Engineers at the University of Southampton’s School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) are working to develop prototype insulation systems that could lead to new high-efficiency electrical generators.

Professor Alun Vaughan, Dr Paul Lewin and Dr Gabriele Gherbaz of the ECS Electrical Power Engineering group are leading the University’s role in the €3 million EU-funded ANASTASIA (Advanced NAno-Structured TApeS for electrotechnical high power Insulating Applications).

The aim of the three-year project is to develop radically innovative electrical insulating tapes for use in generators and motors to improve the energy conversion efficiency of electrotechnical systems across Europe.

The team predicts that, at a European scale, a 0.2 percent gain in generator conversion efficiency could save the equivalent of 1000 MW (megawatts) which is comparable to one nuclear power plant or €1.5 billion. “The current insulation systems used in generators are old fashioned and are rather thick, poor thermal conductors,â€? said Professor Vaughan. “Our aim is to replace the current insulation tapes with new materials integrated with nanofilters to increase the ability to dissipate heat and withstand high electric field strengths.â€?

The team will test three different approaches to come up with a prototype that will form the basis for use in new power networks; the ECS team will test the electrical properties of the schemes in the Tony Davies High Voltage Laboratory.

The other consortium members for this project are:

Von Roll Switzerland AG Alstom Hydro Laborelec-Electrabel Politecnico di Torino University of Montpellier 2 Institut de Recherche Hydro-Québec Nottingham Trent University

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel.+44(0)23 8059 5453.

Some of the world’s leading broadcasters, film-makers and television equipment manufacturers visited the IT Innovation Centre’s technology showcase at the National Association of Broadcasters exhibition held last month in Las Vegas.

Representatives of CBS, Turner Broadcasting System, TV Globo, Nickelodeon, Disney and Pixar Animation Studios learned how IT Innovation’s expertise in cloud computing, workflow management and content preservation is helping the industry tackle some of its hottest challenges.

"American broadcasters are grappling with just the same issues as those here in Europe", commented IT Innovation Centre Media Group manager Paul Walland. "Complex multicentre digital production demands new planning and workflow management tools, while the need to store vast quantities of high-bandwidth HD and 3D footage are stretching broadcast archives to breaking point."

IT Innovation’s Media Group already has an enviable reputation in the UK broadcast industry for delivering relevant, high-quality, rapidly exploitable R&D. They are now keen to forge new transatlantic R&D partnerships. "Our location on the NAB International Technology Park, alongside other world-class academic and industrial research groups, was a fantastic place not only to develop international exploitation opportunities for our current projects like MUPPITS, but also to kick-start exciting new collaborations", said Paul.

IT Innovation is an applied research centre advancing a wide range of information technologies and their deployment in industry and commerce. It is part of the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton. The group researches, develops, architects, engineers and integrates innovative IT systems.

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel.+44(0)23 8059 5453.

A new project which will help shape the UK's energy and transport infrastructure over the next 30 to 50 years will focus closely on resilience and cross-sector interactions in structural planning.

Resilient Futures is a multi-centre project which will consider the shape and planning of future developments in the UK's energy and transport infrastructure - in particular the resilience of these systems to malicious as well as environmental and systemic threats and hazards. The £1.75M project features in the BBC Radio 4 programme “Dragon’s Labâ€? on innovative research (Wednesday 19 May 2010).

Dr Seth Bullock, Head of the Science and Engineering of Natural Systems Group at the University of Southampton’s School of Electronics and Computer Science, and a Director of the University’s Institute for Complex Systems Simulation (ICSS), will lead a team of academics spread over six institutions, with a further 18 project partners drawn from industry, the public sector, and the emergency services.

Resilient Futures was developed following reports from the Institute for Public Policy Research, the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Council for Science and Technology, and the Cabinet Office, all of which stated that sustaining resilience is the key challenge facing the UK's critical infrastructure. The project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Over a three-year period Resilient Futures will engage directly with relevant stakeholders from the public and private sectors to focus on future rather than current UK infrastructure. The researchers are looking for a paradigm shift in resilience thinking – moving away from a short-term and protectionist approach in which agencies seek to preserve their own assets, to one which acknowledges the complex interdependencies in a constantly evolving system.

The UK’s energy and transport infrastructure is a major area of study for the Institute for Complex Systems Simulation. PhD students are already using the University of Southampton's supercomputer, one of the fastest in the world, to model this important part of the UK economic structure in support of their research.

