Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) been granted a Royal Academy of Engineering Award (RAEng) to fund a Visiting Professor who will help enhance and strengthen their students’ employability after graduation.

Dr Ashish Darbari will provide a strong industrial contribution to Electronic Engineering and Computer Science programmes at the University of Southampton.

Ashish is a Principal Hardware Design Engineer at Imagination Technologies, in Hertfordshire, one of the world’s leading semiconductor IP technology companies whose customers ship billions of PowerVR GPUs, MIPS CPUs, Ensigma RPU communications and other SoC technologies each year into some of the world’s most iconic smartphones, tablets, and much more.

As a Visiting Professor he will bring with him a wealth of industry experience in the field of advance design verification.

During his three-year appointment Ashish will teach on undergraduate modules in electronic design and software engineering, define and mentor fourth year MEng Group Design Projects and MSc Individual Projects, mentor PhD students in the Electronics and Software Systems Research Group, and advise on refreshing teaching modules and programmes.

Professor Michael Butler, Associate Dean for Enterprise and Impact, welcomed Ashish to his new role. He said: “The appointment of Ashish will serve to strengthen our students’ employability further by making direct technical contributions to teaching, by providing career mentoring to students and by increasing the opportunities for internships at Imagination.

“The mentoring support he offers will help our students to identify and qualify for high-end engineering jobs, the teaching contribution will mean that students will have acquired additional knowledge and skills that can be applied immediately in industrial design environments in electronic design organisations such as Imagination and also in the wider embedded software systems industry.

“ECS already has a very strong relationship with Imagination with 10 per cent of their graduate recruits coming from ECS each year. We hope that this Visiting Professorship will further strengthen this relationship and hopefully lead to more internship placements and PhD CASE studentships.â€?

Ashish already has strong links with the University - he was a PostDoctoral Research Fellow at Southampton for four years and has strong links with the Electronic and Software Systems Research Group at ECS.

He said: “I started my professional career at Southampton after my Doctorate and have since benefitted a great deal through my interactions with the university both when I was an academic and when I moved into industry. At Imagination we are solving some of the most complex and diverse set of problems both in design and verification. I lead the Advanced Verification Methodology group where we are pioneering some of the most advanced verification methods, so thanks to the support from the RAEng and ECS I am looking forward to sharing some of our experiences with the students at Southampton through my new role.â€?

The University hopes that the relationship will continue after the Professorship ends through building relationships with Ashish’s team and working with Imagination beyond the three years to ensure their programme modules remain refreshed and keeping pace with industry trends.

The University of Southampton’s Web Science Institute (WSI) is celebrating its first anniversary at a special event in London on Monday 8 June. The WSI brings together world-leading multidisciplinary expertise from Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) and across the University to tackle the most pressing global challenges facing the World Wide Web and wider society today. It focuses on the analytical power of researchers from disciplines as diverse as sociology and computer science, economics and psychology, law and humanities to understand and explain the Web. WSI Director Professor Dame Wendy Hall says: “One year on from the launch of the Web Science Institute, we celebrate with a showcase of research and an afternoon of debate and discussion. Our theme – ‘Privacy and Trust in the Era of Big Data analytics’ – is one that impacts on everyone in the digital world as personal data becomes a tradeable asset, and carries wide-ranging implications for individuals, business and government.â€? The event, at the Digital Catapult, marks a successful first 12 months of the WSI. Outcomes include:

• A number of social media research projects are underway, addressing crucial social science research questions around topics such as immigration, health policy and demographic modelling, by trialling social media data and methods in collaboration with PhD students and the Web Observatory.
• Eight new interdisciplinary projects, supported by the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF), have been progressed to stimulate interactions with business, government, industry and other users of University research.
• As part of the German Embassy Talks series, the WSI took part in presentations, lectures and a panel discussion on the topic ‘Exploring the Emerging Digital Frontiers: From Mind to Market’.
• The Southampton Web Observatory portal is now deployed; sharing public and private datasets, API access (Javascript, Node) and support for streaming data.
• In collaboration with ANZOG and the University of South Australia (UNSA), a Web Observatory was installed to help local/regional government understand the issues and opportunities around an ageing population. WSI teams also installed India’s first Web Observatory in partnership with IIIT Bangalore.
• WSI is collaborating with Southampton City Council to build a Citizens Panel, an innovative form of online engagement which includes the development of citizen social science.
• As part of the Universities of Southampton/Edinburgh/Oxford joint “Social Machinesâ€? (SOCIAM) project, emergency rescue service managers from three counties were briefed on aspects of social computing and Web Observatories.

