A group of computer scientists from the UAE, US and UK have won a seemingly impossible worldwide challenge: to track down five ‘suspects’ of a jewel heist in five different cities within 12 hours. Their win redefines the limits of technology-mediated social mobilization and rapid information gathering.

Thee 'Tag Challenge', took place last month - a not-for-profit, independent event, aiming to “determine whether and how social media can be used to accomplish a realistic, time-sensitive, international law enforcement goal.â€? With a $5,000-reward, it constituted a simulated law enforcement search in five cities, namely Washington DC, New York City, London, Stockholm and Bratislava in Slovakia. Sponsored by the US State Department and the US Embassy in Prague, the challenge was created by a group of graduate students from six countries.

On the morning of 31 March, the organizers posted on the website a “mug shotâ€? of each suspect at 8:00am local time. Using this photo alone, teams competed to be the first to successfully locate and photograph all ‘volunteer suspects’ and submit verifiable photographs to the contest organizers before 8:00pm local time. The enormity of the challenge meant that no single person or group of friends could tackle it on their own. Instead, winning was expected to rely on the ability to assemble a very large, ad-hoc team of spotters. A group of computer scientists provided the tool to do just that.

The winning team, dubbed CrowdScanner was built by computer scientists from the Masdar Institute in Abu Dhabi, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Southampton and University of California San Diego (UCSD). They located three targets in New York City, Washington DC, and Bratislava in Slovakia within the stipulated time. Two other teams were subsequently able to locate one suspect each, in New York and Bratislava. Suspects in Stockholm and London remained at large.

The team leader, Professor Iyad Rahwan of Masdar Institute in Abu Dhabi, said: “What is most fascinating about our success, in my opinion, is the fact that none of us resides in any of the five cities. We all coordinated everything from behind our computer screens. This, to me, is what is special about the Internet. Our next step is to try to reconstruct exactly how we won, and what happened on the day of the challenge, and to learn something about what makes social media work in such amazing ways.â€? Dr Rahwan added: “Back in the 1960s, psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted the legendary "six degrees of separation" experiment, which redefined our conception of social distance and taught us that everyone is only 6 steps away from everyone else on earth. The Tag Challenge is similarly redefining the limits of technology-mediated social mobilization and rapid information gathering. This has implications ranging from disaster response, to finding missing children, and much more.â€? Dr Victor Naroditskiy of the Agents, Interaction and Complexity group at the University of Southampton commented: “The TAG Challenge is a chance to study how information propagates through social networks and what it takes for a message to go viral. Our analysis of the data from the challenge is aimed at discerning general patterns that will help explain the successes and failures of social media in recent events.â€?

Members of the AIC group, led by Professor Nick Jennings in ECS-Electronics and Computer Science, have been working together on the use of crowdsourcing in information-gathering over the last year, particularly as regards theoretical work on game theory and incentives. The global group included research contacts around the world, resulting in a balanced mix of practical and game-theoretic expertise.

Professor Jennings leads the ORCHID project, funded by EPSRC and industrial partners, which aims to establish the science needed to understand, build and apply human-agent collectives (HACs), with crowdsourcing one of the major technologies under investigation and study.

For more information on this story, contact Joyce Lewis; tel.023 8059 5453.

ECS-Electronics and Computer Science achieved excellent results in this year’s Complete University Guide, the first university league tables to be published this year.

Electronics and Electrical Engineering at Southampton was ranked second in the UK on a range of criteria that included student satisfaction, graduate job prospects, research, and entry standards. Below Southampton in the top five of this table (which was headed by Cambridge) were Imperial College London, University College London and Bristol.

Computer Science at Southampton was ranked fifth in the UK, sharing the top five places with Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial College London, and Bristol. Engineering at Southampton did well across the board, achieving top ten places for all subject areas.

“We are delighted with this excellent showing in this year’s first university league table results,â€? commented Professor Neil White, Head of ECS-Electronics and Computer Science. “Students who come to ECS can be very confident that they will receive an excellent education, developing strong technical skills as well as being exposed to latest technologies through our research-based teaching.

“Our links with employers and the strength of our employability activities will also help ensure that ECS students have excellent opportunities to undertake internships during their course and to achieve outstanding graduate careers in the industries and sectors of their choice.â€?

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

A summer internship with local company Snowflake Software was the prize in a novel Code-Off event held in the ECS computer lab last Saturday (21 April).

The hotly contested event involved first and second-year Computer Science students, and saw many innovative approaches to the task, which was to visualize some OS MasterMap GML data from Ordnance Survey. The winner at the end of the day was first-year undergraduate Computer Scientist, Hendrik (Henco) Appel.

