International tech companies visit QM

A delegation of around of more than 30 global tech businesses visited the state of the art media technology facilities at Mile End Campus on Tuesday 21 May, as part of this year's Digital Shoreditch Festival. More than 40 people from eight countries that spanned Latin America, Europe and USA were welcomed to the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science in a visit coordinated by the Tech City Investment Organisation and UKTI. Many of the attendees represented companies that are either in the process of opening offices in Tech City or are part of the Digital Shoreditch Festival programme. Dr Chris Moore, from UKTI said: "The visiting group of SMEs welcomed the chance to see a number of engaging demos, hear about current research projects and talk to faculty members and researchers. Queen Mary's highly successful Media and Arts Technology Doctoral Training Centre has been very active within the Tech City community and represents a great way for SMEs to work with a university partner." Andrew McPherson, Lecturer in Digital Media at QM and creator of the magnetic resonator piano spoke about a new project called TouchKeys, which overlays sensors to the surface of the keys of a piano-style keyboard to allow new expressive techniques like vibrato and pitch bends. Richard Kelly, Programme Manager for the Media and Arts Technology (MAT) Programme gave an overview of the Doctoral Training Centre and in particular the wide range of internships on offer. Richard explained: "Many of our students already have a Masters degree or are established artists in their own right.