Technologies are not neutral tools that emerge independently of the society that invents them. Rather, their design and use reflect as much as shape society. So what does the contemporary fascination with humanoid robots and automation more generally tell us about how our culture envisages the relationship between humans and machines?

In this lecture Professor Judy Wajcman, Visiting Professor at the Oxford Internet Institute, will examine the ways in which robotics embody the desire to save valuable time by enabling us to complete tasks ever faster and more efficiently. They are supposed to make our lives easier. Yet we hear constant laments that we are pressed for time, and that the pace of everyday life is accelerating. How do we explain this conundrum? And why is it that machines designed for today’s service economy often resemble gender stereotypes? Perhaps we need a female Doctor Who to provoke a feminist reimagining of robotics, one that challenges the future on offer from the evangelists of Silicon Valley.

How is the technology behind driverless cars designed and implemented? How does an autonomous vehicle interpret a complex and dynamic real world environment, and what are the ethical and social implications of taking humans out of the equation? Dr Ingmar Posner, Associate Professor in Information Engineering at the University of Oxford, looks at the current climate and future challenges of implementing autonomous transport.

Oxford Fabian Society presents ‘The Future of Work’

What is work? How will digital technology transform the economy and the workforce? And how should progressive politics respond to technological change?

This event will bring together Joanna Biggs, author of All Day Long: A Portrait of Britain at Work and Nick Srnicek, co-author of Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and World Without Work to look at the present and future of work, technology, and politics.

All very welcome. A drinks reception will follow the event.

Chair
Lise Butler, Stipendiary Lecturer in History, Pembroke College and Vice-Chair, Oxford Fabian Society

Speakers
Joanna Biggs, London Review of Books and author of All Day Long (Serpent’s Tail, 2015) and Nick Srnicek, co-author of Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work (Verso, 2015)

Respondent
Michael Weatherburn, Imperial College and Secretary, Oxford Fabian Society

This is the monthly meeting of the Oxford AI Meetup group.
The talks include an analysis of Deep Mind’s AlphaGo software that has just beaten the world champion in their first match.

If you’re wondering whether the academic path is right for you, but cannot imagine wasting the technical skills you’ve developed in academia, you might want to consider a career in data science, ‘the sexiest job of the 21st century’ according to Harvard Business School.

In this talk, ASI co-founder Marc Warner will discuss how you acquire the remaining 10% of skills needed to excel in industry and the key lessons learned from the ASI’s selective data science Fellowship, which has taken over 50 PhD students to the cutting-edge of industry.

If you know any friends or colleagues who may be interested, please help spread the word to them.

Really look forward to seeing you there.

The Oxford Hub of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers invites you to a new lecture with Saif Kamal (Founder of Toru & Curator of the Dhaka Hub of the Global Shapers). Saif is visiting Oxford to speak at the Skoll World Forum and has kindly agreed to give another lecture on the challenges and opportunities of building social innovations in the developing world.

Saif has been a leader in the transformation of innovations to social enterprises in Asia, having founded the first social innovation hub in Bangladesh that connects development sector challenges to young innovators and incubates them on design and sustainability to transform ideas to social enterprises. Has has had an illustrious global career in knowledge management, consumer goods and media. Saif returned to Bangladesh to empower youth and help local innovation ecosystem thrive. He is also a Cordes fellow and founder of the British High Commission’s Young Leaders Bangladesh. For his work in building an integrated social innovation ecosystem, Saif was recently awarded as a New Champion (2015 -16) at World Economic Forum’s Summer Davos China.

Venue: Seminar room, Oxford Internet Institute, 1 St Giles, OX1 3JS (note the change of venue!)
Date: 14. April 2016, 12:30-13:30

You can read a recent interview with Saif Kamal here:
http://icebusinesstimes.net/transforming-innovations-into-social-enterprises/

Find out more about Toru’s innovation ecosystem:
http://toru-bd.org/

The Global Shapers Community is an initiative of the World Economic Forum – a network of Hubs developed and led by young people who are exceptional in their potential, their achievements and their drive to make a contribution to their communities.

IN[SCI]TE is a new interdisciplinary science, technology, and engineering conference, which will take place on Monday and Tuesday of 0th Week Trinity Term 2016. IN[SCI]TE is run by undergrads, and the talks will be both delivered by and aimed at undergrads.

