Think Magazine Archives – Page 6 of 15

Google’s deepest dreams and nightmares

In Artificial Intelligence, neural networks have always fascinated me. Based on biological concepts similar to human brains, artificial neural networks consist of very simple mathematical functions connected to each other through a set of variable parameters. These networks can solve problems that range from mathematical equations to more abstract concepts such as detecting objects in a photo or recognising someone’s voice.

Gaming on your smartphone

By Sean Galea

2015 application computer engineering faculty of ict game Games@Large Gaming hardware ict industry saviour zammit sean galea smartphone software Think Magazine Think Website UM University video transmission

Computer, Help Me Play

By Luke Camilleri

#music alexandra bonnici computer dynamic time warping faculty of engineering ict learning luke camilleri non-negative matrix factorisation playing Think Magazine Think Website UM university of malta

Crash Testing: the Largest Experiment on Earth

Under Europe lies a 27 km tunnel that is both the coldest and hottest place on Earth. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has already found out what gives mass to all the matter in the Universe. It is now trying to go even deeper into what makes up everything we see around us. Dr Marija Cauchi writes about her research that helped protect this atom smasher from itself. Photography by Jean Claude Vancell.

2015 atlas beams department CERN collimation system computer simulation department of mechanical engineering engineering EuCard heavy lead ion Higgs Boson higgs field Jean Claude Vancell large hadron collider LHC marija cauchi nicholas sammut physics pierluigi mollicone proton ralph w. assmann switzerland technology tertiary collimator the standard model Think Magazine Think Website university of malta UoM

Il-Boċċa

Come relax in Il-Boċċa, a playful wooden sphere created with cutting-edge design tools. Its shape helps reduce the structure’s scale. Valletta has grand buildings with narrow streets that cannot handle large structures.

1:10 scale 2015 Architecture cnc computer numerical control danjel attard design easa Europe Architecture Students Assembly Faculty of the Built Enviroment il-bocca kristine pace modelling public space sacha cutajar Think Magazine Think Website university of malta UoM valletta wood workshop

During the mid-1970s, the Faculties of Science and Arts were closed down, and the Bachelor programmes phased out. Most of the foreign (mainly British) academics left Malta, as did some Maltese colleagues. Those few who stayed were assigned teaching duties at the newly established Faculty of Education and Faculty of Engineering. Relatively little research took place, except when funds were unneccessary, and it is thanks to these few that scientific publications kept trickling out.

In 1987, the Faculties of Arts and Science were reconstituted. The Faculty of Science had four ‘divisions’ which became the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics. In the same year, I returned from the UK to join the Faculty.

Things gradually improved as more staff and students joined. However, equipment was either obsolete or beyond repair. The B.Sc. (Bachelor of Science) course was re-launched with an evening course. Faculty members worked flat out in very poor conditions. The Physics and Mathematics building was still shared with Engineering. Despite these problems, we had a Faculty and identity. Nevertheless, we wanted our courses to be of international repute—our guiding principle.

During the 1990s, yearly budgets had improved slightly along with experimental facilities. Computers and the occasional capital investment helped immensely. Research output increased, as did student numbers, while postgraduate Masters and Ph.D. students started to appear.

Since 2005, some faculty members have been working hard to secure European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) by submitting proposals to reinforce our research infrastructure. A total of six projects were approved with a combined budget of nearly €5 million. This has resulted in new, state of the art research facilities and an exponential increase in research output, bolstered by additional academic staff and research student numbers of close to 80.
Students are now organised and active through S-Cubed, the Science Students’ Society. This leading organisation is one of the three faculty pillars: the academic and support staff, and the student body. Together, we have made giant strides and the future looks bright.

Special thanks to Prof. Stanley Fiorini who helped us compile our timeline, aided by Prof. Josef Lauri.