Congratulations to Jan, who successfully defended his thesis today. He is pictured below celebrating with supervisor Dr Ishbel Duncan and internal examiner Dr Juiliana Bowles. Dr Shamal Faily from Bournemouth University acted as external examiner.
Postgraduate
Welcome to new Staff and Students
We are delighted to introduce the latest members of staff and research students to the school.
Dr Bo Chen:
Dr. Chen is an Associate Professor in the School of Information and Software Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC, http://www.uestc.edu.cn). He is oriented by Dr. Adam Barker now as a 
Visiting Scholar till February, 2017. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science in 2008 from UESTC. His major research areas include: 1) Rough Set and Soft Computing 2) Data-intensive Computing Software Infrastructure 3) Data Science and Inter-disciplinary Applications. Dr. Chen has substantial industrial backgrounds. Before join UESTC, he served as software engineer and senior consultant for middleware vendors Tongtech and BEA. He PI and Co-PI-ed some Chinese national granted projects for service oriented software platform in modern service fulfilling and international e-trading. He serves as an expert panel member of China Ministry of Science and Technology, for China State Sci- Tech Support Program and Torch Program. He is also a deputy sectary and expert panel member of Innovation Technology Alliance for Electronic Trade Industry (http://www.etrades.cn), led by China Ministry of Commerce. For more information, please check out his UESTC faculty webpage http://www.is.uestc.edu.cn/teachers.do?id=1061.
Dr Roushanak Rahmat:
Roushanak is a Research Fellow in the School of Computer Science at the University of St. Andrews working on WORKANDHOME project with Dr Adam Barker.
Her research interests include mobile app design, cloud computing, image/signal processing and medical image analysis.
Dawand Sulaiman:
I earned my master’s degree in Software Engineering in the Department of Computer Science at the University of St Andrews (Academic Year: 2011/12) and received a medal for the best dissertation in the programme. Prior to that, I gained my BSc degree in Applied Computing in Ming Chuan University in Taiwan. For the last three years, I was in my hometown and worked as an instructor in the University of Kurdistan Hêwler and taught several modules including: Problem Solving Techniques, Data Structures and Algorithms, Object Oriented Programming, and Web Technologies. Meanwhile, I developed and distributed more than 30 mobile apps for both iOS and Android platforms.
I have started my PhD under the supervision of Adam Barker in January 2016. I will be working alongside an interdisciplinary team of researchers from Computer Science and Geography in the WORKANDHOME project, which investigates how home-based businesses are shaping society and space.
Guilherme Carneiro:
My name is Guilherme Carneiro, I am from Brazil. I hold a BSc in Computer Science with a specialization in So
ftware Engineering. I have some experience in industry where I spent few years working at IBM with production databases of American customers. In 2013, I returned to academia to receive training in research with a Master in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) at Paris-Sud University in France. Before coming to St. Andrews, I worked for 6 months as a Research intern at INRIA (the French National Institute for computer science and applied mathematics).
I am starting my PhD under the supervision of Prof. Aaron Quigley and Dr. Miguel Nacenta in SACHI. My research topic is focused on collaborative information visualization to facilitate group decision making in real-time. My PhD is currently funded by CNPq and the Brazilian government through the Science Without Borders program.
I love traveling and visiting new places. I like any sports in general. I also have training in self-defense with a black belt in kung-fu.
Yasir Alguwaifli:
Until now I have been working as a lecturer in computer science, mainly teaching web-related modules. Before joining the academic field, I was a student mainly working in web-related as full-stack developer but sometimes dipping my toes in other areas such as artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and formal-verification.
I have now started my PhD with Professor Kevin Hammond’s team. When I’m not spending my nights looking at code, I usually enjoy playing mmorpgs or watching gaming streams!
Spot the difference?
Do you have a discerning eye for video? If so, we need your help as a volunteer in our study!
Volunteers will be asked to watch 7 video clips of 10 seconds each. Each clip will be viewed 3 times, and then again at a different distance. After each video clip, you will choose which clip (if any) you perceived to have different quality and why. All video clips are suitable for viewing by people of 12 years and older. Volunteers have to be at least 18 years of age.
Please email Bence (bs44@st-andrews.ac.uk) if you wish to take part or have any further questions.
