ADVANCE 2020 COHORT CALL - Information Booklet and Project Outlines - UCC
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ADVANCE 2020
COHORT CALL
Information Booklet and Project Outlines
Contents 2 Current Student Profiles 3 Application Journey 4 Application Requirements 5 ADVANCE Supervisors 6 ADVANCE Project Outlines Twitter Follow the ADVANCE CRT twitter page for updates and news @AdvanceCrt
CURRENT STUDENT PROFILES
After launching in April 2019,
ADVANCE received more than 260
applications to the 2019 cohort call.
Applicants from over 40 nationalities
were reviewed until the final 30 were
selected.
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS Below we offer an outline of the ADVANCE recruitment process and guidance on the procedures. If you have queries or concerns please contact your local co-lead to discuss. Candidates will be asked to provide the following: Primary and highest degree(s) and awarding institutions; GPA/degree class. A CV (maximum 3 pages) Evidence of English language proficiency for non-native speakers based on IELTS (or similar) score of 6.5 (or similar local requirements) Proposed supervisor(s) in order of preference (up to 3) A max. 2 page statement of motivation including description of: - why they wish to undertake an ADVANCE PhD (with reference to their future career ambitions) - the proposed research topic - reasons for selecting the nominated supervisors.
ADVANCE SUPERVISORS The ADVANCE supervisory cohort is made up of over 60 researchers who span the breadth of the key research areas of ADVANCE. Each supervisor is an internationally recognised researcher in their field with numerous publications and research grants to their name. They play a key role as part of ADVANCE through the creation and delivery of material for the ADVANCE training programme, in their guidance of students as they develop as researchers and through their engagement with industry for student placements and projects. With the launch of the ADVANCE 2020 cohort this year, more supervisors will come on board further strengthening the research expertise within ADVANCE and its training programme. In the next section you will find the profiles belonging to the current ADVANCE supervisors with projects that you can apply for.
Prof. Dirk Pesch
School of Computer Science & IT,
University College Cork
d.pesch@cs.ucc.ie
Link to Profile
Summary of research interests:
I am interested in advancing our understanding of the design and operation of networked systems
with specific emphasis on Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) and the Internet of Things (IoT) and their
applications. Specifically, I am trying to better understand how to design more sustainable systems,
how to make networked computing systems more dependable and robust in challenging
environments and for applications that require high levels of reliability. This includes studying the
protocols, services, and architectures on which these network systems are based and developing
novel approaches to solving shortcomings of existing approaches. I am also interested in how to
better operate such systems once they have been deployed in their target environment.
Interoperability in the Internet of Things is another topic I am interested in as this is currently a
significant obstacle to widespread deployment. We use both computer simulation and real-world
deployments and experimentation to study the above challenges. In real-world experimentation we
also engage with end-users in co-design approaches to help us understand how the human aspects
can be best reflected in the design of IoT/CPS applications. Applications of CPS/IoT of interest to me
include smart and connected buildings and urban neighbourhoods, assisted living applications, and
smart and connected manufacturing systems.
Example project title(s) that the ADVANCE Applicants can apply for:
Using Internet of Things technology to detect loneliness and social isolation among
people living on their own: Loneliness and social isolation have been recognised as serious
health issues. Many people, who live on their own, are prone to loneliness, which can lead to
depression, lack of mobility, and mental issues. This project aims at the co-design, which end users,
of an IoT and data analytics based approach to monitor people in danger of social isolation and
loneliness and detect loneliness automatically in a non-intrusive manner. The project will be
conducted in collaboration with social scientists and psychologists to understand what the key
indicators are for social isolation and loneliness and how to design an IoT based system to detect
those situations and also to identify mechanisms to counteract them.
Ultra-dense machine type communication for smart cities: Network embedded monitoring
and control systems (Internet of Things and Cyber-physical systems) offer huge potential to
improve the operation of urban environments. With increased population growth in urban areas,
pressure on city resources is rapidly increasing and is leading to reduced quality of life for citizens.
IoT/CPS based applications can help alleviate many of these resource pressures and make urban
Prof. Dirk Pesch
School of Computer Science & IT,
University College Cork
d.pesch@cs.ucc.ie
areas more liveable and sustainable. This may require, however, the deployment of large numbers of
wireless/mobile IoT/CPS devices. This project will study how to design and deploy very dense IoT/CPS systems in
urban areas. The study will be largely simulation based but will require also some real-world deployments to
obtain data to optimise simulation models.
Enabling interoperability in the Internet of Things through machine learning: Over the past few years
many consulting and business organisations have predicted that by 2025 the Internet of Things will be
composed of between 50 and 100 billion devices. However, more recently such predictions have been
downgraded in numbers as it appears that the deployment of the technology is not as rapid as initially
expected. The reasons for this are broad and include lack of business cases, availability of technology such as
end devices for specific technologies, but also problems with interoperability of IoT applications with significant
fragmentation in the technology space. This project aims at understanding better the interoperability issues
across a broad range of IoT networking, software platform and data formats. Based on the detailed
understanding of differences and similarities, the project aims at developing interoperability approaches based
on machine learning that detect which protocols and data formats are in use and develop automatic translation
and interoperability approaches that can be implemented in widely used IoT platforms.
