From 14th – 16th May, the School of Computing, Engineering & the Built Environment opened its doors to showcase all the incredible research, tools and expertise being developed by our staff and students to help shape the world of AI. We invited our industry partners, staff, students, alumni and the local community to join us, including classes from local schools. Attendees were able to have a go at controlling one of our robot dogs, interact with our social robots who try to read facial expressions, find out how we stay protected against cybersecurity threats and learn about how our students are building a driverless F1 car.
To open the exhibition on the 14th, the school welcomed Industry Advisory Board members and other key external stakeholders on to campus for a drinks reception and an exclusive preview of the exhibits. We then welcomed the following schools: Greenfaulds High School, St Kentigerns Academy, Gracemount High School, Newbattle High School, Preston Lodge High School, Currie Community High School and George Watson’s College. The doors were open to the general public, local community, offer holders and Alumni on the 16th.
We received the following feedback:
Our lot loved the exhibition. It was great having so many presentations on offer and allowing pupils the freedom to move around at their own pace. The space was big enough for the groups to move around and the timings between moving from the atrium to the other building was just right. The speakers pitched their presentations well and took the time to explain what they were doing and why. The cyber competition was a fun addition too. Overall it was great!
Thank you for hosting us, it was great to be back at Napier … The staff and students were as always, very welcoming and accommodating.
The pupils were really interested in all the different technologies being developed, both in their full applications and also understanding something of their development. I thought it was a good idea giving them the blue coins to choose a favourite. The staff were also really engaging, even speaking to primary pupils without much technical expertise or background.
I loved the variety, it was super engaging and the people were very knowledgeable and great at conveying their knowledge to novices!
It was so interactive and all staff were so welcoming towards the pupils and vet passionate about their field.
Dr John McDougall, a Reader at the School of Computing, Engineering & the Built Environment who organised the event, said of the Exhibition:
‘The event is now in its 3rd year and in that time has gone from strength to strength. We have welcomed into the university the general public, industrial guests and partners, high school and primary school pupils. With a footfall of more than 500 over the 3 days, this year, “Powered by AI”, surpassed our expectations. Visitors have been able to see and to get hands on, with the implementation of AI in robotic dogs, communications by facial expression, social robots, virtual and intermediate reality, simultaneous mapping, devices for assisted living, collision avoidance in driverless vehicles and cyber security.’
Preparations will soon begin for next year’s event, and we look forward to once again welcoming our community to see what goes on behind our doors.
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