Huddersfield welcomes the second CTIF Global Capsule Workshop

The network was entitled ‘5G and Beyond: techno-business innovation’

GLOBAL progress in the installation of 5G networks plus the technological possibilities and  opportunities for research collaborations that lie ahead were explored at a two-day University of Huddersfield event that featured keynote addresses from experts based at universities, companies and research institutes around the world.  One speaker, a leading figure at a German multi-national, made a flying visit to deliver his one-hour contribution.

The event was the second CTIF Global Capsule (CGC) Workshop to have been held at the University of Huddersfield.  Last year, it signed a Memorandum of Understanding with CGC, an international network that has a mission to develop interdisciplinary research in information and communications technology.Members are professors and researchers at universities in Europe, the USA, Japan, India, Australia and many other countries.  The CGC has signed MoUs with universities around the world, but Huddersfield was the first in the UK to join.

The latest workshop was titled 5G and Beyond: techno-business innovation and delegates were welcomed by the University of Huddersfield’s Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise, Professor Andrew Ball, and Professor Ramjee Prasad, of Aarhus University in Denmark, who is President of the CTIF Global Capsule.

The workshop featured discussion sessions and keynote speeches delivered by experts based at six universities in the UK and Europe and at four multi-national companies and research centres.

One of the keynotes came from Reiner Stuhlfauth, who is the Munich-based Technology Manager Wireless for Rohde & Schwarz, leading global manufacturers of information and communications technology products.  After an address that included an overview of the 5G NR (New Radio) physical layer and the latest methods for testing its devices and base stations, his schedule meant that he needed to return immediately to Munich.

Keynote speakers also included Dr Akram Alomany, of Queen Mary University of London; Armelle Boisset, of Ofcom; Professor Raed Abd-Alhameed, of Bradford University; Dr Zaharias Zaharis, of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece; Professor Tian Hong Loh, of the National Physical Laboratory; Professor Muhammad Imran, of the University of Glasgow; and Zubeir Bocus, of Toshiba Research Europe.

Chief organiser of the workshop was Dr Pavlos Lazaridis, who is Reader in Electronic and Electrical Engineering, in the University of Huddersfield’s Department of Engineering and Technology.

He is one of the principal figures behind a new multi-national project titled MOTOR5G (standing for Mobility and Training for Beyond 5G Ecosystems) that has been awarded 3,979,000 euros by the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme.  It will be an innovative training network designed produce a new generation of 5G experts, and Dr Lazaridis will co-supervise PhD researchers based at the University of Huddersfield.

The CTIF Global Workshop included a panel discussion that introduced delegates to MOTOR5G.