The event opens with an exhibition showcasing interdisciplinary Web Science research. This will include the Web Observatory, a new class of scientific instruments designed to take measurements from the Web, and the unique SOCIAM project, which has developed the ‘Macroscope’ a vital tool for studying the World Wide Web in great detail. With state-of-the-art machine analysis and visualisation techniques, the Macroscope can monitor the daily 500 million posts created on Twitter, 100 million posts on Chinese microblogging site Weibo and 500,000 edits to Wikipedia, amongst others. This enables SOCIAM to see significant effects that may usually be missed - things like trending topics, conversations and collective actions taking place across the Web, and provides analytical insight for Web Scientists and the wider research community.

Institute Directors Professor Dame Wendy Hall, Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt, Professor Les Carr and Professor Susan Halford will then join other leading figures from Web and internet science, including Sir David Omand, ex head of GCHQ and a member of the Global Commission on Internet Governance, in panel-led discussions on ‘Privacy and Trust in the Era of Big Data Analytics’. Professor Les Carr says: “The Institute leverages its expertise in computational, social science and humanities research to provide masters and interdisciplinary doctoral training that examines the disruptive effect of the Web’s data and social media technologies on our personal and professional lives. Our students aim to produce new kinds of cultural and economic value as they work closely with business, industry and government to seize the opportunities for innovation in the digital information economy.â€? Professor Susan Halford adds: “The Web is not a technical system or a social system but thoroughly sociotechnical. Our path-breaking interdisciplinary educational programmes and links with industry, business and government are underpinned by innovative research that allows us to build the capacities we need to understand and intervene in the Web as it continues to evolve.â€?

The University of Southampton’s world-leading achievements in autonomous systems and artificial intelligence will be celebrated at a special event in London this week to mark the inaugural lecture of Professor Nick Jennings of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS), who has been awarded a Regius Professorship in Computer Science.

The event, which is taking place on Tuesday 9 June at the Royal Academy of Engineering in London, will demonstrate cutting-edge work with examples drawn from state-of-the-art EPSRC and EU-funded projects including:

• Advanced design and methodology tools that help build and fly sub-20kg state of the art fixed and rotary wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with full autonomous control systems and on-board cameras.
• A toolset that provides testing and analysis of autonomous systems based on realistic scenarios before they are built. The toolset is already being applied to applications involving the safety assurance of intelligent control in smart grids, railway interlocking and UAVs.
• Low-cost autonomous robots, such as the Delphin II and the Octopus Robot, that operate in challenging marine environments with a high degree of reliability and minimal environmental impact.
• Light, unmanned aircraft that deliver scientific instruments to extreme altitudes to improve the accuracy of weather prediction and climate models.

Professor William Powrie, Dean of Engineering and the Environment at the University of Southampton, says: “Engineering at Southampton is about the development and application of pioneering science to provide practical solutions to issues of global and societal importance. Our submissions to the 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) were judged the most powerful in their units of assessment. As the first of what we hope will become an annual event, this showcase demonstrates our internationally-renowned research that is shaping the future of our world.â€?

Professor Bashir Al-Hashimi, Dean of Physical Sciences and Engineering at the University of Southampton, adds: “Algorithms and software have a tremendous impact on society, from the Internet and consumer electronics to healthcare and transportation. Autonomous systems, built on these intelligent algorithms and software, will be one of the most powerful tools in tackling global challenges.â€?

