Professor, University of Reading
Editor in-Chief of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CONSUMER ELECTRONICS.
United Kingdom

R. Simon Sherratt (M’97–SM’02–F’12) was born near Liverpool, England, in 1969. He received the B.Eng. degree in Electronic Systems and Control Engineering from Sheffield City Polytechnic, UK in 1992, M.Sc. in Data Telecommunications in 1994 and Ph.D. in video signal processing in 1996 from the University of Salford, UK.

In 1996, he has appointed as a Lecturer in Electronic Engineering at the University of Reading where he is now Professor of Biosensors in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. His research topic is signal processing and personal communications in consumer devices focusing on wearable devices and healthcare.

Professor Sherratt received the 1st place IEEE Chester Sall Memorial Award in 2006, the 2nd place in 2016 and the 3rd place in 2017. He is a reviewer for the IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL on wearable devices and is currently Emeritus Editor in-Chief of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON CONSUMER ELECTRONICS.

Title of Speech: Nature-Inspired Algorithms For Optimization with Applications

Abstract: Nature-inspired algorithms have become effective tools for solving optimization problems concerning engineering designs, data mining and computational intelligence. Algorithms based on characteristics of ants, bats, bees, birds, cuckoos, fireflies and others have demonstrated their flexibility and effectiveness. However, many challenging issues still exist. This talk highlights some of the recent developments, applications, key issues and future research directions.

Biography: Xin-She Yang obtained his DPhil in Applied Mathematics from the University of Oxford. He then worked at Cambridge University and National Physical Laboratory (UK) as a Senior Research Scientist. Now he is Reader in Modelling and Optimization at Middlesex University, an elected Bye-Fellow at Cambridge University and Adjunct Professor at Reykjavik University (Iceland). He is the chair of the IEEE CIS Task Force on Business Intelligence and Knowledge Management. He is on the list of both 2016 and 2017 Clarivate Analytics/Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers.

Executive Director - Faculties
Head of Campus - Oxford

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education and International)
Brunel University - London

Professor Andrew George joined Brunel University London as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education and International) in 2013. He is responsible for the education and international strategy of the University, as well as the annual planning round.

Andrew George did his first degree at the University of Cambridge, before going on to the Tenovus Laboratories in the University of Southampton to do his PhD with Professor Freda Stevenson, developing a vaccine for B cell lymphoma. He was awarded a Beit Memorial Fellowship and stayed in Southampton for his first postdoctoral period, before going to Dr David Segal's laboratory in the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, USA, where he used recombinant techniques to generate novel antibody molecules. In 1992 he returned to the UK as a lecturer at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, which merged with Imperial College London in 1997. At Imperial he was Professor of Molecular Immunology and Director of the Graduate School and the School of Professional Development.

Andrew's research has sought to understand and manipulate the immune system in order to treat disease, in particular to prevent the rejection of transplanted organs and treat cancer. He has also used mathematical models to understand how the immune system functions.

In addition to his research, he has been involved in the ethical conduct and regulation of research. He was Chair of the UK's National Research Ethics Advisors' Panel (2009-2017) and on the Clinical Trials, Biologicals and Vaccines Expert Advisory Group for the Commission of Human Medicines/MHRA (2007-2017). He is a Director of Imperial College Health Partners, and a Governor of Richmond Adult Community College and the John Hampden Grammar School. He is also a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, The Higher Education Academy, The Royal Society of Arts and The Royal Society of Biology.

In the 2017 New Year Honours list Andrew was appointed MBE for his services to research participants and the ethical governance of clinical research.

Past Chair - IEEE UK and Ireland Section
PhD, BSc (Hons), EurIng, CEng, FIET, SMIEEE

Ali is currently the Director of R&D and Innovation at Vega Systems and Director of System of Systems Engineering Centre at UEL, London. He is also holding the position of Chair - IEEE UK and Ireland Section. He is an expert in the systems assurance and safety, security, sustainability and knowledge assessment/management methodologies and has a background in design and development of advanced control systems for business and safety critical industrial applications.Ali project managed the safety analysis and assessment of European Rail Traffic Management System’s ETCS for the EU Commission under the ESROG project. He also project managed the development of an advanced and systematic Safety & Risk Management System for EU Commission under SAMRail project,in support of the pan European Railway Safety Directive.He contributed significant original material to CENELEC WGA10 Report TR-50451 on Allocation of Safety Integrity & TR-50506-1 on the Cross-Acceptance of Signalling Systems. He represents UK on CENELEC Railway Standards committees. He was appointed by CENELEC as convenor of WGA11for review of EN50128 Software Safety Standard and Convenor of RG3 in WG14,where he is responsible for update and restructuring of the software,hardware and system safety standards in CENELEC.

Ali also heads the System Safety & Security Technical Committee at IEEE Systems and Cybernetics Society (SMC). Ali is a Visiting Professor at London City University’s Centre for Systems and Control in the School of Engineering & Mathematics and at Beijing Jiaotong University School of Electronics and Information Engineering. He is also a Fellow of Royal Society of Arts (FRSA), Fellow of the IET, a Senior Member of IEEE and a member of the Security Institute.uk.linkedin.com/pub/ali-hessami/11/571/845

Chair - IEEE UK and Ireland Section
Director of Lero and Professor of Software Engineering at the University of Limerick

Mike Hinchey is Professor of Software Engineering at University of Limerick, Ireland. Prior to joining Lero, Professor Hinchey was Director of the NASA Software Engineering Laboratory; he continues to serve as a NASA Expert. In 2009 he was awarded NASA's Kerley Award as Innovator of the Year. Hinchey holds a B.Sc. in Computer Systems from University of Limerick, an M.Sc. in Computation from University of Oxford and a PhD in Computer Science from University of Cambridge. The author/editor of more than 15 books and over 200 articles on various aspects of Software Engineering, at various times Hinchey previously hel​​d positions as Full Professor in Australia, UK, Sweden and USA. He is a Chartered Engineer, Chartered Engineering Professional, Chartered Mathematician and Charted Information Technology Professional, as well as a Fellow of the IET, British Computer Society and Irish Computer Society. He is President of IFIP (International Federation for Information Processing) and Vice-Chair (and Chair-Elect) of IEEE​ UK & Ireland section. He is also Editor-in-Chief of Innovations in Systems and Software Engineering: a NASA Journal and Journal of the Brazilian Computer Society.

Director, JECRC Foundation

Shri Arpit Agrawal is a charismatic mentor and coach who takes the leadership position. Shri Arpit Agrawal is a rare combination of a leader and as an executor. His association and net work with the students community is the quality to be admired. His devotion to work and his involvement to the core is something to be inculcated in once working. His passion for education and the necessity towards mankind has always pushed him in devoting his time and energy in understanding the perspectives and providing quality education. Shri Arpit Agrawal is an avid lifelong learner and is passionate and the guiding force in building the University.

Senior Publishing Editor, Springer Nature

Aninda Bose is presently working as a Senior Publishing Editor with Springer Nature. Mr. Bose is part of the Global Acquisition Team at Springer and responsible for acquisition of scientific content across the globe. The disciplines he is responsible for are Chemistry, Material Sciences, Earth Sciences and Computational Intelligence. He has more than 23 years of industrial experience in marketing and different fields of publishing. Mr. Bose has completed Masters in Organic Chemistry from Delhi University and Masters in Marketing Research from Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies, Pune. Mr. Bose has delivered more than 50 invited talks on Scientific Writing and Publishing Ethics in reputed Universities, International Conferences and Author Workshops. He has published books for secondary level in Chemistry and a member of American Chemical Society, USA.