OFEME 2024 Programme

Quantum technologies have been the subject of significant investment over the last 10 years and they present the next evolution for computing, sensing, communications and more. Military exploitation of quantum technologies relies on both the development of the individual technical components and their successful integration into a cohesive systems, however there is still significant disconnect between these two research communities.  This panel session will explore the opportunities and challenges and explore the gaps between the development of quantum technology and its implementation.

• Dr. Nick Jones, Military Adviser, Dstl (Chair)
• Dr. Gareth Brown, Fellow Quantum Technologies, Dstl
• Mr. Richard Claridge, Associate Director – Applied Physics, PA Consulting
• Dr. Gillian Marshall, Senior Fellow, QinetiQ

An opportunity to attend presentations about some current Dstl funded PhD research in line with the themes of the symposium given by the PhD students. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask the presenters questions following their presentations. Our intention is that these extended talks spark conversation between symposium delegates and leads to new collaborations.

Register for Event

Workshop Lead: Keith Newton

• #26 – Solomon Sanderson, University of Birmingham, “Quantum Sensing of Gravity Gradiometry for Field Applications”
• #27 – Finlay Rollo, University of Strathclyde, “Scale Invariant Coherent Change Detection to Locate Micro-Motion in Single Pass SAR Images”
• #28 – Alexander Bird, University of Liverpool, “Scheduling of Distributed Information Processing”

Workshop to generate a set of competitive (adversarial) and collaborative games as problem statements for the research programme. Key components of a game are the players, their strategies, the actions they can take and their pay-offs. The workshop will use small groups to characterise each of these components of a game of relevance to EM systems, and then compile them into games to be solved through future research. Potential strategies for each game will be generated and discussed as potential initial heuristic solutions for later comparison to theoretic solutions.

Register for Event

Workshop Lead: Dr. Chris Williams, Senior Principal Engineer, Dstl
Co-Presenters: Mr. Dan Eames, Communications Scientist, Dstl
Dr. Mark Osborn, Principal Scientist, Dstl

Given the pressing need for rapid exploitation of integrated combinations of high-performance algorithmic components, we will discuss how the opportunities presented by open architectures can be maximised and how risks associated with their use can be mitigated. The focus will be on open architectures for sensor fusion and management (eg Stone Soup) as well as wider components (e.g. the PYRAMID reference architecture).

Register for Event

Workshop Lead: Prof. Simon Maskell, Dstl/RaEng chair in Information Fusion, University of Liverpool
Co-Presenter: Dr. Russell Mckinlay, Principal Data Scientist, Dstl

The Academic Research in Next Generation Information Networks (AR-NGIN) project has been conducting research into generation-after-next wireless technologies for future disaster and emergency operations. The first part of this workshop will discuss initial research findings from the project in two main areas: 1. Novel Hardware Design for Future Wireless Systems – This part will explore research advances being made in efficient transmitter amplifier design, robust receiver front-ends and novel digitisation techniques, with a particular focus towards disaster scenarios. 2. Integrated Communications and Radar Systems – This part will discuss research progress in designing integrated communications and radar communications systems that can be deployed in disaster scenarios. The second part of the workshop will open the floor for discussion with attendees to explore further research directions in the general area of future wireless systems. The aim will be to record key ideas that are discussed with attendees and communicate these back to DSTL and Serapis.

Register for Event

Workshop Lead: Prof. John Thompson, Professor of Signal Processing and Communications, University of Edinburgh

Co-Presenters: Prof. Tim O’Farrell, Chair Professor in Wireless Communication University of Sheffield
Prof. Mathini Sellathurai, Professor in Signal Processing, Heriot-Watt University

Speakers will give 3-minute presentations on their posters.

• Peter J. Thompson, University College London, “Dismounted Solider Navigation in GNSS-Denied Environments Using Magnetic Fields”
• Greta Zefi, University of Strathclyde, “ANALYSIS OF DECEPTIVE JAMMING IN MULTISTATIC SAR”
• Steven Hughes, University of Glasgow, “Unknown Transceiver Exploitation Using a Multi-Armed Bandit Approach: A Simulation Study”
• Benjamin Dewes, University of Nottingham, “Nanoscale Optical Sensing Based on Scalable Two-dimensional Semiconductors”
• Priya Murugan Kusala Kumari, University of Leeds, “Frequency-adaptive transceiver architectures for transmission diversity and spectrum sharing”
• Morgan Coe, University of Birmingham, “THz ISAR – Terahertz ISAR image formation for Space-to-Space (Sat2) Intelligence, Surveillance and Recognisance (ISR)”
• Ana Vukovic, University of Nottingham, “Virtual EM Environment for Industrial Scale EM Applications”
• Yuan Ding, Heriot-Wat University, “Exploiting Radio Frequency Hardware for Absolute Wireless Security”
• Muhammad Ali Babar Abbasi, Queen’s University Belfast, “Electromagnetic Information Theory-based Radar Detection Enhancement Methods”
• Waqas Bin Abbas, University of Bristol, “Antenna Selection and Directivity Trade-off in MIMO Systems with Uniform Planar Arrays”
• Abhimanyu, Heriot-Watt University, “Wi-Sense: Indoor simultaneous sensing and secured communication using mm-Waves”
• Timothy Pelham, University of Bristol, “Swarm Enabled Spatial Intelligence for locating GNSS emissions and disruptions within the local environment”

