Society of Oxford University Engineers

August 2009: Jenkin Day 2009 Invitation

SOUE Jenkin Meeting, Friday-Saturday, 25-26 September 2009

This year's meeting again coincides with the University's Alumni Weekend. The Jenkin lecture will be given by Simon Watts, St John's 1968-71, and Chief Scientist of Thales at Crawley, on:

"Airborne Surveillance Radar",

on which topic he is a well-established expert. This will be after lunch on the Saturday, and in the morning there will be two other talks and the Society's Annual General Meeting. In response to requests at recent AGMs we have also organised a dinner for the Friday night. Members can of course attend whichever items they wish.

Timetable

Friday 25 September
	19.30 for 20.00 at the Corner Club, Turl Street, the Dinner
Saturday 26 September
	10.30		Coffee in the Thom foyer
	11.00		David Clifton "Early warning systems via machine learning: from jet engines to hospital patients" What do the Eurofighter, a nuclear submarine, and a hospital patient all have in common? "Vital signs", whether they be engine temperatures and pressures, or human heart-rates and oxygen levels. This talk introduces David's work in machine learning, which has been patented for use in systems from the Airbus A380 and the Boeing Dreamliner, to monitoring critically ill patients in hospital Emergency Departments.
	11.30		Byron Byrne "Geotechnical Engineering for Offshore Pipelines"
	12.15		Annual General Meeting
	13.00		Buffet lunch in the Holder Building Common Room (price £9)
	14.00		Simon Watts MBE FREng, The 22nd Jenkin Lecture: "Airborne Surveillance Radar" Airborne surveillance radars can detect submarine periscopes at long range in high sea states, simultaneously track many ships over a large area of sea and produce images of the ground and targets with spatial resolutions of the order of centimetres. Airborne early warning radars detect, track and classify air targets at ranges of hundreds of kilometres. To achieve this performance, modern radars use highly advanced electronics and signal and data processing systems. This lecture will describe the development and capabilities of modern airborne surveillance radar, illustrating the technology used and performance achieved.

The Friday night dinner

Rod Smith has organised this in the Corner Club, on the corner of the Turl and Ship Street. Those from earlier decades may remember this as the building that once housed the Taj Mahal restaurant. It is now a private club, and Rod, who has used it frequently, praises both its food and service.

It will be a 3-course meal with wine, and there are three choices for each course (see below). Cost will be £38 per head, and the suggested dress (for men) is lounge suit. Guests are of course welcome as usual, as they are for Saturday too.

Menu

Friday night accommodation

If you register for the University's Alumni Weekend, your college should be able to offer accommodation. Even if you aren't registering, it still might be worth asking. Otherwise, there are hotels, and the Alumni Weekend website can direct you to several.

Telling us you are coming

If you plan to attend the meeting, please return the reply slip, so that we have some idea how many to cater for, and can prepare a name badge for you in advance. And enclose a cheque if you would like the buffet lunch and/or the Friday night dinner. By 22 September please! Or you can e-mail us and pay online if you wish (see the reply slip for details).

We are no longer in a position to offer limited parking at 43 Banbury Road, and there is very little on the main site. We suggest either using one of the Park and Rides, or looking for spaces in St Giles or Keble Road.

David Witt, Secretary SOUE, August 2009

(Click here to view or print the reply slip)