Volume 3, issue 2 December 2009-January 2010 In this Issue: View from the Dean’s Office Major award for Professor of 2 Computing Coaching for code-breakers 2 Season’s Greeting and a Happy New Year! Our final issue for Kent develops prize-winning 3 renal diagnosis software 2009 contains a range of activities which embrace the Faculty Royal Academy Teaching Fellow 3 EDA Strategy. We include articles on Research, Enterprise, Outreach and Grant Award—Dr Colin Johnson 4 Prize-giving EDA students 6 International Collaborations, along with our usual complement of topical Researcher make advances in 5 molecular computing Facial Recognition 5 scientific essays aimed at a general audience. Digital Hub takes its first step 6 High Profile Engineering 6 I hope that you find these enjoyable and informative as well as getting the Appointment Peanut Allergy: Causes and 7 prevention message that ‘Sciences@Kent’ are alive and well! New Lecturer Dr Jim (CS) Ang 8 ESDC celebrates 15 years of 9 Best wishes for 2010! working with Industry Telecommunications expert in 9 Best wishes demand E.coli : A diverse group of 10 harmless and pathogenic Peter bacteria British Council funds scientific 11-12 visits to SE Asia Lego® Competition winners 13 Autumn brings £1.2M in Research Awards Local history DVDs 14 Kent alumni takes PM’s top prize 14 During the last couple of months, the Technology Facilities Council have announced down under Faculty of Sciences has been awarded over budget cuts which critics fear will impact Royal Academy Distinguished 15 £1.2M in research grants. These include significantly on science and the next Visiting Fellowship—Professor Eliot Moss four substantial research awards to generation of researchers. This follows close academics across the Faculty. Professor Liz on the heels of the global economic downturn Published Papers and Journals 16-19 Mansfield (School of Mathematics, Statistics which has led to an increase in costs, Recent Grant Awards 20 and Actuarial Science) £296,776 and Dr following a fall of the pound, in the UK’s January seminars 21 Colin Johnson (School of Computing) involvement in international science projects Conferences 21 £307,678, both of whom received their (e.g. the Large Hadron Collider at Cern). So awards from the Engineering and Physical does the future of Science hang in the CAPS 22 Sciences Research Council. Professor Mark balance? It seems hardly conceivable with Smales (School of Biosciences) received the technological advances that are being £312,456 from Lonza Biologics plc and Dr made by UK scientists, but if the investment Konstantinos Sirlantzis (School of in research is substantially reduced in UK, it Engineering and Digital Arts) received will be our loss. £227,841 from the European Commission. ************************************ It’s nice to end the year on a high certainly, See page 4 for more details of the EPSRC but signs are that things are going to get Engineering and Physical Sciences Research tougher in the New Year. The Science and Council award received by Dr Colin Johnson. Sciences means Business page 6 Volume 3, issue 2 Page 2 Major award for Professor of Computing Education Professor Sally Fincher from the University Education, and a member of the Editorial of Kent has become the first British Review Board of the Journal of Computers in academic in 30 years to receive the SIGCSE Mathematics and Science Teaching. In 2008, Award for Outstanding Contribution to she was invited to become a Fellow of the Computer Science Education. Royal Society of Arts, and was recognised as Each year, the Association for Computing Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Machinery (ACM) Special Interest Group on Academy in 2007. She was made a National Computer Science Education (SIGCSE) Teaching Fellow in 2005. honours an individual or group in recognition Professor Fincher said: of their long-lasting impact on, and "One of our challenges is to bring the significant contribution to, computing intellectual excitement of computing to the education. Their contribution may take the fore. SIGCSE has been a champion for this form of curriculum design, innovative over many decades, supporting computing teaching methods, textbook authorship or educators and contributing to an evidence- the development of new teaching tools. base of successful practice through their Recipients are selected from nominations by conferences and publications. SIGCSE takes SIGCSE members. their role seriously, and it is a great honour Professor Fincher will be presented with her to be selected for this award." award at the 41st SIGCSE Technical Professor Simon Thompson, Head of the Symposium in Milwaukee, USA, 10-13 March School of Computing, added: 2010. She will also give the keynote address " I am delighted to see Sally's award, which at the Symposium. recognises the excellence of her approach to Sally Fincher is Professor of Computing teaching innovation informed by evidence Professor