Pause carousel
Play carousel
An Abertay researcher who is using computer games technology to help produce an innovative tool for cancer analysis scooped first prize at a prestigious conference poster competition.
Andrei Boiko, 26, presented his cell signalling visualisation research and technical demonstration at the SICSA (Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance) PhD conference last month.
The Abertay graduate, who is from Tallinn, Estonia, was one of around 130 students attending the event, with research projects ranging from mathematical modelling to human-computer interaction.
He is involved in the University’s SiViT project, which aims to produce and refine a computer-based simulation of cell signalling pathways that allows healthcare professionals to investigate and analyse how cancer cells will react to various drugs and treatments.
Andrei said: “I’m in the third year of my PhD and winning this award has given me that extra bit of confidence that I’m on the right track with my research.
“I had to give a short presentation and my work was analysed by a judging panel who are experts in their field.
“My undergraduate degree is in Computer Games Technology and I initially came to Abertay thinking I would go down the entertainment product route.
“But I discovered I really like teaching and research, and this project is a nice blend of biology and programming and it allows me to apply my skills to research that can improve peoples’ lives.
“My ideal scenario for the future is to continue to work at Abertay. I’m already a part-time lecturer and I like being here and living in Dundee.”
Around 35 posters were presented at this year’s conference, held at the University of Dundee.
Every poster was reviewed by two domain experts and three posters were shortlisted for the best poster award in each category.
Andrei won best 3rd year poster award and his technical demonstration of SiViT was also shortlisted for an honour.
The conference is organised by volunteers from universities across Scotland and James Sutherland, a researcher at Abertay, was on the organising committee.