School of Computer Science,
University of Nottingham

Julie is part of the Intelligent Modelling and Analysis Group within the School of Computer Science at the University of Nottingham. She is currently researching the development of an immune inspired algorithm, the Dendritic Cell Algorithm and the application of intelligent methods and data mining to 'thrill & fear' discrimination. This means she gets to ride a lot of rollercoasters, all in the name of research!

Her work with Artificial Immune Systems involves both abstract modelling of the immune system for the purpose of constructing novel algorithms and modelling of the immune system to figure out how select mechanisms actually function. In particular Julie is interested in the Danger Theory and the function of the innate immune systems, in particular Dendritic Cells.

Her newest, and less conventional, research entails the study of emotional responses of people on rollercoasters. This research is in conjunction with the Thrill Laboratory, where participants are monitored using wearable biosensing kits, cameras and microphones. Julie's role is to mine this data and to conduct experiments to see if what thrills people or what scares them can be formulated. This ties in nicely with her life-long passion for riding rollercoasters and other extreme rides.