The aims for IN[SCI]TE are to broaden the knowledge and awareness of science undergrads outside their field of study, to provide a setting for undergrads to give a talk at a scientific conference during their degree, and to inspire future scientists to enter areas of work that cross the boundaries in science.

We are now accepting applications for speakers! Submit an application at inscite.co/speakers/, or send the facebook page a message if you have any questions.

To keep up to date with the conference, like us on facebook.com/insciteco, and follow us @insciteco.

Prof. Daniel Wakelin and Anna Sander in conversation with Oxford MSt students about creating, using and sharing images of medieval manuscripts, during a lunchtime break in a hands-on MS handling and photography workshop day. What can’t digital images tell us? What metadata do we need? What can only be learned from the original manuscript? What information is only available from digital images? Do professional and amateur manuscript images have different uses? What practical considerations govern photography of ancient, irreplaceable books under reading room conditions? Lunchtime discussion is open to all.

Learn about new digital tools for humanities research and build your own virtual workspace for viewing books and manuscripts from libraries around the world in this short talk and workshop presented by Bodleian Library Systems and Services and the Centre for Digital Scholarship.

Since 2012, the International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) has been enabling scholars to view, annotate and remix digitized images. The Bodleian has been in the vanguard of these developments, first with Digital.Bodleian, our IIIF-compatible digitized special collections website, and now with the Digital Manuscripts Toolkit, which will open up IIIF technology to humanities researchers with a set of easy-to-use tools. In this workshop, you will learn about the basic principles of IIIF, see the technology in action at the Bodleian and other institutions, and find out how to use free tools such as Mirador and the Universal Viewer in your own research. You will also have the opportunity to get involved in the development and testing of the Digital Manuscripts Toolkit.

Refreshments will be provided. Please bring your own laptops for the hands-on portion of this event.

In such a competitive and fast-moving industry, what measures can publishers take to remain fresh and unique? Today, innovation in publishing goes far beyond the e-book.

From crowdfunding to creating book apps, to interacting directly with book-buyers, digital publishers are doing some inventive and original things to get their books to the top of your reading list. Xander Cansell, Head of Digital at Unbound and Anna Jean Hughes, Founder and Editorial Director of The Pigeonhole join us on the 8th June to discuss the importance of innovation in publishing, and reveal some of the exciting new ways to publish and connect with readers. Come along and discover what the future of publishing looks like!

Working in wools on a linen ground in the style of the Arts and Crafts designer May Morris, students will stitch a botanical motif suitable for a small cusion cover.

‘Gene-editing’ sounds like science fiction, but today it is an emerging reality. This raises hope for treating medical problems, but also opens ethical quandaries about equality, privacy, and personal freedom. Discuss these questions with a panel of experts including geneticist Andy Greenfield, science fiction author Paul McAuley and science policy advisor Elizabeth Bohm. Lisa Melton, Senior News Editor at Nature Biotechnology, will moderate the event, with Ben Davies, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, presenting technical background.

Book here: http://www.oxfordshiresciencefestival.com/wednesday.html

Delivering reliable drinking water to millions of rural people in Africa and Asia is an elusive and enduring global goal. A systematic information deficit on the performance of and demand for infrastructure investments limits policy design and development outcomes.

Since 2010, the ‘Smart Handpump’ project has been exploring new technologies, methods and models to understand and respond to this challenge. A mobile-enabled data transmitter provides foundational data on hourly water usage and failure events which has enabled the establishment of performance-based maintenance companies in Kenya that are improving handpump reliability by an order of magnitude.

The research is a collaboration between the School of Geography and the Environment and the Department of Engineering Science with a range of partners including government, international bodies such as UNICEF and the private sector. New research involves modelling the accelerometry data from the handpumps to predict aquifer depth. We invite you to test the Smart Handpump in the car park and debate how the ‘accidental infrastructure’ of rural handpumps can spark bolder initiatives to deliver water security for millions of poor people in Africa and Asia.

