CAREERS NEWSLETTER 2018-19
This week a number of our students from across the year groups headed to the NEC to present their CREST projects at The Big Bang Fair 2019. It is an outstanding show promoting the best of young talent and of course there are many exciting professional exhibitors. The chance for our young students to present their projects – inc. creating their displays and fielding questions from expert scientists and interested observers – is invaluable.
ISSUE 11 – Friday 15 March 2019
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN MEDICINE Artificial intelligence (AI) – the ability of a computer or machine to perform actions requiring human intelligence – is rapidly being utilised in medicine, and, late last year, five new medical technology centres were promised for 2019 across the UK, including one in Coventry, to help improve healthcare and treatment, while also increasing the speed of early diagnosis. This hot topic was recently recognised in a Medic Portal article highlighting three specific areas where AI was making huge advances: Diagnosis – AI systems are designed to diagnose disease accurately from medical imaging scans, allowing earlier detection and potentially better long-term outcomes. Virtual Nursing – Virtual nurses are robots (e.g. wearable devices) that offer advice and medication reminders to patients in their homes. Robotic Surgery – A promising investment for the future with robots already able to carry out routine operations. Highlighting AI’s potential to erase human error in healthcare, PC Pro writer Nicole Kobie described three more projects: Ophthalmologists, aiming to accelerate diagnosis and treatment, await trial results from two neural networks trained to spot symptoms of 10 diseases seen on OCT scans. Heart Health is a major NHS challenge, with as many as one in five scans diagnosed incorrectly, so six cardiology units are trialling a machine learning system to achieve over 90% diagnostic accuracy. Great Ormond Street Hospital experts are among those developing a movement tracking bodysuit to act as a personal neurologist for children affected by a particular muscular dystrophy. For the Medic Portal’s view on AI in Healthcare, see: https://bit.ly/2u8w8XM.
STILL STE-A-M AHEAD The Times Educational Supplement reported Stemettes CEO Dr AnneMarie Imafidon, in her keynote speech at Digifest, suggested thinking about arts alongside STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering & maths) is advantageous. Calling for greater collaboration across subjects and departments, she said: “We’re now moving away from saying STEM towards STEAM. We don’t just want technology for technology’s sake, we want it to help solve problems. Enlisting other departments, opening our learning to other students who aren’t necessarily on a digital or computer science course is a fantastic thing to be able to do and a great example of what’s happening across Further and Higher Education to great effect in terms of having different types of people on board.” Great news for our students who are often very creative and at the top of their scientific game too. Stemettes is an award-winning social enterprise working across the UK & Ireland to inspire and support young women into #STEM/ #STEAM careers. See @stemettes for more info.
@BablakeCareers