Think Computer Science 2014
Location: Imperial War Museum Duxford
Keynote Talks
(these are compulsory to attend)
Great Ideas of Computer Science
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Chris Bishop
Deputy Lab Director, Microsoft Research
We all know that computer technology evolves at a breath-taking pace. But the technology itself is underpinned by some long-lived fundamental concepts that comprise the field of computer science. In this talk we’ll explore some of the most important ideas in computer science which are helping to drive the digital revolution.
Computer Vision and Machine Learning
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Mukta Prasad
Assistant Professor in Creative Technologies, Trinity College Dublin
From Kinect for Xbox to self-driving cars to medical diagnosis to advanced robotics, computer vision and machine learning are the key to many of the innovative products of today and the future. These are incredibly exciting research areas, not just because of the technologies they allow us to build, but because of the way mathematics and computer programming come together to solve really hard problems. Mukta will show some examples of how we use computer vision and machine learning to solve problems such as recognizing objects in images, or building 3D models from photos and how students can acquaint themselves with this exciting field and explore the opportunities ahead.
Optional Talks and Activity Sessions
(these are optional and are in addition to the demo exhibition)
How Tech can Protect the Planet
Lucas Joppa
Scientist, Microsoft Research
The world is currently in the Information Age; a time of tablets, smart phones, the internet and a huge amount of miniaturised computing devices which touch every aspect of daily life. But we are also in another age, the Anthropocene – defined by an exceptionally rapid loss of biodiversity (the variety of organisms present on earth) caused by human activity. In this talk, Lucas will demonstrate the power and potential of the technology of the Information Age to help monitor, model, and respond to the challenges of the Anthropocene age. He will describe a wide variety of technological solutions that are being deployed to help stop animals, plants and other life on earth from becoming extinct and how you could be part of this work in the future.
What Does facebook Say About You?
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Thore Graepel
Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research
More and more of our activities, such as social interactions, entertainment, shopping, gathering information, and learning, are now mediated by digital services and devices. Since these interactions are recorded, we are leaving tons of traces of our behaviour, and our personality online. In this talk Thore will discuss to what degree our behaviour is predictable from these online records. He will demonstrate that, by using basic machine learning methods, it is possible to predict a wide range of personal attributes including ethnicity, religious and political views, personality traits, intelligence, and happiness to a surprising degree of accuracy. What conclusions would such algorithms draw about you? And what does this mean for your privacy online?
Coding: Why It’s Awesome
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Andrew Fitzgibbon
Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research
Coding – it’s highly creative, extremely useful and it’s in demand! There is a programming skills shortage in the UK and you can help fill the gap. Andrew is a researcher (and coding whizz) at Microsoft and was part of the team that created the body tracking tech behind Xbox Kinect. He’ll look at famous coders and what they’ve achieved, what you can create as a coder and what jobs can you get. He’ll also talk about the Hour of Code, part of Computer Science Education Week, December 8th-14th. People all over the world will be taking part and he’ll show you how you can, too.
Computing with Emotions
Peter Robinson
Professor of Computer Technology, University of Cambridge
The ability to display and recognise emotions is an important aspect of social interaction between humans. People express social signals even when we are interacting with machines, but computer interfaces currently ignore them. Recent advances in psychology have greatly improved our understanding of the role of affect in communication, perception, decision-making, attention and memory. At the same time, advances in technology mean that it is becoming possible for machines to sense, analyse and express emotions.
This talk will explore how computer systems with emotional awareness can analyse a person’s facial expressions, to infer a person’s emotions. Similar techniques allow humanoid robots to display the same signals. Peter will show how these techniques have applications in areas such as monitoring operators of complex systems, guiding on-line teaching systems and enhancing teleconference systems.
Become a Stemette
Anne-Marie Imafidon
Founder and Head Stemette, Stemettes
Did you know, in 2012, only 13% of the UK’s workforce in STEM (science, tech, maths and engineering) related jobs, were female? The Stemettes is an organisation that highlights STEM careers to girls and young women via a series of panel events, hackathons, exhibitions, and mentoring schemes involving amazing women already working in STEM jobs. Join Anne-Marie for a ‘Stemette’ journey through history and find out how you can become a Stemette too.
.NET Gadgeteer Activity Session
Paul Foster and team
Microsoft
.NET Gadgeteer is a toolkit for building and programming small electronic devices quickly and easily. Come along and learn how you can get started in building your own mini game!
Raspberry Pi Activity Session
Samin Ishtiaq and team
Microsoft Research
Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized computer that plugs into a computer monitor or TV and can do everything you could expect a desktop computer to do. Come and learn how to code on the Raspberry Pi using the programming language Python to make a jelly baby scream!