Describe how this research will impact society:
Applications of the Internet of Things and Cyber-Physical Systems are extremely broad and range
from energy and environmental monitoring and control to health and wellbeing applications to smart
city applications including traffic and mobility challenges. Research I have conducted has focused on
energy management in buildings and urban neighbourhoods trying to operate such environments
more efficiently and thus reducing primary energy consumption and consequently CO2 emissions,
thus making our urban environments more sustainable. It has also focused on using IoT technologies,
system modelling and data analytics to help people live more independently for example through
development of smart home and fall detection systems. I believe that the IoT has huge potential in
the health and wellbeing space by providing data on people’s behaviour that can allow us to detect
and ultimately overcome health and wellbeing issues such as loneliness, social isolation, lack of
mobility, etc. My research also targets increased understanding of how to design the underlying
IoT/CPS systems to deliver dense pervasive and sustainable deployments of the technology and
applications. This includes studying how to deploy and operate very dense low power wireless IoT
systems in urban areas, how to help make such system more interoperable to accelerate their
deployment and longevity and how to create sustainable systems through novel architectures and
programmable platforms that can provide services for decades rather than only for a few years.
Prof. Cormac Sreenan
School of Computer Science & IT,
University College Cork
cjs@cs.ucc.ie
Link to Profile
Summary of research interests:
Mobile & Internet Systems Laboratory (MISL) conducts research in the areas of computer networking and
systems, with a focus on applications in the mobile/wireless and multimedia domains. MISL is led by Professor
Cormac J. Sreenan. The Laboratory was founded in year 2000 after Prof. Sreenan joined UCC after working as a
research scientist at AT&T (Bell) Labs in the USA. The lab has about a dozen research students and staff
involved in various research projects. The research as a “systems” emphasis, often involving the design of
experimental network testbeds and sharing of data sets with the wider research community. MISL has good links
with industry and overseas universities, regularly hosting sabbatical visitors and expert speakers.
The laboratory currently has four major research areas of interest:
video streaming and content delivery optimisation
quality of service/experience in wireless networks
wireless sensor networks
networks for autonomous vehicles
Examples of recent projects:
use of unmanned aerial vehicles and software-defined radio for search-and-locate rescue
applications
a system for exploiting storage on mobile edge servers
live video streaming optimisation
using machine learning to predict cellular throughput
Example project title(s) that the ADVANCE Applicants can apply for:
Enhancing the mobile edge for delivery of live video and augmented reality services.
Providing reliable wireless networking for unmanned autonomous vehicles.
Video capture and delivery platforms for large-scale vehicular networks.
Mobile network support for innovative modes of human-computer interaction.
Robust and secure data storage using DNA (jointly with Prof Utz Roedig).
Prof. Cormac Sreenan
School of Computer Science & IT,
University College Cork
cjs@cs.ucc.ie
Describe how this research will impact society:
The work of MISL impacts society in a number of distinct ways. MISL has always been active in technology
transfer, often through patenting inventions or licencing research outputs to industry partners. In some cases
these have been used in commercial products, serving to strengthen industry here in Ireland. Most of the
researchers that graduate from MISL go to work in companies in Ireland. In this way we enhance their
recruitment processes, by providing a steady supply of highly-trained graduates with specialist expertise. In this
manner we also serve to strengthen industry in Ireland. MISL conducts fundamental research but is driven by
real applications that address real needs in society. For example, our UAV search-and-locate yields a dramatic
reduction in the time needed to find people who are lost in the wilderness or mountainside. Our work on video
streaming has produced a measurable increase in the quality of experience from a user perspective. Our work on
wireless sensor networks was embedded in a system to allow drivers find an on-street parking space more
efficiently, thus also reducing fuel costs and emissions.Dr Ian Pitt
School of Computer Science & IT,
University College Cork
i.pitt@cs.ucc.ie
Link to Profile
Summary of research interests:
Most of my research concerns the design and development of auditory, speech-based and multi-
modal interfaces, and interfaces and systems for people with special needs, particularly those who
are blind or visually-impaired. This includes the development of accessible eLearning tools,
particularly tools to allow blind students to more easily access and manipulate mathematical and
scientific notation systems. I am also interested in the development of adaptive eLearning systems
which seek to identify the needs of individual users (including those with special needs) and tailor
learning content and mode of delivery. accordingly. Other interests include the development of
eLearning and other tools to support students with Dyslexia. In recent years I have also supervised a
number of postgraduate students working on eHealth applications. I have been involved in several
large research projects. I was a member of the ENABLE consortium, which examined the ways in
which Information and Communication Technology is used to support lifelong-learning by adults with
special needs, taking into account that much mainstream technology is now (at least partly) accessible
and that there is no longer a clear distinction between mainstream and accessible technology. The
outcomes included methodologies for evaluation and categorisation of ICT tools, a userannotated
database of ICT solutions with examples of good practice, and online training modules for those
involved in delivering education to learners with special needs. I am currently a member of INSIGHT,
working on a project that is investigating barriers to access within work-places (use of lifts/escalators,
security barriers, etc.).
Example project title(s) that the ADVANCE Applicants can apply for:
Development of adaptive User Interfaces for Computer Users with Special Needs
Development of adaptive systems using biometrics, e.g., for eLearning.
Exploring the use of non-visual alternatives (sonification, tactile feedback, etc.) in data visualisation
applications.
Developing improved techniques for the analysis of data gathered from wearable devices in
healthcare applications.
Exploring the potential use of adaptive systems in self-administered therapy (e.g., for patients with
acquired aphasia, and also potentially for other conditions).Dr Ian Pitt
School of Computer Science & IT,
University College Cork
i.pitt@cs.ucc.ie
Developing tools to allow blind and visually-impaired students to access mathematical
and scientific notation systems.
Analysis of gestural information for non-visual presentation ,e.g., to enable a blind
musician to interpret gestures made by a conductor.
