Loughborough Institute of Advanced Studies Podcast

Professor Ruqiang Yan - Physics-Informed Deep Learning Empowering Intelligent Fault Diagnosis

As part of the IAS Festival of Failure, IAS Visiting Fellow Professor Ruqiang Yan delivers a seminar -
The Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) system revolutionizes the management of complex high-end equipment throughout its entire lifecycle, enabling intelligent operation and maintenance in the era of Industry 4.0. Within this system, fault diagnosis plays a pivotal role and is undergoing significant transformation. Presently, data-intensive science, propelled by deep learning, has surpassed the constraints of physics-based models in handling big data, emerging as a crucial approach for diagnosis. However, the lack of intuitive comprehension of physics models presents challenges to data science in terms of interpretability and reliability. This talk focuses on a collaborative approach that integrates data science with physics models to achieve intelligent fault diagnosis through collaborative deep learning structures known as physics-informed deep learning. This collaborative approach offers advantages in interpretability, controllability, and knowledge discovery, allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of the evolution of physical systems in the big data era.
For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

Associate Professor Wyke Stommel - (Resolving) failure in interaction with a robot

As part of the IAS Festival of Failure, IAS Visiting FellowAssociate Professor Wyke Stommel delivers a seminar on their area of research -
In this presentation, I argue that failure is an endogenous phenomenon, something participants establish locally and collaboratively in social interaction. Failure in social interaction may consist of misunderstandings, disagreement or some other social problem, reaching the interactional level in retro-sequences (Schegloff, 2007) of ostensibly noticings, either overtly or indirectly (e.g., laughter, initiation of repair). I examine fragments of interaction between a robot, a nurse and an elderly person, in which the participants notice some environmental prompt (talk or other perceptual feature) as problematic with respect to the progressivity of the interaction and/or socially. Finding a way out of the trouble sometimes includes questionable solutions. This type of analysis provides insights in how technologies may involve failure on the microlevel of their use.
For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

Professor Antulio J. Echevarria II - Conflict & strategic policy failure

As part of the IAS Festival of Failure, IAS Visiting Fellow Professor Antulio J. Echevarria II delivers a seminar on their area of research -
This presentation draws from a monograph (under development) that contributes to debates concerning the West's failure to deter Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the implications for Integrated Deterrence. First, it describes the deterrence policy and supporting strategy the US and NATO implemented vis-à-vis Ukraine. If the West had no deterrence strategy in place, there's no point critiquing it. Second, it offers an alternative to the West's risk-averse approach to deterrence. This alternative uses a risk-consequence decision-calculus rather than a traditional cost-benefit one, since authoritarian regimes may not have cost ceilings that democracies can threaten given moral and material constraints. Finally, it offers some initial recommendations for NATO/EU militaries.
For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

Festival of Failure Launch - Dr Michael Shaw

The opening plenary session of the Festival of Failure is an opportunity for all to meet, connect and discuss notions of failure across the university’s disciplines; to consider how its disadvantages can be minimised and some of its potential benefits exploited.
Recent events show how failure can affect entire nations as well as individuals be it physically, socially or mentally. From the world’s conflict zones and the migration of peoples, to the welfare of athletes and management of crime, across society and countries there is a pattern of failure to act or failure from acting. With the current Horizon scandal at the Post Office being a prime example. Failure in sport can be understood from the sub-cellular level up to and including failures of governance within organisations such as the International Olympic Committee and FIFA.
This multi-scale view of failure will be highlighted in this introductory session where four international fellows have been invited to focus discussions on the language and psychology of failure, the failure to tolerate exercise from the cellular to the whole organism level, failure in conflict and philosophical belief systems: alongside system failures in engineering and software.
Here one of the Festival leads, Dr Michael Shaw (School of Design and Creative Arts), discusses their thoughts on the topic.
For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

Festival of Failure Launch - Professor Lisa Jackson

The opening plenary session of the Festival of Failure is an opportunity for all to meet, connect and discuss notions of failure across the university’s disciplines; to consider how its disadvantages can be minimised and some of its potential benefits exploited.
Recent events show how failure can affect entire nations as well as individuals be it physically, socially or mentally. From the world’s conflict zones and the migration of peoples, to the welfare of athletes and management of crime, across society and countries there is a pattern of failure to act or failure from acting. With the current Horizon scandal at the Post Office being a prime example. Failure in sport can be understood from the sub-cellular level up to and including failures of governance within organisations such as the International Olympic Committee and FIFA.
This multi-scale view of failure will be highlighted in this introductory session where four international fellows have been invited to focus discussions on the language and psychology of failure, the failure to tolerate exercise from the cellular to the whole organism level, failure in conflict and philosophical belief systems: alongside system failures in engineering and software.
Here one of the Festival leads, Professor Lisa Jackson (School of Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering), discusses their thoughts on the topic.
For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

