Thesis Talks

September 23, 2021 at the ITU University, Scrollbar 
 
15.30-16.30: 1st session w. 5 speakers 
16.30-16.45: Coffee break  
16:45-17.30: 2nd session w/ 4 speakers 
17.30-18.15: Light dinner
18.15-19.00: 3rd session w/ 4 speakers 
19.00-     : Social networking

The talks are recorded, and in between the session you can meet our graduates, and learn more about their work.  

Sign up here to join.  
 
Reach out to Alumni Coordinator, Trine Møller, for further information: alumni@itu.dk   

The Danish Migration Machine
“My finger is in Denmark”, James commented when we asked about his journey towards asylum.

Eurodac is a European database that stores and handles the fingerprint of every registered asylum seeker in Europe. In this talk we explored how this technology is embedded in the Danish asylum system and how the use of the database has come to change not only Danish migration policy but also the life of migrants. Therefore, we need to start thinking about technologies as something that does not just neutrally exist, but as something that actively influences, shapes, and changes any process or purpose it is a part of.

Can computers think like a journalist?

The actual words of a person - an eye witness, a top politician or an expert economist - are often the ones that stand out and make a news article interesting to read.

But a quote is often just a tiny bit of a lengthy interview or a dire report, and identifying and selecting the "juiciest bits" is a time consuming task.
But what if computers could help do the job?

See what happens when an AI trained on 300.000 articles gives it a go. 

The essence of ethics in digital solutions 

Scandalous examples of companies closing based on unethical behavior still happen to this day.

User experience designs are increasingly focusing on the ethics in digital solutions, although there is still a lack of knowledge and research in the areas of applying ethics in digital design practices. 

How to build a robot and still fall short

Join the eventful journey in the innovative development of building and programming a life science robot with all of its ups and downs and discover how this new technology can improve the process of isolating microorganisms.

Jonas Haugaard Jensen will guide you through his progress and elaborate why robots are incredibly simple, but are still super complex and why the world of robots is challenging.

From Navigator to Operator: what happens when a craft is digitalised?
The wave of digitalisation continues to colonise many aspects of our lives. All kinds of enterprises, from small businesses to large corporations, from non-profit organisations to government agencies, are in the midst of a digital transformation, implementing digitalisation into new processes, activities, and transactions. But what happens when a craft and its craftmanship is digitalised? Departing from a case study of the digitalisation of the nautical chart and how this has affected the work of navigators at sea, this talk will explore the consequences that digital transformations may have on people, their work and their organisation. 

The Agile State 

Digital governance has become a key tool in the workings of the Danish state. The expansion of IT in the public sector has resulted in the implementation of agile workflows and methods in government agencies such as Styrelsen for It og Læring, Udviklings- og Forenklingsstyrelsen and Digitaliseringsstyrelsen.

This change has crucial implications for the administration and governance of the public sector. The talk will highlight how the wish to achieve an agile state, that is faster and more flexible, can undermine the core bureaucratic values that upholds our democracy. 

If no one asks the stupid questions, everyone remains stupid - What psychological safety can do for your team 
Do you ever jump out of bed in the morning because you just can’t wait to get to work to look ignorant, incompetent, intrusive or negative? Most people would answer no. And thankfully, it’s easy to avoid! Simply refrain from asking questions, admitting mistakes, offering ideas, or challenging the status quo. Unfortunately, this practice, so-called impression management is second nature to most of us. And due to it, we lose valuable opportunities for learning and innovation. Instead, if we want to develop our organization, we must foster an environment wherein questions are encouraged; an environment that is psychologically safe. But how do we assess if our workplace is psychologically safe? And how do we make it better? 

The Science of slacking off

We all know what it’s like to get stuck procrastinating online. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and other online platforms have carefully designed hooks designed to reel us in and keep us there. But why do we procrastinate in the first place? Is it just a bad habit we all need to be rid of, or is there more to the story?

We’ll discuss some of the science behind this pernicious habit, why we do it, and what we can do about it.

Let’s collaborate online
You wouldn't eat soup with a fork, and you wouldn’t watch a movie through the camera of your friend’s phone. But you would probably try if you felt that you didn't have other opportunities? When our world was affected by restrictions due to covid-19, we experienced reduction of social physical contact and our workdays became full of online meetings. Physical tools and methods were digitized and we tried our best to work under the new circumstances, working together remotely, through the digital platforms we already had at our disposal. But are these communication technologies always the right ones for optimal collaboration? The answer is no. We will tell you why based on our findings from our case-based study with an architectural company.  

Make it personal, on creating deeper experiences 
Positive-negative experiences are part of mainstream media and yet they are often not discussed or recognized as such. Events that makes us feel good and bad at the same time or give us a positive impact because they made us feel negatively not only have a high value in entertainment but also in bringing us new perspectives or just enjoyable moments.

I found that in games there are few examples in which these experiences are brought to the forefront and in those, a common technique is to use fourth wall manipulation. I used this information to create a prototype which helped me study the design process for such experiences, and more importantly to see the impact that using a specific technique has on making a deeper personal experience.

Personalized makeup based on YOU
Are you also tired of being lost in the jungle of beauty products and constantly looking for the perfect match for you? The era of beauty-tech is currently evolving, innovating the future of beauty, due to an increased demand for personalized beauty products and beauty experiences dependent on the consumer's unique characteristics and needs.  

In my talk I will present algorithms to classify one’s face shape and eye shape from images into five and six beauty related labels with the purpose of recommending personalised makeup and application techniques. This technology opens new doors and opportunities for the beauty industry, contributing to the evolution of beauty-tech.