Describe how this research will impact society:
Continuing developments in digital technology offer enormous potential for people with special
needs, but new technologies can also introduce barriers for certain groups unless appropriate steps
are taken to prevent this happening. For example, early computer systems with command-line
interfaces could easily be adapted for blind people (using speech and Braille displays), but Graphical
User Interfaces are much more difficult to adapt for blind people, and the widespread adoption of
GUI-based systems excluded blind people from many work and other activities. These problems have
now been largely overcome, but barriers remain in many areas and new technologies often create
new problems even as they solve others. For example, the increasing use of data visualisation in
software applications offers considerable benefits for sighted users, but may disadvantage blind
people unless equivalent non-visual techniques are developed (e.g., using sonification and/or tactile
feedback). Similarly, the web is now being used in many applications which should be available to
everyone (handling tax returns, accessing social security services, etc), but making websites accessible
to everyone is challenging. These problems may become more severe as the average age of the
population increases, resulting in a higher percentage of people with sensory, motor, and/or cognitive
impairments. Addressing these challenges demands concerted research efforts that bring together
technologists, psychologists, medical researchers and others.Dr. Ahmed Zahran
School of Computer Science & IT,
University College Cork
a.zahran@cs.ucc.ie
Link to Profile
Summary of research interests:
My research interests lie in the broad areas of general distributed systems and wireless Internet
technologies, including next-generation wireless networks and systems, smart cities, and multimedia
communications. In these areas, my research focuses on developing new algorithms, protocols, and
solutions to ensure the best user experience. The design of these solutions leverages various tools
including modeling, optimization, and artificial intelligence techniques.
Example project title(s) that the ADVANCE Applicants can apply for:
Enhancing Transportation Experience by Leveraging Crowd-Sensed Data
Optimizing resource Management for Improved 360 Video Streaming Experience
Optimizing Mobility Management using Software-defined Technologies
Enhancing x-Reality Experience by Leveraging Edge Computing
Leveraging Deep Learning for accurate throughput prediction in Wireless Networks
Describe how this research will impact society:
My research leverage state-of-the-art computing and telecommunication technologies to improve the
user experience. Integrating technological advances into our everyday services, e.g., health and
transportation, can significantly enhances the lifestyle of human population. For example,the evolving
x-reality, such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality, would benefit different
economic sectors, such as health, education, surveillance, and entertainment, depending on the
application context. Additionally, evolving technologies, such as edge computing and meta-material
based devices, can be leveraged to optimize the operation of future networks help network and
service operators to run their network in economic and efficient manner. The continuous exploration
of such state-of-the-art technologies facilitates building human capacity in various ways. It helps
researchers to acquire knowledge that they can apply in various domains.Dr. Sabin Tabirca
School of Computer Science & IT,
University College Cork
s.tabirca@cs.ucc.ie
Link to Profile
Summary of research interests:
The research focuses on HPC and mobile computing for life science / medical problems’ simulation and
modelling. There are few interdisciplinary research directions that are currently investigated in cooperation with
researchers from CFMatters, Breast Cancer Unit or CRCC research centres.
Firstly, Protein Design Engineering is a research direction involving 5 researchers (2 from CS and 3 CCRC)
aiming to improve the existing solutions for computer modelling of protein design. The research is driven by
needs to reduce the execution time of this designing process and to develop tools that enable researchers to
concurrently work together at the design of same protein.
Secondly, Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Mobile research (3 researchers from CS and 5 researchers from CFMatters) aims
to investigate how mobile devices and ICT technologies can be used to improve the life quality of CF patience.
Some mobile applications and AI techniques have been developed to assist patients in managing the condition or
helping with the physiotherapy. At present we investigate the usage of virtual avatar doctors in interacting with
the patients for assessing a clinical exacerbation or generating a prescription.
Thirdly, Surgeon Assistant is a research project in cooperation to Breast Cancer Unit aiming to use wearable
devices like g-glasses and some augmented reality to assist surgeon during surgery. The g-glasses are used to
display surgery related content (clinical records, scans etc) and to visualize an augmented reality scene for the
surgery. In this augment space the surgeon benefits of various aids like the tumour position in 3D, suggestions to
perform the surgery etc.
Example project title(s) that the ADVANCE Applicants can apply for:
1. HPC for Efficient Protein Design Simulation
2. Virtual Barry P – Intelligent Doctor Assistant
3. Wearable Glasses as Surgery AssistentDr. Sabin Tabirca
School of Computer Science & IT,
University College Cork
s.tabirca@cs.ucc.ie
Describe how this research will impact society:
All these research directions have a direct societal impact both for patients and practitioners. The benefits of
using mobile devices for CF patients are well investigated and proven to be of great help for patients and doctors
while the virtual doctor when fully developed will have huge impacts in terms of 1) for patients having an online
assessment of any CF exacerbation with an instant recommendation 2) for doctors gathering the exacerbation
emergency data from patients who do not wait in the A&E rooms and 3) for both patients and doctor generating
prescriptions to the pharmacy in a quicker way.
The Surgeon Assistant project will be beneficial to both patients and doctors. Firstly, the patient will avoid taking
an extra scan or x-ray just before the surgery takes place, this being replaced by the augment 3D model.
Furthermore, the system will allow surgeons have a fast and facile access to the clinical data related with the
patient. The system as designed is unique and will have a huge potential for patenting etc.
Protein Design Engineering is a new research direction in Ireland with only two groups doing this type of work.
