Cutting-edge imaging techniques are being used in the digital restoration of a 2000-year old Roman statue.

The delicately painted statue, which was discovered in the ancient ruins of Herculaneum in 2006 and believed to depict an Amazon Warrior, is now the subject of a joint restoration project by the University of Southampton, the University of Warwick, and the Herculaneum Conservation Project.

Highly sophisticated digital imaging is vital for the recording, subsequent analysis and restoration of cultural heritage material. Experts in archaeological computing led by Dr Graeme Earl of the Archaeological Computing Research Group in the School of Humanities, used a novel form of photography – Polynomial Texture Mapping (PTM), developed by HP Labs - to provide a detailed record of the texture and colour of the painted surfaces.

A specially-designed rig, camera structure, and associated custom software was developed in the School of Electronics and Computer Science by Dr Kirk Martinez and the team in the Mechanical Workshop to enable very fast acquisition of PTM data, with variable sample sizes. The rig uses a lightweight tripod running on battery power, making it adaptable enough to use on archaeological sites. The whole kit is highly portable and can be carried in a suitcase. 'It was fascinating to pull together various elements from my imaging research projects in order to solve all the issues for the new rig design,' said Kirk Martinez. The head of the Amazon Warrior was discovered in 2006 in the ancient ruins of Herculaneum, a town close to Pompeii, which was buried in the AD79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The delicate painting of the statue’s features and its fine state of preservation meant that it was regarded as a landmark discovery by archaeologists, providing clues to the decoration of Roman statues that had previously been only guessed at.

The digital restoration project is an initiative of the Packard Humanities Institute, in collaboration with the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei and the British School at Rome.

‘Our work at Southampton bridges the gap between computing and archaeology in bringing the best that colleagues in engineering, electronics and computer science have to offer to unique artefacts from our past,’ said Dr Earl.

The series of images (different views are illustrated above) resulting from the scanning process is used to produce a single PTM file via the HP Labs PTM fitter software. The PTM viewer enables a virtual light source to be moved across the virtual scene. The viewer can also vary lighting intensity, add additional virtual lights, derive surface models and to carry out image processing tasks such as edge detection.

For further information contact Joyce Lewis, tel.023 8059 5453

The final showdown for this year’s Student Robotics challenge takes place on Sunday 19 April at the University of Southampton.

For the last eight months young engineers in Hampshire schools and colleges have been designing, building and programming autonomous robots which will compete against each other in the grand finals. The college students, working in teams of six, have been mentored and supported by students from the University of Southampton who have organized this very successful competition for the second year running.

The challenge for the college students is to build robots that are programmed to complete a task. To do this successfully they are encouraged to produce robots which are sophisticated, capable of programmed movement to perform set tasks, able to ‘see’, and make best use of their own artificial intelligence.

The University students design, build and develop all of the electronics themselves, ensuring that the competing sixth forms and colleges have custom-hardware tailored to their precise needs. Over the last two years of the competition the University students have managed to produce an electronics kit that provides lots of functionality but with the flexibility for the college teams to experiment and develop their own solutions. Each college team receives a weekly visit from a University student – many of them from the School of Electronics and Computer Science, to help them get their robot into shape for the grand final.

'The organization and running of this activity is carried out solely by our students themselves,' said Professor Harvey Rutt, Head of the School of Electronics and Computer Science. 'We applaud their commitment to this event since it provides the sixth-form students with the chance to work on a real engineering problem, valuably supplementing their A level studies. Our students are able to develop valuable skills such as project management, team work and group development, which is very beneficial to their future careers.'

This year’s event will be contested by teams from St Anne's School Southampton, Brockenhurst College, Alton College, Peter Symonds College Winchester, and Bedales School, and takes place in the Garden Court, Highfield Campus, from 10 am to 5 pm. The robots compete against each other in a specially designed arena and gain points for their success in completing a number of tasks.

Student Robotics is sponsored by the Motorola Foundation, Bitbox, Student Community Action, the University of Southampton, and Roke Manor Research Ltd.

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel.023 8059 5453

Professor Dame Wendy Hall received the official insignia of Dame Commander of the British Empire from HM The Queen at Windsor Castle yesterday (Tuesday 7 April).

Dame Wendy Hall was awarded the DBE in the New Year's Honours List for services to science and technology. She is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton and was Head of the School of Electronics and Computer Science from 2002 to 2007. Her influence on the development of computer science has been fundamental not only in her academic work and the many successful research initiatives in which she has been involved, but also for the large number of prominent roles she has held in the scientific and technological community.

