CDT - Key Persons

My name is Adam Booth and I joined the Geospatial Systems CDT in September 2020. My background is in Computer Science having completed a BSc in Computer Science at Newcastle University in 2016. After graduating from university, I worked as a software engineer for two years where I developed control software for power optimisation technology. After spending two years working in industry, I returned to Newcastle University to study an MSc in Advanced Computer Science where I developed interests in artificial intelligence and big data analytics along with a strong passion for research.

My name is Nasia Apostolopoulou and I am from Greece. Prior to joining CDT in Geospatial Systems at University of Nottingham, in the summer of 2020, I completed my Master of Science degree in Renewable Energy and Architecture at University of Nottingham. Before that I completed my undergraduate studies in Civil Engineering and an Integrated Masters in Environmental Engineering at University of Patras, in Greece. During the last year, I realized that I am keen on dealing with the environmental issues and, more specifically, with the climate change and overheating of the planet, and in which way this is affected by the built environment. Therefore, the summer of 2020, I attended to Passive House seminars in order to be a certified Passive House designer and the October of 2020 I got my certification. Moreover, the year of 2020, I managed to present a paper at the 12 th International Conference on Applied Energy in collaboration with the supervisor of my MSc dissertation, Carlos Jimenez-Bescos, with title: ‘Evaluating the performance of an EnerPHit building under different climates in Greece - A Digital Twin approach'.

My name is Chris and I am in the third cohort of students at the EPSRC CDT in Geospatial Systems at Newcastle University. Prior to joining the CDT, I studied a BSc in Geographic Information Science, also here at Newcastle. I knew that I wished to explore the spatial topics taught in the degree course further, rendering research the natural option to peruse. I was particularly attracted to the CDT because of the 1+3 model, which will allow me to transition smoothly from taught learning to independent research. My MRes with the CDT focused on prioritising accessibility improvements to active travel networks through spatial analysis. This work was done in collaboration with Sustrans and has been presented at the FOSS4G:UK 2022 conference. I am now working towards my PhD, which looks to investigate the relationship between urban form, connectivity and cycling infrastructure in order to create cohesive cycling networks in a UK context. My overarching research interests reside in the areas of active travel, graph science, demotorisation of cities and spatial analysis for decision support. I am a member of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, advocate for open-source and a contributor to OpenStreetMap.

My name is David, and I'm a research student at the CDT in Geospatial Systems at Newcastle University. Prior to this, I graduated with an MPhys in Theoretical Physics from the University of Sheffield. My studies focused primarily on mathematical and computational modules, and I became particularly interested in data science during my final-year dissertation. During this research, I had to model physical events taking place in simulations of a direct dark matter detection experiment, in order to characterise backgrounds. Then, I spatially visualised the resultant data to analyse the events. I found this aspect particularly interesting, leading me to pursue data science, both as a hobby and a potential career path. Soon after I came across the CDT, and it seemed like the perfect place to further my strengths in data analysis and physical modelling. So far, I have enjoyed the collaborative nature of the CDT, the cohort arrangement allows for frequent interaction with people from a vast range of backgrounds and interests. I am also eager to work with and learn from industry during my time with the CDT. In my PhD I will be working with the UK Hydrographic Office, pursuing the development of a very high-resolution hydrodynamic model around coastal areas, estuaries, and harbours in British waters, using the Port of Tyne as an initial case study. Best sea-surface height and surface current predictions are only possible with the use of three-dimensional, hydrodynamic models that calculate not only the changes in the sea surface elevation and ocean currents due to tidal forcing, but also their response to varying winds, including wind waves and swell. The three-dimensional distributions of temperatures, salinities and densities are also important for accurate tidal calculation, as is the ability to simulate the wetting and drying of the shore caused by tides and wind-driven surges, and so must also be accounted for in the model.

Job Titles:

• Director of Training Delivery
• Professor

Job Titles:

• Training Delivery Expert: Mathematics and Statistics

Job Titles:

• Director of Student Development

Job Titles:

• Co - Director of N / LAB
• Training Delivery Expert: AI / Machine Learning

James Goulding is co-director of N/LAB, a centre of excellence in international analytics at the University of Nottingham (see www.nlab.org.uk); He lectures in data science, and business analytics and his background is uniquely multidisciplinary with a BSc in Economics, an MA in Management of IT, and a PhD in Machine Learning. He has extensive expertise in the development of novel techniques to analyse large-scale human behavio ural data; research focuses on bridging the gap between behavioural science and recent advances in AI and Machine Learning, particularly to achieve sustainable development goals. James is highly research active, with with >70 international peer-reviewed publications crossing disciplines of social and computer science, winner of ACM Engelbart prize for data theory and Centre for DE prize for data visualisation. Since 2017, he has expanded the N/LAB research centre from its initial 3 members to over 20 research fellows, PhDs and academic staff. Journal article 2020 Smith, Andrew; Harvey, John; Goulding, James; Smith, Gavin; Sparks, Leigh, (2020), "Exogenous cognition and cognitive state theory: the plexus of consumer analytics and decision-making", Marketing Theory, 1.47059312096495E+15. Conference Contribution/ Proceedings 2017 Engelmann, G., Goulding, J., and Golightly, D. 2017, "Estimating activity-based land-use through unsupervised learning from mobile phone event series in emerging economies", in GISRUK.