The University of Southampton was one of just 12 UK institutions awarded a Regius Professorship by HM The Queen to mark her Diamond Jubilee and the only institution ever to be awarded a Regius Professor in Computer Science. A Regius Professorship reflects the exceptionally high quality of teaching and research at an institution and is a rare privilege – before the recent awards, only two had been created in the past century.

Nick Jennings, Professor of Computer Science and a Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government, is an internationally-recognised authority in the areas of artificial intelligence, autonomous systems and agent-based computing. Professor Jennings has pioneered the application of multi-agent technology developing real world systems and leads the innovative ORCHID programme investigating how people and software agents can effectively work together to improve disaster response operations and enable smart energy systems.

Professor Jennings says: “It is a great honour for Southampton to be awarded a Regius Chair in Computer Science and reflects extremely well on the quality of research and teaching of the whole department over many years. I’m honoured to be the inaugural post holder and will endeavour to use it as a platform to highlight the fundamental importance of computer science to modern society.â€?

Professor Jennings will also be joined by a number of academics, business leaders and government advisors such as Professor Sir Mark Walport, Chief Scientific Advisor to HM Government and Head of the Government Office for Science, in panel-led discussions throughout the day.

Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) student, Jaime Lomeli Rodriguez, was among University students and graduates being honoured for their entrepreneurial spirit at SETsquared’s annual Student Enterprise Awards at St Mary’s Stadium.

SETsquared, a partnership of the universities of Southampton, Bath, Bristol, Exeter and Surrey, brought together its top student and graduate entrepreneurs for an evening of pitching and awards.

There was victory for the University as our students and graduates picked up a number of prizes on the night. They included:

• Metix Ltd (winner, Best Game Changing Enterprise) – a medical technology company that is developing a robust handheld vital signs monitor called COREMED® Aid. Metix includes Jaime Lomeli Rodriguez – Jaime has graduated with an MSc in Artificial Intelligence and is currently working towards his PhD in Computer Sciences.
• SanEco (winner, Best Student Enterprise) – SanEco is a social enterprise business that empowers communities using sanitation and empowers entrepreneurs to change their own lives and their communities forever.
• DividaBill (winner, Best Graduate Enterprise) – The graduate business was set up by Jon and Saumeel, who had trouble with dealing with their bills while studying at the University of Southampton. They decided to solve the problem by setting up a business where customers can sign up once and all their bills are set up and managed. The system saves over £100 a year compared to leading providers.

There was double victory for Metix Ltd as it picked up the coveted People’s Choice Award on the evening, which came with a £500 cash prize. The company’s marketing director, Peter Street, said: “It’s a huge honour to be voted the People’s Choice out of all of the companies that were pitching. Choosing entrepreneurship as a career path may seem daunting to some university students but there is so much support out there from organisations such as SETsquared, The University of Southampton and Fish on Toast, the University’s entrepreneurial society. Their advice and mentoring has helped us get our business off the ground and I’d urge any young person with a good business idea to take the leap and go for it.â€?

The evening also saw inspirational talks from local business leaders. Max Toti, managing director and chief technology officer of Captec Ltd, gave guests his advice on how to become a successful entrepreneur. An alumnus of ECS, he is a visiting lecturer for UK technology universities on innovation, entrepreneurship and wealth creation.

David Bream, director of SETsquared at the University of Southampton, said: “There is so much entrepreneurial talent in Southampton and we are immensely proud of all our students and graduates who pitched at the event. They have some fantastic business ideas with the potential to develop into significant companies that generate wealth and jobs for the local economy.â€?

The IEEE 2015 Electrical Insulation Conference (EIC) held recently in Seattle, Washington, USA featured 18 papers from staff and students of the Tony Davies High Voltage Laboratory. The conference attracted over 250 attendees (mainly from industry) and just under 150 papers were presented over three days. Approximately one paper in every 8 detailed research activity from Southampton.