In 2003 Professor Hall was appointed President of the British Computer Society (BCS), the UK’s leading professional body for IT. In 2005 she became the first woman to be elected Senior Vice-President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and in July 2008 she took up office as President of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the first person from outside North America to hold this role in the organization’s 60-year history.

She is a member of the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology, and a founding member of the Scientific Council of the European Research Council. In November 2008 she was one of 25 European figures honoured for their contribution to Information, Communication and Technology by the EU. Among the many awards she has won is the Anita Borg Award for Technical Leadership (2006).

Dame Wendy is known throughout the community for her energy and vision and, in addition to her large number of commitments in areas of policy development, she continues to advance new research directions. In 2006, she was one of the founders of the Web Science Research Initiative, along with Professor Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, Professor Nigel Shadbolt and Daniel Weitzner. They are pioneering the new discipline of Web Science, to develop a better understanding of the architectural principles that led to the Web’s growth and success, and ensure that these support the Web’s future development.

Throughout her career Dame Wendy has been a prominent and vocal advocate of women’s opportunities in science, engineering and technology. In her research and her public life she has sought to ensure that women are equal beneficiaries of technological advance, and her example of achievement and dedication has made her a distinguished and powerful role model for women. ‘I am thrilled to have been honoured in this way,’ said Professor Hall. ‘It is of course exciting for me personally and for my family, but it is also a tribute to all the people I have worked with in my career as a scientist and engineer both at Southampton and in the wider community.’

Professor Dame Wendy Hall took her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at the University of Southampton, where she met her husband Peter Chandler. They have been married for nearly 30 years and live in the New Forest.

A solar-powered boat designed and built by postgraduate students led by Dr Peter Wilson of ECS is on its way to the United States, the first UK entrant in the annual Solar Splash championship.

After a successful launch on Friday 17 April, Tarka went through her paces on the Itchen River, demonstrating speed and manoeuvrability at the hands of Skipper, Dirk De Jager. The University of Southampton team, largely drawn from the School of Electronics and Computer Science, in conjunction with the student branch of the IEEE, have been working hard on Tarka's design and technology over the last few months, capitalizing on ECS's track record in the development of solar cells and electronics.

Solar Splash, the World Championship of Intercollegiate Solar Boating, takes place in Fayetteville, Arkansas, from 27 to 31 May 2009. Tarka is the first boat from the UK to take part, and Dr Wilson, who is a Visiting Professor at the University of Arkansas, as well as a Senior Lecturer in the Electronic Systems and Devices Group in ECS, is confident that she will perform well, despite the short timeframe for planning and design and build.

'It's been a huge achievement to get the boat ready,' he said, 'and Friday's trials showed that it not only has speed, but it has great manoeuvrability, so it should do particularly well in the slalom part of the competition.

'This is the first time that we've done a project of this scale. It allows students to think outside the box when it comes to applications for solar cells. We hope this can be a showcase for technology and the skills here at Southampton on a global scale.'

Solar Splash takes place over five days, with different water-based competitions testing speed, manoeuvrability and endurance. The Team Tarka members going to Arkansas are Dirk De Jager, Rich Bowen, Karim El-Shabrawy and Dr Wilson.

The team are still looking for sponsors to assist with the travel costs, and final build costs. if you feel that you would like to contribute financially to the project, even in a small way, then please contact Dr Wilson by email (prw@ecs.soton.ac.uk) or telephone (023 8059 4162). All contributions will go directly and only to the solar boat project.

See a video made by the Southern Daily Echo at Friday's launch.

PODCAST:172

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel.023 8059 5453.

Professor Peter Ashburn is leading a team of University researchers who are developing low-cost, disposable blood-testing kits that can be made available in GPs' surgeries.

With funding of £1.33M from the EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council), Professor Ashburn, Head of the Nano Research Group in the School of Electronics and Computer Science, will work with colleagues in ECS, Medicine, Chemistry, to develop a unique method for fabricating nanowires, so that the blood-testing kits can be mass-produced. This will mean that routine blood tests can be carried out in GPs' surgeries, rather than needing to be sent to laboratories, with inevitable delays. The researchers are using nanotechnology similar to that commonly used in computer and television displays to develop this new application.

'Standard clinical laboratory tests currently have limitations outside the laboratory,' said Professor Ashburn. 'This can reduce the impact of new protein biomarkers for diagnosing complex conditions like cancer and chronic inflammation.

