News 2008
CMS Royal Institution Masterclasses (Dec 08)
CMS is pleased to announce the following a series of mathematics masterclasses for sixth formers. The classes are organised by the Royal Institution and will take place at the Greenwich campus on Saturday mornings in early 2009.
- 31st January: Chris Walshaw - How Google Works: The wonderful world of networks, graphs and the power method (Queen Anne Court, room QA080)
- 7th February: Graham Hoare - Fibonacci, Prime, Fermat, Perfect and Mersenne numbers (King William Court)
- 14th February: Tony Mann - Mathematicians behaving badly: the story of mathematics at Greenwich (King William Court)
- 21st February: Chris Bailey - Saving the Cutty Sark: Mathematics and a national treasure (King William Court)
- 28th February: Andre Rzym - Financial Maths (King William Court)
- 7th March: Sara Santos - Through the looking glass ... again and again (King William Court)
The first masterclass will take place in Queen Anne Court, room QA080; all others will take place in King William Court - look for directions to the particular room number on arrival.
All masterclasses run from 10:00-12:30.
If you are interested in attending, please contact Mr Tony Mann.
Directions to Greenwich Campus - The Royal Institution
CMS/Cutty Sark Partnership win double prizes (Dec 08)
 Prof Bailey beside the ship |
A team, led by Professor Chris Bailey and Dr Stoyan Stoyanov from CMS, in collaboration with the Cutty Sark Trust, have won the top prize at the London Knowledge Transfer Awards.
Their pioneering partnership uses sophisticated computer models to determine how to dismantle and reassemble the fire-damaged ship, which will open again to the public in 2010.
Professor Bailey said: "We are applying computer modelling technology to the problem of how to restore the Cutty Sark's rotting pieces ... so when engineers tackle the real thing, they know that they will be going about the job in the best possible way."
The project was named as Knowledge Transfer Collaboration 2008 at an awards ceremony on December 5 at the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington and also won the Knowledge Base Collaboration Award.
These new awards - run by the London Development Agency - demonstrate the benefits to business of using the expertise in universities and colleges.
The university's Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research & Enterprise, Professor Tom Barnes, commented: "This is a fantastic example of the way in which the specialist expertise of university academics can be put to use in the wider world.
The Cutty Sark is a much loved icon in the capital and I am delighted that these new awards have recognised our important work which will protect it for generations to come."
Project website
CMS skills week winners (Oct 08)
 The winning team |
Prizes have just been awarded to the winners of the first year skills week.
During this week, 350 students, from all computing, information systems and multimedia degrees, form themselves into teams to run a small company as part of a business simulation game, producing appropriate documents, reports and presentations.
As well as getting a break from their more formal studies, the students gain skills in communication, project management, team working, problem solving and creative design, all vital for working in today's computer industry.
The team pictured above gained straight distinctions in all skills for each student, only the third time this ever has been done, and are the winners.
They will go on to represent the University in the IBM Universities Business Challenge (teams from CMS have previously reached the semi-finals in 2007 and in 2005).
The winning team - from left to right, Victoria Heather, Luke Hoystead, San Chan, Marcelo Bacchi de Oliveira and Benjamin Parmentier - are pictured here with head of School, Dr Liz Bacon.
Further details of skills week
MathSoc visits Thorpe Park (Oct 08)
 Noel-Ann Bradshaw, first year tutor, and Tony Mann, Head of Maths, on a Thorpe Park ride |
The University's MathSoc, a student-run society set up to promote mathematics, organised a visit to Thorpe Park in mid-October as a beginning-of-term outing for new students and their second-year mentors.
Tony Mann, Head of the Maths Department, who also attended commented:
"It was a thoroughly enjoyable occasion, with everyone ending up very wet from the Tidal Wave and Logger's Leap rides.
MathSoc President, Justin, insisted on repeating everything until he was happy with his looks in the photographs taken in mid-ride.
Mandy won a giant shark and, thanks to the efforts of Steve Baker, £60 was raised for charity on the coach journey home.
All in all, a memorable day, even without the photographs."
MathSoc
Studio facilities makeover (Oct 08)
 Adjusting the lighting in the Avery Hill studio |
Studio facilities for the Film & TV Production degree have been completely revamped.
