7/27/2019 Women in Science_Be Aware! Computing is Everywhere!_Maria Vigliotti

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By Dr Maria Vigliotti

Notebook, Science & TechnologyLast updated: Monday, 19 August 2013 at 11:09 pm

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Maria Grazia Vigliotti is a Senior Research Associate at the Department of Computing, Imperial College London. Her research

focuses on the principles of computer science, statistical analysis of complex systems, and security in computer systems. She has

uncovered vulnerabilities on the Oyster Card. She is currently working on statistical analysis of information obtained from social

networks, such as Twitter, like using statistical analysis of public data to decide who is the most influential contributor. The main

focus of Marias research is to study the fundamental principles of complex systems and to use these principles to address problems

that arise, like security, performance and correctness of computer systems. Maria took part in Soapbox Science 2013, on 5th July

where she stood on a soapbox on Londons Southbank Centre and spoke to the public about her work and to help promote the role of

women in science. www.soapboxscience.org

Maria Grazia Vigliotti is a Senior Research Associate at the Department of Computing, Imperial College London. Her researchfocuses on the principles of computer science, statistical analysis of complex systems,and security in computer systems. She has

uncovered vulnerabilities onthe Oyster Card. She is currently working on statistical analysis of information obtained from socialnetworks, such as Twitter, like using statistical analysis of public data to decide who is the most influential contributor. The mainfocus of Marias research is to study the fundamental principles of complex systems and to use these principles to address problemsthat arise, like security, performance and correctness of computer systems. Maria took part in Soapbox Science 2013, on 5th Julywhere she stood on a soapbox on Londons Southbankand spoke to the public about her work and to help promote the role of womenin science. www.soapboxscience.org

Computing devices are everywhere nowadays. For many of us, life would be unthinkable without a smartphone, a tablet, or a laptop.The pace at which technology is developing is rather astonishing and its impact in our modern life is possible only because in thethirties of the last century, a new science was born: computer science.

Despite the huge impact computer science has had in our society via the development of technology, not many people know whatcomputer science really is, and most people would associate computer science with their own experience of technology. For some,

computer science is about programming or maintenance of computer systems, for others it relates to development of gadgets suchas smartphones and tablets.

Computer science is the science of studying what can be computed, where the concept of computation emphasises the mechanicalaspect of rigorously following a procedure to obtain a result which contains only a finite number of steps; such a procedure iscalled an algorithm. Computer science can be described as the study of problems that can be solved using algorithms.

We do not need computers to compute; in fact, we all compute. For example, the technique of adding two long numbers, or dividingtwo long numbers, is a form of computation. We follow a set of pre-determined steps precisely to obtain the results. To perform theoperation of adding or dividing, we follow an algorithm.

Of course calculation is a form of computation, but not all computation is a form of calculation. For example, the most importantelement behind Google is the PageRank algorithm, which yields accurate results while searching through millions of documents onthe Web.

Computer science, as all other sciences, is composed of important truths. In computing, while people tried to understand what can becomputed with algorithms, it was also discovered that that there exists some problems that cannot be computed. That observationestablished some very serious limits to computation. We have also discovered that certain problems can be computed in principle, butwill take too many years for a solution to be computed. Public key cryptography, which guarantees secure private communicationsover the Internet, is based on the assumption that there are certain problems for which a solution is not feasible in practice. Public

men in Science: Be aware! Computing is everywhere! | Maria Vigliott... http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/08/26/women-in-science-be-aware...

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In my research as computer scientist, I have examined and put new limits to what it is possible to achieve with computation, and Ihave analysed if algorithms solve the original problem that they were invented for. It might come as a surprise, but sometimes when ahuman writes an algorithm they do not fully understand what the algorithms computes, and do not always manage to write the exactprogram they were thinking of. As a consequence, the results of running a program can be occasionally unexpected. The jargon forthis kind of behaviour is to say that the algorithm, or the computer program has a bug. We all have experienced such bugs, forexample when our PC unexpectedly stops working. We get annoyed, and sometimes it could have negative consequences such aslosing data, but overall, we can say this has a marginal impact.

It is far more serious when a bug goes unnoticed, and generates wrong data that is taken to be correct. A large amount of effort incomputer science has gone towards understanding how to eliminate bugs from computer programs. This is extremely important ascomputer often are deployed in critical systems such as flying airplanes or controlling nuclear power stations, and no quick humanintervention is possible. In these cases, even very small bugs could have disastrous consequences.

Technology derived from computer science is ubiquitous in our life, and thankfully scientists work everyday to keep this technologysafe.

Tagged in: computer science, google, google algorithm, twitter, women in science

men in Science: Be aware! Computing is everywhere! | Maria Vigliott... http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2013/08/26/women-in-science-be-aware...

d 2 27.8.2013 12:52