'However, one-dimensional nanostructures such as nanowires are ideal for the purposes of diagnosis, since they can be integrated into microfluidic chips that provide a complete sensor system.'

Because of the impact that new technology such as this would have on healthcare, a major part of the research project involves the School of Social Sciences at the University of Southampton in the assessment of sociological aspects involved in the take-up of nanotechnology in healthcare. 'We need to understand how this new mechanism for blood-testing sits in relation to established organizational forms, professional knowledge and inter-professional relations,' said Professor Susan Halford.

'In particular, replacing hospital lab tests with GP-administered tests requires a whole series of subtle and highly politicized changes to the organization of healthcare. Whilst the technology holds enormous potential, if it is to deliver the socially beneficial innovation so highly prioritized in public consultation, we need to develop in-depth understanding of how it can actually come into use.'

The funding award for this research comes from the EPSRC’s Nano Grand Challenge in Healthcare scheme.

Electrical engineers in ECS are part of a team developing new 'green' power cables which can be recycled at the end of their lives.

The new project, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) is being undertaken by a multidisciplinary team drawn from the University of Southampton’s School of Electronics and Computer Science, GnoSys UK at the University of Surrey, National Grid and Dow Chemical Company.

It is in response to a move in the UK and across Europe to place more of the power network that provides electricity to our homes and industry underground, particularly in areas of outstanding beauty and in major cities.

It is also in response to questions such as whether such cables could ever be considered to be environmentally friendly or have a low carbon footprint.

‘Moreover, with the emphasis on ensuring security of supply and improving the amount of power that can be transported around the country with a cable that must operate reliably for 40 years or more, the challenge is to meet these needs and have an environmentally clean cable that can be recycled at the end of its life,’ said Professor Alun Vaughan of the University’s School of Electronics and Computer Science.

Issues like these are being addressed in this new project which is developing new power cable materials and the tools to evaluate the complex and often competing factors which need to go into a full life-cycle assessment. The aim is to determine the performance of a new design of plastic insulated cable and its impact on the environment over its complete life from raw materials, through manufacture and years of service, and finally recycling at the end of life. The outcomes of the project will allow utilities to choose the best solution for the environment and the power system.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Professor of Computer Science in ECS, has been elected to the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS).

Professor Berners-Lee was elected to the (NAS) for his excellence in original scientific research. Membership of the NAS is one of the highest honours given to a scientist or engineer in the United States - over 180 living members of the NAS have won Nobel Prizes.

Tim Berners-Lee is the 3COM Founders Professor of Engineering in the School of Engineering, with a joint appointment in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Laboratory for Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence (CSAIL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he also heads the Decentralized Information Group. He directs the World Wide Web Consortium, founded in 1994.

In 2006 he was appointed to a Chair of Computer Science at the University of Southampton, and launched the Web Science Research Initiative (WSRI) with co-founders Professor Dame Wendy Hall, Professor Nigel Shadbolt and Dr Daniel J Weitzner. He recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of the invention of the World Wide Web, at a special event at CERN, the European Particle Physics Laboratory. He also gave key-notes at the Web Science Conference held in Athens in March, and sponsored by ECS, and at the World Wide Web Conference held last week in Madrid.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee became a fellow of the Royal Society in 2001. He has been the recipient of several international awards including the Japan Prize, the Prince of Asturias Foundation Prize, the Millennium Technology Prize and Germany's Die Quadriga award. In 2004 he was knighted by HM Queen Elizabeth II and in 2007 he was awarded the Order of Merit. He is the author of "Weaving the Web".

Pictured: Professor Sir Tim Berners-Lee (right) at the Web Science 09 Conference in Athens, with Dr Les Carr of ECS

Final-year student Mayuran Anantharajan has won a national essay competition organized by the Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Information and Computer Sciences.

The subject of the essay was ‘Who or what was the inspiration for choosing your current course of study?’ and the competition was open to all students in the UK studying Computing or Library and Information Sciences.

In his essay Mayuran provides an entertaining and persuasive account of the factors that led to his decision to study Software Engineering. He explains that in his case, the important reasons didn’t derive from ‘who or what’ but ‘who and what’. In particular, Mayuran cites his father and his dedication to his work as a Communications Engineer for London Underground as an inspirational influence. He writes:

‘Professionalism is one of the first things that struck me about being an engineer when I was younger. I saw my Dad updating a massive thick file (there’s so much work that files are used rather than books!) with work that had been carried out the night before. When I asked my Dad why he did this, my Dad explained that the log file was a record to show as proof to the IEEE (Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) that work was being carried out worthy of an Incorporated Engineer. This is when I found out that institutions existed to help engineers carry out their roles in a professional manner.’

