PACTS is pleased to invite its members to our annual joint Working Party meeting, to be held in-person at Warwick Manufacturing Group (University of Warwick) on 1st October 2024. The agenda for the day will include a plenary session in the morning on the topic of Safety Critical Software, and an afternoon breakout session for each individual Working Party.
Contact us for further information.
| Time | Event | Details/Speakers |
| 10:00 | Registration | |
| 10:15 | Plenary session – Safety Critical Software | Paula Palade, Jaguar Land Rover Professor John McDermid, University of York Darren Fitzgerald, RSSB |
| 12:15 | Lunch | |
| 13:30 | Individual Working Party meetings | Road User Behaviour Road Environment Vehicle Design Rail Safety Air Safety |
| 16:00 | Close | |
Speakers
Paula Palade works for Jaguar Land Rover as an AI Ethics Senior Technical Specialist. She holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering and has published as part of an independent group of experts, a report commissioned by European Commission on Ethics of Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs). The report includes 20 recommendations covering dilemma situations, the creation of a culture of responsibility, and the promotion of data, algorithm, and AI literacy through public participation.
Paula is a BSI delegate representing Jaguar Land Rover and Automotive Group Expert on various ISO groups such as ISO TC241 Road traffic safety management systems, as well as other technical standards on highly Automated features, such as contributing to the ISO/TC/204 Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) WG14 Automated Valet Parking and WG20 Big Data and Artificial Intelligence supporting ITS.
She published the ISO 39003 standard in August 2023 – “Guidance on safety ethical considerations for autonomous vehicles”.
John McDermid became Professor of Software Engineering at the University of York in 1987 and the Lloyd’s Register Foundation Chair of Safety in January 2024. His research covers a broad range of issues in systems, software, and safety engineering. He became Director of the Lloyd’s Register Foundation funded Assuring Autonomy International Programme in January 2018 and the successor Centre for Assuring Autonomy (CfAA) in January 2024. The AAIP and CfAA focus on the safety of robotics and autonomous systems and are developing assurance frameworks for autonomous systems and machine learning, either used as part of an autonomous system or stand-alone. These frameworks are being used across a range of sectors including healthcare and various transport modalities including maritime. He has advised on the evolution of the IMO Code for Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) and is working with several class societies and national regulators on assurance of MASS. He became a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2002 and was awarded an OBE in 2010.
Darren Fitzgerald has 20 years’ experience of rail vehicle engineering with a primary focus on electrical, electronic and digital systems. He joined the railway as an apprentice for a train operating company in 2005 and also studied part-time to gain Masters Degree in Embedded Digital Systems. In 2020, he gained Chartered Engineer status through the Institute of Engineering and Technology and subsequently became a fellow of the same institute in 2022. He represents GB on European standards drafting groups and committees which includes those on software and cyber security, develops GB railway standards on a broad range of subjects and provides technical support for industry and research & development projects.
