Applications of Computing in Industry

Lecture series

We have joined with our Corporate Partners to bring you an exciting lecture series of technical presentations called 'Applications of Computing in Industry'. The technical presentations are designed to complement your studies by showing how theory is applied in practice and by describing interesting technical challenges in industry and how our partner organisations are addressing them. Learning more about how computing is applied in industry will also support you with your career choices and the insights you gain will give you a competitive edge in applications/interviews.

Dates of lectures

Usually Tuesday and Thursday from 1pm till 2pm for the first six weeks of the Autumn and Spring term.

Location

Huxley LT308.

Suitability 

Applications of Computing in Industry is open to all DoC students and students from relevant departments. Places are allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. Please note that some presentations may assume prior knowledge of a technology/area and as such may be more suitable for students on certain courses or at certain stages in their study - where this is the case it will be noted in the presentation details provided below.

Employers:  Register your interest in presenting here.

For details of previous years talks, see: 2009-2010, 2010-2011, 2011-2012, 2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2015-2016, 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021, 2021-2022, 2022-2023. 

Autumn Term 2023-2024

Wednesday 4th October

Time: 1.30pm Location: HUX 308
Title: Nutanix and AHV: From the Data Centre to the Public Cloud and Back
Speaker: Dr Felipe Franciosi

More frequently than ever we are seeing innovation accruing millions of users in record time. Behind that is compute, network, and storage infrastructure scaling according to demand. This talk will introduce you to Nutanix, a cloud company helping all segments of industry to manage their data centres on premises, on the public cloud, and in between to balance scalability and cost. At the core of this technology is Nutanix's Acropolis Hypervisor (AHV), a KVM-based virtualisation solution primarily developed right around the corner in Cambridge. On the second half of the talk, you will also hear from Imperial student Wojtek who interned at Nutanix this summer.

Wednesday 4th October

Time: 2:30pm Location: HUX 308
Title:  How to be a Hedge Fund Quant
Speaker:  Dr Tom Doris | Carlson Capital

Interested in becoming a 'quant' in the hedge fund world? This talk introduces the dynamic role of a quantitative analyst. We'll cover the essentials: what quants do, the skills they need, and the career opportunities available. While we'll highlight the quant roles at our firm, we'll also touch upon broader industry perspectives. Join us for a clear and concise look into the life and work of a hedge fund quant.

Week 2 ACI

Tuesday 10th October

Time: 1.00pm  Location: HUX 308
Title:  How a successful hedge fund leverages technology on the global markets
Speaker: TBC | SquarePoint Capital

At Squarepoint, we are developing a world-class quantitative investment platform to deliver high quality, uncorrelated returns by applying deep expertise across Quantitative Investment Management, Technology and Trading Operations. We operate at scale, executing millions of trades a day based on thousands of daily complex simulations produced by our Investment team.

In this talk we outline who we are, what we do, and how technology can enable us to solve such complex problems at the required scale. You will discover the multiple layers that make up our technological solutions, from distributed low-latency systems to firm-wide tools and services, and including the infrastructure that supports it all.

Perhaps you will also discover which of those problem spaces you wish to explore in your future technology career.

Thursday 12th October

Time: 1.00pm  Location: HUX 308
Title:  Disruptive Innovation using Artificial Intelligence and Robotics
Speaker: Dr David Sharp | Kaikaku.ai

David will take you on a journey that explores the increasingly sophisticated combinations of artificial intelligence, robotics, e-commerce, internet-of-things, telecommunication, transportation, cloud, logistics and warehouse technologies that are enabling disruptive innovations in customer service and fulfilment economics for online and in person experiences.

Week 3 ACI

Tuesday 17th October

Time: 1.00pm  Location: HUX 308
Title:  TBC
Speaker: QRT

Thursday 19th October

Time: 1.00pm  Location: HUX 308
Title:  Mobile Apps, Data and AI: A Unified Framework for Scaling Apps and Extracting Insights
Speaker: Daniele Galloni | Bending Spoons

In this talk, we delve into the fascinating world of app management and data analysis at Bending Spoons. Our goal is to maximise the potential for a large suite of apps while ensuring they remain cost-effective. We'll explore how we created a unified architecture which enables the knowledge gained from one app to inform decisions about others, while preserving individual customisations. I'll take you on a high-level exploration of the platform we built, in which AI plays a foundational role, which has empowered us to acquire and rapidly scale new apps to their full potential.

Week 4 ACI

Tuesday 24th October

Time: 1.00pm  Location: HUX 308
Title:  TBC GenAI focus
Speaker: IAG Tech

Thursday 26th October

Time: 1.00pm  Location: HUX 308
Title:  Using ChatGPT to talk to scammers
Speaker: Netcraft

Week 5 ACI

Tuesday 31st October

Time: 1.00pm  Location: HUX 308
Title:  TBC
Speaker: Amadeus

Thursday 2nd November

Time: 1.00pm  Location: HUX 308
Title:  TBC
Speaker: QRT

Week 6 ACI

Tuesday 7th November

Time: 1.00pm  Location: HUX 308
Title:  TBC
Speaker: Gareth Griffith | Catapult Sports

Thursday 9th November

Time: 1.00pm  Location: HUX 308
Title: Analytics Team Lead at Kotlin; Product Manager at BigCode
Speaker: Maksim Sheptyakov | JetBrains