetworkSpring21 conference on "Creating Value for Economies: Collaborate - Innovate - Educate". 

Dr John H. Drake is an Associate Professor in the School of Informatics at the University of Leicester and a Visiting Research Fellow at BT. 

He previously held faculty positions at Queen Mary University of London and the University of Nottingham, working extensively within the partnerships of these two organisations in China. He holds a BSc, MSc and PhD in Computer Science and is a professional member of the ACM and IEEE. 

His research interests lie at the interface between Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Operational Research, focusing on metaheuristic and evolutionary computation methods for real-world scheduling problems. Previous research has centred on maintenance scheduling for real-world infrastructure networks in the context of railways and telecommunications, in partnership with Banedanmark and British Telecom respectively, developing intelligent decision support systems to facilitate efficient allocation of resources for such problems. 

He has published over 30 papers in SCI-indexed leading conferences and journals in the fields of Computer Science and Operational Research, including European Journal of Operational Research (Elsevier), Computers & Operations Research (Elsevier) and Evolutionary Computation (MIT Press). 

He is currently a co-investigator on OR-MASTER (EP/M020258/1), a £2.3M EPSRC programme grant project focused on reducing congestion at airports.

Title: I was a PGR once - a career. 

Synopsis: Having attended the first Tommy Flowers conference in early 2017, and almost every one since, I now consider myself somewhat of a veteran! This talk will cover my journey from PGR to faculty member (and visiting researcher at BT), via the Tommy Flowers Network, offering some observations and advice to budding PGRs based on some of the experiences I had and the lessons I learnt along the way.

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Dr Amanda Chmura, EPSRC – UKRI, Deputy Director Partnerships

Conference Day1 Panel with representatives from EPSRC-UKRI, Industry and Academia!

At our TFNetworkSpring21 conference on "Creating Value for Economies: Collaborate - Innovate - Educate". 

Dr Amanda Chmura is Deputy Director Partnerships of Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council - UK Research and Innovation (EPSRC-UKRI).

Amanda’s main responsibility is to provide strategic leadership for EPSRC’s engagement with business and in accelerating the impact of the research and training investments made by EPSRC.

Amanda has specific corporate oversight for our relationships with Jaguar Land Rover, BAE Systems and the University of Bath.

Previously Amanda has led:

• The Balancing Capability strategy and the 2018 Centres for Doctoral Training investment as Deputy Director;
• The implementation and delivery of EPSRC’s strategies for engagement with key business and university partners;
• The private office of the EPSRC Chief Executive
• A range of strategic projects and programmes in both EPSRC and the Medical Research Council (MRC).

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Amanda will be joined at the panel by

• Joseph Spear, MVINE
• Idris Eckley, Lancaster University
• John Drake, University of Leicester
• Russell Beck, ImagineThinkDo

Dr Andrew Bourne, EPSRC – UKRI, Director Partnerships

Conference Talk!

At our TFNetworkSpring21 conference on "Creating Value for Economies: Collaborate - Innovate - Educate". 

Dr Andrew Bourne is Director Partnerships of Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council - UK Research and Innovation (EPSRC-UKRI).

Andrew leads EPSRC’s strategic interactions with key partners within the university, business, regional and international sectors to ensure that the EPSRC progresses its Delivery Plan Priority Framework and its desired outcomes. Andrew also leads EPSRC Impact and Public Engagement activities.

Andrew is a member of the EPSRC Executive Board and currently the Project Director for the Rosalind Franklin Institute.

Previously Andrew has led:

• The University Relationship portfolio as Deputy Director
• The Physical Sciences Capability theme commissioning research and training within the fundamental chemistry, physics, and materials portfolio

Andrew's presentation title is: "EPSRC: Creating Value for Businesses"

LinkedIn

Russell Beck, ImagineThinkDo: Sponsor of the 2021 Spring conference and TFNetwork Supporter

Conference Talk!

At our TFNetworkSpring21 conference on "Creating Value for Economies: Collaborate - Innovate - Educate". 

Russell Beck, Director of ImagineThinkDo, has become a strong source of inspiration for the TFNetwork team. In his Thought Leadership talk he tied together a rainbow of viewpoints about the "Future of Work" covering "Work Nomads", "Technology", "Women", "Future Skills", "Be the Best", "Brand" and "Networking". And if you ever wanted to see a great 'About' page on a website: check this out!

He now is back and exploring if "Meaning is the new Money!". Please join him at the conference on 23rd March, at 11:10 AM. Ask your questions in chat and for the panel from 11:40, where he will be joined by speakers from EPSRC, MVINE, and universities of Lancaster and Leicester.

