Author: katcorbett

UWE Bristol to launch new Repair Café at the School of Engineering

Author katcorbett | Posted on

The Royal Academy of Engineering funded MAKERS project is moving into its next phase, with the UWE Bristol Repair Café set to launch in October.

Students, staff, and members of the public are invited to come along to the sessions with their broken items to get them fixed by a team of student and community repair volunteers. These items can include electricals and small appliances, clothes, and anything else that can be glued, soldered, or stitched (there won’t be any capacity to fix tablets, laptops, or mobile phones, though the technical repair company Fix My Crack, which runs a pop-up on campus will be able to help with those). Repairers of electrical and electronic items will receive guidance and support from the school’s skilled technicians, ensuring all repairs are done in a safe manner, and to a high standard. There will also be food and refreshments on offer for them.

UWE Bristol’s Repair Café runs every second Wednesday of the month, 12.15 – 1.45pm in the Atrium of Z Block (School of Engineering)

  • Upcoming dates are:
  • 11th October 2023
  • 8th November 2023
  • 13th December 2023
  • 10th January 2024
  • 14th February 2024
  • 13th March 2024
  • 10th April 2024

More information can be found here.

How to get involved as a repair volunteer

Students and community partners from the wider Bristol Repair Café network are invited to get involved as repair volunteers in the monthly sessions. Please email kat.corbett@uwe.ac.uk for more information and to register your interest, or just drop in on the day of the session at 11.45am.

Other ways to get involved in MAKERS

The Repair Café and Repair Skills workshops are only some of the activities in the pipeline for the MAKERS project. People interested in getting involved in future activities can find out more and register their interest via the MAKERS Sway site.

School of Engineering marks the launch of the new climate education course with a celebration of climate action

Author katcorbett | Posted on

To mark the start of the academic year, and the launch of the new climate education course, the School of Engineering is inviting students, staff and members of the public to explore an array of activities dedicated to climate action.

All activities will take place on September 20th in the Atrium of Z Block (the engineering building). Further details can be found below.

Repair Skills Workshops

As a pre-launch of the university’s new monthly repair café, which is due to  kick off in October, the School of Engineering’s technicians are offering two repair skills workshops to interested students and community members. Up to ten participants can get hands on repairing items, whilst more can follow the sessions as audience members, as repairs will be live streamed to a screen in the area. All tools, safety equipment and items to repair will be provided.

The sessions will take place at

  • 11.30am – 12.30pm
  • 2.30pm – 3.30pm.

People looking to get involved with the repairs can email kat.corbett@uwe.ac.uk to secure a space, which also includes some food and refreshments.

Those who want to watch the sessions as audience members can just drop in on the day.

More information can be found here.

We Make Our Future planetarium show

Previously featured at COP26 in Glasgow, the mesmerising “We Make our Future” show is all about engineering and sustainability!

Using full-dome digital projections, you will be taken on a trip to engineering marvels from history, followed by an exploration of the pros and cons of modern life.

Industry, technology, and invention have progressed civilisation, but how has this impacted the planet? What is climate change? And what can we do to engineer our way out of the climate emergency? These are all questions the show addresses, showing how you can be a positive sustainability influencer in your community.

The show will inspire you to think scientifically so you can positively approach the Net Zero challenge!

Session times are:

  • 11 – 11.30am
  • 11.45 – 12.15pm
  • 12.30 – 1.00pm
  • 1.45 – 2.15pm
  • 2.30 – 3.00pm
  • 3.30 – 4.00pm
  • 4.15 – 4.45pm

For more information about this event, please contact: kat.corbett@uwe.ac.uk or laura.foggrogers@uwe.ac.uk.

Unleadership for climate action – free creative development activities

Unleadership seeks to disrupt traditional leadership expectations, and to reveal alternative possibilities. The team behind the Unleadership movement have characterised these practices as paying it forward with kindness, confidently collaborating and connecting, catching the wave (taking timely action) and living with the unknown (embracing imperfection).

This is a great opportunity to learn more about theire movement for change – craft and reflect upon personal climate commitments and how they connect with others, build a sense of one’s own values and how they can support climate action and more! People are invited to contribute to the creation of a shared artefact during the day to symbolise the collective commitments to climate action.

This event will be running from 11am – 5pm. For more information about this event, please contact: kay.galpin@uwe.ac.uk.

