University of Birmingham (UOB, UK)

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Founded in 1900 by the citizens of Birmingham, the University of Birmingham is a well-established institution, both nationally and internationally, that offers high-standard teaching and research in most major disciplines. The University of Birmingham has academic staff of distinction, many recognised as international leaders in their fields and attracts students of high ability. The University is also one of the leading research-based universities in the United Kingdom; the breadth of research expertise is a distinctive characteristic of the University. To facilitate research, researchers have access to top-class infrastructure and benefit from the support and expertise of the Finance Office and Research Support & Business Development Department.
The Department of Electronic, Electrical and Computing Engineering (EECE) was recently awarded 5/5 for research achievement in the UK Research Assessment Exercise, making it one of the best centres for such research in the UK. It also gained 24/24 in the UK Teaching Quality Assessment Exercise. EECE runs 4-year MEng courses in communications, computing, electronics and interactive systems, with around 100 students per year. At postgraduate level, EECE runs MSc courses in power electronics and in computing, communications and human-centred systems, with around 50 students on these MScs, together with some 150 full-time PhD students. EECE offers a unique combination of research skills, ranging from communications technology to software engineering to human-centred systems design.

The Kodak / Royal Academy of Engineering Educational Technology Research Group has some 30 academic staff, researchers and postgraduate students. The focus of the Group's research is Human-Centred Design of Interactive Technology and its research areas include: Personal and Mobile Technologies, Technology-Mediated Flexible Learning, Interactive Technology in Medicine, Software Engineering Education and Quality in Computer and Communications Systems.

The group has access to world-class facilities including the Centre for Educational Technology and Distance Learning, with a multimedia development suite and an innovative Flexible Learning Room containing ISDN and IP videoconferencing equipment. The building is serviced by an IEEE 802.11b wireless LAN system as well as high speed fixed networks.

Current research activities of relevance to this project are:

1. HandLeR: a set of projects related to the design, development and evaluation of handheld devices to support mobile, lifelong learning. This work will contribute to MOBIlearn through research into interaction design for mobile technology, technology-mediated learning, techniques for structuring knowledge, and evaluation of educational technology;
2. Lab of Tomorrow: a current IST project, in which on-body sensors communicate, via a wireless link, with classrooms to provide real-time data relating to human movement and performance. This project will contribute to MOBIlearn through research into hardware infrastructure and user interface design;
3. Wearable Computers: a series of projects involved in the design, development and evaluation of on-body computing equipment. This work will contribute to MOBIlearn through research into software architecture and communications systems;
4. E-Enterprise Environment: a major project, funded by the UK Office for Science and Technology, to develop a software environment to assist students and academic staff in the commercial exploitation of inventions and student projects. This will contribute to MOBIlearn through the development of knowledge management systems and online communities.
   

Key people: Prof. Mike Sharples, Dr. Chris Baber, Dr. Theo Arvanitis, Dr. Russell Beale

Research Fellows: Peter Lonsdale, Phil Glew, Giasemi Vavoula

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