Four Dublin City University (DCU) graduates have received research scholarships from the Microsoft Corporation, who have been running a scholarship programme since 1995 in association with a US-based trust that aims to financially aid research within the DCU school of computing.
Two full scholarships worth €3221 were awarded to PhD students Aiden Doherty and Gavin O’Gorman, while two half scholarships worth €1610 were awarded to students John Tinsley and Bipin Kumar
Liam Cronin, academic engagement manager for Microsoft Ireland, said: “Education is one of the most important pillars for Ireland’s continued economic development.”
Doherty’s research area on ‘personal life recording’ is similar to research currently being undertaken by Microsoft under Jim Gemmel and Gordon Bell in the form of MyLifeBits: where the two researchers are attempting to capture every single moment of a lifetime through digital means, including hyperlinks, emails, photographs, blogs and even search engine results.
The lifeLog research in DCU concentrates solely on visual documentation using a wearable digital camera called SenseCam to create a visual diary with an average 3000 pictures being taken per day. As this would mean the collection of over one million images in a year, the DCU project is looking into a way of sorting and categorising this.
With innovative research like this coming DCU, Cronin commented, “It’s vital that we support the connection between the world of education and the world of business to ensure we continue to bring new ideas and expertise that can help drive innovation and entrepreneurship.
“Our support for Dublin City University and the postgraduate research students in the school of computing is recognition of the importance of that link.”
By Marie Boran