Apart from 9 new HDV cameras, the studio at Avery Hill has an extensive new lighting system and green screen.
In addition, the upper gallery and side room are now equipped with Macs running Final Cut Pro and there is also a new gallery housing a vision-mixer, audio-mixer and supporting equipment.
Meanwhile Julie Watkins, the programme leader, has been busy behind the scenes and has made arrangements with both the University drama department and a prestigious school of dance to allow students to film their performances.
BSc (Hons) Film & Television Production
CMS student satisfaction increases to over 90% (Oct 08)
Students in Computing & Mathematical Sciences (CMS) have given a ringing endorsement to the School in the latest National Student Survey.
This year over 91% of computing students agreed with the summary question "Overall, I am satisfied with the quality of the course".
This compares with an average of 79% across the 100 computer science departments in the UK and in fact CMS scored well above the sector mean in every question category.
Figures were similar for maths, with 93% satisfied.
The National Student Survey (NSS) is an annual government run exercise, commissioned by the higher education funding councils, which polls most final year undergraduates across the UK.
It provides students with an opportunity to make their opinions on their higher education student experience count at a national level and helps prospective students make informed choices of where and what to study.
National Student Survey website
Free English language support for all students (Oct 08)
Are you struggling with "academic-speak"? Have you been educated in a language other than English?
If so, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences are running some English language support classes that could be ideal for you.
And although primarily aimed at non-native speakers, the classes are available for any students who would like help with English.
The classes run on Mondays and Wednesdays on the Greenwich campus (and Tuesdays at Medway) and there's no need to enrol - just turn up.
The content covered is wide-ranging and includes: identifying differences in writing and speaking; understanding academic writing styles; planning essays; avoiding errors and sentence fragments; distinguishing fact from opinion; punctuation; using dictionaries; taking notes; presentations and academic requests; using correct tenses; interrupting, suggesting, accepting and rejecting ideas.
Course webpage & information leaflet
CMS World Trade Center study reports (Sep 08)
 Professor Ed Galea with HEED researchers |
New research involving face-to-face interviews with survivors of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Centre (WTC) will help save lives in the future.
Researchers from CMS, together with the groups from the Universities of Ulster and Liverpool, have completed a three and a half year study into the evacuation of the twin towers.
Thousands of details from interviews with 271 survivors have been entered in a database known as HEED (High-rise Evacuation Evaluation Database) and modelled by computer to reveal vital information which will improve the safety of high rise buildings around the world.
Project Director, Professor Ed Galea, says: "Together these personal stories paint a comprehensive picture of what happened and why. What influenced evacuees' behaviour? What was going through their minds when they made key decisions? This is a hugely important body of data in itself. We will be making the HEED database available to bone fide researchers all over the world, so that it can become a valuable international resource for others to use."
The findings have been widely reported in international media - the links below give further details of the research and its conclusions.
HEED website -
PRI's The World (radio interview with Prof. Galea) -
BBC London -
Science Daily -
Scientific American
Film & TV skills on show (Aug 08)
Vanessa Spiers, who has just finished her first year on the new Film & TV Production degree, has already been putting her skills to use and has entered a film into the Virgin Media Shorts competition.
The film, a fantasy piece entitled "Light of Dark", was shot on the Greenwich Campus and features several visual effects.
As of Aug 08 it had been viewed nearly 2,000 times and had attracted over 150 comments, most very positive.
BSc (Hons) Film & TV Production
"Outstanding" satisfaction for maths students (Jun 08)
The School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Greenwich out performed many of its local rivals and more traditional universities in the latest subject league tables from the Times Good University Guide.
In particular, the subject area of Mathematics within the School was ranked 30th out of 75 universities and the guide also noted that in the National Student Survey of student satisfaction "maths produced an outstanding result in 2007" (the most recent data available).
Meanwhile, Computing was ranked equal 68th out of 100.
The guide has been produced since 1992 and uses a range of quality measures to rank each subject.
It notes that the subject performance tables, "rather than a university's position in the institutional table, [are] what should guide applicants, according to many higher education experts."
Head of School, Dr Liz Bacon, commented: "We are very pleased with these figures.
Although league tables only give a partial view of an institution, these are excellent results which put us above many of our local competitors in London.
