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WIMCS Annual Lectures for Schools 2009 (27 May 2009)

Lectures for year 10 students will be offered at Cardiff, Aberystwyth and Bangor Universities in the first week of June and year 12 students at Swansea University on 7th October

 Paul Curzon and Peter McOwan of cs4fn, Queen Mary, University of London, will give the Wales Institute of Mathematical and Computational Sciences (WIMCS) Annual Lectures for 2009 in June at three Welsh universities. Support for the lectures comes from EPSRC and Google.

 The free lectures for Year 10 pupils, entitled The mind of the machine : Artificial Intelligence? will take place at Cardiff University on Tuesday 2nd June, Aberystwyth University on June 3rd, and Bangor University on June 4th. 
 
We all know the movie plot, evil robots and computers taking over the world, but what is the reality? The lecture looks at artificial intelligence research, the field of science that tries to build “thinking machines”. How are they built? What can they do? And as importantly what can’t they do? The talk covers topics ranging across computer science, electronic engineering, psychology, philosophy and biology. It gives a taste of how modern science cuts across different subjects. 

There will also be a careers information event at each lecture supported by Careers Wales.

Professor Terry Lyons, FRS, FRSE, Director of the Wales Institute of Mathematical and Computational Sciences, said: “Our Annual Lectures series and associated activities are part of the Institute’s programme for educational outreach in Wales, which aims to inspire future generations of researchers in the mathematical and computational sciences."
 
A lecture for year 12 students will be held at Swansea University on Wednesday 7th October 2009 on the Bloodhound Supersonic Car Project with the support of the School of Engineering.  Details will be mailed to local schools before the end of the summer term.
 
For further information on outreach activities please contact Alison Braddock, Outreach Coordinator (Email: outreachcoordinator@wimcs.ac.uk.  Tel: 01792 602855).