During IEEE Week 2024 the UK and Ireland Section organised three regional community engagement events in London on 30 September, Liverpool on 01 October and Dublin on 04 October in addition to three meetings with Student Branch Members and Student Branch Counsellors in London on 01 October, Liverpool on 02 October and Dublin on 03 October 2024 with participation of IEEE President Dr Tom Coughlin.
The UK and Ireland Section is organising the Traditional Community Engagement Christmas Lecture Event at the iconic Regent Street Cinema, London; the home for our Section Christmas events for many years. Recent past events can be watched again: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020 (virtual), 2019, 2018, and 2017.
This year we are honoured to have the Christmas Lecture presented by Prof Mike Hinchey, Past Section IEEE UK and Ireland Section Chair, and Director-elect of IEEE Region 8.
This is an in-person event and is open to both members and non-members.
Agenda
Chair: Dr Saumya Reni, IEEE UK and Ireland Section Secretary
14:00 – Registration
14:30 – Welcome, Paul M Cunningham, Chair, IEEE UK and Ireland Section
14:40 – Welcome, Prof Peter Bonfield, University of Westminister
15:00 – Is There Anything that Isn’t Software?, Prof Mike Hinchey, University of Limerick, Ireland
15:30 – Q&A
15:40 – Meet and Greet – IEEE Student Branch Officers, University of Westminster
15:50 – Group Photo and Wrap Up, Dr Nagham Saeed, Vice Chair, IEEE UK and Ireland Section
16:00 – Refreshments and Mince pies, The Foyer, Regent Street Campus, University of Westminster
Abstract
In this rapidly changing world, evolving technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, Big Data, the Internet of Things, and Mobile Computing are combining to disrupt traditional models and radically change how we live, work, and interact. More importantly, these technologies change the way we live and do business: the world’s largest bookstore is a Cloud Computing provider, and the largest fleet of cars in the world is operated by an app provider.
Areas such as healthcare have been transformed dramatically, with better analysis, imaging, detection, diagnosis, treatment, robot-assisted surgery, and even significant advances in sharing health records.
We eagerly await the day when cars, buses, trucks, and railways are self-driven, and Industry 4.0 is already upon us, and of course we claim the use of AI in just about everything. All of these advances are entirely dependent on software. But given our dependence on software, how can it advance humanity? How can we use it to improve our lives, our world, our environment?
About the Speaker
Professor Mike Hinchey is Professor of Software Engineering at University of Limerick, Ireland, where he was previously Head of Department of Computer Science and Information Systems and Director of Lero-the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software, a national research centre headquartered at University of Limerick.
He is Past President of IFIP, the International Federation for Information Processing (www.ifip.org) and Past Chair of the IEEE UK & Ireland Section. He chairs the IEEE Conduct Review Committee and is Past Chair of the IEEE Global Policy Caucus. He is Director-elect of IEEE Region 8 (Europe, Middle East, Africa) and serves on IEEE Computer Society Board of Governors. Prior to joining University of Limerick, Professor Hinchey was the Director of the NASA Software Engineering Laboratory.
In 2009, he was awarded NASA’s Kerley Award as Innovator of the Year and is one of only 36 people recognised in the NASA Inventors Hall of Fame. Professor Hinchey holds a BSc in Computer Systems from University of Limerick, an MSc in Computation (Mathematics) from University of Oxford and a PhD in Computer Science from University of Cambridge.
Professor Hinchey is a Chartered Engineer, Chartered Engineering Professional, Chartered Mathematician and Chartered Information Technology Professional, as well as a Fellow of the IET, British Computer Society, Engineers Ireland, and Irish Computer Society, of which he is also Past President. He is Editor-in-Chief of Innovations in Systems and Software Engineering: a NASA Journal and Journal of the Brazilian Computer Society. In 2018, he became an Honorary Fellow of the Computer Society of India and was the SEARCC Global ICT Professional of the Year 2018. He received the first ever service award of the Brazilian Computer Society in 2023, and the IEEE Computer Society Golden Core in 2024.
