Prestigious engineering award for Ana Cavalcanti

Posted on 13 April 2018

Computer Science Professor honoured by Royal Academy of Engineering

Professor Ana Cavalcanti has been named one of ten Royal Academy of Engineering Chairs in Emerging Technologies, securing funding for a ten-year programme that has been recognised as having the potential to bring significant economic and societal benefits to the UK. Ana's project, 'Software Engineering for Robotics: Modelling, Validation, Simulation, and Testing', will develop an approach for practicioners that allows them to solve problems using accessible domain-specific languages. She hopes to move the discipline of software engineering forward, using methods justified by mathematical principles that are routinely used in many engineering disciplines.

The £1.3 million awards are supported by the UK government’s National Productivity Investment Fund - a huge increase from previous funding that will help the Chairs deliver the UK's wider technology goals, and ensure that the UK is a driving force for global technological innovation. The academy has only awarded two of these prestigious chairs before: one in 2009, and one in 2012.

As part of their appointment, the Chairs will develop Centres of Excellence in their areas of emerging technology, building and maintaining contacts with industry and other partners to accelerate commercialisation.

The next application round for the Royal Academy of Engineering Chairs in Emerging Technologies is scheduled to open next month.