Xtrac / Oxford e-Research Centre
October 20, 2016 – 19:00
Oxford e-Research Centre
7 Keble Road, Oxford

Seminar Open to all
This exciting talk from Xtrac – global leaders in racing gearbox design will discuss the challenges of designing a gearbox for a unique hypercar – the Pagani Huayra. Voted in 2015 by IMechE as one of the leading engineering companies, this talk will discuss what sets Xtrac apart from its competitors as well as the challenges that arise when you are involved in a hypercar design project.

Speakers:

Jon Marsh – Chief Designer

Dominic Smith – Head of Advanced Engineering

Paul Pomfret – Assistant Chief Designer

Refreshments will begin at 6.30pm, with the talk starting at 7pm. Booking is not compulsory but is helpful for the organisors.

The Oxford e-Research Centre is pleased to welcome Paul van Veggel, Aerodynamics Operations Manager for Red Bull Racing F1 Team.

He will explain what the Red Bull F1 team does, their work philosophy and describe the opportunities they have for people with a software engineering, mathematics or engineering background. The event is open to all.

Red Bull will also bring parts of the car for people to look at.

The F1 team are looking for a broad set of students this year, for 1 year industrial placements starting summer 2017:

· Aerodynamics Development (both practical and computational)
· Aerodynamics Tools (software development, methodology development, embedded systems and electronics)
· Aerodynamics Design (mechanical design of aerodynamic parts for models and race car, plus CFD models)
· Plus a whole host of other engineering students in electronics, IT, R&D test, Vehicle Design & Vehicle Dynamics.

Open to all. Lunch provided. No booking required.

This workshop increases understanding of conflict and wrongdoing from a restorative perspective and explores the principles and values underpinning a restorative approach.

Designed for professionals in the legal field, case referral managers, supervisors of restorative practitioners, and anyone supporting or working alongside restorative practitioners.

LED BY KATHERINE STROESSEL WHO HAS WORKED IN THE FIELD OF RESTORATIVE PRACTICE FOR OVER 20 YEARS IN THE UK, THE USA, WEST AFRICA, THE BALKANS AND EASTERN EUROPE AND SHE IS A REGULAR FACILITATOR AND TRAINER FOR THE THAMES VALLEY RESTORATIVE JUSTICE SERVICE. SHE IS PRIVILEGED TO WORK WITH THESE POWERFUL AND MEANINGFUL PROCESSES AND THEY UNDERPIN HER DEEP COMMITMENT TO RESTORATIVE APPROACHES AND THE PROFOUND DIFFERENCE THEY CAN MAKE TO PEOPLE’S LIVES.

The BLOODHOUND Supersonic Car, launched by Richard Noble and Andy Green in October 2008, is set to take the Land Speed Record into a whole new speed regime. The team, including researchers from Swansea University, plans to take a manned vehicle to 1000mph by 2018, increasing the current Land Speed Record (763mph) by over 30%.

This target presents the team with massive scientific and engineering challenges, not least of which being how the car will stay attached to the ground at such speeds!

The Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) research team at The College of Engineering at Swansea University has been working on answering these questions, and predicting the overall aerodynamic behaviour of the vehicle.

The Institute of Mechanical Engineers (Oxfordshire Automotive Division) and the University of Oxford e-Research Centre is pleased to invite Dr Ben Evans, Senior Lecturer at the University of Swansea, to give this exciting talk on the aerodynamics of the Bloodhound SSC project. He will discuss the extreme challenges of designing a car to reach 1000mph. Dr Evans will discuss the aerodynamic work he and his colleagues undertook as well as discussing the overall project.

High Performance Computing was used as an integral component of the design and optimization cycles for the vehicle. In order to achieve the final design predicted lift and drag responses over 14 full vehicle design iterations were carried out and numerous sub-assembly optimization studies.

The design work on this vehicle has inspired the development of novel methods for simulating high speed particle entrainment, mesh-based optimization and CFD data visualization. At the time of writing the BLOODHOUND SSC is being built, with testing due to commence in 2017.

Registration is required.

The BLOODHOUND Supersonic Car, launched by Richard Noble and Andy Green in October 2008, is set to take the Land Speed Record into a whole new speed regime. The team, including researchers from Swansea University, plans to take a manned vehicle to 1000mph by 2018, increasing the current Land Speed Record (763mph) by over 30%.

