Richard Craig – EngD Systems Thinking in Cyberdefence

No time to think this month as we not only revise for the TSO exam  (2^nd June, 1Day) but also have a lecture block ‘Maths for Systems’ with daily bits of coursework to be completed (and it really mounts up if not done) and a module assignment.

I also squeezed the six month review in that I should have scheduled earlier to get it out of the way. The meeting was really to tick a box and fill in some paper work for the systems centre. I get the feeling my industrial supervisor was expecting a report or  presentation, but I had to admit that with no time, I hadn’t prepared anything and this was going to be the first proper chat between us all about the research project. It was good to see that my academic supervisor was laid back and ‘happy’ with the level of progress made, which countered the business pressure to have an entire timing and requirements plan in place. I did come away with some action points and a better idea of a research direction that would benefit us all.

University

• EngD Lectures; Maths for Systems (16^th-20^th May)
• 6 Month Review (12^th May)
• TSO Exam (2^nd June)
• 2^nd Systems Centre Annual Conference (24^th – 25^th)
• Literature Review
• Supervision; 1 Rasmus student (Systems Engineering), 2 MSc Students (DoS, Modelling)
• RASMUS Student research, survey and draft paper

Company

For confidentiality I obviously snip the sensitive parts from this activity log, but try to give an idea or theme of what I get up to as an EngD research engineer. This month was honestly, not a lot due to travelling to/from conferences and cramming for the TSO exam.

OTHER

• Defence IT 2011 Conference
• InfoSec 2011 Conference
• Future Ideas generation

Other

• Public Engagement – System Centre day for GCSE/sixth form students