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Postgraduate Institute for Measurement Science

7th Annual PGI Conference 2023

7-8 June 2023, University of Strathclyde Glasgow

Connecting Challenges and Solutions through measurement Science

Science helps save lives, protect the environment and enable citizens to feel safe and secure. The focus of this conference is to demonstrate how researchers are delivering extraordinary impact by providing measurement solutions to many world problems, and developing the skills to become future leaders and experts.

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Programme highlights

Day 1

Topical Keynote speeches

Responding to immediate crisis

Sometimes the world needs to respond to crises in faster and more powerful ways to make a positive difference in people's lives. The faster an effective response can be initiated, the better the chance of mitigating negative outcomes. Measurement science plays a crucial role in responding to new challenges and can help people overcome difficulties and improve their quality of life.

Speaker: Allister Ferguson is the Professor of Photonics in the Department of Physics at the University of Strathclyde. He founded the Institute of Photonics and has led discussions on the formation of the Technology and Innovation Centre and the establishment of the relationship between Fraunhofer and the university. He is a former Deputy Principal giving him responsibility for the university research and knowledge exchange portfolio. He was the principal investigator on a RCUK Science Bridges project that brought together four Scottish universities (Heriot Watt, Glasgow, St.Andrews and Strathclyde) with two Californian universities (Stanford and Caltech) under the banner of SU2P. He has worked with NPL since the early 1980s. He was the recipient of the first NPL Metrology Award in 1983. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, the Optical Society of America, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His present role is as Senior Adviser to the Principal.

Building security and resilience

Our need for security has changed. It continues to evolve as new areas threaten and disrupt our societal and economic well-being. Enhancing security and resilience is essential to protect citizens from unpredictable threats. Measurement science can help in managing risks to infrastructure, ensuring people can go about their daily lives with confidence.

Speaker: Dr Adrian Burden (CEO, BlockMark Technologies Ltd) is a serial technology entrepreneur with a background in material science. He undertook research on electron microscopy, display technology and nanotechnology before embracing the world of startups and scale-ups. In Singapore he was the founding CEO of an anti-counterfeiting spin-out called Singular ID, raising venture capital finance and exiting the business through a trade sale.  He currently runs an innovation centre on the Malvern Hills, curates the annual Malvern Festival of Innovation, and is a co-founding director of a company that has launched a certificate management platform with blockchain and NFT functionality.Adrian was previously a director of the UK Cyber Security Forum CIC social enterprise, a Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence at the School of Metallurgy & Materials at the University of Birmingham, and chair of the Industrial Advisory Board at the School of Physics at the University of Bristol. He was listed as a Maserati 100 Entrepreneur by the Centre for Entrepreneurs in The Sunday Times in February 2015. Adrian is author of the book Start to Exit: How to maximize the value in your start-up, published in October 2017, and Inspiring outside the box: The ten-year backstory to the Malvern Festival of Innovation, published in October 2022

Engineering the future

Technologies and electronics are leading our world now, and their development is our future. From space exploration to new medical devices, engineering makes our lives more productive and easier to manage. The technological advancement by engineers in energy, communications, materials, structures, and computers, have made the impossible, possible. Good measurements are vital to productivity, acceleration of product to market, and innovation.

Speaker: Rowena Innocent (SVP Engineering, Ultraleap Ltd and co-Chair of the Strategic Advisory Board, Post Graduate Institute for Measurement Science)

Rowena Innocent is SVP Engineering at Ultraleap, a Bristol based tech company. Having recently jumped from instrumentation design and manufacturing to the tech industry, she leads a mixed disciplined team of scientists and engineers creating solutions focussed at the interface between human and machine, with world leading hand-tracking and mid-air haptics.

Rowena studied Physics with Astrophysics at the University of Leicester before beginning her career in metrology. She has worked with research and product development teams specialising in pressure measurement and material characterisation for a wide range of industries including pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceutials, motorsport, oil and gas, aerospace, chemicals, building materials and many other industries.

