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Looking for Scotland's best MSc Computing courses - with MSc programmes in Advanced Networking, Advanced Security and Digital Forensics, Advanced Software Engineering, Applied Informatics, Business Information Technology, Enterprise Web Development, Information Systems Development, Information Systems for Financial Services, Interactive Systems: User Experience, Software Technology for the Web. You can start some of these in Jan 2011

Tom McEwan's Home Page
Home Page
Teaching BCS Edinburgh Journalism
Work with Industry Academic Research BCS Academy Music
British Computer Society Interaction Specialist Group HCI2005 UXCF2010 EISE09 HCI2010 HCI2011 BCS GRG ScotlandIS

Tom McEwan's official photograph

I have a new role since Mar 2010 - School Director of Quality. This involves looking at our courses and ensuring that the quality matches what industry needs, and builds on the recent work I did as School Director of Academic Development. I am always interested to hear from people who can't find a computing course that matches their needs. For BCS Interaction SG and UK UPA, I recently ran UXCF2010 to hear from UX employers

I am active in various parts of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, chairing their Interaction specialist group (chairing EISE09, helping run HCI2010 at Abertay Dundee, and HCI2011 at Northumbria 4-8th July 2011 - this is two months earlier than traditional dates to avoid a conference overload and start of academic years - more about Interaction SG below). I have a three year position on BCS Government Relations Group and want to improve BCS links with the Scottish Parliament in particular. I participate in the Research group of BCS Academy. I am also PR person for Edinburgh BCS branch, and chair the annual November Debate for them.

2007-9 I was funded under 2kT/SEEKIT to explore university commercialisation and collaboration following a number of successful knowledge transfer partnerships. This resulted in some interesting projects that will shortly turn into KTPs, some Proof of Concept funded spin-out projects, and an interest in researching the nature of human-centred innovation (as opposed to the more common capital-driven innovation). You can see more on my research page but a paper on this at HCI2009 is on BCS eWiC also on ACM DL.

With Dr Sandra Cairncross, I have publications at FIE2009 and FIE2005 and we edited together a special edition of the journal ITSE. I co-edited the proceedings for the HCI2005, HCI2007 and HCI2010 conferences.

My teaching is currently IMD07101 Introduction to HCI (1st year undergraduate), IMD07106 (Producing Digital) and a new module based on the past two years: IMD11108 Digital Markets (MSc level), with various other bits of supervisions and guest lectures.

I am now Chair of interaction (The BCS Specialist Group formerly known as The British HCI Group). I hope to strengthen the links we have with similar organisations in other countries and we have set up eusset.eu to do this. I have been part of the group's executive committee since 1999 - as Editor of Interfaces, then Communication Chair, then chair for HCI2005, then Treasurer.

I was a director of ScotlandIS until I had neurosurgery in 2001, and continued as the Chair of the ScotlandIS Usability Forum running two successful symposia. In the 2009 election I was returned me as a Board Member once more

All of which leaves me little time to play music any more, though I commend Out of The Bedroom as it retains the spirit of the Songwriters' Showcase I ran in the 1990s, and I finally gave up on the idea of finding the time to play golf! I had a family tragedy in Oct 2007 with the loss of my 19 year old son Kyle and I am very grateful for the many messages of sympathy received since.

 

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RIP Kyle McEwan 1988-2007. Thank you to everybody who helped in the search for my son but sadly it was in vain. Thank you also to the (literally) thousands of people who sent messages, wrote, phoned, joined the Facebook groups and listened to his songs on myspace. Celebrate the spirit of Kyle.