‘To increase the quality, impact and sustainability of the research software developed at Imperial, supporting the College in enhancing its world-leading research outputs’.
That is the bold mission statement of the Research Software Engineering Team (RSE) here in ICT.
A large part of a life in academia involves research – the process of investigation into a particular study, utilising various resources and materials.
The RSE team believes in the dependance of research software on modern science and says that ‘good software engineering accelerates and boosts the impact of research’.
With projects like ‘Liionsden’ – that provides a tool which easily archives and visualises the experimental and generated data in simulations in relation to batteries research, and StrainMap – that prepares a new diagnostic MRI technique for use in clinical settings – Therefore, RSE not only helps Imperial, but benefits many other areas of society.
At the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition in 2021, even the public got involved in the process; working with HARMS Lab (Human-centered automation, Robots and Monitoring for Surgery), the RSE team produced a game that involved the remote control of surgical tools – and, despite a few ‘hiccups’, finalised a method that utilises head-movement using Gaze-Tracking technology to move the various tools and complete objectives – an emerging technology that can revolutionise surgical processes.
Image: RSE robotic ‘Operation’ surgery game that is controlled by head movement.
‘Open Science and collaboration are the future’ – RSE believes.
The creative and functional freedom that software engineering provides pushes academia forward – more efficient and technically active programs can automate redundant processes, as well as deliver greater precision over manual entry.
There are almost 30 RSE teams already set up at academic institutes across the UK – with official job titles, fellowships and extensive industry opportunities rising, and with the increasing importance in data science, Research Software Engineering is becoming imperative in providing solid academia – with a main goal to ‘create recognition and career pathways for individuals that develop research software in academia. ‘
‘Better Software. Better Research’ is RSE’s Mantra.
Watch a video of Chris Cave-Ayland, ICT’s Senior Research Engineer showcasing RSE and the process for building ‘Surgery from your Sofa’ – a system for remote control of surgical robots over the internet. He also gives you an insight into Research Software and what his team does.
You can also read more about RSE on their blog.
Author: Matt La, Work Experience, ICT June 2022