Equally pleasing is that our students are very satisfied with the quality of the educational experience they receive from the School, with a recent survey showing that over 90% of our students would recommend us to a friend."
Times Good University Guide (latest edition)
Tony Mann awarded National Teaching Fellowship (Jun 08)
 Tony Mann |
Tony Mann, head of the Mathematical Sciences Department, has been awarded a National Teaching Fellowship by the Higher Education Academy.
The National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS) is a programme that aims to raise the profile of learning and teaching in higher education, to recognise and celebrate individuals who make an outstanding impact on the student learning experience, and to provide a focus for institutional teaching and learning excellence schemes.
Tony has been working at the University since 1989.
He takes a leading role in curriculum development and his teaching ranges from algebra, number theory and the history of mathematics to interaction design and digital creativity.
He commented: "I'm very grateful for the support I have received and for all the colleagues from whom I have learned so much.
I hope that this will encourage others to enter for the NTFS because we should all be very proud of what we are doing."
National Teaching Fellowships 2008 -
Tony Mann
Which Way Now 2008 (Jun 08)
On 28th May the CMS Employability & Placements Office held a very successful careers afternoon called WhichWayNow2008 for final year and MSc students to point them in the right direction with regards to graduate employment.
Representatives from the GET team (who are also holding an initiative "find your dream job", for all final year and MSc students on Friday 6th June), the Alumni office and CMS staff gave short presentations covering several areas of employment including work in the computing, multimedia and information systems industries.
Over 50 students attended and, as well as listening to the talks, received an information pack with lots of graduate info inside.
Elaine Major, the organiser and CMS Industrial Placement Officer, said: "Overall it was a great success. We hope to be able to extend it next year to include speakers from industry."
She also suggested that any students who missed it could drop into the Placements Office (Queen Mary 363) and ask for the information pack.
Dr Rodney Sue - an obituary (May 08)
Dr Rodney Sue passed away suddenly on April 15th.
He worked at CMS since 1995 and in this time he pioneered industry-relevant database systems courses for computer science students at undergraduate and postgraduate level, helping to make Greenwich one of the largest sites using ORACLE software.
He also helped introduce successful Master's programmes in Enterprise Database Systems.
Dr Sue was a very popular lecturer with colleagues and with his students and many have posted on-line tributes to him as a tutor and mentor.
He was awarded a Principal Lectureship for Excellence in teaching and then, in 2007, a University Teaching Fellowship.
In this role he was coordinating the student learning experience for CMS and contributing to the university policy on this.
He leaves behind his wife Diane and his two young sons, Christopher and James.
Dr Rodney Sue
Fire Safety Engineering Group spreads the word (May 08)
Every year since 1997, the Fire Safety Engineering Group (FSEG) within CMS have run two 5-day short courses for industrial participants from all over the world.
The courses, run in March and May of each year, are "Principles and Practice of Fire Modelling" (PPFM) and "Principles and Practice of Evacuation Modelling" (PPEM).
The courses provide engineers and code enforcers with an understanding of the capabilities and limitations of advanced fire and evacuation modelling tools and aim to improve both the practice and enforcement of performance based fire engineering design solutions around the world.
FSEG Director, Professor Ed Galea, commented that since their inception: "these courses have attracted over 360 delegates from 38 countries.
This year was one of our most successful years, with 49 delegates from 13 countries.
The fact that these courses continue to attract a wide international audience of fire experts is due in no small part to FSEG's success and global reputation in computational fire engineering."
Fire Safety Engineering Group -
FSEG Short Courses
Fire Safety Engineering Group wins international award (May 08)
A team of researchers in the Fire Safety Engineering Group have won a prestigious international prize for their
research work.
The US Society of Fire Protection Engineers has chosen them as winners of the Jack Bono Engineering Communication Award, which recognises the paper that has most contributed to the advancement and application of professional fire protection engineering.
The winning publication from the Greenwich team appeared in the Journal of Fire Protection Engineering in 2007.
It was authored by Hui Xie, Lazaros Filippidis, Steven Gwynne, Ed Galea, Darren Blackshields and Peter Lawrence and is entitled "Signage Legibility Distances as a Function of Observation Angle".
