We are excited to welcome Dr Kate Woodcock to the QMB this August 24th for her seminar entitled “Helping children with neurodevelopmental disorders to show fewer temper outbursts: developing parent training and video games using human centred design”. Sounds fascinating! All welcome!
We were very pleased to welcome Fiona Menger to deliver her talk on the IDEA Project at the end of April as part of Computing’s ongoing Research Seminar Series. Much enjoyed by all who attended!
It’s official: We have our very own Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). Annalu was down south on Friday to meet The Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace for a wee chat and her well deserved badge of honour! Congratulations again from the whole team here in Dundee.
Professor Annalu Waller, Chair of Human Communication Technologies at the University of Dundee, has been awarded an OBE for her services to people with complex communication needs. Professor Waller has been based in Computing at the University since 1989 and has helped established Dundee’s reputation as one of the world’s leading centres for research into augmentative and alternative communication technologies for people with severe communication difficulties. She works closely with children and adults with disabilities, involving service users in the development of innovative technologies.
Staff and volunteers from the School of Computing and the School of Medicine delivered a successful workshop at the fourth UK Council of Clinical Communication Conference held in Manchester on 11 March 2015. The workshop showcased the work being done within the communication strand of the Dundee medical curriculum led by Drs Ching-Wa Chung and Jennifer Kennedy (GP clinical tutors) and members of the StraightTalking User Group led by Professor Annalu Waller and Mrs Kathleen Cummins from Computing.
The Stories at the Dentist project looked at the difficulties of people with a variety of disabilities when visiting their dentist. Especially if you have no speech a checkup appointment can become a daunting experience. Dr Rachel Menzies, one of the researchers of the team, has written a guest blog on our dentist project on the well know PrAACtical AAC website.
This free hands on workshop is run by the Tayside Right to Speak Project and SCTCI (Scottish Centre for Technology for the Communication Impaired) who specialise in providing people who have communication impairments with the support they need. Date: March 4th Time: 1.30 -4.00pm Registration now open, limited spaces, please download the flyer for more information on the Workshop.
Seminar: Voice@Work with Jan-Oliver Wülfing und Prof Gregor Renner This seminar will address employment issues faced by people who use AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication). Jan will present his project Voice@Work which had the aim to develop a guide for employers for the inclusion of people with complex communication needs (CCN) in an ergonomically designed regular workplace. Download the flyer with more information on the seminar and the speakers (PDF). The Seminar takes place at the Dundee AAC Group in two weeks time for our weekly seminars: Wednesday, 11 February 2015, 12pm Wolfson Theatre Queen Mother Building (download PDF map, building 26) School of Computing, Univeristy of Dundee All welcome! You can download the guide for employers on inclusion of people with complex communication needs (CCN) in an ergonomically designed regular workplace from Jan’s academia website: Inklusion in den 1. Arbeitsmarkt – es geht! Leitfaden zur gesundheitsgerechten Gestaltung von Arbeit für unterstützt kommunizierende Personen (sorry, only in German).
Seminar: Self-created Film as Assistive Tool in Storytelling for Children with Complex Communication Needs A new exciting collaboration with Holland about using film to support storytelling for children with complex communication needs. Mascha Legel, who has started her PhD on the subject, will visit the Dundee AAC Group next week and present her work during our weekly seminars on Thursday, 15 Jan, 12pm. All welcome! Abstract for download (pdf) More info on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/394302974059291/
(DAAC Research) The College of Art, Science and Engineering (CASE) at the University of Dundee offers up to 10 PhD studentships in partnership with the China Scholarship Council (CSC), waiving all tuition fees for successful applicants. A list of available CSCS projects at CASE is available on their website. We are excited to be able to offer three projects within the research field of AAC: Human-Computer Interaction Project: User Interface Design Challenges in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (Prof Annalu Waller) Human-Computer Interaction Project: Natural Language Processing and Personal Narrative (Prof Annalu Waller) Human-Computer Interaction Project: Eyegaze Interfaces for Communication (Prof Annalu Waller) You can find more information on the all CSC Scholarships on the University website. Deadlines for applications: 15th January 2015