October 1999
Students and staff
to benefit from improved computing facilities
The new academic
year sees big improvements in IT services available to students and staff, with more PCs
and software available.
The enhanced facilities for teaching and learning provided by Information Systems Services
also include upgrades to existing open access machines, and extended networking and
support.
More laboratory spaces for students
The most striking development is the introduction of
a completely new open access laboratory, Lab J, with 106 Pentium III PCs running Windows
NT 4.0. In addition, the old Unix lab U has become the 18 seat Pentium III Windows NT Lab
I. The systems in labs B, D and E have all been upgraded to Pentium III, and there have
been small upgrades to machines in most of the other laboratories.
Mr John Powers, Director of Information Systems, said: ‘In all the University now has
342 workstations in central open access laboratories, all of them running Windows NT -
last year there were just 236 systems, only 202 of them Windows NT machines. There are
also now 42 public Windows NT PCs in the Library.’
The new open access laboratory, Lab J with 160
workstations
Computer network connections to
more student rooms
For the new term all the rooms in William Morris
tower will have connections to the University computer network. Altogether 85 per cent of
rooms on campus are networked - and it is hoped to complete the job in the summer of 2000.
Work has already started on networking rooms in Avon Way, and Greenstead will follow.
Help Desk hours extended
In the new year, the Computing Service is providing
extended Help Desk cover. As last year, IT student assistants will provide help and advice
from 1700 to 2100 Monday to Thursday in term time and from 1700 to 1900 on Fridays.
However cover is being increased for the 1700 to 1900 slot, with two advisors in two
different laboratories.
'99 intake is biggest
yet
More students than ever before have secured a
place at the University.
Just before the start of term last week, Essex had admitted 1,615 new undergraduate
students, of whom 1,155 are UK domiciled, 257 are from other European Union countries, and
203 are from outside the EU.
This represents an increase of more than 100 students on last year and reflects popular
student demand and the appeal of a host of new courses for this autumn. These include
Internet Computing and Engineering, Politics and International Relations, Drama and
Literature, and Film Studies.
On the postgraduate front, the University is looking to admit around 950 new full-time
students, including 165 research students. 750 students had registered by last Wednesday
evening and it seems likely that the target will be met and possibly exceeded.
New labs open as Biological Sciences
expands
The grand opening - (from left to right) Dr
Mark Osbourne, Professor Neil Baker, Professor Ken Timmis and the Registrar Dr Tony Rich
A new suite of laboratories for research into
molecular aspects of microbiology was opened by Dr Tony Rich, the
University’s Registrar and Secretary, on Tuesday 28 September. This facility is
located in the central campus building of the Biological Sciences Department.
It is part of a large expansion programme in Biological Sciences which has involved the
recent appointments of Professor Richard Geider, Professor Ken Timmis and Dr Mark Osborne.
These appointments, which have strengthened considerably an already strong research group
in environmental biology, have also resulted in a refocusing of research in environmental
biology and the forming of new links between the microbial ecologists and plant
physiologists.
Refurbishment of the old chemistry research laboratories to create the new suite began in
April 1999 and has been partly funded by a grant from the Higher Education Funding Council
for England (HEFCE).
The new molecular microbiology laboratories will house the research groups of Professor
Timmis and Dr Osborne. Their research will focus on the diversity within microbial
populations and the metabolic diversity within bacteria with a view to solving pollution
problems in terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
"Essex Wizards" success in
RoboCup’99
A team of Essex Computer Scientists led the sole
UK contender at this summer’s RoboCup’99 – an international tournament
where teams of simulated and real robots compete in football-like games.
.
Proud winners (left to
right)
Michael Seabrook,Matthew Hunter,
Kostas Kostiadis, Dr Huosheng Hu
"Essex Wizards" got the 3rd position in
Simulator League, which is an exciting result. The championships held in Sweden, in
conjunction with the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJAI),
involved more than 90 teams from 24 countries.
The competition was organised into four leagues: simulator, small-size, middle-size and
sony legged robots, with over 400 top Robotics and AI researchers attending.
"Essex Wizards" competed
in 11 matches, achieving nine wins, one equaliser and two losses. The total score of
"Essex Wizards" was 59:9.
Dr Huosheng Hu and his PhD students Kostas Kostiadis, Matthew Hunter and Michael Seabrook
are continuously working on the project to improve the planning and learning capability,
and are looking forward to competing in both EuroCup’2000 at Amsterdam next June, and
RoboCup’2000 in Melbourne next August.
Essex gets
funding for new Professorship to study constitutional change
 The University of Essex Foundation has been given more
than £250,000 by Essex County Council to fund a Professorship to study constitutional
change.
Professor Anthony King has been appointed to the new Chair, which will be
known as the Essex County Council Professorship in the Future of British Governance.
Professor King, Professor of Government at Essex since 1969, is a distinguished scholar
with a national media profile as an elections commentator for the BBC and writer for The
Daily Telegraph. A member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life (1994-98) and
Chairman of the Scottish Election Committee, he currently serves on the 12-strong Royal
Commission on House of Lords Reform.
The donation from Essex County Council represents the first six-figure sum donated to the
Foundation, set up earlier this year to raise money to support and enhance the
University’s education and research activities.
As holder of the Chair, Professor King will study the implications of intense
constitutional changes affecting the functioning of British government and politics at
every level.
University welcomes
new Musicians-in-Residence
An exciting development in University arts
activity sees the engagement of the Angell Piano Trio as Musicians-in-Residence.
Angell Piano Trio
A favourite with audiences of the
Lunchtime Concert series, the Angell Trio was formed in 1991 at the Britten-Pears School,
Aldeburgh. The young ensemble has developed a considerable reputation on both the national
and international circuit, and next year will see their debut performance at the Carnegie
Hall, New York.
As well as featuring in the Lunchtime and Evening Concert series, the residency includes
workshops on campus, pre-concert talks and an educational outreach programme.
The residency will be launched on Wednesday, 13 October, when the trio will perform the
first Lunchtime Concert of the new academic year. They will give their first full-scale
recital at the Lakeside Theatre on Tuesday 16 November.
The full programme of arts events for the Autumn Term is available from the Arts Office on
ext 3261, which is currently in the process of moving to offices in the former Law
Department offices on Level 5, along from the Large Common Room. |