Repair Acts information stand

Repair Acts is a pluralistic, artist-led research programme that is housed at the School of Art and Design and Digital Cultures Research Centre at UWE.

Repair Acts explores repair, care, maintenance, and healing cultures. This is done by creating contexts for dialogue around restorative futures through making and building art works, carrying out desk and applied based research, designing, and developing art exhibitions, workshops, and conversational spaces.

Working deeply at a local level, within landscapes and infrastructures and in association with communities, governing bodies, craft, artisan, skilled trades, and other professions, they connect local wisdom to global flows, through policy, law, legalisation, and international partnership.

People are invited to find out more about Repair Acts and their current activities, learn about histories of repair economies in Bristol, contribute their repair stories to the “People’s Archive of Everyday Repair” and add their views to the Repair Declaration for Bristol.

This event will be running from 10am – 5pm. For more information about this event, please contact: Teresa.dillon@uwe.ac.uk.uk.

School of Engineering outreach activities featured in UWE Bristol’s Sustainability Report for 2021-22

Author katcorbett | Posted on

UWE Bristol declared a Climate and Ecological Emergency in 2020 and has since made a number of commitments in its 2030 Strategy towards tackling the environmental crisis. These include being carbon neutral by 2030, reduce water and energy use, cut waste and single-use plastic, support biodiversity, sustainable travel, and climate related research, and work with students to address climate change and environmental challenges through teaching, learning and curricula. UWE Bristol regularly publishes reports where it shares the progress in achieving these sustainability goals.

UWE Bristol’s School of Engineering outreach team are pleased to be featured multiple times in the university’s latest Sustainability Report!

We Make Our Future Planetarium Shows

The We Make Our Future Planetarium show features prominently in the report’s section about Research and Knowledge Exchange for Sustainable Development.

We Make Our Future sets out the idea that to achieve net zero and a low carbon global economy, everything we make, and use will need to be completely re-imagined and re-engineered. It aims to show that the digital revolution is boosting the potential for engineers’ design thinking to optimise not only the development process but also the potential for collaborative citizen engagement.

The show has been designed with planetarium experts Explorer Dome and was part of the DETI Inspire programme. The show was featured at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021 and has since been touring schools around the west of England thanks to funding from the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Whilst there are currently no funded shows available, schools can still book them directly through Explorer Dome. More information about the show, and how to book it is available on our Digital Trailblazers webpages.

Dissemination activities for education for sustainable development

With the publication of the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Guidance by Advance HE and the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) in 2021–22, Education for Sustainable Development received significant – and well-deserved – national attention.

Venkat Bakthavatchaalam, Laura Fogg-Rogers and Georgina Gough from the School of Engineering actively supported the dissemination of this document with a presentation at the 2022 Dresden Nexus Conference on the topic of Development and evaluation of a successful method to embed Sustainable Development Goals in engineering curriculum.

Another dissemination activity featured in the report is the Digital Engineering Technology and Innovation (DETI) Inspire outreach programme, which engaged children in primary and secondary education across the West of England, with a focus on disadvantaged areas.

Using curriculum-linked engineering outreach and careers support, it connected children with real-life, diverse engineering role models to widen participation and aspirations for STEM careers.

The Inspire programme was led by Dr Laura Fogg-Rogers, Senior Lecturer and Researcher at UWE Bristol, with support from Graphic Science, the STEM Ambassador hub of the West of England, and in collaboration with the Wessex Inspiration Network and Future Quest, leaders for Higher Education outreach into secondary schools of the region.

School of Engineering’s Family Fun Day attracts 800 visitors

Author katcorbett | Posted on

UWE Bristol’s School of Engineering opened its doors for another Family Fun Day earlier this month: families from Bristol and beyond got to enjoy a range of fun science and engineering-based activities at this free event.

They explored different aspects of engineering such as coding and robotics through LEGO Mindstorms and Pepper the humanoid robot, digital engineering through Minecraft, designing the best wind turbine blades, exploring crowd-driven music programming, and the inner workings of machines and household items in the tinker zone.

Another highlight was the free We Make Our Future planetarium show: the show is co-developed with the Explorer Dome team and celebrates the ingenuity of human engineering, whilst also addressing current issues around Climate Change. It introduces Digital Engineering as a relevant and attainable aspiration for all young people, with the aim of inspiring the next generation of engineers.