The group in CCRC is formed recently and they investigate the design and production of proteins. This research
project will have a huge impact in strengthen the potential of the group by offering support for any HPC
computation and modelling they may have.Dr Eleanor Bantry White
School of Applied Social Studies,
University College Cork
E.BantryWhite@ucc.ie
Link to Profile
Summary of research interests:
My research seeks to understand and respond to human problems arising from global population ageing. This
necessitates a multi-layered mixed-methods approach; projects have studied structural inequalities (food
poverty), the socio-cultural (loneliness in rural Ireland), and the psycho-social (electronic monitoring in dementia
care). I am an engaged researcher; collaboration ensures that questions and priorities are shared by the
communities who experience the issues and that methods are sensitive to local context. My research focuses on
preventative interventions to support healthy ageing; the body of research aims to identify and understand
creative interventions, exploring their acceptability, effectiveness and ethicality.
Rural loneliness and social isolation among older people
The research elicits a contextualised account of loneliness that reflects the changing constructs of community in
which older people live, and it examines the impact of befriending interventions in rural Ireland. The next phase
of this research will explore the role of technology in supporting socialisation with a specific focus on the ethical
issues and the constructs of ageing underscoring these intervention developments.
Electronic monitoring for people living with dementia
I led one of the first studies in the social sciences of GPS use in dementia care with a key theme being the ethics
of monitoring. I have continued to develop work on ethicality in collaboration with the University of Leeds
(Professor Anthea Hucklesby).
Neighbourhood impacts on cognitive ageing
This is an interdisciplinary project (with Applied Psychology, UCC) that seeks to understand how and in what
way our lived environment influences cognitive ageing.
Example project title(s) that the ADVANCE Applicants can apply for:
Technology-based interventions for loneliness in later life: examining psycho-social impact, ethicality
and acceptabilityDr Eleanor Bantry White
School of Applied Social Studies,
University College Cork
E.BantryWhite@ucc.ie
Describe how this research will impact society:
Global population ageing is one of humanity’s great achievements but equally it challenges societies
to respond in ways that optimise healthy ageing alongside longevity. Population ageing co-occurs with
wider trends in globalisation such as urbanization, rural depopulation and changing familial and
community structures, each of which unevenly impact older people. These trends require us to think
in new ways about how to (re)connect older people with community; how to facilitate dispersed family
and care networks; and how to maintain independence of activity in depopulated and urbanized
regions among healthy older people and those living with dementia. Each of my research themes
responds to these challenges in innovative ways. The study of rural isolation (2018) has contributed
to the implementation of Ireland’s National Positive Ageing Strategy (Goal 1-4) by providing a research
basis to address the barriers faced by older people to participate within rural communities. By
identifying the role of technology in supporting socialisation, the research will further support people
‘to age with confidence, security and dignity in their own homes and communities’ (Goal 3). My
collaborative work identifying optimal neighbourhoods for cognitive health (2018) supports the work
of Age-Friendly Cities (World Health Organization) by better understanding geographic inequalities
and ecological intervention responses. The work on electronic monitoring (2018) supplements this by
identifying how enabling technologies support independence and access to the outdoors where
dementia poses a risk to safety. Importantly, this work has provided a blueprint for professionals to
work through the ethical issues inherent to monitoring in dementia.Dr. Maurizio Mancini
School of Computer Science & IT,
University College Cork
m.mancini@cs.ucc.ie
Link to Profile
Summary of research interests:
My main field of research is Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and in particular how
human movement communicates high-level messages, such as emotional states and social
bonds. Such movements can be sensed by machines, and synthesised to be simulated by
artificial humanoid agents (e.g. avatars and robots). In my PhD (2004-2008, University of
Paris 8) I have researched virtual characters that can express emotional states. After my
PhD, I continued to work on virtual characters by collaborating with research groups of
Sorbonne University (France), Uppsala University and KTH (Sweden). I have been a coauthor
of the Behavior Markup Language specification, the standard language for virtual
characters behaviour definition.
Another large part of my research work is on methods and models to automatically detect
and analyse human movement from a variety of sensors (e.g., motion capture, depth
cameras, IMUs). I participated in the creation of 2 public datasets of multimodal data
(motion capture, inertial data, audio, video) of laughter episodes, and contemporary dance.
Both have been widely used by other researchers in HCI and other research areas. The
models and algorithms for human movement analysis I developed, and the validation
studies I carried out have been published in several journals and conferences.
During my career, I participated in 9 EU-funded ICT projects (as co-PI, co-coordinator, WP
leader, and investigator) and I co-authored 80 papers with 111 co-authors.
Example project title(s) that the ADVANCE Applicants can apply for:
1. Auditory-Visual-Emotional Cross-Modal Associations in Human-Computer Interfaces
2. Emotion analysis in vibrotactile Human-Computer Interfaces
3. Improving learning outcomes through multi-sensory digital games
4. Cloud-based architecture for mobile socio-affective analysis
5. Designing and implementing artificial eating companionsDr. Maurizio Mancini
School of Computer Science & IT,
University College Cork
m.mancini@cs.ucc.ie
Link to Profile
Describe how this research will impact society:
Potential applications of my research activity include, but are not limited to, apps that
recognise the emotional state of a person while interacting with technology (e.g. a robot, a
touchscreen). Potential benefits concern several areas of society, including education (e.g.
adaptive interfaces, multisensory learning) and health & well-being (e.g. accessibility,
community building). Advancements in these areas will enable novel applications for
sustainable and independent living, recommendation systems, remote health care, etc.