To operate in the future electromagnetic environment (RF through to Optical), we need people – Suitably Qualified and Experienced People (SQEP). And we don’t just need more of the same people. The future EME will bring new challenges and new opportunities and therefore we will need new skills to operate in it. But we know SQEP development takes time, it takes resource and it takes a lot of energy. We know that it is particularly hard for small business and we know there is a gap of mid-career professionals available to do the training. So what are we going to do about it? This panel session will discuss exactly this. We’ll ask a selection of experts what skills they see as critical, what skills they struggle to obtain, and together, we will discuss creative ways to address this.

• Mrs. Amy Baldwin, Project Technical Authority, Dstl (Chair)
• Mr. Andy Milner, Principal Engineer, Dstl
• Mr. Tom Peacock, Team Leader, Dstl
• Mr. Shane Powley, Military Advisor, Dstl
• Mr. Jon Spencer, Chief Scientist C4I Systems, Dstl
• Prof. James Flint, Professor of Wireless Systems, Loughborough University
  

In this workshop, the aim is to inform the participants about the NSC. There will be talks discussing the needs for an integrated spectrum range and the current state of development of the NSC in Aberystwyth. This will be followed by a group discussion-based session where the participants would engage more with the peers and the team from the NSC.

Register for Event

Workshop Lead: Prof. Amit Kumar Mishra, Director, National Spectrum Centre, Aberystwyth University

Co-Presenters: Mr. Dan Reade, Principal C5ISR Technologist, Dstl
Dr. Anil Shukla, QinetiQ Senior Fellow, QinetiQ

Per Oliver’s suggestions detailed below, the titles and abstracts for the Timing in MOD talk is below:
Timing is an underpinning and critical capability both for Defence & Security and the UK’s infrastructure. Yet the extent of both defence and civilian dependence on precise timing systems, primarily GPS, is often overlooked. MOD has an increasing need for development of Distributed Resilient Timing (DRT) systems, which provide time transfer and holdover while operating in areas where GPS is denied or unavailable. This talk will outline the criticality of Timing for defence and UK infrastructure, and how Dstl’s development and demonstration of resilient time transfer technologies will support this vital capability.

Register for Event

Workshop Lead: Dr. Miranda Turvey, Lead, Distributed Resilient Timing Systems, Dstl

It is understood that the Electromagnetic Environment (EME) is growing ever more complex and contested as technology continues to accelerate. The effective operation of a system-of-system Electromagnetic Activities capability (EMA Enterprise) will aid in meeting this increasing challenge, but will present new decision making and understanding challenges for the operator. The focus of this workshop is an analysis of decision making and perception through Human Factors in this increasingly challenging context.

The workshop will involve assessing three example defence scenarios. Each scenario will be progressed against three technology horizons (Emerging, Next Generation, and Generation-After-Next), asking how the approach, decision making, and technology application will change accordingly.

Benefit: Develop deeper understanding of decision making challenges when operating the EMA Enterprise in context. Develop new understanding and data for HF PhD.

Benefit secondary: Socialise the EMA Enterprise and discuss potential and challenges.

Register for Event

Workshop Lead: Mr. Olly Gage, Scientist, Dstl

Co-Presenter: Mr. Matt Webster, Researcher, Loughborough University

There are a number of sources of uncertainty that need to be taken into account when managing EM systems, including; propagation variations, uncertainty of receiver response, uncertainty of presence of other systems, spectrum sensing/measurement uncertainty, etc. This workshop will explore different sources of uncertainty and their impact on EM systems and planning/management of EM systems. It will then explore how these sources of uncertainty can be captured and communicated. Finally, different strategies to cope with uncertainty will be discussed such as; options to gain additional information to reduce uncertainty, better understanding characteristics of uncertainty for use in robust decision making, and planning for high impact/low likelihood events (radical uncertainty/black swans).

Register for Event

Workshop Lead: Dr. Chris Williams, Senior Principal Engineer, Dstl