Human-machine interaction (HMI) is described as the interaction and communication between human users and a machine via a user interface [1, 2]. User interfaces can take many different forms, ranging from a simple graphical user interface to a voice-based user interface. However, this article will solely focus on gesture-based user interfaces. As indicated by its name, gesture- based user interfaces allow human users to control machines through natural and intuitive behaviours [1]. One such example is the Microsoft Kinect, which is able to capture human motions, which are then processed to con ..read more

The Art of Providing Good Reviews. Steve Simske, Alexandra Bonnici As of 2022, over 5.4 million academic articles are published each year. These include short surveys, reviews, conference proceedings and journals. The gatekeeper that ensures the quality of these articles are peer-reviews: a tried-and-tested way through which other expert academics decide on the relevance and contribution of the article to the general knowledge in the subject area. And while we, as authors, may not particularly be overjoyed at receiving a negative or critical review, there is a difference between a review that ..read more

In the wake of the unfortunate tragedy surrounding the Titan submersible questions arise on the responsibility and duty of individuals who created and conceived the mission. And while to err is indeed human, and without adding to the speculations surrounding this specific case, questions do arise on what preventive steps could be taken to avoid errors, particularly when the stakes are so high. History shows us that technological failures can and do happen. Miscalculations of resonance led to undampened oscillations and twisting that led to the eventual collapse of the Tacoma Narrows bridge on ..read more

How engineering and mathematics influenced music Pythagoras. The ancient Greek philosopher, famously known for introducing triangle theories to the world. Perhaps, a lesser known fact is that much of the music we hear on Spotify today owes its roots to this philosopher and his obsession with giving form and structure to music filling the streets of ancient Greece. Pythagoras was in fact of the belief that musical notes could be arranged according to mathematical structure according to the laws dictated by physical nature. You see, if we get a metal rod and strike it, it will produce a note whi ..read more

An estimated 25% of daily search queries are related to pornographic material with a staggering 116,000 daily search queries involving child content. While the creation of pornographic material among consenting adults is not illegal, the use of children for sexual stimulation is illegal and constitutes abuse. The global prevalence of child sexual abuse is estimated at 19.7% among females and at 7.9% among males, with approximately 30% of such abuse happening by close relatives, a further 60% by acquaintances and only 10% attributed to complete strangers. These figures are worryingly high and i ..read more

The International Day of Women and Girls in Science was set up by UNESCO and UN-Women on the 22nd December 2015. The Day is intended to promote support for young girls in seeking education and their full ability to make their ideas heard. The Day is intended to remind society that women and girls help to increase the diversity of ideas among researchers and, therefore, the contribution of women and girls in science and technology communities is essential and should be encouraged. Left to right: Rachael, Tracey, Alexandra, Stefania (back), Luana, Natasha (in absentia, Rosanne) are members of t ..read more

As we are nearing the end of the academic year, we have once again reached that bitter-sweet time when we mark the end of a four-year journey with our final-year students. For 10 of the Electrical and Electronic Engineering students, it also marks the end of a year of hard-work under the supervision of various academics of the Department of Systems and Control Engineering. The projects undertaken by these students were different in nature, involving transportation, health, document engineering, finance, control engineering, and robotics. Although the application areas were varied, the task set ..read more

This article is written by Roman Adámek who followed a three-month internship with the Department of Systems and Control under the supervision of Dr Marvin Bugeja and Prof Simon Fabri For many people, systems and control engineering might be terms that are hard to imagine and connect with something tangible, even though we come in contact with its products and results daily. One of the areas which belong to the field of system and control engineering is robotics, and in the case of this project, the focus is on assistive robotics. Assistive robots are believed to be the future of modern health ..read more

Brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies enable people to control external devices using just their thoughts. There are two main kinds of BCIs: invasive BCIs like Neuralink, which involve the surgical implantation of sensors in contact with the brain, and non-invasive BCIs, which involve placing sensors on the scalp of the subject, in a ‘wear-and-go’ setup. Non-invasive BCIs obviously carry less risk, but because the sensors are further from the brain sources generating the signals, they come at the cost of trickier signals to decode. Non-invasive BCI developed through the project BrainApp ..read more

As we are nearing the end of the academic year, we have once again reached that bitter-sweet time when we mark the end of a four-year journey with our final-year students. For 10 of the Electrical and Electronic Engineering students, it also marks the end of a year of hard-work under the supervision of various academics of the Department of Systems and Control Engineering. The projects undertaken by these students were different in nature, involving transportation, health, document engineering, finance, control engineering, and robotics. Although the application areas were varied, the task set ..read more