First Networking Lunch of 2017 kicks off with a bang!

The CATCH community gathered this week for the first Networking Lunch of 2017.

More than 30 academics, researchers, Professional Services staff, partners and visitors attended the lunch, held in the iconic University building, Firth Court.

We were delighted to be joined by Professor Mike Trenell with his presentation: Digital health and diabetes - hype or hope? Mike is a Professor of Metabolism and Lifestyle Medicine at Newcastle University. His charismatic talk resonated with the network as members of the audience eagerly asked questions on his research and the NIHR Innovation Observatory of which he’s Director.

Simon Butler, CATCH Centre Manager also excitedly shared the upcoming events that shouldn’t be missed in 2017. From Luc de Witte’s Inaugural Lecture and CATCH showcase on 10th - 11th March as part of the Sheffield Festival of Science and Engineering to the AAATE2017 in September, where the Call for Papers is open until 10th February 2017.

The next Networking Lunch will be held on Tuesday 14th March 2017 in conjunction with the ScHARR seminar series. In the Pemberton Lecture Theatre B, Regent Court, the lunch will take place at the earlier time of 12.00 - 14.00. Our guest speaker, Matthew Machin, mHealth Applications Manager in the Centre for Health Informatics at the University of Manchester will speak around “Improving Health in Long-term Conditions with Smartphone Apps and Wearable Devices.”

Please contact Laura Murray if you would like to attend (l.murray@sheffield.ac.uk)

CATCH September Networking Lunch: a great turn out for Heidi Christensen's showcase

September saw the big re-launch of the CATCH Networking Lunch series following the summer break.

Held in a new venue within the Geography Department, close to our colleagues from Psychology and Human Communication Sciences, we enjoyed a talk from CATCH Academic Dr Heidi Christensen, Lecturer in Computer Science. Attendees networked over lunch with a sunny view of Western Park.

Taking us through her presentation: “Clinical applications of speech technology”, the audience learnt about the major challenges faced by Heidi and her fellow researchers in the field such as lack of data and the need for personalisation in speech recognition software. Dr Christensen also informed us about current project CloudCAST, which in partnership with AIAS Bologna (Italy), The University of the West Indies (Jamaica), and The University of Toronto (Canada), aims to place Clinical Application of Speech Technology in the hands of speech professionals. Another project discussed was homeService, a cloud-based, personalised system putting state-of-the-art speech recognition into the homes of users with physical impairments and disordered speech.

Closing to a number of questions from the network, it’s safe to say that Heidi’s showcase got everyone thinking.

Save the date: Friday 14th October, 12.15 - 14.00, The Diamond (workroom 3)

Join us at our October Networking lunch where we will be joined by:

●      New Professor in Health Services Research, Luc de Witte

●      Colleague from Research and Innovation Services, Rachel Dwyer

Following this we’ll be welcoming you to our new and improved Home Lab in the Innovation Centre. So come along to network over coffee and cake and see how you can make use of the facility in your research.