Discover Lectures

Radiomics in personalised Medicine – Beyond What Meets the Eye

Medical images are used extensively in oncology to diagnose and plan treatment, but what if images contain hidden information not visible to the naked eye? What if this information makes a difference in how cancer is treated? In this lecture, we introduce radiomics, a novel method that extracts features from medical images in order to predict disease outcome, recurrence, progression and response to therapy in the context of cancer.

Dr Concetta Piazzese is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Huddersfield with extensive experience in medical image processing and algorithm development.  Her research focuses on developing and validating new medical image processing techniques to be applied within oncological clinical-decision support systems to improve diagnostic, prognostic, and predictive accuracy.

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Digital Biometrics and Online Identity 

Not all biometric measurements rely on physical traits such as fingerprint and facial recognition – behavioural biometrics such as keystroke patterns leave an identifiable trail across digital devices such as phones, computers and security panels.  In this lecture, we reveal how the simple act of typing can be used to authenticate and (to some extent) determine individual identity, proving that total anonymity behind the keyboard is an illusion. 

Dr Simon Parkinson is a Reader (Associate Professor) in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Huddersfield.  His research interests are cybersecurity-focused and cover aspects such as access control, vulnerability and anomaly detection. His research is driven to address to global security skills shortage by equipping non-specialist users with software tools to perform expert-equivalent security analysis.

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Mathematics on the Street

Can maths help us to understand homelessness? Mathematics is often thought of as an abstract discipline with few real-life applications beyond the classroom.  In this lecture, Dr Ann Smith guides us through her work on homelessness in the City of Edinburgh.  Ann will illustrate how maths plays a pivotal role in understanding complex societal problems, helping us to formulate effective public policy that has a direct outcome on the health and wellbeing of vulnerable individuals. 

Dr Ann Smith is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Huddersfield and a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications.  Her research interests include evidence-based healthcare diagnostics, mathematics education and e-learning.  

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Nuclear Waste and a Sustainable Future – Are They Compatible?

Date: Friday 10th June

Time: 11am

Nuclear Waste and a Sustainable Future – Are They Compatible? Join us for this specialist insight into the future of nuclear energy and its place as a future energy source. There is an urgent need to address the emission of greenhouse gases and switch to greener energy sources to limit global warming and its effects, but does nuclear energy offer the solution? It undoubtedly results in zero/low carbon emissions, but it also leads to the need to manage large stockpiles of highly radioactive wastes including plutonium — an element used in the manufacture of nuclear weapons. Ideas for waste management have ranged from launching it into outer space to throwing it in the ocean. In this lecture, Dr Mir Anamul Haq, Research Fellow in electron microscopy and materials research at the University of Huddersfield, will take you on a journey to explore nuclear energy and understand the problems of disposing with radioactive waste. We will discuss the research that is being done around the world and here in the UK, so that you can make up your own mind about the future of nuclear energy in our society.

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The World of Immersive 3D Audio

Date: Tuesday 21st June 

Time: 11am

Engineering for Quality of Life - in celebration of International Women in Engineering Day 

Date: Thursday 23rd June

Time: 11am

Dr Leigh Fleming’s research focuses on the use of precise measurement techniques and engineering principles to improve quality of life. One area of her work involves the application of specialist engineering knowledge to help people living with chronic wounds. For the individual patient, chronic wound pain can lead to a deterioration in both physical and emotional wellbeing. In addition, the cost of chronic wounds is estimated to be between up to 3% of the total healthcare costs in an industrialised country. For the UK, this amounts to around £5.3 billion. In this lecture, Leigh offers a fascinating insight into her work with doctors, nurses, scientists and engineers to help investigate and improve these hard to heal wounds. 

About the speaker: Dr Leigh Fleming is a Reader in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Huddersfield. Leigh originally studied maths, chemistry and physics at A level with a hope of progressing a career in medicine, but her attention turned to Mechanical Design Engineering because of her love of cars and her interest in how things worked. During her undergraduate degree, she realised that she could combine her Engineering skills with her dream of medicine to improve peoples lives and be called Dr too! She went onto complete a PhD in “The Use of 3D Analysis Techniques to Investigate the Wear of Femoral Stems in Total Hip Replacement” before moving into industry and eventually re-joining academia. She has now been been working in the area of applied medical technology for 20 years.