Data Centric Engineering – with Prof. Mark Girolami, Chief Scientist, The Alan Turing Institute
Lord Kelvin stated that ‘To Measure is to Know’. The role of experiment, empirical observation and data have always been core to the development of the empirical laws of the engineering sciences and associated professions. So what does data centric engineering actually mean?
Using a fascinating range of case studies Professor Mark Girolami highlighted the role of recent advances in the data sciences and how they are transforming the study and practice of engineering.
The lecture was followed by an informed and thought provoking Q&A session which highlighted both the depth of knowledge and breadth of experience of those in attendance.
Originally hailing from Irvine, Mark Girolami was elected as the Sir Kirby Laing Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Cambridge on the retirement of Lord Robert Mair, where he is also the Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair in Data Centric Engineering. Prior to joining the University of Cambridge, Mark held the Chair of Statistics in the Department of Mathematics at Imperial College London. Professor Girolami is also the Chief Scientist of the Alan Turing Institute, the UK national institute for Data Science and AI. At the Turing he established Data Centric Engineering as a cross cutting discipline between the Data Sciences and the Engineering Sciences and is currently Editor in Chief of the Cambridge University Press journal on Data Centric Engineering. He has held consecutive research fellowships from the EPSRC, a Royal Society Wolfson Merit Award, and in 2023 received the Royal Statistical Society Guy Medal in Silver. He is an elected fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