Ian Painter, Managing Director of Snowflake Software, comments: "OS MasterMap from Ordnance Survey is the most detailed map in the world – we’re talking hundreds of millions of map features. So firstly scalability in reading the data is very important. Henco’s selection of the SAX parser was a really good choice (especially given that he’d never used one before). Next up was displaying the data - to render OS MasterMap is no mean feat, so seeing some extensive use of Graphics2D was again a good choice. Finally, and what stood out the most for me, was Henco’s use of the attributes on OS MasterMap to enable the switching of the data themes. All in all Henco’s coding covered the three key areas: importing, displaying and interacting."

Henco says: “I quite enjoyed the Code Off - at first the task seemed insurmountable, but working up slowly I managed to create my program.

“First I started by trying to understand the structure of the GML data that I was given and to understand how the coordinate system worked. I then found the basis of a SAX parser which I modified to collect the coordinates and other information, such as the themes, to create a List of Objects from. Then using the coordinates in the List, I drew polygons using Java Graphics2D. I also enjoyed the pizza and chocolate!â€?

Henco will now spend his summer working for Snowflake Software in their Southampton offices on the 3D AIXM Viewer project that Snowflake jointly developed with the University of Southampton using NASA WorldWind.

ECS and Snowflake Software have built a strong relationship over the last year, including sponsorship of a Group Design Project, sponsorship of events, and involvement in the ECS employability activities. ECS encourages all its students to undertake summer placements during their degree programme and has a very active programme of engagement with high-quality employers to ensure our students have many opportunities to find excellent companies which will greatly enhance their experience and understanding of business and industry.

Read more about the Snowflake Code-Off on their website.

To find out more about how your company can work with ECS or for more information on this story contact Joyce Lewis; tel.+44(0)23 8059 5453.

Third-year student Alex Levy has devised and built a new social network for the University of Southampton as part of his third-year project in ECS-Electronics and Computer Science.

Learn Social provides a place for students to get coursework help, create private study groups and discuss course matters with their lecturers and coursemates, and has been designed with social interaction in mind.

“Current learning management systems don’t put enough emphasis on social interaction between students and their lecturers,â€? says Alex. “So when people sign up to Learn Social they are placed into ‘clusters’ – groups which are based on the modules they are taking on their degree programmes.

“This gives them a private area for discussing course issues, sharing useful links, or asking questions of their peers. It also creates a place for students to meet others on their course that they’ve not yet met.

“All users are able to create their own private clusters to use as they please.â€?

Watch our video to see Alex explaining the new site and demonstrating its innovative features:

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During this trial period there are three Amazon vouchers (£30, £20 and £10) to be won by the users who gain the highest reputation on the site.

Alex's project has been supervised by Dr Thanassis Tiropanis of the ECS Web and Internet Science group.

For more information on Learn Social contact Alex Levy.

A group of University of Southampton students are preparing to undertake a 10,000 mile journey this summer, with the aim of delivering two ambulances to the people of Mongolia.

The students - Alex Forward, Neil Howarth, Ian Cooper, Matt Lokes, and Richard Barlow (from ECS-Electronics and Computer Science) and Greg Dymond and Beresford Bernsen (both studying Geophysics), will travel across Europe, through Russia and into Mongolia, as they take part in the Mongolia Charity Rally. When they arrive in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital, in August, the team will donate the ambulances and other medical equipment to the rally organisers, Go Help, a charity which works with local communities in Central Asia to improve access to education and healthcare services.

The Vauxhall ambulances have already been acquired, and the team are now busy fundraising and planning the logistics of the journey. “We will be driving 10,000 miles through 22 countries on this journey," says Alex Forward, "so one of the challenges will be to keep the ambulances in good electronic and mechanical condition. Hopefully, with five engineers on board any problems encountered will be quickly solved!â€?

The total cost of the trip is around £22,000 and the team’s website provides an account of the costs involved, as well as a wish list of equipment needed for the journey, including sleeping bags, cooking utensils, engine oil and maps!

The Mongolian Health Services are in desperate need of vehicles like the ambulances that the team will be delivering. “Useful patient transport in Mongolia is in incredibly short supply," says Alex, "made worse by the country’s poor road conditions. We are working directly with the charity Go Help to ensure the vehicles are put to immediate use after we deliver them.â€?

En route to Mongolia, the students will also be undertaking various projects, including digital CB-radio communication, high-output LED lighting and modifying the ambulances to survive the harsh road conditions.

"We expect plenty of challenges along the wayâ€?, said Alex, “but no other University of Southampton team has ever finished the Rally to our knowledge, so we aim to be the first!"