This year’s conference was also organised by members of TDHVL, a process that started over two years ago. “It has been a significant challenge organising a large meeting that will take place 4800 miles away from Southamptonâ€? said Liz Tillotson, TDHVL administrator and EIC Registration Chair. Also notable was that this was the first time that the Conference Chair was not based in North America. “EIC started in 1959 and this is the 52nd meeting, so to be the very first Chair from outside of the USA and Canada is a honour and also reflects on the international standing of TDHVLâ€?, said Prof Paul Lewin, Chair of Electrical Power Engineering, ECS.

A multimillion pound refurbishment of the University of Southampton’s Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) laboratories will ensure future students will be using the latest technology and state-of-the-art facilities to support their degree programmes.

The £4m investment, funded by the University and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), will see the undergraduate and MSc labs for computing and for electrical and electronic engineering completely overhauled and equipped with state-of-the-art facilities.

A new 300m² project lab has been created for senior undergraduate and MSc students, and recently opened for the start of the summer term. Over the summer the existing labs in the Zepler building will be refurbished, expanded and re-equipped.

Professor Neil White, Head of ECS, said: “We are very excited to be creating a state-of-the-art facility for our current and future students. We are proud that we already have excellent facilities available to our students and this new work will ensure that these facilities remain up-to-date and in line with future industry requirements.

“Together with the HEFCE we are committed to increasing the flow of highly employable graduates into industry. We already have one of the best records for graduate employability in the UK but are determined to improve this still further.â€?

Professor Nick Jennings, forthcoming Head of Electronics and Computer Science adds: “Our new flexible facility will prepare students for industries of the future. The three laboratories will significantly increase capacity and enhance capability. A further £1.5m will be invested in advanced test, design build and computing equipment to support our broad range of degree programmes in Electronics and Computer Science."

The refurbishment work is set to take three months to complete and is scheduled to be ready for the start of the new autumn term. The work has been planned to cause minimal disruption for current students. The revamp will be carried out over the summer when most students are away from campus and the project is staged to allow MSc students access to the project lab over the holidays.

The University of Southampton is to play a major role in helping to boost the UK’s ability to develop and exploit the vast potential of robotics and autonomous systems.

Southampton is one of the founding partners of the EPSRC UK Robotics and Autonomous Systems Network (UK-RAS Network), which will bring together the country’s key academic capabilities in robotics innovation under national coordination for the first time. It will encourage academic and industry collaborations to accelerate the development and adoption of robotics and autonomous systems.

The Network was unveiled last week at the Science Museum in London following a public lecture on Robot Ethics, organised by IET Robotics and Mechatronics Network in association with the Science Museum Lates and supported by the EPSRC UK-RAS Network.

As the UK’s leading university for unmanned autonomous systems (UAS) research and education, the University of Southampton will be active in the Network across many areas. In particular, aerial vehicles through the DECODE (Decision Environment for COmplex DEsign) project to design, build and fly state-of-the-art unmanned air vehicles with full autonomous control systems and robotics for Earth Science as part of the ASTRA initiative, which develops cutting-edge low-cost robotic systems for observing the atmosphere.

Dr Stephen Prior, Reader in Unmanned Air Vehicles at the University of Southampton, says: “Our involvement in the EPSRC UK-RAS Network reflects our global reputation for robotics and autonomous systems research and development. We have the capabilities and resources to help the UK economy address the demands of this challenging technology across all sectors of industry, from transport and healthcare to manufacturing and unmanned systems.â€?

Professor Nick Jennings, forthcoming Head of Electronics and Computer Science added: “Our involvement reflects the quality of work on autonomous systems carried out in Southampton. This ranges from the hardware and novel manufacturing techniques to the advanced software required for decision making in complex and fast changing environments.â€? Professor Jennings leads the innovative ORCHID programme investigating how people and software agents, including those within UAVs, can effectively work together to improve disaster response operations and enable smart energy systems.

The EPSRC UK-RAS Network is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) – the UK's main agency for funding research in engineering and the physical sciences. The Network’s mission is to provide academic leadership in Robotics and Autonomous Systems, expand collaboration with industry and integrate and coordinate activities at eight EPSRC-funded RAS dedicated facilities and Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) across the UK.