Festival of Failure Launch - Dr Mark Burnley

The opening plenary session of the Festival of Failure is an opportunity for all to meet, connect and discuss notions of failure across the university’s disciplines; to consider how its disadvantages can be minimised and some of its potential benefits exploited.
Recent events show how failure can affect entire nations as well as individuals be it physically, socially or mentally. From the world’s conflict zones and the migration of peoples, to the welfare of athletes and management of crime, across society and countries there is a pattern of failure to act or failure from acting. With the current Horizon scandal at the Post Office being a prime example. Failure in sport can be understood from the sub-cellular level up to and including failures of governance within organisations such as the International Olympic Committee and FIFA.
This multi-scale view of failure will be highlighted in this introductory session where four international fellows have been invited to focus discussions on the language and psychology of failure, the failure to tolerate exercise from the cellular to the whole organism level, failure in conflict and philosophical belief systems: alongside system failures in engineering and software.
Here one of the Festival leads, Dr Mark Burnley (School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences), discusses their thoughts on the topic.
For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

Festival of Failure Launch - Dr Afzal Ashraf

The opening plenary session of the Festival of Failure is an opportunity for all to meet, connect and discuss notions of failure across the university’s disciplines; to consider how its disadvantages can be minimised and some of its potential benefits exploited.
Recent events show how failure can affect entire nations as well as individuals be it physically, socially or mentally. From the world’s conflict zones and the migration of peoples, to the welfare of athletes and management of crime, across society and countries there is a pattern of failure to act or failure from acting. With the current Horizon scandal at the Post Office being a prime example. Failure in sport can be understood from the sub-cellular level up to and including failures of governance within organisations such as the International Olympic Committee and FIFA.
This multi-scale view of failure will be highlighted in this introductory session where four international fellows have been invited to focus discussions on the language and psychology of failure, the failure to tolerate exercise from the cellular to the whole organism level, failure in conflict and philosophical belief systems: alongside system failures in engineering and software.
Here one of the Festival leads, Dr Afzal Ashraf (School of Social Sciences and Humanities), discusses their thoughts on the topic.
For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

Festival of Failure Launch - Introductory Remarks

The opening plenary session of the Festival of Failure is an opportunity for all to meet, connect and discuss notions of failure across the university’s disciplines; to consider how its disadvantages can be minimised and some of its potential benefits exploited.
Recent events show how failure can affect entire nations as well as individuals be it physically, socially or mentally. From the world’s conflict zones and the migration of peoples, to the welfare of athletes and management of crime, across society and countries there is a pattern of failure to act or failure from acting. With the current Horizon scandal at the Post Office being a prime example. Failure in sport can be understood from the sub-cellular level up to and including failures of governance within organisations such as the International Olympic Committee and FIFA.
This multi-scale view of failure will be highlighted in this introductory session where four international fellows have been invited to focus discussions on the language and psychology of failure, the failure to tolerate exercise from the cellular to the whole organism level, failure in conflict and philosophical belief systems: alongside system failures in engineering and software.
Here the session is opened by Professor Ksenia Chmutina, Director of the IAS, Professor Dan Parsons, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation and Dr Michael Shaw, one of the Festival of Failure leads.
For more information about the IAS, please visit  - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

Professor Joel Stillerman - Identity Investments: Middle-class Responses to Precarious Privilege in Neoliberal Chile

IAS Visiting Fellow Professor Joel Stillerman delivers a seminar on their research -
This presentation provides an overview of conceptual and empirical arguments from the book, Identity Investments. It uses the concepts of identity investments and precarious privilege to understand Chile’s middle classes in contrast to other studies that emphasize opportunity hoarding and social mobility. Identity investments are deeply held values that motivate middle class market behaviour. The presentation will explore the identity investments of four middle class groups – activists, moderate Catholics, youngsters, and pragmatists, which differ in ideological orientation, age cohort membership, economic position, and residential location. Precarious privilege explains that identity investments reflect Chilean middle class families’ economic vulnerability as neoliberal policies generate job instability. Middle class families’ resources, political and ideological affiliations, age cohort membership, and neighbourhood residence explain variations in their identity investments. The study relies on interviews, participant observation, and photographs of homes in two Santiago, Chile communities and its results offer insights into Chile’s dramatic political changes.
For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias

Professor Ana Isabel Zermeño Flores - Rethinking Research Practices: Artificial Intelligence, Epistemic Biases, and Decolonization of Knowledge

IAS Visiting Fellow Professor Ana Isabel Zermeño Flores delivers a seminar on their research -
The Institute for Media and Creative Industries and the Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS) at Loughborough University are delighted to host an IMCI Speaker Series talk by Prof. Ana Isabel Zermeño Flores
This discussion explores the intricacies that arise when individuals interact with artificial intelligence and digital technologies in the process of knowledge generation. Using a recent literature review as a case study, the potential presence of biases that might distort the studied reality and contribute to epistemic inequalities is investigated. Employing a reflexive approach informed by decolonial and feminist perspectives, various epistemic biases are uncovered, such as the invisibility of the knowing subject and biases in knowledge representation. These biases are not isolated incidents but rather part of a broader systemic issue that extends beyond specific scientific and technological practices. Ultimately, the complexity surrounding epistemic biases is highlighted, involving interconnected systems including scientific, technological, and institutional domains.
For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias