Researchers forecast “paradigm shift in information and communication technologyâ€?

A silicon-based nanoscale system which aims to harness the ‘spin’ of electrons to boost the processing power of future computer systems is being developed by researchers at the University of Southampton, jointly with the University of Cambridge, the NTT Basic Research Laboratories and the Hitachi Cambridge Laboratory.

The three-year project, which has just received funding of £1M from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) aims to build the world’s first silicon-based integrated single-spin quantum bit system.

According to Professor Hiroshi Mizuta, Head of the Nano Research Group at the University’s School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS), the new system will enable researchers working with silicon to initialise, manipulate and read single-electron’s ‘spin’ states rather than just charge states. In the past, it has been possible to capture just electronic charge. The advantage of employing spin rather than charge is that spin can maintain coherence and is hardly destroyed by interference in silicon or graphene. The approach will also enable the development of novel nanospintronic devices - nanoscale circuits that could use the spin of the individual electrons to transmit, store and process information. In principle, such devices could dramatically enhance scaling of functional density and performance while simultaneously reducing the energy dissipated per functional operation. As well as boosting the processing power of conventional computers, this could also be used in quantum computers.

“This project is a paradigm shift in information and communication technology (ICT),â€? said Professor Mizuta. “It is not just an extension of existing silicon technology; we have introduced a completely new principle based on quantum mechanics, which will make it possible for industry to continue to use silicon as devices get smaller.â€?

The research team, which consists of the ECS Nano Research Group, the University of Cambridge, Hitachi Cambridge Laboratory and NTT Basic Research Laboratories, will develop an integrated single-spin information processing technology, which will provide a unique solution to massively-parallel and highly-secure information processing technology in the "beyond CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) era.

Open Days for prospective students take place this year on Saturday 3 July and on Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 September.

On 3 July the School of Electronics and Computer Science will be holding a day of tours, presentations, demonstrations and drop-in sessions, highlighting the opportunities available on our degree programmes, and emphasizing the unique character of the School. Visitors will have the chance to see all our undergraduate labs, and to meet past and current students, as well as to find out about our students' excellent career prospects.

Presentations begin at 10 am with a welcome from the Deputy Head of School (Education), Professor Alun Vaughan; there will then be separate tours and presentations for Computer Science & Software Engineering; Electrical & Electromechanical Engineering; Electronic Engineering; and Information Technology in Organisations. These presentations and tours are repeated at 11 am, 2 pm, and 3 pm.

Between 12 noon and 2 pm we will be holding two drop-in sessions in the Mountbatten Building, where visitors can see demonstrations, tour the labs with our students, see videos of our Careers Fair and student project work, and find out more from ECS Admissions Tutors. Refreshments will be available. There will also be a presentation on Robotics in ECS by Dr Richard Crowder, with a demonstration of the School's Formica swarm robots.

Bookings are now closed for 3 July since the event has reached maximum capacity. The University of Southampton Open Day web site on the University Open Day Web Site provides further information.

'Visiting universities is extremely important in enabling students to find the best place for their study,' said Professor Alun Vaughan. 'There are many factors which make a difference to the kind of educational experience that will suit a particular student and we urge prospective students to take advantage of these visit days to find out as much as they can about what we can offer them.'

ECS Open Day Hotline: +44(0)23 8059 4506

View our Introduction to ECS Open Days by Professor Alun Vaughan.

Electronics and Electrical Engineering is ranked 1st and 2nd in the UK in recent league tables (May 2010) and Computer Science and IT is ranked 4th or 5th. Find out more about our excellent league table performance and our exceptional graduate career prospects.

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel.+44(0)23 8059 5453.

It was announced on Monday 31 May that Professor Nigel Shadbolt and Professor Sir Tim Berners-Lee of the School of Electronics and Computer Science will be members of the Government's new Public Sector Transparency Board.

The Board will be responsible for setting open data standards across the public sector and developing the legal Right to Data, and will be based at the Cabinet Office which will drive the Government’s cross-government transparency agenda.

In a move which confirms the new Government’s commitment to transparency in government, the Cabinet Office also announced that it had published the salaries of the highest-earning senior civil servants on its website.

Commenting, Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office, said: “Transparency is at the heart of the Government's programme, which is why the Cabinet Office, at the heart of government is taking the lead. All departments will open up their data in the weeks ahead.

“Today is just the start of what we plan to do. We are determined to set an example for the wider public sector, and to create a ‘right to data’ as a core part of government business.