The new network has already received strong support by major industrial partners, the Science Museum and the UK’s major professional engineering bodies including Royal Academy of Engineering, IET, and the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. The Network will expand to include broader stakeholders including key national laboratories in the UK and leading international collaborators in both academia and industry. The global market for service and industrial robots is estimated to reach $59.5 billion by 2020.

Kedar Pandya, Head of the Engineering Theme for the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, added: “Working with Innovate UK and other research council partners, EPSRC's mission is to support and invest in the world-leading research base that has earned the UK its deserved reputation for research excellence. Robotics and Autonomous Systems are one of the Eight Great Technologies in which the UK is set to be a global leader, and the technology being developed at these EPSRC-funded RAS facilities will deliver a significant impact on the research landscape, and attract the kind of industrial investment that will maximise the UK’s stake in the worldwide robotics market.â€?

The Network will organise a wide range of activities including network and strategic events such as the UK Robotics conference, symposia and focused workshops, public engagement and exhibitions. It will also have extensive online engagement activities using social media and web and user forums. The Network aims to strengthen the relationship with industry by supporting interdisciplinary mobility and industrial secondment and developing proof-of-concept (PoC) projects and running design challenges. There is also a strong emphasis on government policy and high-level engagement with international stakeholders.

Southampton’s MSc in Cyber Security is one of just six UK university degree programmes to receive certified status by GCHQ in 2015.

British intelligence agency GCHQ, as the National Technical Authority for Information Assurance, sets the standard for good cyber security education in the UK. Its certification programme recognises the MSc in Cyber Security from Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) as providing well-defined and appropriate degree content, delivered to the highest standard, based on GCHQ’s rigorous assessment criteria. This assessment included expert views of industry, academia, professional bodies, GCHQ and other government departments.

This endorsement further demonstrates the high quality of Southampton’s work in cyber security. The University’s’ Cyber Security Research Centre is one of only thirteen Academic Centres of Excellence status identified by to help make the UK government, businesses and consumers more resilient to cyber-attack by extending knowledge through original research and providing top-quality graduates in the field of cyber security.

Professor Vladimiro Sassone of ECS and leader of the Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security, said: “We are very pleased to have our Master's degree recognised through GCHQ’s certified status, which complements the world-leading research undertaken through our Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security. Students on this programme will benefit from a very high quality learning experience while future employers can be assured of their skills in cyber security.â€?

Dr Tim Chown of ECS and Programme leader for the MSc in Cyber Security, added: “Our Cyber Security MSc has proved to be very popular, with students enrolling from all around the world."

The MSC in Cyber Security has achieved provisional status. Provisional certification is for those Master’s degrees which are currently running but have not yet had a cohort complete in the current academic year. It is based on students’ module choice including Foundations of Cyber Security; Implementing Cyber Security; Software Engineering and Cyber Security; Cyber Crime, Insecurity and the Dark Web; Secure Systems; Cryptography.

This round of accreditation by GCHQ brings the total number of UK Master’s degrees in Cyber Security with certified status to 12.

Chris Ensor, Deputy Director for the National Technical Authority for Information Assurance at GCHQ, said: “As the National Technical Authority for Information Assurance, GCHQ recognises the critical role academia plays in developing the UK's skill and knowledge base. I am delighted that six more Master’s degrees in general cyber security have been certified.â€?

For more information on GCHQ’s work with universities see UK Cyber Security Research and Education.

Professor Dame Wendy Hall from the University of Southampton has co-authored a significant new report, which calls for a fresh start in the law for surveillance practices in the UK.

After a year of investigation and consultation, the Independent Surveillance Review (ISR) delivered its conclusions to the Prime Minister, and presented its report, ‘A Democratic Licence to Operate’ at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) yesterday (14 July).

