Exeter Experts’ Defense, Security Work Lauded
Cutting edge work by experts at the University of Exeter’s Defence, Security & Resilience network has been celebrated at a prestigious event.
More than 40 attendees from the MoD, the Armed Forces, the Home Office, FCDO, NCA, Cabinet Office, the Intelligence Community and the defence industry were in attendance, as well as representatives from a range of Government departments.
The event was introduced by University of Exeter President and Vice Chancellor, Professor Lisa Roberts, and guest speaker, Gen Sir Patrick Sanders KCB CBE DSO, gave a keynote speech. Professor Gareth Stansfield, OBE, Pro Vice Chancellor of the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, also gave a presentation.
At the event a compendium of articles was launched on topics including the sustainability of the nuclear deterrent; what happens if Iran becomes a nuclear state; delivering AI at scale; skills shortages in novel and disruptive technologies; understanding the law of armed conflict; the circular economy, the impact of climate change on military readiness and online extremism and self-radicalisation.
The University of Exeter’s Defence, Security & Resilience network brings together more than 200 University of Exeter academics from across all disciplines to support government and industry in an increasingly uncertain and challenging world.
Academics work with local, regional and central government partners, businesses and international governments, partners and collaborators. Current partners include Devon and Cornwall Police Forces, the College of Policing, the Home Office, the Ministry of Defence, the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Justice, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and key defence industry partners, such as BAE Systems and Thales.
Professor Roberts said: “The University of Exeter stands ready to serve the needs of the UK Defence, Security and Resilience Community. As a globally-connected University, we have a responsibility to use our expertise to foster a safer and more secure world, and we work with numerous partners to achieve this vital aim.
“Our new compendium brings together several areas of our cutting-edge research and offers fascinating and thought-provoking articles that speak to many areas of the DSR sector. It highlights the valuable contribution that we are making in this space today, as well as how our work can help bring about a more peaceful, more prosperous, future.”
University of Exeter physics and engineering experts have a long-record of undertaking pioneering research and skills-training in advanced materials and metamaterials. This has helped to deliver generation-after-next devices and provide the skilled graduates to maintain UK capability. It includes metamaterial coatings on turbine blades that permit the co-existence of future offshore windfarms alongside UK Air Defence surveillance systems.
Academic work with local company, Supacat, on the electrification and decarbonisation of vehicles has supported MoD work to reduce the carbon footprint of its operations.
The University of Exeter is also helping to tackle the well-publicised significant shortfall in graduate engineering talent through degree and degree apprenticeship courses. Experts offer specialist forensic ecology capability to UK police forces.
Researchers from the University’s Centre for Computational Social Science (C2S2) combine in-depth subject-specific knowledge with expertise in data science and computational research methods to provide unique and novel data-driven insights. This has enabled researchers to identify emerging extremist threats and developing policies for effective evidence-based policing.
https://news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-humanities-arts-and-social-sciences/cutting-edge-work-by-university-of-exeter-experts-in-defence-and-security-celebrated/