Applied Computing is heading the first KTP project of the University

The Department of Applied Computing just started a 3-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project on secure face recognition. A grant of £160,000 jointly funded by Innovate UK and a local information security company DeepNet Security in Bletchley Park, was secured in August 2014 by Dr Hisham Al-Assam and Mr Hongbo Du at Buckingham in collaboration with Mr Yurong Lin, CEO of DeepNet Security. Dr Matthew Oakes (PhD Sheffield), the KTP Associate, joined the project team in February this year and has begun work on this challenging and exciting project.

The project aims to develop a state-of-the-art, sophisticated and secure face recognition component to be integrated into the company’s multi-factor biometrics-based authentication software. The software will offer business customers such as banks and health organisations a reliable, secure and easy to use authentication platform for conducting business operations. The project will transfer specialised knowledge in biometrics-based authentication and security systems accumulated in the Department over the last decade to DeepNet Security who will then deploy cutting-edge authentication technologies in the field. In this project, Hisham plays the role of academic supervisor and works closely with Mike Ma the company supervisor. Hongbo and Yurong Lin respectively take on the responsibility of the academic and company leads for the project. They are supported by the local KTP representative of Innovate UK, Jose Freedman.

This KTP project is the first in the University in recent years. The Department is currently in the process of applying for at least another two further KTP projects in 2015.

Dr Harin Sellahewa, the new Head of Department, commented “Building strong links with the IT industry is part of our long-term strategy for growth and research impact. The successful start of this project demonstrates that our continuing effort in forging such links has paid off. We shall continue to build on our success and further strengthen ties with industry, which will enhance academic standing and reputation of not only the Department but also the University.”