“By freeing up public sector datasets for others to reuse, inventive people will be able to build innovative applications and websites which will bring significant economic benefit. A Cambridge University study suggested that this could contribute an additional £6 billion to the UK's economy.â€?

The Cabinet Office described Professor Shadbolt and Sir Tim Berners-Lee, along with new Board member Tom Steinberg, founder of mysociety, as “some of the country’s leading experts and advocates on transparency and open dataâ€?.

The news release from the Cabinet Office notes: "The Public Sector Transparency Board will support and challenge public sector bodies in the implementation of transparency and open data – and it will listen to the public and drive through the opening up of the most wanted data sets. It will consist of a mix of external experts and data users, and public sector data specialists."

Both Professor Shadbolt and Sir Tim Berners-Lee have been advocates of releasing government data in the linked open data format that enables it to be used in new applications. Their commitment to this effort was reaffirmed in their statement last week on the Institute for Web Science.

They commented then: "As we enter a phase of cutting back on many things, the linked open data movement is a crucial tool, for government, public and industry to get the most value from the important resources being opened up. During times of austerity, transparency is essential, and open data will play a crucial role."

For further information about the Public Sector Transparency Board, see an update on the committee's first meeting.

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel.+44(0)23 8059 5453.

The School of Electronics and Computer Science is placed top in the UK for Electronics and Electrical Engineering and 5th for Computer Science and IT in this year’s Guardian University League Tables 2011 published today (Tuesday 8 June).

Professor Alun Vaughan, Deputy Head of School (Education), commented: "We are very pleased to see another set of excellent results for the School of Electronics and Computer Science. They reflect our strong commitment to creating a very high-quality student experience within the context of world-class research activity.

"Our students are being trained to develop future technologies and they are very much in demand by employers for the breadth of their technical understanding, and also because the unique qualities of the ECS programmes ensure that our students will be able to maximize their potential."

The Guardian’s league table is constructed in a slightly different way from tables published by the other newspapers, which showed Southampton 2nd for Electronics and Electrical Engineering and 4th/5th for Computer Science, but overall the results are a huge vote of confidence for students on our courses and for students who will be joining us in October. Graduate prospects for ECS students are ranked particularly highly in the league tables.

University of Southampton Open Days take place this year on Saturday 3 July and Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 September. ECS will be running a programme of talks, tours, presentations, and demonstrations throughout the day, which also includes talks about all aspects of University life, including finance, accommodation. The University's Open Day web site is now open for bookings for activities in ECS and throughout the University. Book now.

To get a flavour of student life in the School of Electronics and Computer Science, read our student blogs.

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel. +44(0)23 8059 5453.

New imaging systems which will enable a more in-depth study of ancient artefacts will be available within a year.

Dr Kirk Martinez at the University of Southampton’s School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) and Dr Graeme Earl at the School of Humanities are working on new technology for the digitization of ancient objects and documents to develop a Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) System for Ancient Documentary Artefacts.

RTI technology enables the capture of detailed surface properties from high-resolution still or video images. The RTI systems developed by the project will allow researchers to study documentary and other artefacts remotely in great detail without being restricted by fixed lighting angles. The result will be to ensure that high-quality digital versions of these materials can be consulted by scholars worldwide.

“For example, we are going to take documents which were written by Roman soldiers on wooden tablets and find ways to allow people to study the writing,â€? said Dr Martinez. “Instead of having just one flat picture for people to look at, they will be able to use light to explore the images in greater detail.â€?

The 12-month project, which is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council under the Digital Equipment and Database Enhancement for Impact scheme, is a collaboration between ECS and the University of Southampton Archaeological Computing Research Group, with Alan Bowman and Charles Crowther at the Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents, and Jacob Dahl at the Faculty of Oriental Studies, all at the University of Oxford.

In the course of the next year, the team will develop a number of RTI systems to capture images of documentary texts and archaeological material.

In the piloting phase of the project, which will begin in late summer, the project team will test RTI technology on a selection of documents including Vindolanda stilus tablets, stone inscriptions, Linear B and cuneiform tablets in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and cuneiform tablets in other collections across the UK. They will also experiment with the tool on archaeological materials from important collections all over the world.

Image: Amazon Head investigated using HP Labs polynomial texture mapping technique. See this technology demonstrated.

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel. +44(0)23 8059 5453.

The way the internet has transformed society and how it could develop in the future, will be discussed by Professor David De Roure at a free event in Aberdeen this week.

Web scientist Professor David De Roure of the School of Electronics and Computer Science - whose studies focus on the evolution of the Web - will be talking at Waterstone’s Union Bridge branch, Aberdeen, at 7 pm on Wednesday 16 June in the University of Aberdeen's Café Scientifique series.

Professor De Roure will outline how what began as an innovative way of linking documents has now become the most prevalent way of linking people together. He will share glimpses of what the future of how we use the Web could look like, and discuss some of the factors which could shape the way we use the internet in the years ahead.

Professor De Roure is a champion for the Web Science Trust, which brings academics, business leaders, entrepreneurs and policy makers from around the world together to foster research into the World Wide Web, and to look at issues and challenges that will impact on its future use and design.

His current research activities include a social website for scientists and a major project analysing music on the Web.

Professor De Roure moves from the University of Southampton to the University of Oxford in July where he will take up the post of Professor of e-Research.

Dr Ken Skeldon from the University of Aberdeen’s Public Engagement with Science Unit who spearheads Café Scientifique said: “The aim is to provide the public with the chance to gain real insights from leading lights in the world of science and engage in discussion and debate.

“We are very fortunate to have Professor De Roure – a prominent UK figure in the study of the World Wide Web – in Aberdeen to speak to a public audience on how the Web has evolved and the influences and factors which could shape its use in the future.â€?

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel.+44(0)23 8059 5453

The BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, is celebrating ECS Professor Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, in a high-profile campaign on Information Pioneers.

Each of the five Information Pioneers in the campaign – Alan Turing, Ada Lovelace, Sir Clive Sinclair, Hedy Lamarr and Professor Berners-Lee - has their work presented by a celebrity advocate, in a series of short films commissioned from the distinguished director Lewis Georgeson.

In a lively and informative film, Dom Joly explains the genius and inspiration of Professor Berners-Lee in creating the Web and making it free for everyone.

Describing the circumstances that led to Professor Berners-Lee creating the Web and his determination that it should be for the world to benefit from, Dom Joly comments: “There was no central mainframe, no giant bureaucracy, no corporate HQ, no-one was going to control the Web. It wasn’t a physical thing to be owned; it was a space for everyone.

“Passionately believing that contributions to the Web mustn’t be at the mercy of financial barriers or hierarchies, Berners-Lee gave his ideas over to everyone to use - for free.â€?

Visitors to the Information Pioneers web site are invited to cast a vote for the pioneer they admire the most. Speaking at the launch of the campaign last week, Elizabeth Sparrow, President of the BCS, said: “We want to celebrate the achievements of these Information Pioneers and demonstrate their contribution to today’s Information Society.

“Everyone should visit the Information Pioneer campaign website and join in the debate on who should be the greatest Information Pioneer of all time, vote for their favourite pioneer and share their favourite film with their friends and colleagues.â€?

In concluding the film Dom Joly sums up what the Web has achieved: “With the power of his daydream from the 1980s, Tim Berners-Lee has put the world at our fingertips and we’re hardly off the starting-blocks. We’re alive during a genuine revolution, who knows what’s next for the Web? Well, we do, because its future is ours to keep creating . . .â€?

Professor Sir Tim Berners-Lee is a Trustee and Programme Director of the Web Science Trust, and has been a Professor in the School of Electronics and Computer Science since 2006.

Team Tarka, led by Dr Peter Wilson of the School of Electronics and Computer Science, has achieved outstanding success in Solar Splash - the World Championship of Collegiate Solar Boating.

The University of Southampton boat Tarka II took second place overall and won a string of awards in the Solar Splash event held in Arkansas, USA. It was only the second year Southampton had entered the challenge and for the second year running, the team was the only UK competitor.

Solar Splash is an annual event, taking place over five days and comprising different water-based competitions which test speed, manoeuvrability, endurance, design, and innovation. The boats must be powered by solar energy, which places considerable constraints on their design.

Tarka II was designed and built by Electrical Engineering and Ship Science students from the Schools of Electronics and Computer Science and Engineering Sciences.

Team leader Dr Peter Wilson, who also led the University’s first attempt at Solar Splash in 2009, says: “This was an outstanding team effort, which demonstrated our strength in Engineering across the University, with students in Ship Science and Electrical Engineering working together on the design, build, and performance.â€?

Tarka II took first place in the Solar Slalom event and was placed second in the 300m sprint, in which it achieved top speeds of over 24 knots. The team will also be bringing back awards for Outstanding Hull Design, Outstanding Workmanship and Perseverance.

The boat is constructed in carbon fibre, and is powered by two inboard electric motors driving a propeller designed specifically for each event. The hull, motor-mounting frame and propellers were all made in-house at the University.