Contact details:
Researcher: Bence Szabo
E-mail: bs44@st-andrews.ac.uk
Supervisor: Professor Saleem Bhatti
E-mail: saleem@st-andrews.ac.uk
UTREC approval code: CS11878
PhD Reading Party 2015
The 2015 PhD Reading Party was held at the Burn, a Georgian Mansion at the foot of Glenesk in the North East of Scotland in December last year. It was an opportunity for research students to network, brainstorm and talk about their research and interests with colleagues in a relaxed atmosphere.
There were twenty-two (22) student talks, each of which lasted for up to 10 minutes including time for questions and discussions. Two members of staff – Ruth Letham and Ozgur Akgun – also gave talks, the former on teaching opportunities and career paths and the latter on reproducible research and research streams in academia. At the end of the talks, the staff members provided feedback and facilitated small group brainstorming sessions based on the interests and research themes that emerged.
It wasn’t all work and no play, as the gang explored the scenic landscape, wandered through the nearby woods and streams, and contemplated the complexities of the universe while star-gazing at night. Indoors, the gang played pool, table tennis, darts and cards, and participated in organised activities including a pub quiz (because there’s no such thing as too much trivia knowledge), presentation karaoke (because extemporising is fun and useful) and a host of board games (because why not?).
PhD Reading Party 2015
Images and text courtesy of Adeola Fabola, Haifa Al Nasseri and Shyam Reyal
Funded PhD Research Studentships Closing Date 12th February
The School of Computer Science at the University of St Andrews has funding for students to undertake PhD research in any of the general research areas in the school:
http://www.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/research
We are looking for highly motivated research students with an interest in these exciting research areas. Our only requirements are that the proposed research would be good, we have staff to supervise it, and that you would be good at doing it. We have funded studentships, including industrial sponsored studentships, available for students interested in working towards a PhD. The studentships offer costs of fees and an annual tax-free maintenance stipend of about £14,057 per year for 3.5 years. Students should normally have or expect at least an upper-2nd class Honours degree or Masters degree in Computer Science or a related discipline.
For further information on how to apply, see our postgraduate web pages (http://www.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/prospective-pg). A non-exclusive list of potential PhD projects is provided at http://www.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk/phd-projects. The closing date for applications is February 12th 2016 and we will make decisions on studentship allocation by March 4th 2016. Informal enquiries can be directed to pg-admin-cs@st-andrews.ac.uk or to potential supervisors.
Graduation November 2015
Congratulations to the Masters Class of 2015, and PhD students Dr Luke Hutton and Dr Chris Schneider who graduated on Monday. Dr Chonlatee Khorakhun graduated in absentia.
Students were invited to a reception in the school to celebrate their achievement with staff, friends and family.
Our graduates have moved on to a wide variety of interesting and challenging employment and further study opportunities, and we wish them all well with their future careers.
2014/15 Graduation Reception on St Andrews Day
The School of Computer Science will be holding a Graduation Reception in the Jack Cole Building on Monday 30th November 2015 from 11:00am to 14:00pm for Masters and PhD students who are graduating that day at Younger Hall.
The graduates are invited, along with their guests, to come along after the ceremony for a glass of bubbly and mini cream cake or two! Staff are encouraged to come along and join in the celebrations.
On behalf of the school may I wish those graduates unable to attend Graduation the very best for their future endeavors.
Event details
- When: 30th November 2015 11:00 - 14:00
- Where: Cole Coffee Area
China Scholarship Council and University of St Andrews Scholarships
The School has a number of scholarships available for Chinese students to study for a PhD with us.
Scholarships are available for individuals normally resident in mainland China, intending to return to China at the end of their studies. Scholarships will be awarded on the basis of academic merit, potential to become a leader in your field and potential to become a decision-maker and opinion former within China.
More details can be found here. Please note that the closing data for applications is 30 November 2015.
General Research Students Arrive at Computer Science
As the new academic year gets underway we welcome the following new PhD students to the School. Good luck guys!
Uchechukwu Awada
Awada
My name is Awada Uchechukwu, I am starting a PhD program with the Systems Research Group at the School of Computer Science, University of St Andrews, where I will be researching on innovative technologies that addresses the current and future data-intensive challenges. Prior to this, I was a PhD research assistant with the Network and Cloud Computing Laboratory at the School of Computer Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, China. I received my MEng degree in Computer Applied Technology, from Harbin Engineering University (China) and my BSc in Computer Science from Ebonyi State University (Nigeria).
