Event

System Seminar: Stochastic Methodologies for Autonomously Evaluating Systems State, on 12th March, by Chris Schneider, University of St Andrews

Abstract:

Rising complexity in systems management remains an open problem. As complexity increases, so do the costs associated with operating large-scale computing environments.

One approach for addressing these issues is to build self-healing systems that can autonomously detect and recover from faults. Such approaches combine machine learning with closed control loops to reduce the number of situations requiring human involvement. By reducing the need for human interaction, operational costs are reduced and systems complexity is reduced.

This talk will provide an overview of current self-healing systems methodologies (i.e., frameworks) and briefly discuss an unsupervised methodology for detecting systems faults.

Bio:

Chris Schneider is a second year Ph.D. student under Prof. Simon Dobson and Dr. Adam Barker. Before attending the University of St Andrews he completed an M.Sc. in Security Informatics at The Johns Hopkins University, and worked in industry as a Security Technologist.

Event details

  • When: 12th March 2013 13:00 - 14:00
  • Where: Cole 1.33a
  • Format: Seminar

SACHI Conference: Changing Perspectives at CHI 2013

CHI is the premier international conference on human computer interaction, and this year’s event is looking to be the most exciting yet for the St Andrews Computer Human Interaction (SACHI) research group in the School of Computer Science.

Seven members of SACHI will attend CHI in Paris this April to present three full papers, one note, one work in progress paper and five workshop papers. In addition members of SACHI are involved in organising two workshops and one special interest group meeting. Two academics in SACHI are Associate Chairs for respective sub-committees and two PhD students will be serving as student volunteers at the 2013 conference. A very busy time for all!

For more complete details on these papers, notes etc. please see http://sachi.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/2013/02/sachi-changing-perspectives-at-chi-2013/

Please note that the school of Computer Sciience is going to be introducing a new Masters in HCI from September this year.

Event details

  • When: 27th April 2013 - 2nd May 2013
  • Format: Conference

DLS: Formal Modelling and Analysis of Deployed Systems by Prof Muffy Calder

Title
Formal Modelling and Analysis of Deployed Systems

Professor Steve Linton and Dr Adam Barker with Professor Muffy Calder.

Professor Steve Linton and Dr Adam Barker with Professor Muffy Calder.

Abstract
Formal methods are traditionally used for specification and implementation in a waterfall model. In contrast, I am interested in formal models of concurrent, interactive systems that may/may not be in software, and   may already be deployed, i.e. they are systems to be observed.  Can formal models and reasoning expose how a system actually works?  Can formal models and reasoning suggest improvements based on how a system is actually used?

In these talks I will investigate these questions through case studies, from biochemical signalling pathways, to wireless home networks and (shock horror) mobile app games.

Biography
I have been at the Department of Computing Science, University of Glasgow since January 1988. Until 2012 I was Dean of Research in the College of Science and Engineering and Senate Assessor on Court and before that I was Head of Department of Computing Science for four years, from 2003 to 2007. I currently work for the Scottish Government 60% of the time, as the Chief Scientific Adviser. Continue reading

Event details

  • When: 8th April 2013 10:30 - 16:30
  • Where: St Andrews
  • Series: Distinguished Lectures Series

System Seminar: A Framework for Maintaining Artefact Consistency During Software Development, by Ildiko Pete, University of St Andrews

Abstract:

Software systems are subject to evolution: they may be in a state of change at any given time during their existence until they are phased out. A system is typically associated with a variety of artefacts, which are products of the various activities involved in its development.

In practice, software artefacts evolve at different paces. Modifications applied to one artefact may not necessarily get reflected in another related artefact. This differential evolution of software artefacts may result in inconsistency among artefacts, eventually leading to problems with maintenance and software aging. Therefore, the management of software evolution must also cater for artefact consistency. Although incremental practices provide a more flexible solution for handling changes during software development, they do not explicitly address artefact consistency.

This talk will provide an overview and evaluation of the state of the art in managing consistency of software artefacts during software evolution. It will also propose new research directions to solve outstanding problems in the area.

Bio:

Ildiko started her PhD with Dr Dharini Balasubramaniam at the end of October last year. Before coming to St Andrews, Ildiko obtained an MSc degree in Applied Computing at the University of Dundee and had briefly worked in industry in both Scotland and Hungary.

Event details

  • When: 26th February 2013 13:00 - 14:00
  • Where: Cole 1.33a
  • Format: Seminar

School Seminar: Programs that Write Programs – Is that Interesting?- by Prof Ron Morrison, …with many ideas from…

This seminar is suitable for CS3053-RPIC

A talk by Prof Ron Morrison …with many ideas from:

Dharini Balasubramaniam, Graham Kirby, Kath Mickan – University of St Andrews, Brian Warboys, R. Mark Greenwood, Ian Robertson, Bob Snowdon – University of Manchester and technologies developed by some of the above and Alfred Brown, Al Dearle, Richard Connor, Quintin Cutts, David Munro and Stuart Norcross – University of St Andrews.

Continue reading

Event details

  • When: 25th February 2013 15:00 - 16:00
  • Where: Phys Theatre C
  • Series: CS Colloquia Series
  • Format: Colloquium

School Seminar: HCI in Health Care by Jill Freyne -ICT Centre,CSIRO

 Abstract
Obesity, poor diet and lifestyle and the associated health care costs are set to cripple the governmental budgets of most Western countries over the coming decades. The facts of the equation are simple. Energy intake must exceed energy output for weight loss, and living within a healthy weight range has a host of benefits. Most communities understand and acknowledge the facts, but despite their understanding continue to live lifestyles that endanger them in the long term. In this talk Jill Freyne will walk us through two case studies for online and mobile dietary interventions and examine the power and weaknesses of the technology in the fight to engage and sustain individuals in lifestyle change.

Event details

  • When: 3rd May 2013 15:00 - 16:00
  • Where: Phys Theatre C
  • Series: CS Colloquia Series
  • Format: Colloquium, Seminar

Confessions of a start-up founder

Prof Simon Dobson will be giving a lecture for CS3053 about his experience as founder and CEO of a start-up company spun-out of a university. This will focus on the business aspects — getting the company started, running it, growing, funding it, and eventually winding it down — rather than on the technology, and try to extract some lessons from what went right (and wrong).

Event details

  • When: 11th February 2013 14:00 - 15:00
  • Where: Maths Theatre C
  • Format: Lecture

A new Interaction Paradigm for Distributed User Interfaces by Prof. Dr. Harald Reiterer, University of Konstanz

This seminar is suitable for CS3053-RPIC

Abstract:

Distributed User Interfaces (DUIs) are typically used in ‘Interactive spaces’ which are physical environments or rooms for collaborative work that are augmented with ubiquitous computing technology. Their purpose is to enable a computer-supported collaboration between multiple users that is based on a seamless use of different devices for natural ‘post-WIMP’ interaction, e.g., multi-touch walls, interactive tabletops, tablet PCs or digital pen & paper. However, to this day, there are still no well-established guidelines or toolkits for designing and implementing such distributed user interfaces (DUIs). Therefore the talk will introduce the Zoomable Object-Oriented Information Landscape (ZOIL), a novel design & interaction paradigm and software framework for post-WIMP DUIs in interactive spaces. Continue reading

Event details

  • When: 11th March 2013 15:00 - 16:00
  • Where: Phys Theatre C
  • Series: CS Colloquia Series
  • Format: Colloquium, Seminar