"This focus on the future is crucial if we are to ensure that our efforts towards achieving resilience now do not compromise future resilience," said Dr Bullock. "We want to see a paradigm shift in resilience thinking - from a fragmented short-termism based on defending current practices to a longer-term, interdependent perspective.�

The Dragons’ Lab programme is a repeat and can be listened to at: http://www.sound101.org/misc/dragons_lab_tx.mp3

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel.+44(0)23 8059 5453.

Professor Nick Jennings of the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton has been elected a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI). The official citation mentions Professor Jennings’ “significant contributions to the theory and practice of multi-agent systems, including industrial applications, practical coordination techniques, and market-based control mechanisms.â€? The Fellowship will be officially conferred in Atlanta in July.

Professor Jennings is an internationally-recognised authority in the areas of agent-based computing and intelligent systems. His research covers both the theory and the application of such systems. Specifically, he has undertaken fundamental research on automated bargaining, auctions, markets, mechanism design, trust and reputation, coalition formation and decentralised control. He has also pioneered the application of multi-agent technology; developing some of the first real-world systems (in domains such as business process management, energy systems, sensor networks, disaster response, telecommunications, and eDefence) and generally advocating the area of agent-oriented software engineering. With over 32,000 citations in Google Scholar, he is the most cited researcher in the area of artificial intelligence.

Over the last 10 years Professor Jennings has built up one of the world’s largest and most successful research groups in agent technologies at the School of Electronics and Computer Science. The group’s work has been recognized by a series of awards and prizes including, most recently, the Best Paper Award at AAMAS 2010, the leading international conference on autonomous awards, held last week in Toronto.

Over the last five years Professor Jennings has led the ALADDIN project, a multi-million pound, multi-disciplinary research project funded by a strategic partnership between BAE Systems and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). ALADDIN involves a number of leading research groups from Imperial College London, University of Southampton, University of Bristol, and Oxford University. In December 2009 ALADDIN was described as “a stunning collaboration … which truly captures engineeringâ€?, when it won the Aerospace and Defence Award at the Engineer Technology and Innovation Awards.

In addition to his roles as Head of the Intelligence, Agents, Multimedia Group in the School of Electronics and Computer Science, and Associate Dean (Research and Enterprise) for the University’s Faculty of Engineering, Science and Mathematics, Professor Jennings is also currently a Scientific Advisor to the UK Government.

“I am honoured to be elected to the Fellowship of the AAAI, and to receive such distinguished recognition for my research,â€? he said. “It is a measure not only of our solid achievements in agent-based computing at Southampton, but also an indication of the extent to which we have been able to demonstrate the value of agent technologies in many new areas, from supply chain management to energy use.â€?

For further information contact: Joyce Lewis; tel.+44(0)23 8059 5453.

The School of Electronics and Computer Science is ranked 2nd in the UK for Electrical and Electronic Engineering in both the Times Good University Guide, published today (Thursday 27 May) and the Independent's Complete University Guide, published last week (Thursday 20 May). Computer Science and IT is ranked 4th in The Times Guide and 5th in The Independent Guide.

The subject tables are based on a number of criteria: Student Satisfaction, Research Assessment, Entry Standards, and Graduate Prospects. In Electrical & Electronic Engineering ECS scores 98/97 (out of 100), the highest score in the table for the subject.

Professor Alun Vaughan, Deputy Head of School (Education), commented: "We are pleased to see these excellent results for the School of Electronics and Computer Science. They reflect our strong commitment to creating a very high-quality student experience within the context of world-class research activity.

"Our students are being trained to develop future technologies and they are very much in demand by employers for the breadth of their technical understanding, and also because the unique qualities of the ECS programmes ensure that our students will be able to maximize their potential."

The University of Southampton was ranked 14th in the UK in The Independent Guide and 19th in The Times Guide. University Open Days take place this year on Saturday 3 July and Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 September. ECS will be running a programme of talks, tours, presentations, and demonstrations throughout the day, which also includes talks about all aspects of University life, including finance, accommodation. The University's Open Day web site is now open for bookings for activities in ECS and throughout the University. Book now.

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel.+44(0)23 8059 5453.

Evidence of the strength of employers’ demand for ECS Electronics and Electrical Engineering students is provided in the Complete University Guide 2011, published in The Independent on Thursday 20 May and the Good University Guide, published in The Times on 27 May.