Fearn Bishop
Fearn
Fearn is interested in the creation of information visualizations. Primarily her research is looking at how children visually represent datasets, and how this knowledge can be used to aid the creation of new visualizations, perhaps also aiding in their accessibility. She also has an interest in tangibles and the physicalization of data. She has blue hair and plays more board games than are necessarily advisable.
Tom Dalton
Tom
I’m a new PhD student in the department working on Data linkage with direction from Graham and Al. My research is likely to focus on the preservation of provenance in our linkages and how we handle the associated uncertainties while still trying to produce high quality linkage solutions – obviously it’s still month one and we haven’t yet nailed down an exact research question yet, so things are liable to change slightly.My undergrad was also here in the department and so the place, and the people, isn’t all that different to me – but having an office is definitely something that I’m enjoying. I’m originally from Manchester where I spent all of my life before escaping to St Andrews.In my free time I enjoy climbing mountains, watching cycling and cricket, I’m also involved in the CU and the Free Church in town; otherwise I’ll be hidden behind my new camera or in the pub.
Michael Pitcher
Mike
I’m Mike, and I’m originally from the North Wales-Shropshire border region. I graduated from Keele University in 2010 with a dual honours degree in Mathematics and Computer Science. I then worked for 4 years as a computer programmer before coming to St. Andrews in 2014 to complete a Masters in Artificial Intelligence, after which I started my PhD. My hobbies include football, rugby and video gaming and I’m also Secretary of the University’s Real Ale Society.
For my PhD, I’m working with both the School of Computer Science and the School of Medicine, and my research is investigating the use of complex network based computer models to study diseases, in particular tuberculosis. The aim is to create realistic models of human physiology and disease dynamics within the body to aid the testing and discovery of new treatments.
Hui-Shyong Yeo
Yo
My name is Hui-Shyong Yeo, but feel free to just call me YO. I am from Malaysia which has the best food in the world.
I graduated from Multimedia University in Malaysia for my undergrad and Dongseo University in Korea for my master. Before coming to St Andrews. I worked as a researcher for one year in UVR Lab, KAIST, Korea.
I am starting my PhD in SACHI, under Prof. Aaron Quigley. I am particularly interested in exploring and developing novel interaction techniques that transcend the barrier between human and computers, especially on topics such as gestural/mid-air interaction, mobile/wearable interaction, augmented/virtual reality and text entry. For my PhD, I am likely to focus on Around Body Interaction with free-hand gestures.
I like to talk about latest research in HCI and I actually maintain a educational fan-page on Facebook for sharing interesting HCI news/papers. Please feel free to have a look.
Distinguished Lecture: ‘Scalability and Fault-tolerance, are they the same?’ by Joe Armstrong
The first of this academic year’s distinguished lectures will be given by Professor Joe Armstrong, co-inventor of Erlang, on Monday 16th November 2015 at The Byre Theatre.
Abstract:
To build a scalable system the important thing is to make small isolated independent units. To scale up we just add more units. To build a fault-tolerant system the important thing to do is make small isolated independent units…. Does that sound familiar? Haven’t I seen that somewhere before? Oh yes, in the first paragraph! So maybe scalability and fault tolerance are really different names for the same thing.
This property of systems, namely that fault-tolerant systems were also scalable, was noticed years ago, notably in the design of the Tandem computer system. The Tandem was design for fault tolerance but rapidly became a leading supplier of scalable computer platforms. Thus it was with Erlang.
Erlang followed a lot of the Tandem design, it was built for fault-tolerance but some of the most successful applications (such as WhatsApp) use it for its scalability.
In this lecture I’ll talk about the intimate relationship between scalability and fault-tolerance and why they are architecturally the same thing.
I’ll talk about the design of Erlang and why scalable systems have to be built on non-shared memory abstractions.
Bio:
Joe Armstrong has been programming since 1967. He invented the programming language Erlang. He has worked as a programmer, founded a few successful companies and written a few books. He has a PHD in Computer Science from KTH. He is currently Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.
Event details
- When: 16th November 2015 09:15 - 15:30
- Where: Byre Theatre
- Series: Distinguished Lectures Series
- Format: Distinguished lecture