eFutures 2.0: Addressing Future Challenges

在过去的十年里，电子技术的发展已经通过智能手机的发展得到了证明，智能手机改变了我们彼此之间的互动方式和基础设施。在Arm和Imagination Technologies的支持下，英国一直处于这一创新的中心，其中一些发展直接来自大学部门。随着我们面临将创新传感器技术和嵌入式解决方案应用于更广泛应用的挑战，现在预计会发生类似的革命。为了实现这一目标，需要采用这里提出的多学科方法，使电子发展与制药、化学、农业应用带来的具有挑战性的环境问题相匹配。电子系统行业为英国经济创造了1000亿英镑的价值，占英国总劳动力的3%。许多此类活动都位于价值链的高端，突出了对先进设计技能和创新制造流程的需求。因此，显然需要为这个行业提供可靠数量的高质量、研究生资格的员工，因为这个行业的大部分活动都是专业的，要么是像Gold Standard Simulations (GSS) Ltd.这样的初创公司，要么是现有的主要行业，如ARM、IQE等。英国有一个国际公认但相对较小的电子系统学术基地，为这项活动提供支持。在过去的三年里，eFutures网络在团结这个学术基地和与英国工业界接触方面发挥了关键作用。截至2018年，该网络拥有450名健康会员，并组织了一系列令人兴奋和成功的社交活动。它已采取行动加强与电子工业的联系，增加ecr的数量，并与EPSRC合作。然而，当我们开始探索电子产品潜在的更广泛应用时，显然需要有一个新的和修订的网络活动来应对新的挑战。随着电子产品在食品、生物技术、传感器等行业的应用日益多样化。我们需要创造新型的技术和创新的电子系统。为了解决这个问题，需要有一个协调一致的努力来消除障碍，并鼓励电子系统社区与这些学科的研究人员接触和合作，反之亦然。由于本提案中的活动，我们希望设想它们将是由于我们的努力而存在的12个新的主要合作。除了探索新的途径，加强和发展现有的网络也很重要。虽然ECR参与的改善可以被视为eFutures的成功，但学术管理挑战的尝试和众多公司的可能性可能导致ECR的损失。这不仅会对英国的研究基础产生极其不利的影响，也会对未来培养合格的工程专业学生产生不利影响。此外，至关重要的是，有一个国家社区来支持它们，实际上支持mcr的继续发展以及它们与研究人员、工业和资助机构的相互作用。本提案的目的是通过创建一个名为eFutures2的新网络活动来解决所有这些关键问题。通过多种会议形式和多学科范围界定练习，该网络的规模将扩大一倍，并创建一些直接归因于eFutures2的主要跨学科合作。为了实现这一激动人心的议程，我们汇集了一支更年轻、更强大、更多样化的调查团队，这反映了年龄、性别和种族的更大平衡。该网络成功的真正衡量标准将是电子系统活跃研究人员数量的增加，以及EPSRC、商业和欧盟多学科资助数量的增加。

The technological developments in electronics over the last decade has been demonstrated by the evolution in the smartphone which has transformed how we interact with each other and the infrastructure. With Arm and Imagination Technologies, the UK has been at the centre of this innovation with some developments emerging directly from the university sector. A similar revolution is now expected as we face the challenge of applying innovative sensor technology and embedded solutions to a wider range of applications. For this to happen, a multidisciplinary approach as proposed here, is required such that electronic developments match the challenging environment issues that pharmaceutical, chemical, agriculture applications bring. The electronics systems industry is worth £100B for the UK economy and represents 3% of the total UK workforce. A lot of this activity is at the high end of the value chain, highlighting the need for advanced design skills and innovative manufacturing processes. Thus, there is a clear need to supply a dependable number of high-quality, postgraduate-qualified staff for this industry as much of this activity is specialist either in the form of start-up companies such as Gold Standard Simulations (GSS) Ltd., or existing major industries such as ARM, IQE etc.. The UK has had a internationally-recognised but relatively small, electronics systems academic base which acts to support this activity. For the past three years, the eFutures network has played a critical role in uniting this academic base and engaging with UK industry. As of 2018, the network had a healthy membership of 450 and had organised an exciting and successful range of networking events. It has acted to strengthen links with the electronics industry, increase the number of ECRs and engage with EPSRC. However, there is a clear need to have a new and revised networking activity to address new challenges as we start to explore the potential wider applications of electronics. With the increasing diversity of use of electronics in industries such as food, biotechnology, sensors, etc.., new types of technologies and innovative electronic systems need to be created. To address this, there needs to be a concerted effort to bring down barriers and encourage the electronic systems community to engage and collaborate with researchers from these disciplines and vice-versa. As a result of the activities in this proposal, we would like to envisage that they would be 12 new major collaborations that exist due to our efforts. In addition to exploring new avenues, it is important to both strengthen and grow the current network. Whilst the improvement in ECR engagement can be viewed as an eFutures success, the trials of academic administrative challenges and the numerous company possibilities can result in loss of ECRs. This will have a highly detrimental impact on not only the UK's research base but on the education of future suitably-qualified, engineering students. Moreover, it is vital that there is a national community to support them and indeed to support MCRs in their continued development and their interaction with researchers, industry and funding bodies. The purpose of this proposal is to address all of these key concerns by creating a new networking activity called eFutures2. Using a number of meeting formats and use of multidisciplinary scoping exercises, The network will act to double in size and create a number of major interdisciplinary collaborations directly attributable to eFutures2. To achieve this exciting agenda, we have brought together a younger, stronger and more diverse team of investigators which reflects greater age, gender and ethnicity balance. The true measures of success of the network will be an increase in the volume of active researchers in electronic systems and an increase in the number of multidisciplinary EPSRC, commercial and EU grants.