The importance of analytics
Everybody is talking about analytics. Together with Artificial Intelligence or AI all of our business problems will be solved apparently. Analytics sounds like analysis, so it is natural to make the comparison to try and…
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Simple sensing is great value
In a previous life I was a production manager. One of the frustrations of such a role is the feeling that more control and coordination could be exerted “if only I had the data for…”….
What is model checking?
As software systems become more complex, and we use rapidly developing technologies to connect systems together to achieve new objectives, the scope for the introduction of errors increases. Such errors may cost an organisation money…
Making manufacturing formal
If we take the `buzz’ around Industry 4.0, and the resurgence of interest in Artificial Intelligence (AI), add a sprinkling of imagination, and we end up with some fantastic possibilities for manufacturing systems of the…
Managing software complexity
The construction of software for an application is a complicated process. We employ Software Engineers to develop software in a way that helps us arrive at robust solutions, and it is the training and experience…
Dealing with IoT time
One factor that motivates industrial organisations to adopt Internet of Things (IoT) technologies is the potential to be able to monitor, control and coordinate processes remotely. This opens up new possibilities for collaboration across manufacturing…
What is a Cyber Physical System?
As technology develops and becomes more accessible, people find new ways of exploiting the technology to achieve new objectives. The manufacturing industry is a pertinent example of how technology can transform productivity and increase quality…
Branding in Higher Education
The question of branding is an interesting topic for higher education. What actually does it mean to ‘brand’ a department? In the commercial sector, we would expect a branding exercise to enable a product, product…
Coaching through barriers
“If you knew you couldn’t possibly fail, what would you try?” This is a favourite staple of executive coaches, and for good reason. It strips away everything that inhibits your achievement, and gets you to…
Essay: Managing research and teaching
Abstract This article explores the challenges of managing research and teaching in UK Higher Education, by examining the variability of boundaries that are drawn around such spaces. Changing policy in the UK is provoking Higher…
The manager as coach
Coaching is a popular topic, particularly in the world of business. Executive leaders employ personal coaches to have developmental conversations, to explore hypothetical scenarios, and to encourage self-awareness. It follows that the practice has expanded,…
What I have learned from writing every day
It was a snap decision. My weeks were packed with activity. The teaching and management challenges appeared to be increasing and I just seemed to have no time to engage in one of my core,…
Risky rapport
I’m chatting with an academic colleague about student engagement. He is struggling with one particular class. The students turn up frequently enough to avoid triggering attendance monitoring processes, and it’s creating havoc in the group…
What is performance management?
I think that it’s fair to say that if you hear `performance management’ in an academic context, then it is referring to a negative situation. People tend to be ‘performance managed’ when their behaviour or…
What is coaching?
For a long time the practice of ‘coaching’ has been associated with sport, and more specifically it refers to a role whereby a ‘coach’ assists a ‘coachee’ to improve their competitive performance. The coach offers…
I don’t have the time to write (not on top of everything else)
This is by far the most common reaction when discussing the scholarly outputs of an academic, or an academic department. Writing is seen as a potential luxury that has become an inconvenience. Of course, “it’s…
Re-framing teaching vs research
I enjoy visiting academic departments in other universities. There is something comforting about recognising an issue that is shared across many different departments. It might be common curricula, shared student challenges, staff issues or even…