Who are the people championing digital health, artificial intelligence, software development and data management? Which students have paved a successful career path at the University of Malta’s Faculty of ICT and have gone on to realise their professional ambitions? This year’s , carrying the theme of ‘Digital Technology Education and Research for all’, will feature the intervention of a number of experts and industry practitioners who will make their intervention throughout the Panel Sessions.
Panel 1: ICTSA: Life at University
Moderated by Mr Iggy Fenech, Editor, Writer and Blogger
- Dr Mark Micallef, Head of the Department of Computer Science, who has been part of the Faculty for 11 years and whose philosophy in academia is that the Faculty is there to help students along their journey of self-discovery.
- Mr Gerard Coleiro is a first-year university student studying Software Development at the Faculty of ICT. He joined the ICT Student Association executive for the term of 2020-2021 as an Academic Officer.
- Mr Etienne Buttigieg graduated in B.Sc. IT (Hons.) in Computing and Business at the University of Malta. He is currently pursuing the ACCA qualification whilst working as a Senior Business Applications Consultant at PTL Ltd. Throughout his years studying at the University of Malta, he was heavily involved in student activism, first within ICTSA (ICT Students Association) and subsequently within KSU (Kunsill Studenti Universitarji).
Panel 2: Digital Health and the Role of Education
Moderated by Mr Mark Laurence Zammit, journalist, television host and media producer
- Dr Conrad Attard is the Deputy Dean of Faculty of ICT and a Lecturer and Researcher at the Department of Computer ¸£ÀûÔÚÏßÃâ·Ñ Systems. He’s also current Chair of the IEEE Computer Society Malta. He leads various research projects related to pervasive electronic monitoring in healthcare (PEM). He is also passionate about STEM activities.
- Ms Francesca Chircop has just completed her Bachelors in Computing Science, with her final year project related to medical imaging, identifying and implementing models that improve the quality of low-dose CT scan images.
- Mr Michele La Ferla is currently finishing his Master’s in AI with a focus on explainable AI. In his dissertation, he focused on understanding how we can interpret the better way AI reads mammogram images in breast cancer.
- Mr Arthur Gerada has been working within the Health IT domain both within the public and private sectors for the past fourteen years. He occupied the role of the Chief ¸£ÀûÔÚÏßÃâ·Ñ Officer for the Ministry responsible for Health for a number of years and is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Healthcare Logistics Ltd, a company specialising in the provision of Health & Elderly IT services.
Panel 3: IT Professionals: How to reach the 20 million goals by 2030? Malta's Challenges
Moderated by Ms Coryse Borg, Writer, Columnist and Actress
- Dr Vanessa Camilleri is an academic at the Department of Artificial Intelligence. Her expertise is in the area of Human-Computer Interactions with a specialisation in Virtual Worlds and Serious Games. Her areas of interest include VR applications for developing emotional intelligence values.
- Ms Vanessa Vella is a Senior Software Engineer at CS Technologies, and a part-time Master's in CIS student. Earlier in her career, Vanessa started working towards bridging the gender gap in tech, where she co-founded and co-chaired a Non-Profit Organisation called MissInTech which strives to help introduce more women to technology.
- Mr Bradley Barbara is a 21-year-old student who just completed his final year studying for a BSc in Computer Engineering. He has 2 years of experience working with Computime as a trainee networking engineer with plans to continue developing his skills and knowledge.
- Mr Carm Cachia is an IT professional, having encompassed most of the areas in the digital sphere including software engineering, infrastructure, design, information security, project management and executive leadership. He is a Chartered Fellow of the BCS and he currently heads the eSkills Malta Foundation and its board.
Panel 4: Research for the benefit of society
Moderated by Keith Demicoli, broadcaster, communicator and Malta Chamber’s Head of Communications and Business Development
- Dr Joshua Ellul is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science within the Faculty of ICT, Director of the Centre for Distributed Ledger Technologies which runs a multidisciplinary Masters in Blockchain and DLT, and Chairperson of the Malta Digital Innovation Authority.
- Mr Jake Dalli is a graduate of the Masters in AI programme. He developed a cross-lingual NLP solution with applications for under-resourced languages which lack sufficient data for machine learning. He currently works as a lead data engineer within the iGaming industry.
- Mr Ryan Agius is an AIoT Engineer working on developing applications on embedded systems with SmartCow AI Technologies Ltd. A UM alumnus, Ryan was previously awarded a Bachelor of Engineering and worked as an intern with CERN as part of his dissertation for his Masters in ICT course.
- Mr Brian Camilleri is an Economist by profession. He started his career as a market research analyst with MISCO International Ltd, in 2011 he joined Malta Enterprise, the country’s agency tasked with economic and social development, where he currently serves as the Head of Economic Intelligence, Policy and EU Affairs.