Therefore, the impact of such research will benefit not only academic scholarship, but also
digital businesses (many of which are based in Ireland), and Irish society as a whole.Dr. Paolo Palmieri
School of Computer Science & IT,
University College Cork
p.palmieri@cs.ucc.ie
Link to Profile
Summary of research interests:
My research work focuses on cryptography, privacy and security. Several of my research
contributions relate to the design of cryptographic protocols and schemes to preserve
privacy and enhance security in real world settings.
My research interests include homomorphic encryption, secure (multi-party) computation,
privacy-enhancing technologies, anonymity, and privacy in e-health, smart cities, and smart
transportation.
I lead a growing team of cryptography and privacy focused researchers, currently consisting
in 3 PhD students and a Post-Doc. My team is part of the larger security research group,
with over 10 full time research members. I am always looking for motivated students
interested in contributing to the research of our group.
Example project title(s) that the ADVANCE Applicants can apply for:
Current and past research projects I supervise include:
- Cryptographic protocols for location privacy
- Privacy and security of wearable e-health devices
- Homomorphic encryption schemes for artificial intelligence
- Secure and privacy-preserving protocols in connected and autonomous vehiclesDr. Paolo Palmieri
School of Computer Science & IT,
University College Cork
p.palmieri@cs.ucc.ie
Describe how this research will impact society:
Preserving privacy in the wake of the digital revolution will be one of the defining challenges
of this century. Privacy is a fundamental human right, and recent events, including the
Cambridge Analytica scandal, demonstrate how a lack of privacy can impact other rights,
including freedom of thought and democracy. The challenge of protecting privacy is multidisciplinary
and can only be addressed jointly by experts in different domains, such as digital
technologies, law, sociology and other disciplines. However, cryptography has a key role to
play in this domain, providing the technical means through which privacy can be achieved in
complex digital systemsProf. Utz Roedig
School of Computer Science & IT,
University College Cork
u.roedig@cs.ucc.ie
Link to Profile
Summary of research interests:
My research interest is computer networks and security. Within this area my work focus is
on distributed embedded systems; this domain may also be described as Wireless Sensor
Networks (WSN), Cyber Physical Systems (CPS), or the Internet of Things (IoT). Most
computer systems surrounding us in our daily life are no longer the traditional personal
computers but embedded devices. Recently, these embedded devices have become
increasingly networked together to form distributed embedded systems. Examples of
networked embedded systems are home automation systems, physical intrusion detection
systems, smart cities or wireless sensor systems for factory automation. Embedded devices
are used to build critical infrastructures and we depend on their reliable operation. It is
therefore essential to provide mechanisms which protect these infrastructures against
human error, system faults and attacks. My work looks at communication mechanisms and
the software used to construct these systems; with particular focus on constructing them in
a secure fashion. An important aspect of my work is to deploy and test systems in real-world
application scenarios.
Example project title(s) that the ADVANCE Applicants can apply for:
Smart Speaker Denial of Service Prevention:
Smart speakers such as Amazon Echo, Siri or Google Home are now commonplace and are
increasingly used for interaction with smart environments. At present PVAs represent a
natural and convenient interface but in most scenarios voice control is only one amongst
many interaction options. This is beginning to change and it is likely that the dominant
interface for future (critical) systems is a smart speaker. Smart speakers are already used to
support drivers, teachers and surgeons. This project will look at how an adversary is able to
prevent reliable operation of a smart speaker. An attacker is able to prevent operation in
many ways: interfering with audio signal processing, with wake word recognition (e.g.
“Alexa” in case of the Amazon Echo) or with the automatic speech recognition. The aim of
this work is to understand clearly present threats and to develop smart speakers that are
resilient to denial of service attacks.Prof. Utz Roedig
School of Computer Science & IT,
University College Cork
u.roedig@cs.ucc.ie
Describe how this research will impact society:
In an increasingly automated and connected world we will rely heavily on digital systems.
We will live in a world surrounded by IoT devices that adjust our environment to our needs
and support us with day to day tasks. For example, IoT devices in smart homes monitor
activity and adjust lighting conditions and ambient temperature. Smart cities and transport
systems help us with our travel plans and energy is supplied by a smart grid. It is a challenge
to construct these digital environments so that people are supported as desired.
Unfortunately, the design of such environments must also take malicious actors into
account. As we become to rely heavily on digital environments it must be ensured that they
operate reliably. We must ensure that this is possible and given the novel way in which
these systems operate, new protection methods are required to go along with it. My
research has the aim to enable secure and resilient operation of our future connected world
we will live in..Dr. Laura Maye
School of Computer Science & IT,
University College Cork
laura.maye@ucc.ie
Link to Profile
Summary of research interests:
I am a qualitative, human-centred computing researcher working as a Lecturer in the School of Computer Science and
Information Technology at UCC. My main research interests are in tangible computing, as well as implementing technology
to support Do-It-Yourself and civic community participation, particularly in cultural heritage, healthcare and other
community contexts. I have been involved in various research projects that reflect this theme: I am currently co-
investigator in an EU-H2020 project called Grassroot Wavelengths, which aims to design low-cost radio technology to
enable people in rural communities in the periphery of Europe to participate in local matters, deliberate and take action.
Additionally, I have participated in research activities, where the goal was to support people, with little to no specialized
technical knowledge in technology, to be actively involved in their design and implementation, particularly in museum
contexts. I have publications in top Human Computer Interaction and Computer-Supported Cooperative Work venues,
such as CHI, DIS and CSCW.