Job Titles:

• Member of the CDT Team
• Associate Professor of GNSS and Communications Engineering at the University of Nottingham
• Director of Spatial Data Capture and Interpretation

Paul Blunt is Associate Professor of GNSS and Communications engineering at the University of Nottingham. His research is performed within the Nottingham Geospatial Institute and he teaches for the Electrical and Electronic Engineering department. Dr Blunt has a wide ranging experience in Industry and Academia. His main field of work and research is GNSS receiver design and he has designed receivers for Space, Miltary, Mass Market and Scientific applications. Dr Blunt is part of the Nottingham Geospatial Institute Research group.

Job Titles:

• Training Delivery Expert: Big Data Analytics

To read more about Tatiana and her research, please visit her university profile here.

Conference Contribution/ Proceedings 2019 Goulding, J.; Harvey, J.; Smith, A. 2019, "An exploratory network analysis of balance, reciprocity, and assortativity in a P2P food sharing network", in NETSCIX.

Job Titles:

• Manager
• EPSRC CDT Manager, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Agriculture ( Newcastle )

Job Titles:

• Professor of Geomatic Engineering

Jon Mills is Professor of Geomatic Engineering within the School of Engineering. He is Deputy Head of the Geospatial Engineering group, within which he leads the Newcastle Earth Observation research laboratory (NEOlab), and Director of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Geospatial Systems. Jon is currently Chair of Commission 1, primary data acquisition, for EuroSDR (European Spatial Data Research). He is a Fellow of the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS, 2022) and has previously served as an elected Member of ISPRS Council (2012-16), as President of ISPRS Technical Commission V on close range image measurement techniques (2008-12), and as Chair of ISPRS Working Group I/4 on airborne digital sensor systems (2004-08). Jon's research develops optimised image and range-based solutions for measurement, mapping, monitoring and parameterisation of engineering models and has been disseminated through the publication of over 200 papers in refereed journals, conference proceedings and professional periodicals. His work has also been highlighted in the national and international media.

My name is Luis Felipe and I am originally from Colombia, but I have been settled in the UK for almost 15 years now. I hold a MSc in Environmental Mapping from University College London and after completing my degree I spent over 8 years in industry. My background is in the use, development, deployment and management of desktop and web-based geographic information systems (GIS) and business intelligence (BI) systems. Before joining the CDT I worked as a GIS researcher and project coordinator. I worked for and in partnership with NGOs, in both corporate and governmental organisations. This included planning and delivering GIS solutions for research and engagement purposes in international projects, focused on the sustainability of natural ecosystems and citizen science. Some of the projects that I have worked on include:

My name is Rebecca Guiney and prior to joining the CDT in Geospatial Systems at Newcastle University, I completed my undergraduate degree in Mathematics at Trinity College Dublin. Throughout my studies I was particularly drawn to the statistical elements of the course and amazed and excited by the power of statistics and data to transform our understanding of the world. These skills and interests I developed during my time at Trinity, coupled with an interest in global environmental issues, sustainable development and an ambition to find solutions led me to apply to the Geospatial Systems CDT. One of the many features that attracted me to the CDT was the MRes + PhD structure. The opportunity to explore different areas of research and refine my interests while developing a broad knowledge and understanding of geospatial technology and methods in the first year of the program, makes the task of undertaking PhD research a lot less daunting. I look forward to gaining expertise and guidance from the multidisciplinary team of experts within the CDT and learning from and alongside my fellow students across cohorts. The development of geospatial technology in adapting systems and societies to withstand the impacts of a changing global environment is an area I would like to pursue research in. I am also interested in the emerging discipline of geospatial artificial intelligence; combining spatial data science with cutting edge machine learning technologies to extract knowledge from big spatial data. In particular, I'm intrigued by applications of geospatial intelligence to urban flood risk management, vulnerability assessment and smart city technology. Ultimately through the PhD I hope to build up a solid foundation to continue my involvement in innovative research and to contribute to the development of spatial tools to assist decision-makers in understanding future patterns of risk and to plan for sustainable management.

My name is Sam Valman and I'm part of the second EPSRC CDT Geospatial Systems cohort based in Nottingham. My academic background comes from an undergraduate degree in Physical Geography and a MSc by research in Geography from the University of Nottingham. These focused on GIS, hierarchical cluster analysis and river systems. As I progressed through these, remote sensing and the geospatial systems approach became increasingly fundamental to the research I wished to do which led me towards this Geospatial CDT. The CDT is providing the training and conditions for me to develop analyses at a greater spatial scale through being introduced to new software and developing my programming skills. This will enable me to develop my research by using riverine systems as a subject to facilitate exploration of global scale geospatial analysis.