The students are supported by generous donations from alumni of Electronics and Computer Science and by a growing number of individuals. If you would like to donate to the team, or to offer any sponsorship (there are plenty of opportunities!) visit the team’s website at: www.sixdegreesofprocrastination.com

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

Over 200 former students of ECS-Electronics and Computer Science are expected to attend an Alumni Reception at the Institution of Engineering and Technology, London, on 16 May.

The event, which takes place from 6 pm to 8.30 pm, is the first ECS Alumni Reception since 2007. Graduates from the last 40 years will be in attendance, along with staff and current students from ECS and members of the University's Alumni and Development Relations Office.

The event provides an opportunity for ECS alumni to catch up with recent developments in Electronics and Computer Science and to engage with new initiatives that will benefit current students and support the future development of ECS and the University. "ECS has a well-deserved reputation for innovation across all of its activities," says Professor Dame Wendy Hall, Dean of the Faculty of Physical and Applied Sciences at the University of Southampton and former Head of Electronics and Computer Science. "There have been many developments over recent years which we want to share with our alumni - including new research directions in Web Science and Bionanotechnology, which have been outstandingly successful, our careers and employability initiatives which we plan to expand with the support of alumni, and the establishment of our new cleanrooms in the Mountbatten Building.

"This will be a great opportunity for our alumni to catch up with their fellow students and to network with other ECS graduates who we know are playing leading roles in many of today's high-tech industries.

"We very much look forward to a splendid evening from which I'm sure there will be many positive outcomes."

This year is also the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the University of Southampton, and the ECS Alumni Reception is one of a number of events which mark the University’s Diamond Jubilee.

There are still tickets available for the reception (which is free of charge). To reserve a place contact alumni@soton.ac.uk by Wednesday 2 May. The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is at Savoy Place, London.

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

Last week's ECS alumni reception in London was a huge success, with over 60 years of University and ECS history represented.

Around 250 ECS graduates attended the event, held at the IET, London. As the first ECS alumni reception since 2007, it was intended to provide a new focus for alumni activity in ECS, as well as offering the opportunity for former students of Electronic Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and IT, to reconnect with each other, to celebrate ECS and its achievements, and to find out more about recent developments.

“The event exceeded all our expectationsâ€?, said Professor Neil White, Head of ECS. “There was an outstandingly positive atmosphere in the room and it was really great to see so many old and new connections being made.â€?

With an excellent showing of graduates from almost every year of the University's 50 year history, the earliest graduates in attendance were Alan Conway and Frederick Wise, who both graduated in 1953 from the Electronics Postgraduate Diploma course, and were taught by Professor Eric Zepler, who founded the UK’s first Electronics Department at Southampton in 1947.

In a short speech paying tribute to the spirit of ECS and its generations of students, Dame Wendy Hall, Dean of the Faculty of Physical and Applied Sciences, and former Head of ECS, said: “Throughout its history ECS has fostered a drive to discover new technologies, to explore their capabilities, and to put them to use for the benefit of industry and society.â€?

Among recent developments in ECS, Dame Wendy described the new £120M Mountbatten Building, with its suites of cleanrooms and research facilities for nanotechnology and photonics, the new Open Data Institute, led by Professor Nigel Shadbolt and Professor Sir Tim Berners-Lee, creator of the World Wide Web, which will shortly open at London’s ‘Tech City’ in Shoreditch, and the scale of the research and education activity in ECS, which currently numbers over 270 PhD students and 400 MSc students.

Affirming the central place of education in ECS activities, Dame Wendy paid tribute to Senior Tutor, Eric Cooke, for his support of generations of students, and outlined the ECS careers and employability initiatives which have led to the continuing and increasing success of the annual Careers Fair and the range of activities which support students as they enter their careers.

“This is one aspect of ECS life where we can really benefit from your help and supportâ€?, Dame Wendy told alumni. “We want to use your experience and expertise to help our students better understand the world of work and the choices open to them, to help them prepare for their careers, and to raise their knowledge and aspirations.

“We want to draw on your knowledge and enthusiasm to mentor our students, to advise on our activities like DevECS, a student-run enterprise which is undertaking development work for local companies, to support our outreach work like Student Robotics, or to support our students undertaking charitable or personal development projects outside their studies. In particular, we are keen to hear from you if you would like to employ ECS students as interns or graduates.â€?

Alumni were also able to hear from Adam Malpass, UK Electronics Skills Foundation Scholar of the Year 2011, who has won many awards throughout his years at ECS and will join Dialog Semiconductors when he graduates this summer. In considering what he had gained from ECS, Adam said that “the quality of the people and the opportunities created at ECS,â€? were what had made the experience unique for him.

