A number of courses developed by Cogent Computing focusing on the development and provision of targeted training with external partners (TRW Conekt, Jaguar Land Rover) for automotive manufacturers and third party suppliers. The goal is to provide workforce skills and development for 200 employees.
For details go to Cogent's ECIF courses page.
To register, contact:
Dr. Elena Gaura
Tel: 02476 7688 8909
Email: e.gaura@coventry.ac.uk
On June 11, 2009, former Cogent Computing researcher Mike Allen passed the viva voce for his thesis titled 'Acoustic Localisation for Real-Life Applications of Wireless Sensor Networks'.
Mike's research addressed the problem of localisation in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) from an application-oriented viewpoint, encompassing simulation, emulation and real-life deployment. In particular, Mike developed a WSN-based system for on-line acoustic source localisation of marmots in their natural habitat, as well as developing techniques to reduce the end-to-end latency of the system in providing real-time position estimates. He also addressed the challenges of performing accurate, automated node localisation in realistic, highly variable 3D environments (common to many source localisation deployments).
Mike's external examiner for the viva voce was Professor Neil White, from the School of Electronics and Computer Science at Southampton University. During his research, Mike was advised by Dr. Elena Gaura and Dr. James Brusey of the Cogent Applied Research Centre.
Mike now returns to his position as a postdoctoral associate at the Singapore-MiT Alliance for Research and Technology, where he is applying some of the techniques developed in his research to a new motivating application - continuous monitoring of water distribution networks.
Well done Mike!
For the sixth year running, Dr Elena Gaura from the Cogent Computing Applied Research Centre organised a number of symposia as part of the (MSM) strand of the NSTI Nanotechnology conference (Nanotech 2009). Over the course of two days, Dr. Gaura presided over the Sensors and Systems, MEMS and NEMS: Devices and Applications and MEMS Fabrication: Design, Manufacture and Instrumentation symposia which attracted over 300 participants and had a program of over 200 oral and 65 poster presentations.
The conference, the largest of its kind worldwide attracted this year in excess of 6000 participants and took place in Houston, Texas, USA, from May 3rd to 7th. The conference featured a number of keynote speakers, including D. Arvizu, Director of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the US Department of Energy, Thomas Kalil from the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the US. For details on presentations and talks go to the event page.
Given the current recession, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has established the 'Economic Challenge Investment Fund' in an effort to help the HE sector address some of the economic challenges being faced. The funding aims to enable higher education institutions and further education colleges to support individuals and businesses affected and focuses on giving individuals access to training, professional development and other needed support. Coventry University has been awarded almost £500,000 of that funding to implement a number of work packages aimed at different sectors of the economy.
Work Package 3, led by the Cogent Computing ARC, will concentrate on the development and provision of targeted training with external partners (TRW Conekt, Jaguar Land Rover) for automotive manufacturers and third party suppliers - providing workforce skills and development for 200 employees. The objective will also be to provide additional support to 10 companies to maintain a position within the market, manage legislative and consumer pressures, or diversify into new sectors less affected by the economic downturn.
For more details of the award go to the HEFCE website.
There is a move towards construction of energy-efficient housing and refurbishing current stock to meet new standards modeled on the 'PassiveHaus' concept. This project aims to develop the sensing and instrumentation tools necessary for properly evaluating the impact of both refurbishments and new designs. A key component will be to examine how those living within the property interact with the design. To meet the government’s CO2 reduction targets, reduce energy consumption and help to eliminate fuel poverty, the project will provide valuable and cutting edge research into what is still a developing sector of 'retrofitting' buildings for the future. For more details go to the project page.
This project is funded as a CASE studentship through the Integrated Electronics Manufacturing Research Centre, UK (IEMRC) , EPSRC, Midland Heart and Orbit Heart of England and will run from September 2009 to April 2013.