Russell is a thought leader. He is a catalyst who is great at using research and insight to challenge preconceptions. 

His clients say he is a passionate presenter who joins the dots to make things real. 

Russell brings broad experience from a diverse career having held many top roles including working as an engineer managing large-scale international projects, leading a £120m talent management business and growing a successful consulting operation from scratch.

Synopsis: We have been talking for over a decade that we should ‘start with why’ yet now, more than ever, more and more people are questioning “what is the point?” People who find meaning in their work are more productive, more motivated, more innovative, healthier and have longer tenure. This is the challenge and the opportunity. ‘Meaning is the new money’ and to unlock the potential we need to do more than just know why, we need to really embed it. This session will show you why this is so important and how to start.

ImagineThinkDo is a people strategy consultancy whose purpose is to inspire, challenge and enable leaders to unlock the value of their people. We do this through delivering research-led thought leadership, expertly facilitated workshops and powerful one-to-one coaching sessions.

We have helped leaders embed purpose-led leadership; define and live their values; effectively manage remote teams; embrace and then enable cultural change; understand and unlock the benefits of the generations; how to plan for the future of work. Through this, we help organisations increase productivity, hire and retain the right people and enhance engagement.

We work with a broad mix of clients of different sizes and from different industries. What they all have in common is an appetite to improve and a curiosity to step beyond traditional leadership development. Some want us to inspire and challenge their people, some want us to help them take that further to enable lasting change. All want to invest in their people as they know they are their most important asset.

ImagineThinkDo Website
Russell Beck LinkedIn

Dr Gilbert Owusu, Head of Service & Operational Transformation Research, BT

Conference Panel!

At our TFNetworkSpring21 conference on "Creating Value for Economies: Collaborate - Innovate - Educate". 

Dr Gilbert Owusu heads the Service and Operational Transformation Research in BT. He has a strong track record in applying AI, production management and operations modelling technologies to service operations which have led to significant customer service improvements and OPEX reduction in BT's operations.

Gilbert's research on applying AI technologies for transforming service operations have been published widely in book chapters, conferences and journals, He is the co-editor of two books on service production management. Gilbert is a visiting professor at University of Essex, a member of the UK Operational Research Society's General Council and an executive member of the British Computer Society's Specialist Group on AI.

LinkedIn

Creating Value for Economies: Collaborate - Innovate - Educate

Panel discussion

Wednesday 24th March, 13:05 - 13:40

Gilbert will be joined by his academic partners and former postgraduate researcher for a panel discussion at our conference providing case studies about the impact of collaboration. 

Hani Hagras, University of Essex

Rupal Rana, Loughborough University

Ken Reid, Michigan State University

Kyle Martin, Robert Gordon University

 

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

Thought Leadership Event: Dr Sandy Brownlee on "Improving trust in the results of search-based optimisation"

 Date: 21st January 2021, 14:00 - 15:00

Speaker: Dr Sandy Brownlee, University of Stirling
Title: Improving trust in the results of search-based optimisation 

The event was hosted by BT Applied Research's Dr Gilbert Owusu and his team.

Search-based methods, including techniques like metaheuristics, local search, and evolutionary algorithms, are powerful tools for finding good solutions to difficult optimisation problems. Usually the problem is formulated as a representation (what a solution looks like) and a fitness function (which measures the quality of solutions). The algorithm will explore the space, generating new solutions through a variety of randomised processes, and eventually settle on a good solution. Sometimes the solutions found by these processes can be a little unexpected or "outside the box", which can make acceptance difficult. 

In this talk, I looked at a few approaches I've taken to using visualisation for trying to improve trust in the solutions of search-based optimisation. These are about trying to understand what the algorithm has learned about the problem during the search, and how robust the solutions it found really are. 

The example applications are a software tuning problem and some problems in building design, but the general principles should be much more widely applicable. 

Dr Sandy Brownlee joined the Division of Computing Science and Mathematics at the University of Stirling in 2013, where he is currently a Lecturer. He gained BSc and PhD degrees from Robert Gordon University in 2005 and 2009 respectively, and has also worked at Loughborough University, and as a software engineer in the energy industry. He is interested in "explainable" optimisation: techniques that find good solutions for optimisation problems but also reveal underlying information about the problem to help people make informed decisions. 

His main focus is in metaheuristics, including evolutionary algorithms and estimation of distribution algorithms; related issues such as fitness modelling (and mining such models), handling constraints and multiple objectives, decision support, and what makes particular algorithms suited to particular problems. This work has resulted in over 60 publications in peer-reviewed venues, and has found applications in areas including scheduling and simulation-based optimisation in civil engineering and transport, software engineering, healthcare, and art.