This target presents the team with massive scientific and engineering challenges, not least of which being how the car will stay attached to the ground at such speeds!

The Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) research team at The College of Engineering at Swansea University has been working on answering these questions, and predicting the overall aerodynamic behaviour of the vehicle.

The Institute of Mechanical Engineers (Oxfordshire Automotive Division) and the University of Oxford e-Research Centre is pleased to invite Dr Ben Evans, Senior Lecturer at the University of Swansea, to give this exciting talk on the aerodynamics of the Bloodhound SSC project. He will discuss the extreme challenges of designing a car to reach 1000mph. Dr Evans will discuss the aerodynamic work he and his colleagues undertook as well as discussing the overall project.

High Performance Computing was used as an integral component of the design and optimization cycles for the vehicle. In order to achieve the final design predicted lift and drag responses over 14 full vehicle design iterations were carried out and numerous sub-assembly optimization studies.

The design work on this vehicle has inspired the development of novel methods for simulating high speed particle entrainment, mesh-based optimization and CFD data visualization. At the time of writing the BLOODHOUND SSC is being built, with testing due to commence in 2017.

Studying or working in a science or engineering subject? Interested in how to close the gender gap, and want to hear great role models speak about their experiences?

Join Oxford Females in Engineering, Science and Technology (OxFEST), alongside OxWIB and OxWomIn, on Saturday 18th February for our annual conference at the Oxford Maths Institute! We’ll be hosting inspiring women from industry and academia who are breaking boundaries in their fields. The day will involve talks, workshops on diversity, entrepreneurship and communication, and a panel discussion on promoting women in STEM. Breakfast, lunch, refreshments and prosecco will be provided! This is a great opportunity to be inspired, add to your skills, make new connections and get involved.

We are proud to introduce our first speaker: Anne-Marie O. Imafidon MBE. Anne-Marie is a computing, mathematics and language child prodigy who graduated from Oxford aged 20 and was awarded an MBE for championing women in STEM in her organisation Stemettes. You can read about her recent thoughts on the glass ceiling here: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/…/the-glass-ceiling-is-made…

Like our Facebook page for more updates as we reveal our other amazing speakers: https://www.facebook.com/oxwomanempowerment/

Tickets are heavily subsidised and cost just £8 for the whole-day program and food and drink. Get yours here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/breaking-boundaries-shatteri….

We look forward to welcoming you on the day!

Lord Browne of Madingley is presently Chairman of L1 Energy, the Chairman of Trustees of both the Tate and the QEII Prize for Engineering, and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University.

Limited spaces available so register now to secure your place:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/skills-workshop-an-introduction-to-design-tickets-32120337795

Working on a start up but lacking skills in design?
This session will help beginners and non-designers get comfortable with the basic principles of design (colour, typography, layout and psychology) and pick up the intangible skills that are hard to learn alone, but essential in coming up with fresh ideas, working with other creatives and designing with human behaviour in mind.

The main topics that will be covered are:

• FUNDAMENTAL DESIGN PRINCIPLES
A walkthrough of a design from start to finish to show how a designer comes up with and implements concepts, and a review of existing designs to see how colour, typography, layout and psychology are used and how these can be applied to your own work

• DESIGNING FOR A PURPOSE
A practical session to show the considerations and decisions a designer needs to make to fulfil an objective such as to communicate a message clearly, make something intuitive and easy to use, attract and guide attention and so on.

• HOW TO GET STARTED
A few short stories to demonstrate common mistakes beginners make and how to avoid them, how to come up with ideas and then translate them into an actual design, and ways to find opportunities to practise your skills

This workshop will be tailored to people with no or little previous design experience.

Check out previous workshops here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmfRPcybmAY

This workshop will be taught by Barney Yau. He has 8 years of design experience, started 3 design companies since he was 16, and has worked on over 200 projects with startups, SMEs and multinational corporations. He also taught design to over 500 students at Google Campus London, The London School of Economics, Imperial College London, The University of Warwick, Durham University and at HKUST for over 3 years, and have run private design sessions with startups, hackathons and incubator cohorts.