Visitors also got to enjoy an exhibition of children’s engineering designs and inventions for the Leaders Award Competition, a nationwide scheme that encourages children to solve problems using engineering thinking.

This annual event is a great opportunity to inspire children to think like engineers and introduce them to technology that they may not have been able to interact with otherwise in a fun and engaging way.

The day was very well attended with around 800 visitors. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive with children expressing how keen they were on coming back, and grown-ups feeling equally inspired by the activities, stating how it made them re-consider their conceptions about the role of engineering in shaping the world around us for the better.

We would like to thank all the staff, students, and helpers involved for making it an amazing day, not to forget the children and their families who attended, for contributing so much enthusiasm, curiosity, and great energy!

Professor of Robot Ethics Alan Winfield shares his views on AI advancements and how society should respond

Author katcorbett | Posted on

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been in the news lately. UWE Bristol’s Professor Alan Winfield is a signatory of an international open letter, also signed by Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, asking for training of powerful AI systems to be suspended.

Here Alan shares his views and expertise on the latest developments.

Do you think Geoffrey Hinton was right to speak out about the dangers of AI?

I think Hinton is right to call out the dangers of GPT4 and related AI technology. As someone who has been worrying about robot and AI ethics for nearly 15 years, and advocating for both responsible innovation and regulation, I feel someone vindicated – although no less worried. However, as one of the signatories of the Future of Life Insititute’s open letter, I am pleased that we – and Hinton – have shone a spotlight that has caught the world’s attention.

It is not too late. While regulation is essential and on the way, the tools and standards already exist for ethical risk assessment, AI audit and transparency. I call upon OpenAI, Microsoft, Google and other developers to urgently and verifiably use these tools and standards and – if they can – prove to the world that the technology is safe and in good hands.

Lately the risks of AI are increasingly evident. How worried should we be?

I think we need to be worried about the right things. I am very worried about fake text, audio and video generated by ChatGPT and similar tools, and the personal, societal and political impact of this fake material. I am also worried about the carbon cost of these very large Machine Learning systems. What I am not worried about is that these systems are becoming more intelligent than humans, or somehow sentient; they have no understanding whatsoever of the outputs they generate.

Who could benefit from bad uses of AI?

I have already seen a report of criminals making use of AI generated audio in order to extort a ransom from a family, using the fake audio to persuade the family that they have kidnapped their daughter. This is dreadful and I fear that we will see more of this kind of thing.

I also fear that fake materials will be increasing used to influence elections, in the way that we have already seen through data driven targeted advertising. Trust is essential in democracies and AI-generated fake text, images and video in political campaigns will erode this trust. Populist and unscrupulous politicians will likely benefit the most.

Less egregious perhaps but also worrying is the emergence of fake books entirely generated by Large Language Models (LLMs). I saw that one author of a new technical book was surprised to see a very similar title appear. It seems that a cottage industry creating fake books (and presumably also making money from them) has already emerged. I think we are seeing an explosion of new bad uses of AI enabled by the new LLMs.

What could or should we do to put limits on the power of AI?

This is a big question, but here are some things that we should be doing:

I think it should be a requirement that all AI generated text, images, video and AI is watermarked in such a way that everyone can see that it is AI generated. This is something that I have been advocating for some years. In fact, this is one of the principles of robotics that we published in 2011: Robots are manufactured artefacts. They should not be designed in a deceptive way to exploit vulnerable users; instead their machine nature should be transparent. In 2015 Toby Walsh proposed something very similar which he called a Turing Red Flag.

Of course, the problem would be enforcement. But if companies such as OpenAI want to be seen as responsible and trustworthy then this would be a very good place to start. Ultimately, I think we will need regulation. Regulation typically relies on standards, but happily a standard on Transparency already exists: IEEE 7001-2021 (Alan led the working group that drafted the standard).

In addition, we should be calling out the dangers, which is why I signed the Future of Life Institute’s open letter. I was pleased also to see Geoffrey Hinton take a principled stand, thus further raising the profile of the issues.

I am also encouraged to read of groups of copyright holders, artists for instance, building campaigns to sue over copyright infringement. 

Do you think it will be possible to find a way to oppose the uncontrolled development of AI on a global level? 

This question is perhaps the hardest of all. I hope there will be global agreement. I am encouraged that we already have international initiatives such as the EU’s AI Act, and the UNESCO principles of AI – already adopted by 193 member states.

