Hardware-Software Interface (WiCS Seminars 2026 Week 6)
The final WiCS seminar focused on the hardware‑software interface, zeroing in on memory‑safety vulnerabilities that dominate modern cyber‑risk. Presenter Tenhu, a first‑year Cambridge PhD, explained how low‑level bugs in C/C++—from buffer overflows to use‑after‑free—fuel attacks such as WannaCry ransomware and return‑oriented programming exploits. Key insights highlighted that roughly 70% of critical security bugs stem from memory‑safety flaws, that CVE databases systematically track these issues, and that hardware‑assisted mechanisms (e.g., ROP mitigation, pointer‑bounds checking) can dramatically improve protection. The talk contrasted unsafe languages with managed runtimes like Java or Python, noting that even those rely on unsafe C/C++ cores. Examples included audience‑generated attack vectors, a live ROP demo on a vulnerable C program, and a clarification that C# is generally memory‑safe due to its runtime. The presenter emphasized pointers as the bridge between software and hardware, explaining spatial and temporal errors that lead to corruption. Implications are clear: enterprises must adopt hardware‑assisted memory‑safety solutions and prioritize patching CVE‑listed bugs, while students are encouraged to explore research at the intersection of hardware design and secure software development.
Behind the Scenes of Video Streaming (WiCS Seminars 2026 Week 5)
The Women in Computer Science seminar’s fifth week featured PhD candidate Dunia from Cambridge, who unpacked the technical underpinnings of video streaming—from content providers to end‑user devices—highlighting why bandwidth constraints dominate the delivery pipeline. She detailed how streaming services manage the...
Group Lima - Futures Radar for Education
The Group Lima Futures Radar for Education is a proof‑of‑concept platform designed to give teachers and policymakers a clearer, evidence‑informed view of an increasingly uncertain education landscape. By aggregating disparate data—RSS feeds, census statistics, and other sources—the system aims to...
Group Alpha - AI Risk Decoder
Group Alpha introduced the AI Risk Decoder, a platform that translates sprawling terms‑of‑service and privacy policies of popular AI services into concise, user‑friendly risk summaries. Recognizing that most users lack the time or expertise to parse legal jargon, the team...
Group Mike - Intuitive Business Data
The video introduces Group Mike’s Intuitive Business Data platform, aimed at curbing massive cloud‑cost waste by giving organizations a single pane of glass to monitor and control spending. It cites that more than 30 % of cloud spend—about $44 billion annually—is idle, with...
Group Romeo - R U NOT HUMAN
Group Romeo's interactive exhibition critiques conventional CAPTCHAs, exposing how they both fail to stop bots and impede legitimate users. The demo shows simple mouse‑tracking CAPTCHAs that can be spoofed, and highlights data‑harvesting practices that compromise privacy. It also illustrates how neurodivergent, motor‑impaired...
Group Lima - Futures Radar for Education
UNESCO’s Futures of Education observatory is commissioning a Futures Radar to map emerging signals that could reshape schooling worldwide. The open‑access platform will aggregate public‑source data, curated datasets, and project‑specific inputs into interactive maps, timelines, and uncertainty visualisations. Designed for...
Group Quebec - Nanosis A Nanomedicine Design Puzzle
Group Quebec’s BioNano Engineering Group unveiled Nanosis, a Tetris‑inspired educational game that lets players assemble nanoparticles, molecular linkers, and biomolecular ligands to navigate the body’s biological barriers. Each level mirrors a stage of nanomedicine delivery—from bloodstream circulation and immune evasion...
Group Victor - Wise Banking
The brief challenges developers to build a wisdom‑based mobile banking app that links young adults with mentors across generations. It draws on the Yellow Cowries curriculum to embed financial literacy in areas like savings, loans, investments, and insurance. The solution...
Group Uniform - Video Delphi
The project proposes a new media platform that combines video and text forums with large‑language‑model (LLM) assistance to run Delphi‑style consensus processes. It targets the polarization caused by algorithmic bubbles on social and streaming services, offering a structured, expert‑driven alternative....
Group Tango - The Admissions Game
Group Tango, a project for STEMfluent Ltd, creates a human‑centered platform that lets high‑school students practice Cambridge admissions interviews through peer‑to‑peer sessions. An algorithm modeled on TrueSkill tracks each participant’s performance, offering a clear metric of interview readiness. The service...
Group Kilo - From AI to BI
Group Kilo is developing a mobile application for the Cambridgeshire Beekeepers Association to combat declining honeybee health in the Cambridge region. The app will leverage artificial intelligence to diagnose serious bee diseases from user‑submitted photos, while simultaneously gathering hive data...
Group Papa - Local Medical Guidelines
A project led by Medical Action Myanmar aims to replace static PDF medical guidelines with a lightweight progressive web app. The system will let local health teams author, distribute, and update guidelines on low‑powered devices with limited connectivity. It incorporates...
Group Oscar - Junior Space Engineers
The French Space Academy, represented by Thomas Garnier, is commissioning a redesign of CNES’s IDM CIC systems‑engineering and CAD platform for classroom use. Led by Archie Macrae, Ben Chapman and their team, the project will transform the complex tool into an intuitive design...