Liz Bacon

I am the Principal and  Vice-Chancellor of Abertay University. I am also a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (PFHEA), a Chartered Engineer (CEng), Chartered Scientist (CSci), Chartered IT Professional (CITP), Fellow of the BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT (FBCS), Fellow of the Institute of Science & Technology (FIScT) and a Professional Member of the ACM. I am an experienced systems designer and developer with research interests which include smart systems, security, artificial intelligence and technology enhanced learning, in particular the use of smart games-based learning environments for immersive learning.

I have a degree in Computing Science and a PhD in Artificial Intelligence, and prior to working at Abertay, I worked at the University of Greenwich. I am currently a Trustee and Director of Bletchley Park Trust, and President of EQANIE (European Quality Assurance Network for Informatics Education). I was President of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, in the year 14-15, the inaugural Chair of the BCS Academy of Computing, and a past chair of the CPHC (Council of Professors and Heads of Computing) national committee. I have been involved in many professional activities during my career which include working with: the European Commission, OECD, e-skills UK, the Science Council, the National HE STEM programme, and a role as Communications Officer for the Parliamentary IT Committee (PITCOM). As well as chairing many accreditation events for BCS and the Science Council, I have undertaken international accreditations in Spain, Lithuania, Estonia, Russia, Oman, Bahrain and Kazakhstan on behalf of several international accreditation agencies. I have also been an ICT Thought Leader for the University of Cambridge’s International Examinations. Other external engagements include / have included: member of the JISC senior technology-enhanced learning committee, member of the Welsh Government’s Successful Futures Digital Quality Assurance group, member of the Athena Forum and member of the Governing Board of Global Science and Technology Forum (Singapore). I have held nine external examiner positions including one international.

My research, primarily focused on technology for immersive learning, has focused on application areas such as crisis management and eHealth. I have over 100 refereed publications and have given over 85 keynotes and invited talks across the world. I have generated significant research grant income which include two EU FP7 projects (was project coordinator for both) and two EU H2020 projects. In 2015 I was voted the 35th Most Influential Woman in UK IT (Computer Weekly). I have been involved with a number of high profile reports such as a Royal Society report on the state of computing in schools, a Royal Academy of Engineering report on the Universe of Engineering and several European Commission publications on: e-Skills global supply and demand, an EU Body of Knowledge for IT, and guidelines for fostering e-Leadership. I was a TEF (Teaching Excellence Framework) assessor for institutional years two and three and have been a member of the QAA committees developing / reviewing subject benchmark statements for both undergraduate and postgraduate in computing. I have also been trained as an ELIR (Enhancement-led Institutional Review) reviewer for QAA Scotland. I have been a visiting Professor at RMIT University, Melbourne in the School of Science, College of Science, Engineering and Health and as BCS President, I setup STELLAR, a senior women’s network in STEM which is focused on encouraging more women to take up careers in STEM.

My research interests include immersive learning, smart systems, computing policy, smart systems, security, artificial intelligence, teaching programming and technology enhanced learning (TEL). Within TEL, I have applied my research in software engineering, artificial intelligence and security to a range of application areas such as crisis management and eHealth, focusing on: smart games-based learning environments; metacognition and learning strategies; adaptable, adaptive and personalised systems; and the use of social media in online learning.

Key esteem indicators:

• President of EQANIE (European Quality Assurance Network for Informatics Education), 2018 – 2021.
• President of professional body BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT (2014-15), and trustee (>70K members and ~250 full-time staff), 2014-15, trustee 2009-2016.
• Voted the 35th Most Influential Woman in UK IT (Computer Weekly July 2015).
• Vice-President of BCS and inaugural chair of the BCS Academy of Computing, the first Learned Society for Computing in the UK (2009-2014).
• Trustee and Director of Bletchley Park Trust (2017–to-date).
• Chair of the Council of Professors and Heads of Computing (2009-10)
• Committee member for high profile national and International reports e.g. Royal Society and European Commission reports

PhD supervisions:

1. “A Study into the Characteristics of Game-Based Learning Software that Appeal to 11-14 Year Old Girls”, November 2017.
2. “Empirical evidence that proves a serious game is an educationally effective tool for learning computer programming constructs at the computational thinking level”, July 2013.
3. “Design, Development And Evaluation Of Technology Enhanced Learning Environments: Learning Styles As An Evaluation Tool For Metacognitive Skills”, Dec 2012.
4. “Multiple, Heterogeneous Case Based Reasoning”, Dec 2012.
5. “Impact of learner control on learning in adaptable and personalised e‑learning environments”, Feb 2011.
6. “Intelligent Monitoring of Business Processes using Case-Based Reasoning”, Nov 2012.
7. “The use of tagging to support the authoring of personalisable learning content”, July 2012.

MPhil Supervisions:

1. “Modeling Trust in the System Design Process of an Information System”, November 2017.
2. “Analysing Usability and Security Issues in Design and Development of Information Systems” Feb 2013.

Current teaching responsibilities are focused on PhD student supervision, however in the past I have taught the following topics within computer science: Systems Analysis, Personal and Professional Skills, Business Computing, Range of Programming, Scripting and Markup languages (Java, C++, VB, XML, HTML, Visual Basic, Modula-2, COBOL, FORTRAN, Assembler), Networking, Computer Games Development, Computer Theory, Software Engineering, Component Programming, Distributed Systems, Expert Systems, Artificial Intelligence, Human-Computer Interaction, UML, Systems Software, Operating Systems, CORBA, J2EE, EJB, Design Patterns, XML, Web services, Spring and Struts frameworks, Mobile Application Development.

I have been involved in a range of knowledge exchange activities throughout my career, including being the lead academic for last year of a KTP with Rainer, renamed Catch 22, one of the UK’s largest charities dealing with some 20,000 young people. The work involved reengineering complex systems used in social domains and was graded A by the external reviewers. I have worked extensively with industry throughout my career e.g. working with Greenwich Council on their smart cities projects, and have provided expertise to a variety of industry, professional and parliamentary bodies in the UK and overseas.