Programme Manager Dr Reuben Wilcock comments: “It was very exciting to have the Ship Science students at the core of the Tarka II team. They worked extremely hard on a new hull for the boat and their knowledge and experience enabled us to carry out more theoretical simulations.â€?

Tarka II is currently being air-shipped back from Arkansas and a homecoming celebration is planned at the University's Highfield Campus.

“Coming second was a fantastic result,â€? says Dr Wilson. “The team put in an incredible amount of hard work to achieve these results, and this is testament to their skills and expertise.

“We would like to thank all our sponsors, but in particular our main sponsor ARM, and also Detica, without whom we would not have been able to travel to the competition.

“The aim now is to go one better and achieve top place in 2011!â€?

The Tarka II race team included: Tom Partington, Taddeo Haigh, Jacob Deane, Rory Boardman, Daniel Crowley, Jonathan Burton and Natasha Wilcock, with support from Tom Hebbron, Dirk De Jager, Karim El-Shabrawy, Valentin Muenzel, Dr Dominic Hudson and Dr Mingyi Tan.

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel.(0)23 8059 5453.

Dr Dominic Buchstaller, Research Fellow in the School of Electronics and Computer Science, has received this year’s Control and Automation Prize from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) for the best UK PhD thesis in the subject.

Dr Buchstaller carried out the research for his thesis – Robust Stability and Performance for Multiple Model Switched Adaptive Control in the Information: Signals, Images, Systems research group in ECS under the supervision of Dr Mark French.

“Dominic's thesis has made a profound contribution to the field of adaptive control,â€? said Mark. “Whilst seen by many to be the key to providing controllers that work in highly complex and uncertain environments, many of the algorithms developed have significant robustness problem: when transferred from the ideal mathematical world to the real systems, they often fail, sometimes catastrophically.

“Dominic's thesis provides an entirely fresh and novel approach to the problems of robust design and synthesis for a wide class of algorithms and represents an important breakthrough in solving these decades-old problems.â€?

Dominic commented: "I find adaptive control a very interesting area to work in, since one knows a priori that the concept of adaptation works: for example humans naturally use it to deal with control tasks that involve large uncertainties, i.e. the picking-up of a packing case of unknown weight (books or pillows?). Then you have a great deal of research results on the engineering counterparts of natural adaptive systems, the classical adaptive control algorithms, that are designed to deal with exactly these kind of large parametric uncertainties. Although these controllers work on paper they usually fail in real-world applications, revealing a disconnect between theory and practice.

"Fortunately, more recent (multiple model type) adaptive control algorithms work rather well in practice. However, as with their classical counterparts, they usually lack a coherent theoretical framework that tells us about their (robustness and performance) properties and how to use them in practice. This is exactly what I attempted to provide with my thesis."

Professor Harvey Rutt, Head of the School of Electronics and Computer Science, commented: “Dominic’s research characterizes two important strands of the School’s research work – our commitment to real-world applications and our innovative approach to fundamental problems. We are delighted with this very distinguished recognition for the quality and success of Dominic’s research.â€?

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel.(0)23 8059 5453.

Staff and students at the Tony Davies High Voltage Laboratory are celebrating the completion of construction work in the Lab which has provided valuable new space for high voltage research.

The High Voltage Laboratory moved to its current location in 1991 and was refurbished in 1997. Since then it has undergone various extensions to keep up with growing research activity. The impressive second testing hall and materials/measurements laboratory was completed early in 2004 allowing for testing large equipment and simultaneously taking sensitive measurements. The HV lab is now one of only two in the UK which offers such a wide range of facilities for research and industry.

Over recent months work has been carried out to triple the space available for smaller items requiring high voltage supplies for testing by constructing a new mezzanine floor in the Lab.

This increased area meets the current demands of the rapidly growing postgraduate research activity within the HV Lab as well as continued commercial testing. It also generates space for undergraduate students in the School of Electronics and Computer Science, working on individual research projects and group design projects in the final years of their degree programme. This year the School will enrol the first students on the new MSc programme Energy and Sustainability with Electrical Power Engineering and they will also be able to work in the Lab.

Dr Paul Lewin, Manager of the Tony Davies High Voltage Laboratory, commented: "We look forward to the first student entry on to our new MSc in Energy and Sustainability with Electrical Power Engineering in October. Part of our commitment to this new course has been to expand our research space to ensure that our MSc students have the ideal environment to develop their dissertation topics. The Tony Davies High Voltage Laboratory has an international representation for its work in insulation systems and related technology and our research facilities are second to none.�

For further information contact Joyce Lewis; tel.(0)23 8059 5453.