Hardware/Software Codesign

The current state of the art technology in integrated circuits allows the incorporation of multiple processor cores and memory arrays, in addition to application specific hardware, on a single substrate. As silicon technology has become more advanced, allowing the implementation of more complex designs, systems have begun to incorporate considerable amounts of embedded software [3]. Thus it becomes increasingly necessary for the system designers to have knowledge on both hardware and software to make efficient design tradeoffs. This is where hardware/software codesign comes into existence

Hardware and Software Codesign for Multimedia Capable Portable Devices using SystemC

Multimedia capable portable devices such as 3G phones will host a variety of new applications. Although the underlying push for new applications in such devices is driven by the increase in bandwidth offered by 3G, it is clear that many of the “new” applications will require the provision of new and powerful graphics/video technology within the mobile device itself. Within a computing device, high bandwidth and computational cost are associated with anything but the simplest of graphics, and as a result the graphics subsystem is generally one of the most critical elements of a system, requiring particular attention in the design process. The project is examining the suitability of SystemC, a system description language, for Hardware/Software Codesign of a graphics system in a typical next generation WAP compatible device

Rapid-Prototyping Emulation System for Embedded System Hardware Verification, using a SystemC Control System Environment and Reconfigurable Multimedia Hardware Development Platform

This paper describes research into the suitability of using SystemC for rapid prototyping of embedded systems. SystemC[1][2][3] communication interface protocols [4][5] are interfaced with a reconfigurable hardware system platform to provide a real-time emulation environment, allowing SystemC simulations to be directly translated into real-time solutions. The consequent Rapid Prototyping Emulation System Platform1, suitable for the implementation of consumer level multimedia systems, is described, including the system architecture, SystemC Controller model, the FPGA configured MicroBlaze CPU system and additional logic devices implemented on the Multimedia development board used for the hardware in the PESP, illustrated in the context of a typical application

Mobile Phone Game Localisation

Often, mobile phone games are developed over a short time span. Because of the additional work and complexity that localisation requires, such games are frequently produced without localisation in mind. In recent years automation and standardisation of localisation has been developed and promoted by the Localisation Industry Standard Association (LISA) and Oasis. Mobile phone game localisation involves various types of language transfer on a small scale, which challenges the localisation process carried out on a game. Our work investigated the workflow for the localisation of a mobile phone game into Spanish and German using a LISA Standard TMX (Term Base Memory Exchange) and the Oasis standard XLIFF (XML Localisation Interchange File Format). Using Unicode the game was also localised into one Altaic language (Korean) and one Semitic language (Arabic). The localisation results have been compared and contrasted using software and statistical analysis carried out on a range of methods

A Qualitative Study into the Impact of Outcomes Based Education on Engineering Educators and Engineering Education in the Technical Higher Education Sector in Ireland

This thesis considers the effect the transition to outcomes based education (OBE) has had on engineering educators and engineering education in the Institutes of Technology (IoTs) in Ireland. Whereas engineering education research into learning outcomes largely focuses on how teaching may better align with their use, the focus of this research, the effect OBE has on both engineering educators and engineering education, receives little attention in the literature. I conduct this research as an engineering educator seeking to understand how we have been shaped by OBE, and how this is affecting the education of future generations of engineers. My research employs a qualitative methodology, in which I consider this impact as perceived and experienced by a sample of IoT engineering academics. My research highlights the influence of the market in shaping engineering education, which can be regarded through Bernstein’s (2000) concept of engineering as a region, facing inward to academia, but outward to the market, mediated by the professional bodies. This leads me to draw selectively on social realism, alongside my experience as an engineering educator, as a conceptual framework. This emphasises the need to gain comprehensive understanding of the historical context in which my research is situated, for which my literature review encompasses a number of inter-related socio-historical accounts: of the early development of Irish engineering education; of the establishment of the Regional Technical Colleges (which became the IoTs) to implement government policy that saw education, particularly technician education, as key to improving the life of the citizenry through economic advancement; the later development of the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) as part of a skills-focussed reorientation of higher education; and the reasons for, and consequences of, the adoption of OBE for engineering accreditation, internationally and in Ireland. The fieldwork, comprising interviews and a focus group with engineering academics, reveals the perceptions of my research participants of the effect that OBE is having on their academic identity, including their approach to curriculum and pedagogy, and provides insight into the structure of engineering education, and the identity formation of students. I will show that my interviewees regard OBE as effective, in terms of: facilitating communication; improving access to education; impacting positively on pedagogy; and as a framework for curriculum design. However, my research critiques the assessment focussed pedagogy that they appear to have adopted as a consequence, questions the appropriateness of the ‘language of levels’ related to NFQ terminology that has emerged in our pedagogic discourse, and raises concerns about the impact on curriculum and the structure of engineering education

Photographic work included in Black Mirror, group show, Saatchi Gallery, London, 28th Sep 2018 - 23rd Feb 2019

Black Mirror was a major group show at the Saatchi Gallery London that ran from 28th Sep 2018 - 23rd Feb 2019. It aimed to show the importance of art when truth is stranger than fiction, especially in the arguably uncertain times we are living in today. The show borrowed its title from Charlie Brooker's hit TV show. The Saatchi Gallery exhibition showcased works by 26 contemporary artists and explored the role of art in social satire. Approx 30 works from Richard Billingham's photography series, Ray's A Laugh (1990 - 1996) were included and in the context of the exhibition showed the realities of living in poverty. Chilean sculptor Alejandra Prieto's work transformed rejected lumps of coal into beautiful desirable objects and Jessica Craig-Martin's candid close-ups gave a voyeuristic view of high society hedonism. Polish artist Aleksandra Mir parodied newspapers by drawing on them with childlike tools - bringing a new meaning to 'fake news'

New Work, 3 solo exhibitions at Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, La Fabrica, Madrid and Guernsey.