Example project title(s) that the ADVANCE Applicants can apply for:
Methods for designing technologies to preserve practices, skills and traditions of small
communities in Ireland
Supporting civic engagement and action in community activities through technology in rural areas
of Ireland
Describe how this research will impact society:
The research I focus on is at the intersections between community participation, heritage preservation, and new
innovative technologies. My research particularly targets the following UN sustainable development goals:
- GOAL 10, Reduce Inequalities: in the Grassroot Wavelengths project, the goal of the project is to support communities,
particularly those on the periphery of Europe, to deliberate and participate in economic, political and other matters that
impact the local. While the population in rural areas is expected to decrease over time [1], there is a higher risk that
decisions are made in urban centres, which could further impact rural life. It is important that people living in rural areas
are provided with means to participate in local matters
GOAL 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities: while there are many efforts being made to preserve the world’s
heritage through digitisation, further work needs to be done particularly to preserve heritage in indigenous
communities, small communities and other areas across Europe. My research in museums and heritage contexts
aims to explore how technology could be designed to support this, and also in what methods could be applied to
support people in understanding how technology could be used for this purpose. The projects I propose below
also fall under this category.
[1] https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.htmlDr. Rosane Mingham
School of Computer Science & IT,
University College Cork
r.minghim@cs.ucc.ie
Link to Profile
Summary of research interests:
Visual Analytics is an essential task to handle data interpretation and modelling in a large variety of
applications. It entails combining data analysis and visualization techniques as well as human-based
aspects of interface and psychology to allow improved performance, particularly in decision making
processes and in improving processes. My research has been concerned not only in developing new
data visualization and representation techniques but also in developing strategies to provide new
kinds of analysis for applications. Of particular interest for this project, we have recently contributed
towards two relevant applications: environment monitoring via sound and visual analysis of online
social networks. In a sustainable society it is paramount that monitoring and judgment of how impact
of sounds in the environment affect life, adapting from natural environments to urban areas.
Additionally, providing new methods of analysing communication via online social networks may allow
detecting and remedying problems in advance to them scaling to the point of becoming difficult to
manage. It can provide faster action regarding transit, problems in power grids, weather damage and
accidents.
Example project title(s) that the ADVANCE Applicants can apply for:
Novel Methods for Visual Analysis of Online Social Networks: improving live in urban environments.
On Visual Data Analysis for Urban Acoustic Landscapes.
Visual Text Mining of Citizen Feedback communications.
Describe how this research will impact society:
Applications of data science to sustainable living has great potential to improve societal life. In particular
analysing information via sound tends to have lower cost and be less invasive than other methods such as
cameras and drones. Applications related to studying discourse in social networks may have impact in many
levels of everyday life. From detecting fake news and dubious information earlier to understanding complaints of
citizens can provide means to improve everyday life for society at large.Dr. Alan Mc Gibney
NIMBUS Centre for Embedded Systems
Research, Cork Institute of Technology
alan.mcgibney@cit.ie
Link to Profile
Summary of research interests:
The NIMBUS Centre at Cork Institute of Technology is devoted to the field of embedded electronic
systems, cyber physical systems and the Internet of Things. NIMBUS, with approximately 40
researchers and engineers, is managed by staff with extensive national, international and industry
R&D experience in national, EU and industry-funded research projects. Nimbus is driven by
challenge-based research and follows a multi-disciplinary approach within the domains of Internet of
Things and Cyber Physical Systems. As part of the Nimbus Centre research strategy I am the principle
lead for Internet of Things (IoT) Systems and User Interaction with a focus on researching
architectures, reliable systems and sensor networks for a broad range of application areas. A
particular emphasis of my research is placed on the role of ICT, IoT and Distributed Ledger
Technology (Blockchain) in bridging the gap between the digital and physical worlds. This is applied in
various application areas including energy and building automation, mobility and accessibility,
Industry 4.0 and Smart Cities. Current active research topics include trust networks using distributed
ledger technology, digital identity, reliability and management of infrastructure and data for the
Physical web, Internet of Things and Cyber-Physical Systems. The Nimbus Centre promotes a
collaborative approach in developing new research areas within the centre by enabling researchers to
focus on specific topics by funding their interests through numerous active projects and in
collaborationw ith key industry stakeholders.
Example project title(s) that the ADVANCE Applicants can apply for:
Using the Physical Web for Personalised Mobility in Urban Spaces
As cities strive to be more intelligent, they are deploying devices that create IoT eco-systems that can
support more efficient and sustainable operation. This provides an opportunity to leverage this
infrastructure for additional services. This project will focus on using connected devices to make
mobility in urban environments personalised, easier, safer and inclusive for all.Dr. Alan Mc Gibney
NIMBUS Centre for Embedded Systems
Research, Cork Institute of Technology
alan.mcgibney@cit.ie
Digital Identity and Blockchain for Smart City Services
As the boundary between the digital and physical world become increasingly blurred, the ability to
reliably identify, verify and trust entities (e.g. objects, people, services) in this hyperconnected world
becomes an increasing challenge that needs to be addressed. This project will focus on addressing
digital identity using Blockchain and its integration with digital services deployed in a smart city.