Sally Fincher, Education at the School of Computing, gleaned from her research in the area. " School of Computing University of Kent, where she leads the The SIGCSE award was initiated in 1981. Computing Education Research Group. She Past recipients include: Randy Pausch, University; Mordechai Ben-Ari, is co-editor of the Journal of Computer Carnegie Mellon University; Grace Murray Weizmann Institute of Science; Eric Science Education, a member of the Hopper, Rear Admiral USN, Digital Roberts, Stanford University; and Alan Advisory Board of the Journal of Engineering Equipment Corporation; Alan Perlis, Yale Kay, Apple Computer. Coaching for code-breakers This term, the School of Mathematics, Statistics & Actuarial Science has run a new series of Mathematics Master Classes for gifted youth, with the support of the Royal Institution of Great Britain. On six Saturday afternoons this term, starting with 31st October, some of Kent's brightest young mathematicians taking AS/A-Level have been visiting the University campus to take part in a series of classes on a wide variety of topics. The classes are led by experts in different areas of mathematics, both from the University and elsewhere. The aim of the sessions is to stretch the mathematical imaginations of young people who are fascinated by the subject, and want to learn where it may lead them beyond the school curriculum. The first class of the series was taken by James Grime, from the Millenium Mathematics Project, Cambridge, who talked about the Enigma machine and codebreaking. The students learned how Dr James Grime, Enigma Project Schools Officer, some of the country's brightest mathematical minds are employed Millenium Mathematics Project, University of Cambridge to devise new codes and try to crack them. In the subsequent workshop, they were set a code-breaking competition. The than half an hour afterwards. students who cracked the most codes were awarded with prizes. The topics of subsequent classes for sixth-formers range from the The evening before the first class, James also gave an open lecture link between mathematics and music, to combinatorics, to staff and students. He described the history of coding messages, mathematical physics and chaos theory. Another series of and went on to tell the story of how British scientists at Bletchley classes, aimed at bright primary school pupils, is being run by Park managed to crack the Enigma codes that were used by the Professor John Dore. German military in the Second World War. During the presentation, All classes are being held in the Maths Lecture Theatre in the he displayed the inner workings of an original Enigma machine, Cornwallis Building, on Saturdays. found in a field by an American soldier posted in France at the end Further details:Dr Andy Hone ([email protected]). of the war. The audience also learned how hard it is to hold a conversation without using the letter 'e'. The talk was very well To try code-breaking yourself, go to: attended, and the speaker stayed to answer questions for more http://enigma.maths.org/content/cd-rom-challenge Volume 3, issue 2 Page 3 Kent develops prize-winning renal diagnosis softwar e A team from the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation The pilot study began with the co-operation of a small number of Trust (EKHUT) in collaboration with the University of Kent gained GP practices and it has grown to include a large number of GP second place in the 'Innovation in Renal Medicine 2009' national practices in East Kent, Medway, and Salford in Greater competition run by the British Journal of Renal Medicine. Their Manchester. System for Early Intervention in Kidney Disease (SEIK), has Dr. Roger Cooley said: " This project has involved a collaboration resulted in dramatic improvements in identifying early renal between the hospital and the University over several years. What referrals. The team were awarded a prize of £2,000 by Professor started as a prototype software written by an MSc student has Sir Roy Calne, a pioneer in the field of transplant medicine. developed into a regional medical service and has begun to have a Kidney impairment may go undetected due to a lack of symptoms. national influence. It is a gratifying demonstration of the However, if blood samples are analysed, kidney problems can be advantages of collaboration. " identified early. SEIK is an expert system which analyses The successful team comprised staff from EKHUT and Kent: Dr. anonymous data from GP patient records. Typical data includes Chris Farmer (Team Leader); Dr. Paul Stevens; Director of the blood test results, blood pressure and drug regimes. Some or all Renal Unit at the East Kent Hospital; Helen Hobbs, Research of this data may well have been originally collected for medical Nurse; Toby Wheeler, Systems Manager; Jean Irving, Senior conditions not related to kidney problems. The system applies a Developer (former University of Kent computing student); Dr.