Mayuran’s father also provided decisive advice when the choice of course at university had to be made. Mayuran had decided to do Engineering, but his father encouraged him to follow his passion for computing technology, suggesting that Software Engineering would be a key discipline for the 21st century.

‘I took my Dad’s advice, and having nearly completed my course, I believe that software is a vital technology (without any software, a computer doesn’t do anything), which is why it will continue to develop to a level that will mean society will rely on using computing technology even more in the future. This is why I chose to do a Software Engineering degree; to help lay the foundations in my knowledge and prepare me for the future.’

Mayuran will complete his Master of Engineering course in the School of Electronics and Computer Science in just a few weeks. After graduation he will look for a job as a Software Engineer, or possibly continue his studies to postgraduate research.

‘I really enjoyed writing this essay,' he said, 'as it made me remember many wonderful memories. I hope people enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.’

Mayuran wins an Apple iPod Touch and will be invited to attend the Higher Education Academy 2009 Annual Conference at the University of Manchester in June.

The University of Southampton gained seven places in the Complete University Guide published in The Independent today (30 April), making it the leading university in the south-east after Oxford.

In this Guide Southampton is ranked 13th equal in the UK, a rise of seven places from last year. In the South-East, the top 10 universities were (in order): Oxford, Southampton, Royal Holloway, Sussex, Surrey, Reading, Kent, Oxford Brookes, Portsmouth, and Brighton. The Independent comments: 'In the South-east, the University of Southampton has begun closing the gap with world-leading Oxford, which inevitably leads the way in the region. The coastal campus rose by seven places to reach No 13 nationally, thanks to an improved ratio of students to staff and a boost in academic services spending of more than £150 per student.'

Electronics and Electrical Engineering in ECS was ranked 2nd in the UK and Computer Science was ranked 9th. The tables were compiled on a number of factors, including student satisfaction, research assessment, entry standards, graduate prospects, and facilities spending. The School urges caution on an over-reliance on league tables, since the methodology that is used to construct them can vary widely across league tables.

However, the Research Assessment Exercise, backed by the UK Government and held every seven years, provides a respected assessment of research in all universities in the United Kingdom. ECS has achieved outstanding success in previous RAEs, and was also exceptionally successful in the last exercise, held in 2008. Computer Science at ECS was ranked joint second in the UK for the quality of its research, with 85 per cent of its research work being graded world-leading or internationally excellent.

In Electronics and Electrical Engineering (in which ECS was assessed jointly with the Optoelectronics Research Centre), ECS (and the ORC) came second in the 'medals' tables, with 42 researchers rated as achieving research of either world-leading or internationally excellent quality. Overall ECS submitted 106 staff to the Research Assessment Exercise and 97.5 per cent of their research work was deemed to be of international standard.

As UK consumers aim to resurrect the ancient art of haggling to get more for their money, researchers in ECS are developing a program that will take on the hard work of negotiating prices down.

The BBC reports today (5 May 2009 - 'I'll give you a tenner for that') that consumers are increasingly hagglng over high-ticket consumer goods and rents, using knowledge of market conditions, including latest price comparisons, to bargain prices down with retailers and letting agencies.

'[M]ostly without realising it, the UK shopper has become more comfortable with haggling by asking stores to match the prices they have found online. Price comparison websites are now part of the armoury for any money-saving consumer,' writes Kevin Peachey, BBC Consumer Affairs Reporter.

But for those who find the whole process too embarrassing to contemplate, they will be relieved to hear that research in the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton aims to deliver the haggling capability to their mobile phone.

Professor Nick Jennings, Head of the IAM group (Intelligence, Agents, Multimedia), is developing a computer-based haggling program. The software, with an embedded algorithm, has the ability to adapt to the various bits of information it is fed by suppliers.

After telling the computer what to buy and the maximum price to pay, the consumer can then sit back and let the program investigate suppliers and prices and come back with the goods.

'It won't just try to knock 10 per cent off the price,' Nick told the BBC. 'It will be tough with some and easier with others, as well as taking into account reputation and trust.'

The software is currently in prototype but could be available for mobile phones as early as next year.