Finally, before the networking began again, 1983 Electronics graduate Max Toti talked about the work that he has been involved with in the University in recent years, supporting entrepreneurial activities, and using his experience to mentor a group of ECS final-year students over recent months. He urged fellow alumni to get involved in supporting activities in ECS. Blogging about the event afterwards, Max writes: “Let’s aim to make the ECS Alumni community one of the best in the world for a technical faculty . . . Can it be achieved? Of course! But only with the support and engagement of the Alumni!â€?

For further information about this event, or to find out more about the ECS Careers and Employability initiative and ways of being involved, contact Joyce Lewis; tel. +44(0)23 8059 5453.

ECS-Electronics and Computer Science has recorded its best-ever results in the UK’s university league tables. In the Guardian University Guide 2013, published today (Tuesday 22 May), the University of Southampton comes top of the table for Electronics and Electrical Engineering, and third for Computer Science and IT.

Although Electronics and Electrical Engineering at ECS has topped the subject table many times before, this is the best result achieved for Computer Science and IT in ECS, which has been steadily climbing the subject league-table over the last five years.

‘This is a terrific result for ECS,’ said Professor Neil White, Head of ECS. ‘It’s great news for our students and our staff, but also for students who are currently holding offers to come to Southampton to study for degrees in Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and IT in Organisations later this year. Internationally, our students from outside the UK have confirmation that they will be studying in one of the best places in the world.

‘ECS students can be sure that they will benefit from the highest-quality teaching and facilities, and that when they graduate they will be in demand by the leading high-tech companies in the world,’ he added.

The Guardian has traditionally put a strong emphasis on student-centred issues in the construction of their league table, which continues to be an important factor on student choice, particularly in the international market. One of the areas in which ECS has done particularly well in recent years is in its record for graduate employability, which is one of the strongest in the UK.

Our video - "Why I chose ECS" (below), gives some idea of the opportunities available to students at ECS. "I came here simply to be among the best,’ says MEng Electronic Engineering student Alex Forward. ‘You get taught by the best, you get to learn with the best. It’s a great place – the best in the country.â€?

University Open Days this year take place on 6 and 7 July and on 4 and 5 September. ECS will be providing tours of its facilities with the opportunity to speak to current students and staff, and to find out about student project work and our careers and employability activity. Full information is available on our University Open Day pages.

For further information on this news story contact: Joyce Lewis; tel.+44(0)23 8059 5453.

In a major interview in this month’s Wired magazine, Professor Nigel Shadbolt outlines the future plans and potential value of the new Open Data Institute which will open in Shoreditch, London, later this year.

The new Institute has been developed with help from the Technology Strategy Board, and was a major element of the Government’s plans to drive economic growth through the application of open data.

"Open data is not just about transparency and accountabilityâ€?, Professor Shadbolt tells Wired. “There is potential for economic innovation and value to come from it."

While the ODI’s remit is broad, it is intended to focus primarily on helping private and public organizations understand how to make the most of open data. It will also draw on the talent of UK students, focusing on engaging with universities to find graduates with startup ideas or very early-stage businesses. The institute will officially open in September, with a core team of six senior staff and 10-12 others working part time.

Professor Shadbolt tells Wired that he hopes that in five years time it will be a "sustainable institute with a great track record" that will carry on beyond its initial five years of funding. He mentions that representatives from other markets in Europe and Asia will be watching the Institute's performance closely.

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

For further information on Professor Nigel Shadbolt and the Open Data Institute in ECS news stories, see our news archive.

Professor Dame Wendy Hall, Dean of the Faculty of Physical and Applied Sciences, has been appointed to the Board of Dstl, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory.

Dame Wendy is one of two new non-executive members appointed to the Board of Dstl, which is the largest scientific organisation within government, with around 3500 scientists, technologists and engineers at its three main sites: Porton Down, Portsdown West, and Fort Halstead. Dstl's annual turnover of around £550M is largely spent in industry and academia, with the aim of maximizing the impact of science and technology for the defence and security of the UK.

“I am delighted to be taking up this position on the Dstl Board," said Dame Wendy, "and, having worked with Dstl before, I am looking forward to furthering my relationship with the organisation’s science and technology community."

Dame Wendy has held many leadership roles in addition to her academic research in computer science, in the development of the World Wide Web and, more recently, in establishing and developing the new discipline of Web Science. She was President of the British Computer Society; the first non-North American to lead the Association of Computing Machinery, the world's largest organisation for computer professionals; a member of the Prime Ministers Council for Science and Technology; Senior Vice-President of the Royal Academy of Engineering; and a member of the Research Council of the European Research Council. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2009.

The other new non-executive Board Member of Dstl is Dr David Grant, Vice-Chancellor of Cardiff University.

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