Free event on collaborating with communities using data and AI to create more inclusive cultures

Author katcorbett | Posted on

The UWE Bristol Turing Network is collaborating with Bristol University’s Jean Golding Institute to create a family-friendly public event at the Bristol Beacon on 8th June, which forms part of Bristol Data Week. The public is invited to join the conversation around ChatGPT, protecting vulnerable communities, and creating a sustainable future.

Data is all around us, from our smartphones to our supermarkets, but how can we use it for good? How do we use ChatGPT and AI to create a fairer future for all? How can data from the past shape our future? This is an opportunity for members of the public to join the Jean Golding Institute and UWE Bristol’s Turing Network to connect, collaborate, and create with data and AI.

This is an great opportunity to explore alongside scientists and local representatives how communities could use data and AI like ChatGPT to tackle key issues including inclusivity, protecting the vulnerable, and climate change.

The event will also delve into the latest advances in Data-intensive research, and Artificial Intelligence, with inspiring speakers and interactive exhibitions.

There will be plenty of opportunity to network, socialise and interact with the Bristol data and AI community and the event also offers a complimentary lunch.

Find out more and book your free space via the website

UWE Bristol Academic Laura Fogg-Rogers discusses the university’s new Repair Café on BBC Radio Bristol

Author katcorbett | Posted on

Laura Fogg-Rogers, Associate Professor for Engineering in Society, was recently featured on BBC Radio Bristol, where she talked about her work at UWE Bristol and her latest project.

In the interview with host Steve Yabsley, Laura talked about how her work focusses on the relationship between people and technology, and her passion for sustainability, climate action and climate education. As such, she feels strongly about designing a future that makes a difference to communities and the environments they are embedded in, something that is not only evidenced by her work at UWE: alongside her role at the School of Engineering, Laura is also very active in her local community, where she runs a climate action group and, as part of that, a Repair Café. She is also a key figure in the wider Bristol Repair Café network, where she has helped to set up numerous Repair Cafés in the city and beyond.

Laura is a strong supporter of the Repair Movement and the Circular Economy, as they address numerous challenges typically associated with the throwaway culture and overconsumption dominant in the Global North, something that is further fuelled by planned obsolescence.

“When you throw something out, it doesn’t go out, it just goes somewhere else in the world and creates problems for other people. So, we need to think about our stuff and where it goes, and that’s the circular economy: things going round in circles, being re-used, and really thinking about the best materials, that are going to last the longest.”

Laura Fogg-Rogers in her interview on BBC Radio Bristol

However, Repair Cafés do not only tackle the practical challenges around Climate Change, but there are wider societal benefits, too: Repair Cafés can generate a real sense of community, helping to create a sense of belonging and purpose, alongside increased levels of confidence that come with the “joy of problem solving”.

Some impressions from Repair Cafés “in action” in Eastville and Winterbourne

Having experienced the benefits of Repair Cafés first hand, Laura was keen to bring the Repair Movement and all its benefits to UWE Bristol and its students: Her latest project, MAKERS, which stands for “Making And Knowledge Exchange for Repair & Sustainability” is designed to help students from all backgrounds feel a sense of belonging, and for them to grow and develop their engineering passions, whilst supporting their community at UWE Bristol and beyond.

The Royal Academy of Engineering awarded nearly £90,000 to the project from its Diversity Impact Programme, which aims to inspire change within university engineering departments. The programme provides funding for schemes that transform the experiences of engineering students from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds.

As part of the project, engineering students at UWE will be setting up a Repair Café on campus, drawing on the experience of volunteers in established Repair Cafés in the Bristol area:

“We want to encourage that hands-on and intergenerational learning between students and communities. […] A lot of engineering these days is digital, it’s very technical and high-tech and you don’t get to take things apart as much because you might break it, so we are going to re-teach those skills. […] It’s also about tackling loneliness, community isolation, and students forming a community together.”

Laura Fogg-Rogers on BBC Radio Bristol

Apart from local Repair Cafés, The MAKERS project will also be working with Community and Youth Projects in St Paul’s and Easton, building on UWE Bristol Engineering’s growing reputation for supporting representation and belonging in engineering for Women and people from Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic groups, alongside inter-sectional backgrounds of lower socio-economic status.

Kat Corbett, who is a Repair Café volunteer at the Old Library in Eastville, has since joined the team at UWE as a project co-ordinator, where she will be drawing on her experience in the community to help MAKERS thrive.

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