Tag: Napier University

Heriot-Watt University and Napier University join forces

Heriot-Watt University and Napier University join forces to accelerate health technology innovation and improve patient outcomes

A first-of-its-kind research collaboration between Heriot-Watt University and Edinburgh Napier University is bringing together engineering and nursing students to develop cutting-edge health technologies tailored to addressing real clinical needs.

The Edinburgh-based universities have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) formalising a joint programme which will see Heriot-Watt engineering students visit Edinburgh Napier’s specialised clinical simulation facilities to gain first-hand understanding of real healthcare scenarios and challenges.

These learnings, together with insights from Edinburgh Napier’s nursing students into patient needs and care, will drive collaborative projects focused on co-designing novel health solutions that target clinical issues. 

“Nurses are an untapped reservoir of innovative solutions for the health and care sector,” explains Cathal Breen, Professor of Simulation and Clinical Skills at Edinburgh Napier, which is Scotland’s only university to offer pre-registration training in all four nursing specialties and midwifery.

“However, the health sector workforce is not currently incentivised to come up and come forward with solutions. In our new agreement with Heriot-Watt, our students will identify potentially suitable clinical problems and work with engineering students at Heriot-Watt to design solutions to real-life clinical problems. It is hugely exciting.”

Maïwenn Kersaudy-Kerhoas is a Professor in Microfluidic Engineering at Heriot-Watt University and the lead academic for the university’s new global research institute in Health and Care Technologies. She said: “It has already proved to be a fantastic and fun learning experience for students from both the nursing and engineering programmes.

“This collaboration will ensure an excellent student experience and we are very enthusiastic about the interface between nursing and engineering. Nurses are the closest to patient needs on a daily basis, by championing this first-hand knowledge and expertise, we enable nurses to co-create and help deliver innovation.

“Alongside this, our engineering students benefit from detailed real-world feedback on their health and care engineering concepts. The professional advice of nursing practitioners and their network of patient engagement opportunities is invaluable as we continue to create the health and care technologies needed for the future.”

Professor Breen adds: “While nursing students are exposed to engineering innovation, when they are given the opportunity to contribute to development they are empowered to innovate in their future career.

“There is no doubt that technology is going to play a vital role in delivering health care solutions in the future.

“In September, Edinburgh Napier is launching a new Masters programme for clinicians trying to understand the opportunities and challenges that new technologies will bring – The MSc Clinical Healthcare Technology.

“This MoU with Heriot-Watt is another link in the chain to ensure we equip the UK’s future healthcare professionals with the skills, experiences, and opportunities they need to sustain a world-leading healthcare service.”

One of the Heriot-Watt engineering students involved in the pilot, Sree Choyathala, said: “Our visit to Edinburgh Napier University marked a significant milestone for our team, allowing us to conduct a successful test of our project prototype and derive essential conclusions.

“The impact of this experience resonated profoundly in the preparation of our design report, and we are sincerely grateful to Professor Kersaudy-Kerhoas for facilitating such a remarkable opportunity.”

Stacey Jenowska, Edinburgh Napier nursing student, said: “I found this activity very interesting and useful. It was great to hear about and see so many creative ideas on ways to improve the care we provide to patients.

“Going forward I feel this will help shape the support and care we can provide to patient groups of all ages.”

Game-changer? New spin-out will tackle the ransomware threat

Memcrypt aims to repeat earlier University cybersecurity success stories

Edinburgh Napier’s School of Computing has revealed plans to spin out a business dedicated to tackling the multi-billion pound ransomware market.

Memcrypt follows earlier University cybersecurity ventures ZoneFox, Symphonic Software and Cyan Forensics in making the leap from research lab to the market.

Ransomware – malware that encrypts files, giving the attacker scope to demand a ransom to restore access – is increasingly becoming the attack of choice for cyber criminals as it has a high chance of financial return coupled with a low chance of detection, and the threat is increasing daily.

However, the University’s cryptography experts are developing new methods of detecting ransomware as it runs. This will provide new ways of stopping the ransomware from infecting systems before it has a chance to spread.

The team’s work is part of Innovate UK’s CyberASAP programme accelerator, and is also supported more recently by Scottish Enterprise’s High Growth Spin-out Programme – the early stage growth challenge fund.

Memcrypt has evolved around a technical team of Professor Bill Buchanan, Dr Peter McLaren, Dr Owen Lo and Dr Gordon Russell, and a core business team of Dia Banerji (Imagine Ventures Ltd) and Matt Burdge (the Business Development and Relationship Manager supporting the School of Computing), as the University seeks to repeat earlier successes in converting ground-breaking research into high impact spin-outs.

Threat analytics spin-out ZoneFox has since been acquired by US giant Fortinet, and Symphonic Software and Cyan Forensics have also scaled up to become players in the international marketplace.

At the heart of Memcrypt lies Dr Peter McLaren’s PhD work, the first to discover the presence of the key schedule of a popular encryption method – ChaCha20 – within running memory on the computer.  Another team member, Dr Owen Lo, earlier showed that encryption keys could be discovered just by listening to the electrical noise created by a device.

Dr McLaren said: “The core of our approach is to search for things that look completely random with memory, and mark these as suspicious.”

Dia Banerji said: “Ransomware attacks can have a debilitating effect on businesses, often leading to loss in revenue, falling share prices and reputational losses. We aim to better protect those at risk, and work with law enforcement agencies on improving their responses to these attacks.”

PGP Academic – Bill Buchanan (Dr), lecturer in the School of Computing

Professor Bill Buchanan (above), who played a key role in the research which paved the way for Edinburgh Napier’s earlier cybersecurity spin-out successes, added: “Ransomware affects virtually every market sector, and can affect every size of company. While building our company in Edinburgh, we aim to scale on an international basis.”

Fiona Mason, Head of Business Engagement and IP Commercialisation at the University, said: “We are delighted that our emerging spin-outs are recognised by CyberASAP and by Scottish Enterprise.

“Our success here is testament to the entrepreneurship, commitment and creativity of the University’s academic staff and students, supported by our talented Business Engagement and IP team in the Research Innovation and Enterprise Office who worked tirelessly to bring these opportunities to life.

“Over the last 10 years, our School of Computing has achieved three successful cyber spin-outs; ZoneFox in 2010, Symphonic in 2013 and Cyan Forensics in 2017.

“All of these spin-outs are currently in operation and growing, with ZoneFox having been acquired by the NASDAQ-listed US company Fortinet. This success is further highlighted in a UK government-backed report from The London Office for Rapid Cybersecurity Advancement (LORCA), which listed Edinburgh Napier in the top six universities that have contributed to the cybersecurity spin-out ecosystem.

“We believe Memcrypt will be our next game-changer.”

East meets West on Superbowl Sunday

When American Football first aired on British TV in the eighties, it seemed more of a novelty than a sport that would establish roots. But now, with games shown weekly on Sky and BBC and the annual Wembley games attracting sell-out crowds it has grown from strength to strength in popularity. Continue reading East meets West on Superbowl Sunday

Cyber Security: Napier building the world’s first advanced Blockchain Identity Laboratory

A PIONEERING new research lab will explore ways in which blockchain technology can protect personal data from online scammers and hackers. The laboratory will be built at Edinburgh Napier University’s Merchiston campus as part of a £600,000 collaboration between the university and Hong Kong-based Blockpass. Lothian MSP Miles Briggs has welcomed the announcement. Continue reading Cyber Security: Napier building the world’s first advanced Blockchain Identity Laboratory

Cyber Academy joins forces with Satisnet to fight security threats

A NEW cyber security project will allow companies to train staff to combat attacks like the one which saw NHS systems infected with malicious software last year. The SOCLAB training infrastructure at Edinburgh Napier’s Cyber Academy will let workers get to grips with ransomware and other threats in a safe and isolated environment. Continue reading Cyber Academy joins forces with Satisnet to fight security threats

PTSD also takes its toll on families: public event at Napier University

A PUBLIC event will explore the impact of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder on the families of members of the armed forces. Edinburgh Napier University has assembled an expert panel including a former Commando, an actress, a journalist and an academic researcher to assess whether enough is being done to support the loved ones of those living with the condition. Continue reading PTSD also takes its toll on families: public event at Napier University

Rock2Recovery music event

Please see below information on an event two colleagues and I are organising to support a charity that we are very passionate about (writes Napier University’s Claire Biggar).

Rock2Recovery (R2R) is charity based in England who support Ex Armed Forces Personnel and their families who are suffering from PTSD. We first met the co-founders of R2R (Jamie Sanderson and Jason Fox) in April when they spoke at an event we hosted at the university to highlight the effects of PTSD on Ex Armed Forces personnel (http://www.napier.ac.uk/about-us/news/armedforcesday). Continue reading Rock2Recovery music event

Beyond Logarithms and Bones: Napier exhibition opens tomorrow

John Napier Painting

AN exhibition charting the life and legacy of influential 16th century mathematician John Napier opens at Edinburgh’s Central Library tomorrow (Monday 2 October).

Napier – eighth Laird of Merchiston, who lived from 1550 to 1617 – had deep interests in astronomy and religion but is best known as the inventor of logarithms, which decoded previously unexplored complexities within mathematics. He also invented a series of calculating devices, including ‘Napier’s Bones’, and made common the use of the decimal point.

The Beyond Logarithms & Bones free exhibition, one of a series of events marking the 400th anniversary of Napier’s passing, will include replica Bones as well as Napier memorabilia.

On display will be a rare Promptuary calculating machine, an extension of Napier’s Bones constructed according to Napier’s instructions, which was donated by New Zealand’s Auckland University, and a cap and feathers worn at the Clan Napier parade at this year’s Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

The exhibition storyboards and glass cabinet display focus on four specific themes concerning John Napier’s life and legacy – Genesis, Transition, Creativity and Legacy.

The exhibition runs at the Central Library from October 2-16, and Edinburgh’s Eric Liddell Centre from October 19-31.

John Napier 400 was marked earlier this year by a memorial service featuring a new poem about Napier written by Edinburgh novelist Alexander McCall Smith, entitled A Cosmos of Numbers.

The anniversary of Napier’s passing was also commemorated with a public lecture at Edinburgh Napier University this month in which physicist and author Professor Jim Al-Khalili examined scientific advances which will shape the 21st century.

John Napier’s Merchiston Tower family home now lies at the heart of Edinburgh Napier’s Merchiston campus, home to the Schools of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment, and Arts and Creative Industries.