New Work consisted of landscape photographs made with a variety of analogue cameras and formats and new family photographs of Billingham’s young family, also made with a variety of analogue cameras and formats that focused on the young children’s growing awareness of the world around them, especially the children’s interest in the natural world. All of the photography experimented with a wide range of analogue cameras, from cheap unbranded cameras with plastic lenses sourced from charity shops to high end panoramic and medium format cameras. There was a dynamic in all of the exhibitions between the wide range of subject matter, scale of images, variety of formats and approaches, black and white and colour and high / low resolution photography and the overall aesthetic coherence and ‘stillness’ of the installations. The three solo exhibitions were ‘New Work’, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London (9 April – 26 May 2010); New Work, La Fabrica, Madrid and Rays a Laugh/New Work, Guernsey Photography Festival, June 2011 The theme of the Guernsey Photography Festival 2011 was ‘Identity’ and the aim of the festival was to reveal a multitude of interpretations from personal to social to political. Billingham’s inclusion consisted of new family work about childhood and older vintage photography selected from his series ‘Ray’s a Laugh’ that focused on his parents and brother. The two bodies of old and new family work, installed together revealed new insights into the themes of family and biography in his practice. Other participating artists included Nelli Palomäki, Carolyn Drake, Francesco Giusti and Samuel Fosso

Early Photographic work included in group exhibition 'In My Shoes: Art and the Self Since 1990', Longside Gallery, Yorkshire, (30 March–17 June 2018), touring to Attenborough Arts Centre, University of Leicester; PACCAR Room, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon; Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Aberystwyth University and The Harley Gallery, Welbeck throughout 2018 - 2019

Early photographic work from Billingham's series 'Rays a Laugh' was included in the group exhibition 'In My Shoes: Art and the Self Since 1990', Longside Gallery, Yorkshire, (30 March–17 June 2018). The show then toured the UK and was exhibited in the following venues: Attenborough Arts Centre, University of Leicester, (7 July–2 September 2018); PACCAR Room, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon, (6 October 2018 – 6 January 2019); Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Aberystwyth University, (19 January–12 May 2019) and The Harley Gallery, Welbeck, (6 July–22 September 2019). The exhibition explored ways in which UK-based artists have represented themselves in their work since the 1990s. There were 25 artists exhibited including Jananne Al-Ani, Tracey Emin, Ryan Gander, Emma Hart, Michael Landy, Sarah Lucas, Rachel MacLean, Jonathan Monk, Grayson Perry, Marc Quinn, Donald Rodney, Veronica Ryan, Gavin Turk, Mark Wallinger, Gillian Wearing, Bedwyr Williams and Grayson Perry. Self-portraiture has provided a source of inspiration to artists across time. In recent years many artists have challenged and expanded the genre by incorporating action, performance and narrative. The exhibition offered a survey of these contemporary approaches, presenting major works from the Arts Council Collection alongside key loans from other UK collections. The exhibition sought to reflect the widespread interest in self-expression that extends beyond the confines of the art world. The rise of the ‘selfie’ in contemporary culture and the construction of digital identities through social media provide a pertinent cultural context. This exhibition was also an opportunity to consider the legacies of the ‘Young British Artists’ (YBAs) who's work was often confrontational and self-referential. Major works from this period were represented, including a selection of Sarah Lucas ’ photographic self-portraits from 1990-1998 and Tracey Emin’s The Simple Truth (1993), an early blanket piece featuring the appliquéd words ‘Tracey Emin Here To Stay.’ Stitched by Emin in a hotel room on an early trip to the US, the work is a physical expression of the artist’s intention to establish herself in an overcrowded art world. A number of the works investigated different approaches to performance and role playing such as Gavin Turk’s photographic triptych, Oi! (1998), which references Turk’s performance as a drunk at the opening of the Sensation exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1997. Many artists in the exhibition have used self-representation to convey a range of ideas concerning identity, community and empathy. For example, Jananne Al-Ani employed the conventions of early photographic studio portraiture to explore her own identity as well as those of her mother and sisters in ‘Eastern’ and ‘Western’ clothing. In Stewart Home ’s photographic series, ‘Becoming (M)other’ (2004), the artist layered portraits of himself and his late mother, Julia Callan-Thompson, into unified images. Bedwyr Williams participatory installation 'Walk a mile in my shoes' (2006, Saatchi Collection) took the form of a shoe shop, with visitors invited to explore the gallery whilst wearing a pair of the artist’s size 13 shoes. In assuming the artist’s footwear, visitors were encouraged to metaphorically see things from a different perspective. Jill Constantine, Director of Arts Council Collection said: “This timely exhibition steps away from conventional self-portraiture to show us how artists explore their own identities, whether real or imagined, and offers us an insight into what fires their creativity. Some of the results are disturbing, playful or poignant - but this exhibition captures the breadth of the imagination and the vitality of the work being produced by artists in this country today.

Object Relations in the Museum: A Psychosocial Perspective

This article theorises museum engagement from a psychosocial perspective. With the aid of selected concepts from object relations theory, it explains how the museum visitor can establish a personal relation to museum objects, making use of them as an ‘aesthetic third’ to symbolise experience. Since such objects are at the same time cultural resources, interacting with them helps the individual to feel part of a shared culture. The article elaborates an example drawn from a research project that aimed to make museum collections available to people with physical and mental health problems. It draws on the work of the British psychoanalysts Donald Winnicott and Wilfred Bion to explain the salience of the concepts of object use, potential space, containment and reverie within a museum context. It also refers to the work of the contemporary psychoanalyst Christopher Bollas on how objects can become evocative for individuals both by virtue of their intrinsic qualities and by the way they are used to express personal idiom