The final report found that the present legal framework authorising the interception of communications is unclear, has not kept pace with developments in communications technology, and does not serve either the government or members of the public satisfactorily. The panel said that a new, comprehensive and clearer legal framework is required and called on government, civil society and industry to accept its recommendations and work together to put them into practice.

Professor Dame Wendy Hall from Electronics and Computer Science at the University, said: “This report represents a remarkable achievement in bringing together a diverse group of people with a breadth of expertise and experience, ensuring that the ISR Panel examined the full range of issues regarding privacy and security in Britain today. In particular, we – as a panel- are acutely aware of the rapid pace of technology and its impact on society. To that end, I am very keen that the Government support our recommendation to create a new Advisory Council for Digital Technology and Engineering. The Advisory Council will support politicians, policymakers and the public alike and will play a crucial role in supporting our digital future.â€?

Launching the report the Chairman of the Panel, Michael Clarke, said: “With our report, the third major study of this subject this year, the government has a golden opportunity to make a fresh start by introducing legislation that provides a clear and legally sound framework within which the police and intelligence agencies can confidently operate, knowing that at all times they will be respecting our human rights.

“There is at present no shortage of mechanisms that regulate the way the Government runs interception programmes, but they are complicated, overlapping and in some cases, creaky. There is a manifest need for new legislation. We have outlined ten tests that people in Britain should apply when they hear what the government proposes. If government proposals genuinely meet these criteria, the new legislation will be able to address justifiable public concerns, and also allow the police and intelligence agencies to get on with their job.â€?

The review was carried out by RUSI, a defence think-tank, at the request of the then Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, in response to the disclosures made by whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013.

The Review panel drew on the broad experience of its members, from the fields of investigative journalism, the Internet, law, policing, political life, moral philosophy - and including former Heads of the three British Intelligence and Security Agencies.

Download a copy of the report here

Around 330 students from Electronics and Computer (ECS) Science attended Graduation at the University of Southampton last week, alongside leading business and engineering figures who received honorary degrees.

Baroness Martha Lane-Fox, businesswoman, philanthropist, and co-founder of Lastminute.com, and Professor William Webb, President of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) – Europe’s largest Professional Engineering body, joined this year’s graduates at ceremonies held on the University’s Highfield Campus.

The Graduation ceremonies took place in the Turner Sims Concert Hall and the Nuffield Theatre on Wednesday 15 July. This year, 109 Bachelor degrees were awarded, 164 Masters and 61 Doctorates.

Baroness Martha Lane-Fox, Doctor of Science

Martha Lane Fox co-founded Europe’s largest travel and leisure website lastminute.com with Brent Hoberman in 1998, they took it public in 2000 and sold it in 2005. In 2007 Martha founded her own charitable foundation Antigone.org.uk and also serves as a Patron of AbilityNet, Reprieve, Camfed and Just for Kids Law.

Martha co- founded and chairs LuckyVoice, revolutionising the karaoke industry. She chairs MakieLab. She is a Non-Executive Director at Marks & Spencer and the Women’s Prize for Fiction. She is currently chair of Go On UK, a coalition of public and private sector partners that are helping millions more people and organisations online.

In 2013 Martha was awarded a CBE and was appointed a crossbench peer in the House of Lords in March 2013. She was appointed Chancellor of the Open University in March 2014 and in 2015 Martha joined the board of the Creative Industries Federation and the Open Data Institute.

Professor William Webb, Doctor of Science

An alumnus of ECS, William is President of the Institution of Engineering and Technology – the IET. He is also CEO of the Weightless SIG, a body standardising new global machine to machine (M2M) technology.

He was one of the founding directors of Neul, a company developing M2M technologies and networks, which was formed at the start of 2011 and subsequently sold to Huawei. Prior to this William was a Director at Ofcom where he managed a team providing technical advice and performing research. He has worked for a range of communications consultancies and spent three years providing strategic management across Motorola’s entire communications portfolio, based in Chicago.

William has published 14 books, over 100 papers, and 18 patents. He is a Visiting Professor at Southampton, Surrey and Trinity College Universities, and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the IEEE and the IET.