Discovery: Humans and Machines

Event date

Wednesday 6th July 2022
9.45am to 2pm.

 

Location info

Venue: Francis Bancroft Building, QMUL
Queen Mary University of London, Bethnal Green, London, E1 4NS (detailed directions)

 

Book spaces for your students

Information link (includes booking link): https://isaaccomputerscience.org/events/20220706_discovery_qmu

Book by 3pm 28 January 2022.

 

What’s it about?

Isaac computer science is delighted to present a Discovery event for A level students with Queen Mary University of London on Wednesday 6 July. The theme for the day will be human interactions with computers.

The event will kick off with a lecture from Prof Paul Curzon on “Human error and Medical Device Design” (see abstract below). which will highlight the importance of good design in vital medical devices and technologies. This will be followed by a practical workshop on social networks and cybersecurity, and you will finish the day with the opportunity to ask student ambassadors and graduates in computer science about how they progressed from A level.

Teachers: Please reserve spaces for your students by using the group booking function “manage reservations” at the bottom of the page in this link. Once you have reserved spaces your students need to confirm their space.

All attendees must register individually (students and teachers); any attendees aged under 18 must be accompanied by a responsible adult.

This event will be held in person at Queen Mary University London. It will not be recorded for online participation.

 

Who should attend?

Discovery events are large-scale, whole-day events for A level students, inspiring you about the career possibilities that computer science opens up for you. Highlights include: expert speakers from industry and academia, panel discussions around studying at university, creative, hands-on workshops, and poster sessions from potential employers. Teachers are welcome to attend too!

 

Abstract for Prof Paul Curzon’s talk

Using illusions, puzzles, and examples of good and bad medical device design, we will explore how programmers can prevent medical error with good interaction design. When disasters occur, human error is often given as the reason, but even experts make mistakes using poor technology. Rather than blaming the person, human error should be seen as a design failure. Bad design can make mistakes more likely, and good design can often eliminate them. This is especially important if the gadgets are medical devices where mistakes can have enormous consequences. The best computer scientists and programmers don’t just understand technology, they understand people too, and especially our fallibilities. If they don’t, then mistakes using their software and gadgets are more likely. If people make mistakes, don’t blame the person – fix the design and save lives.

 

Information link (includes booking link): https://isaaccomputerscience.org/events/20220706_discovery_qmu (scroll to the bottom of that page to book).