Fire Safety Engineering Group
Pixel08 - the CMS Multimedia Degree Show (May 08)
This year's multimedia degree show, Pixel08, will showcase work created by students graduating from CMS's suite of multimedia degrees: BSc (Hons) Multimedia Technology, BSc (Hons) Multimedia & Internet Technology, BSc (Hons) Web Technologies and BSc (Hons) Games & Multimedia Technologies.
The show starts on Thursday 29th May (6 - 8.30pm) and is open on Friday 30th & Saturday 31st May 12 to 4pm in King William Court.
Please take time to come and wander around the exhibits including creative websites, edutainment CD-Roms, digital video, 3D animation and computer games and try them out.
Pixel08 website
CMS/Cutty Sark Partnership wins Enterprise Award (Mar 08)
 The KTP Award Ceremony |
A Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with the Cutty Sark Trust to help save the historic ship has been awarded Best Partnership for London.
The project team, led by Professor Chris Bailey and Dr Stoyan Stoyanov, will receive the award on March 5th and, with eight other regional winners, will be eligible for the award of Best UK KTP.
The collaboration continues and includes a follow-on project developing an embedded monitoring system to help maintain and preserve the Cutty Sark for at least another 50 years.
This work is also being adapted for HMS Warrior in Portsmouth, providing CMS further opportunities to apply scientific techniques to the heritage sector.
Project website
Derek Wyatt, MP, visits CMS (Feb 08)
 Derek Wyatt, MP |
CMS were visited by Derek Wyatt, Member of Parliament for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, in late February.
He held discussions with CMS staff and viewed presentations from Professor Ed Galea, about his group's fire and evacuation modelling, and from Professor Chris Bailey, about his work modelling the Cutty Sark and other CMS enterprise activities.
He also had a chance to look around the campus and visited the Chapel.
The MP, Chairman of the All Party Communications Groups, and a known enthusiast for computing and mathematics, commented "Without outstanding researchers in these academic areas, much of what we now accept as 'normal' in our daily lives would not have happened ... It blew my mind."
Derek Wyatt's website
MSc student helps to write best paper (Jan 08)
Bruno Lebon, a student on the MSc in Applied Mathematical Modelling and Scientific Computing, conducted his masters project with Prof Koulis Pericleous on the mathematical modelling of the continuous casting process for steel plate products.
His work formed part of a paper that Prof Pericleous presented in December 2007 at the Journées Sidérurgiques Internationales ATS Steelmaking Conference in Paris and which went on to win the best paper award (out of over 200 papers).
Bruno was awarded with a certificate and the ATS society medal.
MSc Applied Mathematical Modelling and Scientific Computing
CMS face of the year (Jan 08)
 Aoife Hunt |
Final year maths student, Aoife Hunt, has just been named "Face of the Year 2007" by readers of The Wharf, a weekly newspaper based in Canary Wharf just across the river from the Greenwich campus.
Aoife, who also plays bass in rising band Star Scream, said: "I am so excited to have won this competition.
A big thanks to everyone who voted, most especially Suhail and Tony from the University of Greenwich.
I couldn't have wished for a better Christmas present."
She won a number of prizes donated by companies based in Canary Wharf including return flights for two to Vienna, an overnight stay in a hotel, afternoon tea with champagne and an Indian meal.
Star Scream -
The Wharf
CMS Royal Institution Masterclasses (Jan 08)
CMS is pleased to announce the following a series of mathematics masterclasses for sixth formers.
The classes are organised by the Royal Institution and will take place at the Greenwich campus
on Saturday mornings in early 2008.
19th January: Chris Bailey - Saving the Cutty Sark: Mathematics and a national treasure
26th January: Andre Rzym - Financial Maths
2nd February: Steve Kane - Shake, Rattle and Roll: The mathematics of earthquakes
23rd February: Graham Hoare - Fibonacci, Prime, Fermat, Perfect and Mersenne numbers
1st March: Chris Walshaw - How Google Works: The wonderful world of networks, graphs and the power method
8th March: Tony Mann - Mathematicians behaving badly: Greenwich and the history of mathematics
If you are interested in attending, please contact Mr Tony Mann.
Directions to Greenwich Campus - The Royal Institution
Older News
Visit the news archive 2007 for older CMS news stories.