Tuesday 12th October marked Ada Lovelace Day, to celebrate we highlighted on social media, a number of the fantastic achievements of women in STEM within our very own community. As we reflect on Ada Lovelace Day and look to inspire the next generation of women in STEM, here is a round-up of some of the stories we shared.
Lisa Haskel – CDE Alumni
My Research was in Participatory Design, focussing on the benefits that using Free and Open Source software in Participatory Design projects can offer to grassroots organisations. As part of my research, I developed and still support a case management information system for a consortium of voluntary sector organisations in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets that offer advice and advocacy services in the community. While a Research Engineer at CDE, I presented a case study at the bi-annual Participatory Design Conference, and as part of my public engagement activities, I helped run a ‘Code Club’ in a Lambeth primary school.
Since graduating from CDE I have worked as a Senior Developer for NDP studio, and I am now delighted to be passing on my skills and experience as a Senior Lecturer, in the brand-new Computer Science Department at the University of Roehampton
Catherine Taylor – CDE Alumni
After finishing my EngD, I started working as an Image Analysis Research Engineer for Canon Medical Research Europe. In this role, I am carrying out research into and writing software for analysing medical images to help clinicians with diagnosis and planning procedures. I am excited to be able to use the skills I developed on my EngD to have a positive impact.
Izzy Fitton – CDE Research Engineer
VR promises to support people in learning new skills by immersing them in practice environments, which are safe, scalable, and cost-effective – providing remote access to endless training opportunities. Working with my partner company, PwC, we are dedicated to researching and understanding how people acquire new skills in a virtual world and evaluating the efficacy of different approaches to virtual training. We believe VR is the future and are motivated to inform and support the wider adoption of effective VR training tools.
Ifigeneia Mavridou – CDE Alumni
This EngD research project aims to identify how affective states are elicited in VR and how they can be efficiently measured, without constraining the movement and decreasing the sense of presence in the virtual world. This work could inform future studies in the field of AC in VR and assist in the development of novel applications and healthcare interventions. For me, the biggest impact is in the development of healthcare and well-being interventions, where such technologies could assist therapists and patients in measuring and improving their mental health.
I’m now fully employed by the company that provided me with the 3-year long placement, and I’m leading my own team on affect research. I’m confident that my work is enabling me to pursue both professional paths, either in the industry or the academia
Milto Miltiadou – CDE Alumni
I completed my main placement at the NERC Airborne Research Facility (ARF) of Plymouth Marine Laboratory under the supervision of Dr Michael Grant. During my placement, I was introduced to the amazing world of Remote Sensing and the probability of using computer graphics and machine learning to tackle environmental issues and consequently benefit mankind. NERC ARF allowed me to work with state-of-art data (full-waveform LiDAR data) alongside great researchers and my short placement to Interpine Group Ltd in New Zealand helped me understand the importance of advancing this technology for monitoring forests.
I am now a researcher, computer scientist and full-waveform LiDAR analyst, at Cyprus University of Technology. I have recently had my paper accepted as a distinguished contribution to Ladies of Landsat https://github.com/ladiesoflandsat/LOLManuscriptMonday
You can find out more about our research our research engineers and alumni by visiting the CDE website. https://www.digital-entertainment.org/.
To find out more about Ada Lovelace visit https://findingada.com/