Currently we are hearing more and more about LGBT+, and specifically transgender, people and issues in the press, media and everyday life. With terminology evolving at a fast pace and misinformation scattered around the internet, it can be hard to know what words mean and which are offensive / preferred. It can also feel impolite to ask or you may worry that you ‘should already know’ the answers to unanswered questions. What does it mean to be transgender? Is ‘queer’ offensive? What can I ask and what should I avoid? This LGBT+ 101 talk aims to answer some of those questions and will provide a safe space to ask more.

This session will be led by Dr Clara Barker (University of Oxford). Clara is a material scientist at Oxford University, following a four year post-doc at Empa, Switzerland. Last year she also became the vice-chair of the LGBT+ Advisory Group for the university and she volunteers at two Oxford LGBT+ youth and young adult groups. Clara also works with the Oxford County Council on various projects, including an anti-bully campaign for schools. In her spare time she blogs, writes for a music magazine, climbs, plays D&D and paints miniatures. Clara strongly believes in allowing people to be themselves and to be judged on what they do, not who they happen to be.

Lunch will be provided from 12.30-1pm. Talk and discussion from 1-2pm.

This one day workshop will explore the particular challenges, joys, and dynamics of working and living in a restorative way with young people in their teens. The values, language, and principles of restorative approaches contribute to building and maintaining positive and mutually respectful relationships. They offer more effective approaches to discipline and boundary setting. At a time when teenagers are going through so many changes our interactions with them are critical to the development of their identities and interests and potentially highly rewarding to our relationships with them.

Led by Katherine Stoessel who has worked in the field of restorative practice for over 20 years in the UK, the USA, West Africa, the Balkans and Eastern Europe and she is a regular facilitator and trainer for the Thames Valley Restorative Justice Service. She is privileged to work with these powerful and meaningful processes and they underpin her deep commitment to restorative approaches and the profound difference they can make to people’s lives.

For Dr Kanade, good research derives from solving real-world problems and delivering useful results to society. As a roboticist, he participated in developing a wide range of computer-vision systems and autonomous robots, including human-face recognition, autonomously-driven cars, computer-assisted surgical robots, robot helicopters, biological live cell tracking through a microscope, and EyeVision, a system used for sports broadcast. Dr Kanade will share insights into his projects and discuss how his “Think like an amateur, do as an expert” maxim interacts with problems and people.

Dr Takeo Kanade is the 2016 Kyoto Prize Laureate for Advanced Technology.

Oxford Translation Day is taking place on the 3rd of June. We have an excellent line-up: women’s writing from the post-Soviet Baltic states; translation workshops; an achingly cool modern libretto, and MUCH MUCH MORE! Don’t dare miss out! All events are free but registration is required. More info about the programme and how to book here: http://www.occt.ox.ac.uk/oxford-translation-day-2017.

A one-off screening of recent documentary release Citizen Jane: Battle for the City. The film will be followed by a panel discussion featuring four local experts talking about how the themes in the documentary relate to issues for our own city — both past and present.

The panel is made up of four women who will discuss the issues raised in the film from four different perspectives — urban planning, architecture, local history and art.

Dr Sue Brownill, an urban policy expert at Oxford Brookes University, will chair the discussion and will be joined by: Dr Annie Skinner, local historian and author of ‘Cowley Road: a History’; Dr Igea Troiani, Senior Lecturer in Architecture at Oxford Brookes; and Rachel Barbaresi, an artist with interest the social aspects of urban space whose work is currently on show at Modern Art Oxford’s Future Knowledge exhibition.

Numerous free talks, walking tours and workshops over two days in central Oxford. Visit the webpage to find out more and book into sessions.

[N.B. Please confirm the venue with the organiser.]

Build your public speaking skills and confidence in a friendly North Oxford club. First meeting free, £10 per month after that (+ £13 joining fee).

What does it mean to be a feminist? Who can be a feminist? And is there a right and wrong way of doing it?

Join us on a unique journey through feminist history, adding your voice as we discuss key moments in literature, art, politics, music, sport, and science to develop our understanding of feminism.

You’ll discover knowledge you didn’t realise you had as we join together the pieces of feminist history and women’s achievements in this fun, interactive workshop.

We will identify different stages and criticisms of feminism and consider intersections with race, LGBTIQ, age, and disability politics. We look for silences and unacknowledged voices, and consider the privileges and biases in our own perspectives.