Describe how this research will impact society:
The research topics being investigated are focused on contributing to and addressing the UN
Sustainable Development Goals. All approaches have a foundation on the premise that by making
“things” that surround us connected, secure and smart we can make the lives of people better, our
cities more efficient and more sustainable for all. My research interests lie in the broad area of Digital
Transformation and its role on improving society as a whole, recent projects have contributed to
sustainable cities and communities by providing technologies that can facilitate the creation of energy
communities (DigiBlocks) and making buildings energy aware and intelligent (TOPAs) thus reduce their
impact on climate change through automation and awareness. In addition, supporting industry in
creating responsible consumption and production through the provision of digital intelligence for
smart manufacturing environments. Other research that provides impacts include the design and
development of a context aware framework that leverages low cost sensors (e.g. BLE devices,
environmental sensors), actuators and interactive technologies (physical web) to provide new
mechanisms for the visually impaired and blind to interact seamlessly with the environment around
them. This provides independence and reassurance to the ViB community as they navigate and
interact with the environment in urban spaces.Dr. Bernd-Ludwig Wenning
NIMBUS Centre for Embedded Systems
Research, Cork Institute of Technology
berndludwig.wenning@cit.ie
Link to Profile
Summary of research interests:
My current research interests are in the areas of communication protocols, mobile and wireless
communication and Quality of Service. Current research trends, such as autonomous transportation,
communication infrastructure for Smart Cities, Artificial Intelligence and the evolution of mobile
networks to 5G and beyond open new and interesting research challenges which provide
opportunities in my areas of interest. The Application of Artificial Intelligence to mobile
communication, for example, has the potential to enhance the availability, reliability and quality of
network connections. With devices having multiple connections at the same time (multihoming), e.g.
WiFi, 4G and 5G, the choice of the most suitable connection or the distribution of traffic across the
available connections will be essential for providing dependability and Quality of Service. Artificial
Intelligence can assist in this by continuously assessing the available connections and proactively
distributing the communication traffic in a way that optimizes the achievable Quality of Service.
Example project title(s) that the ADVANCE Applicants can apply for:
AI-enhanced multihomed communication in smart urban environments
Describe how this research will impact society:
The future of transportation, in particular in urban scenarios, is widely considered to be autonomous.
Autonomous vehicles, however, will require reliable, dependable communication to interact with
other autonomous vehicles as well as with infrastructure. Citizens who are moving in such smart
urban environments may be passengers in autonomous vehicles, or they may be so-called vulnerable
road users if they are, e.g., on foot or on bicycles. Users of autonomous transportation want to use
data services while on the move, e.g. consuming or producing audio and video content, while
vulnerable road users will benefit from increased safety if they can interact with their smart
environment, including the autonomous vehicles. Consequently, there is a high and continuously
growing demand for dependable high-quality communication in future smart urban environments,
both for the citizens and for their smart environment. My research is providing technological enablers
to this environment to improve services as well as safety for citizens.Dr. Pio Fenton
Department of Marketing and International
Business, Cork Institute of Technology
pio.fenton@cit.ie
Link to Profile
Summary of research interests:
Given my multi-disciplinary background my research activities tend to focus on activities relating to
the intersections of domains. This includes areas like Artificial intelligence and its wide range of
possible applications in areas of business, society and human experience. For example, currently, we
have a PhD student pursuing research on the implications of AI on Industry settings at an operations
level. The research initially investigates the changing landscape of this setting with a view to identifying
the new innovation, managerial and operations potential of manufacturing environments. Planned
research involves developing frameworks for better understating the implications of advanced and
emerging technologies in various settings including Healthcare, retail, education and sustainable
development.
Example project title(s) that the ADVANCE Applicants can apply for:
How will future wireless networks and global hyperconnectivity change business models in the
area of water provision, protection and supply.
The development of frameworks to assist technology managers better equip themselves and their
organisations for the adoption of technology built upon principles of global hyperconnectivity that
underpin wireless networks.
Hyperconnectivity and learning: the development of a workforces in manufacturing environments
that can leverage mutual growth.
Describe how this research will impact society:
The world is changing due to the evolving nature of technology and its wider adoption to resolve
some of humanities biggest challenges. Wireless systems have served the world well in this regard
particularly as they combine with micro and Nano technologies. However, there remains a challenge
around the understanding of technology amongst those that develop it and, on the other hand, those
that engage with the challenges that technology can exploit. In short, research on the intersection of
engineering and business/society etc can positively impact on technology adoption and usefulness. In
particular, by exploring development and adoption frameworks both the supply and demand sides of
wireless smart technologies can be more effective.Dr. Alex Vakaloudis
NIMBUS Centre for Embedded Systems
Research, Cork Institute of Technology
alex.vakaloudis@cit.ie
Link to Profile
Summary of research interests:
Dr Alex Vakaloudis leads the team of Software and Enterprise solutions in the Nimbus/TEC Research Centre,
CIT with expertise in back-end (Spring Boot, .NET, Python, LAMP and MEAN stacks), front-end (AngularJS,
review.is, vue.js), Relational and NoSQL databases, cloud computing (AWS Activate/Educate/Academy
Programmes, GCP, Azure), machine learning (predictive maintenance, anomaly detection, recommendations,
classification). The team collaborates with the user experience and electronics teams in Nimbus. It is our belief
that 21st century research while focusing on specific technical matters must incorporate a multidisciplinary
approach and consider social and behavioural parameters so as to be applicable and successful and sustainable.
We work with industrial partners on Industry 4.0 projects. We are interested in:
1. Cloud architectures (serverless/hybrid) for boosting transition to cloud-based services (extensive work with
AWS, GCP, Azure).
2. AR/VR methods in industrial training for the reduction of machine downtime and acquisition of soft skills
such as problem solving and collaboration.
3. Classification, unsupervised and unsupervised learning linking faults to machine usage.
4. Digital transformation pathways to assist transition of processes and equipment to Industry 4.0
5. Conversational agents as digital assistants to work with the human workforce without replacing them
6. Predictive maintenance with emphasis on the pharmaceutical industry.
In STEM education we work on the following issues:
1. The application of IoT in a smooth, widely applicable manner to execute existing educational activities.
2. The specification of technology-based academic programmes in all levels of education and their
linking to professional pathways.