A strong belief that STEM subjects should be accessible for all students, led Rowena to become a STEM ambassador early in her career and later a Trustee, Non-Executive Director, and Chair of the Partnership Advisory Group for NMITE (www.nmite.ac.uk). In 2021 she led the creation of the Spectris Foundation, funding improved access to STEM education. Rowena is also an Aegis Professor for the science faculty and chair for the industrial advisory board for the School of Physics at the University of Bristol, and co-chair for the strategic advisory board for the Post Graduate Institute for Measurement Science.

Day 2

Let’s think about your career development

The second day of the conference is designed to develop your skills and springboard you into a multitude of career pathways. During the day, you will hear from Pete Loftus about his life in Metrology. Pete had a 38 year career in Instrumentation and Measurement at Rolls-Royce followed by a developing portfolio career where he has continued to indulge his passion for measurement and love of helping others to grow.  His last role with the company was Head of Measurement Engineering with accountability for ensuring the creation, maintenance and improvement of all forms of measurement capability for the company world-wide.  He holds a Bachelors Degree in Applied Physics and a Masters in Gas Turbine Engineering.   

Our PGI Alumni panel will bring to life their experiences post PhD and share with delegates their top tips and thoughts on career pathways.  This will be an interactive session with plenty of opportunity for Q&A and general discussion.

In the afternoon you will also engage in an Imposter Syndrome Masterclass developed and delivered by Marc Reid. Marc completed his Masters in Chemistry at the University of Strathclyde in 2011. In 2015, he completed his Carnegie Trust-sponsored PhD in Chemistry at Strathclyde. From 2015-16, Marc was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Edinburgh. During that time, he was inducted into the SciFinder Future Leaders in Chemistry programme. Most recently, Marc was awarded a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, joining the Department of Pure & Applied Chemistry at Strathclyde in 2021.  Marc is the author of You are (Not) a Fraud: A scientists guide to the Imposter Phenomenom

Professor Dame Muffy Calder will conclude with reflections and details about the inspirations in her life in research. Muffy Calder has been Vice-Principal and Head of College of Science and Engineering, University of Glasgow, since 2015, previously she was the Chief Scientific Adviser for Scotland.    Muffy has had a very diverse career starting as a computer scientist.  She is a member of the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology and was deputy chair of REF Main Panel B.  Previously, she was a member of UKRI-EPSRC council and chair of the EU Future and Emerging Technologies Science Advisory.   She has been a Royal Society Leverhulme Research Senior Fellow and a Suffrage Science award winner in Computing Science and Mathematics.   She was awarded the DBE in 2020 and OBE in 2011.  

Fancy a dance?

Whether you have two left feet or know your tango from your foxtrot - traditional Scottish dancing welcomes all!
Join our social on the 7th June for an evening of traditional food, music, dancing and laughter; the core ingredients of a true ceilidh!"  The ceilidh will take place in Glasgow’s traditional Scottish Piping Centre, after a three course meal.

Accommodation Options


PGI-Accomodation.png

  1. Premier Inn: £63/night (for 1 person, double room)

  2. Travelodge: £71.99/night (for 1 person, double room)

  3. Ibis Styles: £163.50/night (for 1 person, queen bed, breakfast included)

  4. Moxy: £124/night (for 1 person, queen bed)

  5. Premier Inn: £99.50/night (for 1 person, standard room)

  6. Holiday Inn: ~£87/night (for 1 person, standard room)

Bringing together experts and practitioners of measurement science

The annual Postgraduate Institute for Measurement Science (PGI) conference brings together experts and practitioners in the field. The conference celebrates the success of its unique strategic partnership with the University of Surrey and University of Strathclyde.  

Measurement science is transforming businesses, increasing productivity and providing confidence by promoting accuracy and reducing business risk. We aim to broker connections by bringing together a community of users and fostering new collaborations between academia, research institutes and industry, including SMEs and start-ups.

Read reports from previous PGI conference.

PGI Conference 2019

PGI Conference 2020

PGI Conference 2021

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Contact our Customer Services team on +44 20 8943 7070