Electronics and Electrical Engineering at the University of Southampton is ranked second in the UK in both tables,, and contributing strongly to this is the Graduate Prospects ranking (indicating the percentage of students in graduate jobs or further training six months after graduation). At a level of 98/97 per cent it is highest in the subject table, and among the top ten rankings in the UK for any subjects (outside Medicine and Healthcare).

The percentage is derived from the figures compiled each year by the official 'Destination of Leavers from Higher Education' survey, a national agency which collects information from graduates. The percentage expressed in the Complete University Guide is aggregated from two years of data (2007 and 2008). The only other subjects in which an equally high percentage was reached are: Education (Huddersfield), Chemistry (Nottingham Trent), Civil Engineering (Dundee, Imperial College London, Durham), Town & Country Planning (Reading and Birmingham City), and Geology (St Andrews).

‘It’s essential that we produce graduates who have the skills and understanding to play an effective role in developing future technologies,’ says Professor Alun Vaughan, Deputy Head of School (Education). ‘As a School we have worked hard over recent years to ensure that our courses are providing our students with the skills needed in the workplace. We also place a very high value on our employer liaison activity, including our annual Careers Fair and our Careers Hub web site.

‘This enables students to work closely with companies who can sponsor projects and course modules, to take up summer internships and work placements in vacations, and to have the best possible information about employment opportunities.’

The School’s 2011 Careers Fair (video) will be held on Wednesday 2 February. To find out more, or to become affiliated to our Careers Hub, contact Joyce Lewis; tel.+44(0)23 8059 5453.

Researchers forecast “paradigm shift in information and communication technologyâ€?

A silicon-based nanoscale system which aims to harness the ‘spin’ of electrons to boost the processing power of future computer systems is being developed by researchers at the University of Southampton, jointly with the University of Cambridge, the NTT Basic Research Laboratories and the Hitachi Cambridge Laboratory.

The three-year project, which has just received funding of £1M from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) aims to build the world’s first silicon-based integrated single-spin quantum bit system.

According to Professor Hiroshi Mizuta, Head of the Nano Research Group at the University’s School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS), the new system will enable researchers working with silicon to initialise, manipulate and read single-electron’s ‘spin’ states rather than just charge states. In the past, it has been possible to capture just electronic charge. The advantage of employing spin rather than charge is that spin can maintain coherence and is hardly destroyed by interference in silicon or graphene. The approach will also enable the development of novel nanospintronic devices - nanoscale circuits that could use the spin of the individual electrons to transmit, store and process information. In principle, such devices could dramatically enhance scaling of functional density and performance while simultaneously reducing the energy dissipated per functional operation. As well as boosting the processing power of conventional computers, this could also be used in quantum computers.

“This project is a paradigm shift in information and communication technology (ICT),â€? said Professor Mizuta. “It is not just an extension of existing silicon technology; we have introduced a completely new principle based on quantum mechanics, which will make it possible for industry to continue to use silicon as devices get smaller.â€?

The research team, which consists of the ECS Nano Research Group, the University of Cambridge, Hitachi Cambridge Laboratory and NTT Basic Research Laboratories, will develop an integrated single-spin information processing technology, which will provide a unique solution to massively-parallel and highly-secure information processing technology in the "beyond CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) era.

Open Days for prospective students take place this year on Saturday 3 July and on Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 September.

On 3 July the School of Electronics and Computer Science will be holding a day of tours, presentations, demonstrations and drop-in sessions, highlighting the opportunities available on our degree programmes, and emphasizing the unique character of the School. Visitors will have the chance to see all our undergraduate labs, and to meet past and current students, as well as to find out about our students' excellent career prospects.

Presentations begin at 10 am with a welcome from the Deputy Head of School (Education), Professor Alun Vaughan; there will then be separate tours and presentations for Computer Science & Software Engineering; Electrical & Electromechanical Engineering; Electronic Engineering; and Information Technology in Organisations. These presentations and tours are repeated at 11 am, 2 pm, and 3 pm.

Between 12 noon and 2 pm we will be holding two drop-in sessions in the Mountbatten Building, where visitors can see demonstrations, tour the labs with our students, see videos of our Careers Fair and student project work, and find out more from ECS Admissions Tutors. Refreshments will be available. There will also be a presentation on Robotics in ECS by Dr Richard Crowder, with a demonstration of the School's Formica swarm robots.

