Science & Tech
SEPTEMBER 2019 | ISSUE 3
GIVES START”
21
ADD A LITTLE ‘PEPPER’ TO YOUR LIFE
PHOTOGRAPHY FROM MARÍA JOSÉ MORALES
AN INTRODUCTION TO A NEW COLUMN BY TIMUR SELIM Timur Selim follows Middlesex University’s very own AI robot Pepper around campus to see what they’ve been up to.
PHOTOGRAPHY FROM THE ONCONANO RESEARCH GROUP
They were particularly proud of the My Research Story series, claiming that “it helped a lot of people.” They bragged of a specific success story of a research student who spoke at one of the events, and at a following event claimed that it had helped her so much that she no longer needed mental health support. They also talk to students who are interested in finding out more about research or PhD studies, and invite anyone in this category to “come in for a coffee” and they will have an informal chat about the realistic expectations of a research student. The success of the group, they explained, is down to their wide range of experience. “And also, I think,” Fahim said, “we are reaching a platform that’s never been done. As a group we create some amazing stuff that usually you would see as something that has been created by someone really professional.” In his opinion, at the core of the group is a knowledge that “as well as helping
others, it’s very important to have skills in time management, leadership and development.” The interview ended with their wishes for the future. “I think, working as a group, we have changed things for all PhD students,” they told us. “We’ve set up that standard, and we hope that standards will stay here after we leave.” In particular, they hope that the levels of communication and student engagement will continue to increase at the rate they have seen over the past year. In an inspiring tone, Fahim drove through his message: “Look, it’s there. Take part in it, and it will make you look better, as well as developing your own skills.” The associate members hope to be completing their PhDs in roughly a year. Following this, they aim to continue to try to set up a multi-disciplinary platform for information sharing between students.
One side of the university that only a few students get to see is the activity inside the Ritterman building. In that building, in one lab, there is a very special project that has been going on at Middlesex for the last three years. Pepper is a robot that can recognise facial expressions and focuses on building relationships with people by using its ability to detect emotions. Although Pepper is out of service till the academic year begins, let’s have a quick recap of what she
has achieved so far. In 2017, the Psychology department and the Science and Technology faculty collaborated, which saw Pepper running a mindfulness class. This was open to any student who had applied to Middlesex University through clearing, informing them how they can remain calm through the process in a novel way. Possibly Pepper’s largest achievement to date was giving evidence on AI at the House of Commons last year. They spoke about how it can improve lives, most notably for education. Pepper gave an account of how she has worked with primary school children and helped them
learn mathematics, as well as how she can be used to comfort elderly people. Pepper also travels with her team to different events such as New Scientist Live and WorldSkills in Birmingham to represent Middlesex. Here Pepper dances, hugs and can even be tickled. At certain events you could also see Pepper on campus, such as the STEM Festival, where anyone can approach them. There is much more to come though as we go into the next academic year. I will be keeping track of Pepper and her monthly activities to let you know where you can find her and what she is up to.
