School of Computing

Ms Luana Micallef

Research Student

Photo of L Micallef
  • Tel:     +44 (0)1227 823822/3824
  • Fax:     +44 (0)1227 762811
  • Email: lm304@kent.ac.uk
  • Room SW104
    School of Computing
    University of Kent, CT2 7NF

Publications

My publications are available from the Computer Science department publications repository.

PhD Project Summary

I am developing new techniques to generate and lay out Euler and Venn diagrams. I am also investigating the applicability of such diagrams to aid data analysis and decision making in areas such as health, biosciences, business and criminology.

I adopted a force-directed approach to lay out Euler diagrams and I presented a poster at IEEE InfoVis 2009 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA (poster paper, poster).

I am exploring the use of various shapes and optimization techniques to generate and draw area-proportional Euler and Venn diagrams. I am also interested in formally identifying area-proportions that can and cannot be drawn with such diagrams.

eulerAPE: Drawing Area-Proportional Euler and Venn Diagrams using Ellipses

Particularly, I am focusing on the use of ellipses to draw the curves representing the required area-proportional regions. Together with Dr. Peter Rodgers, I have developed eulerAPE: the first automatic area-proportional Euler diagram drawing tool that uses ellipses. A beta version is available online. This version is currently restricted to 3 curves, but later on it will be extended to handle more curves. More details are available in this technical report and poster. I presented this novel, ongoing work at the EMEA Google Scholars' Retreat 2011 in Zurich, Switzerland.

I am interested in identifying a number of aesthetic layout criteria that make Euler diagrams easier to comprehend and to reason about. I would also like to understand how humans perceive such visualizations.

An Euler Diagram showing the Classification of Geometric Shapes (Micallef & Rodgers, InfoVis 2009) An Euler Diagram laid out using our Force-Directed approach (Micallef & Rodgers, InfoVis 2009) An Area-Proportional Venn-3 Diagram Drawn using eulerAPE (Micallef & Rodgers, TR-3-11)

I am being supervised by Dr. Peter Rodgers and my work is partly related to the research project Visualization with Euler Diagrams. I am also collaborating with other experts, including information designer Angela Morelli from Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, and Gem Stapleton from University of Brighton who has contributed significantly in defining the underlying theory of automated Euler diagram drawing techiques.

Last year, I was awarded a four-month internship with the AVIZ team at INRIA Saclay Île-de-France and together with Prof. Jean-Daniel Fekete and Dr. Pierre Dragicevic, I am investigating the use and benefits of Euler diagrams to reason about probabilistic and uncertain data in various application areas.

Research Interests

I am a member of the following research groups:

Main Interests:

  • Euler Diagram Drawing Techniques
  • Graph Drawing Techniques
  • Reasoning with Diagrams
  • Visual Analytics
  • Information Visualization
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Search and Optimization Algorithms
  • Natural Computation
Other Interests:
  • Computer Supported Cooperative Work
  • Surface Computing
  • Computer Graphics
  • Embedded Domain Specific Languages
  • Functional Programming
  • Formal Methods
  • Computer-Assisted Learning
  • Technology for Developing Markets


Professional Activities

ED2012: 3rd International Workshop on Euler Diagrams Logo


General Chair of Euler Diagrams 2012
with Peter Chapman



Teaching

I am currently a sessional supervisor for CO325: Foundations of Computing II (2011/2012).

In the past years, I have supervised the following modules:

In 2010/11, I also gave some lectures for CO325: Foundations of Computing II.

As a Credit in Higher Education, in 2010, I completed the Associate Teacher Accreditation Programme (ATAP), which is run by the University's Unit for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching.


About Me

In April 2011, I was selected as a finalist for the Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship: Europe, the Middle East and Africa and I was invited to attend the EMEA Scholars' Retreat 2011 at Google Zurich.This aims to reward women’s achievements in computer science. [Full List of Scholars and Finalists | Announcement on the Official Google Blog | Announcement on the Google Student Blog | Applications for 2012]

In 2011, I was awarded a four-month internship at AVIZ, INRIA Saclay Île-de-France to investigate the use and benefits of Euler diagrams to reason about probabilistic and uncertain data in various application areas.

In December 2008, I was awarded a First Class Honours degree for my four-year Bachelor of Science in Information Technology (Honours) course (Computer Science as the main area of study) at the University of Malta, and a Faculty of ICT Dean's Award for Excellence in ICT. For my final year project, I designed and embedded a domain specific language in Haskell to model, transform and quality assure business processes in business-driven development. In particular, this language captures the domain semantics of IBM's WebSphere Business Modeler Advanced. [ Technical Report | Paper | Poster ]

In 2007, my friends and I made it to the finals of Microsoft Imagine Cup in South Korea, with our project KIKI (Key to the Integration of Knowledge and Innovation). Since the theme for 2007 was 'Imagine a world where technology enables a better education for all', we developed a platform to deploy educational software through an extensible architecture which provides inherent support for Windows MultiPoint functionality, inter-computer communication, user identification and progress tracking. [ Paper | Our official team website | Video ]

Following our participation in Microsoft Imagine Cup 2007, our team was awarded a four-month internship in summer 2008 at Microsoft Research India (MSRI), for the best use of Microsoft's new technology, Windows MultiPoint. We joined the Technology for Emerging Markets Group and as part of the Education Research Group, we were involved in a number of projects in relation to education in developing regions. We worked in collaboration with a number of rural schools and non-governmental organizations in the region, and we implemented software prototypes and conducted field trails, pilot projects and empirical studies to evaluate the impact of digital technology in the classroom on learning outcomes. [ Paper | MSRI project web page | MSRI new software release | US Patent ]

In summer 2007, I was chosen to participate in the CERN Summer Student Programme 2007. I worked with the SPI group in the PH-SFT department and during my two-month studentship, I designed and implemented the SPI installation manager to uniformly install software packages developed by the LCG/AA (LHC Computing GRID/Applications Area) on different WLCG (Worldwide LHC Computing Grid) machines that are using and analysing data generated by the LHC experiments.

School of Computing, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NF

Enquiries: +44 (0)1227 824180 or contact us.

Last Updated: 12/02/2012 03:09