Within our industry and community-based research we research
1. Monitoring and execution of energy and waste management programmes in the public sector
2. Conversational Agents as mental health assistants, smart home and assisted living components
3. Identification of mental health issues through social media messagingDr. Alex Vakaloudis
NIMBUS Centre for Embedded Systems
Research, Cork Institute of Technology
alex.vakaloudis@cit.ie
Example project title(s) that the ADVANCE Applicants can apply for:
“Associating machine failures to human usage patterns in Industrial environments”- Unsupervised,
Supervised learning and classification to identify what type of machine usage patterns link to each failure
“Material identification based on computer vision” - Material identification is now based on spectroscopy, we
want to achieve identification using a camera and possible other sensors (e.g. ultrasonic)
“Soft skills acquisition and specification of career pathways through IoT in STEM Education” - IoT can be used
to execute science experiments, generate data for maths problems and employ engineering solutions.
However, this apart from increasing STEM skills, must also generate sustainable interest in STEM careers
“Conversational flow for Assisted living within a Smart home environment” - Specification of conversational
flow that uses sensor data to define an end-to-end assisted living environment for selected use cases (e.g.
concordance with medication taking, monitoring of living conditions)
“The role of conversational agents as digital assistants in Industrial Environments” - Identification of
advantages and limitations of conversational agents, specification of speech and text conversational flows
and association to industrial KPIs.
Describe how this research will impact society:
The research aligns with United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals on “quality education”,
“economic growth” and “industries, innovation and infrastructure”. Within industry 4.0 we seek to
accelerate adoption of digital techniques by industry and expedite digital transformation. There is
nowadays indeed the hype of Artificial Intelligence and its use in industry. However many
organisations-both SMEs and established corporations- operate with out of date equipment and
processes. These, albeit sufficient for reaching current production goals, hinder improvement. We
aim to define a smooth pathway from data collection and storage, through automation to analysis,
proactiveness and intelligence in order to quickly demonstrate benefits and tackle reluctance. Our
perspective is to achieve this transition in a manner compatible with industrial KPIs causing
minimum disruption in everyday operation. In STEM education, we are developing tools and
methodologies to link technology and more specifically Internet of Things to educational activities
to demystify science technology making it accessible and understandable for the whole cohort of
teachers and students and not only the technically minded. Our objective is to simplify the
application of practical activities and engage a wider audience. Working with industry and
community, our research angle has been to achieve the widest impact, improve processes,
contribute in the effort for growth and help industrial partners generate jobs and increase exports.Dr. Breda Kenny
School of Business, Cork Institute of
Technology
breda.kenny@cit.ie
Link to Profile
Summary of research interests:
Innovation Potential of International New Ventures in the Digital Health Sector
This research topic stems from research interest and publications in the areas of international
business, collaborative innovation, networking capability, human capital, high growth starts ups, ‘silver’
economy and entrepreneurship. These topics are brought together in the context of the current
growth and interest in the Digital Health sector in addressing various issues in our society including
rural depopulation and an increasing older dependent population.
Brief background to the research
Digitalisation has revolutionised health service delivery, which has provided global business
opportunities for start-ups that specialise in digital health. Such start-ups challenge the traditional
healthcare service industry by introducing radical and sustainable innovations in the agile product
development cycle and the creative acquisition of resources within their networks (Muhos et al, 2018).
However, Dooley et al (2015) highlight that large-scale firms are more active than small and medium
sized enterprises (SMEs) in leveraging external resources for innovation and that small-sized firms are
the firm category least active in the practice. In addition, findings indicate that when SMEs are
collaborating, they leverage both vertical and horizontal partner linkages but that the sector is
constrained by geographic distance in terms of the diversity of its collaborating partners.
Furthermore, Lenihan et al (2019) propose a new policy programme offer to support the
motivationally relevant elements of human capital in order to increase firms’ innovation activity. The
question therefore is, whether improvements in both networking capability (Kenny and Fahy, 2011)
and innovation capability at the individual and the firm level in International New Ventures would
impact the level and type of innovation in the Digital Health domain?
Example project title(s) that the ADVANCE Applicants can apply for:
Identifying, measuring and enhancing the innovation potential of International New Ventures in the
Digital Health Sector
Innovation in the digital health sector: a critical evaluation on how society benefits.Dr. Breda Kenny
School of Business, Cork Institute of
Technology
breda.kenny@cit.ie
Describe how this research will impact society:
Developing innovation potential at an individual and firm level will help stimulate a pipeline of new
and improved healthcare solutions for the domestic and international market place. The impact of
digitalisation of health services has been profound and is expected to be even more profound in the
future (EXPH, 2019). It will likely (further) affect the different phases of health care delivery, including
an increasingly older dependent population, health promotion, prevention, primary care, specialised
care, long term care, social care, and selfcare. Such digital development may also supports those
living in isolated and rural communities and help address issues of rural depopulation. Evidence
suggests that current forms of digital health services can already impact the health and wellbeing of
patients and the functioning of the health care system in profound ways (e.g. Deloitte, 2015). The
research will provide a wider understanding of the digitisation processes beyond the technical
process and incorporating various types of innovation from process, organisation, product etc.
Increasing the innovation levels may have potential benefits such as reducing pressure on the
workforce, lowering costs and improving patient centeredness and goalorientation of care. A critical
review of the drawbacks and an evaluation of potential unintended and/or negative (side) effects of
increased digital health provision in the short or long term will also be included. A key outcome of the
research is an understanding of an appropriate model or framework to create an environment willing
and able to adopt evidence-based innovations.You can also read