Bookings are now closed for 3 July since the event has reached maximum capacity. The University of Southampton Open Day web site on the University Open Day Web Site provides further information.

'Visiting universities is extremely important in enabling students to find the best place for their study,' said Professor Alun Vaughan. 'There are many factors which make a difference to the kind of educational experience that will suit a particular student and we urge prospective students to take advantage of these visit days to find out as much as they can about what we can offer them.'

ECS Open Day Hotline: +44(0)23 8059 4506

View our Introduction to ECS Open Days by Professor Alun Vaughan.

Electronics and Electrical Engineering is ranked 1st and 2nd in the UK in recent league tables (May 2010) and Computer Science and IT is ranked 4th or 5th. Find out more about our excellent league table performance and our exceptional graduate career prospects.

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel.+44(0)23 8059 5453.

It was announced on Monday 31 May that Professor Nigel Shadbolt and Professor Sir Tim Berners-Lee of the School of Electronics and Computer Science will be members of the Government's new Public Sector Transparency Board.

The Board will be responsible for setting open data standards across the public sector and developing the legal Right to Data, and will be based at the Cabinet Office which will drive the Government’s cross-government transparency agenda.

In a move which confirms the new Government’s commitment to transparency in government, the Cabinet Office also announced that it had published the salaries of the highest-earning senior civil servants on its website.

Commenting, Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office, said: “Transparency is at the heart of the Government's programme, which is why the Cabinet Office, at the heart of government is taking the lead. All departments will open up their data in the weeks ahead.

“Today is just the start of what we plan to do. We are determined to set an example for the wider public sector, and to create a ‘right to data’ as a core part of government business.

“By freeing up public sector datasets for others to reuse, inventive people will be able to build innovative applications and websites which will bring significant economic benefit. A Cambridge University study suggested that this could contribute an additional £6 billion to the UK's economy.â€?

The Cabinet Office described Professor Shadbolt and Sir Tim Berners-Lee, along with new Board member Tom Steinberg, founder of mysociety, as “some of the country’s leading experts and advocates on transparency and open dataâ€?.

The news release from the Cabinet Office notes: "The Public Sector Transparency Board will support and challenge public sector bodies in the implementation of transparency and open data – and it will listen to the public and drive through the opening up of the most wanted data sets. It will consist of a mix of external experts and data users, and public sector data specialists."

Both Professor Shadbolt and Sir Tim Berners-Lee have been advocates of releasing government data in the linked open data format that enables it to be used in new applications. Their commitment to this effort was reaffirmed in their statement last week on the Institute for Web Science.

They commented then: "As we enter a phase of cutting back on many things, the linked open data movement is a crucial tool, for government, public and industry to get the most value from the important resources being opened up. During times of austerity, transparency is essential, and open data will play a crucial role."

For further information about the Public Sector Transparency Board, see an update on the committee's first meeting.

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel.+44(0)23 8059 5453.

The School of Electronics and Computer Science is placed top in the UK for Electronics and Electrical Engineering and 5th for Computer Science and IT in this year’s Guardian University League Tables 2011 published today (Tuesday 8 June).

Professor Alun Vaughan, Deputy Head of School (Education), commented: "We are very pleased to see another set of excellent results for the School of Electronics and Computer Science. They reflect our strong commitment to creating a very high-quality student experience within the context of world-class research activity.

"Our students are being trained to develop future technologies and they are very much in demand by employers for the breadth of their technical understanding, and also because the unique qualities of the ECS programmes ensure that our students will be able to maximize their potential."

The Guardian’s league table is constructed in a slightly different way from tables published by the other newspapers, which showed Southampton 2nd for Electronics and Electrical Engineering and 4th/5th for Computer Science, but overall the results are a huge vote of confidence for students on our courses and for students who will be joining us in October. Graduate prospects for ECS students are ranked particularly highly in the league tables.

University of Southampton Open Days take place this year on Saturday 3 July and Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 September. ECS will be running a programme of talks, tours, presentations, and demonstrations throughout the day, which also includes talks about all aspects of University life, including finance, accommodation. The University's Open Day web site is now open for bookings for activities in ECS and throughout the University. Book now.

To get a flavour of student life in the School of Electronics and Computer Science, read our student blogs.

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel. +44(0)23 8059 5453.