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Wed, 11 Apr 2012 10:46:00 BST
Nigerian Falilat is running a major new science network
A NIGERIAN research student at the University of Huddersfield is now at the heart of a network of scientists from all over Europe, thanks to her key role as the manager of an important new research project. She is confident that her burgeoning list of contacts will play a major role in her scientific career.
Falilat Jimoh (pictured) is working towards a PhD in the University’s School of Computing and Engineering. Her supervisor is Professor Lee McCluskey, an expert on Artificial Intelligence (AI). He conceived the idea for a network named Autonomic Road Transport Support Systems, or ARTS. It links scientists who share Professor McCluskey’s vision that AI could be used to control the complexities and costs of future road transport systems.
The network has received the financial backing of the organisation European Co-operation in Science and Technology, known as COST, which will fund ARTS for four years.
An inaugural two-day conference has been held at the University of Huddersfield and it was attended by 45 scientists from a total of 18 countries.
The meeting – the first of many events to be held around Europe under the aegis of ARTS – was a big success – much to the delight of Falilat Jimoh, who had been working on the project for months.
“I really felt like an international celebrity for those two days!” she says.
“A lot of people send me emails for organising a wonderful workshop,” added Falilat, who added her thanks to expert back-up help from administrative staff in the School of Computing and Engineering.
Now Falilat has the challenge of continuing to administer the ARTS network, while continuing to research autonomic road transport system for her PhD. This follows her MSc – with distinction – in electronic and computer-based system design, also completed at the University of Huddersfield. Her first degree was at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology in her native Nigeria.
“As an undergraduate I did computing and engineering and I was always interested in electronic systems. But I was not satisfied with normal micro-processor control. I wanted a system that would be able to think on its own and make decisions. That’s why I am in informatics now,” she says.
After she had been offered the change to manage the ARTS network, Falilat went to Brussels to receive training from COST in the systems used to run a network. It equipped her to handle all the administrative details that she will encounter when organising future conferences, workshops and summer schools across Europe.
“This shows international students that studying at the University of Huddersfield can give you the opportunity to network with the international scientific community,” said Falilat.
