Introducing: Bas Michielsen, PhD student Work Package 2

I am a passionate, creative, somewhat headstrong, techie, with a preference for solutions that are or do just that little bit different. In my previous training, I chose to study ‘Human & Computer Science’ because I do not think that technology is something that stands on its own, but above all that it should be helpful to people. And in the WildlifeNL project, it might also be of benifit to animals?

By now, I have been working at Fontys University of Applied Sciences ICT for just under 10 years, where I started as a lecturer in software engineering, but about 6 years ago stood at the cradle of the ‘ICT & Artificial Intelligence’ course, which I still enjoy (co-)coordinating and also enjoy teaching. My specialism within AI lies in ‘computer vision’, in which the machine learns to understand what can be seen in images, and where in the image certain objects can be found. My view is that within wildlife management / nature conservation there are huge opportunities to use computer vision meaningfully, so that is what I will be looking for and hope to contribute to.

Apart from teaching, I work for part of the week at the Fontys lectorate AI & Big Data, which aims to conduct applied research into solutions that AI can provide in domains that are beneficial to society. Think of healthcare, nature, education, etc. Often in collaboration with organisations in the region for the people in the region.

So the WildlifeNL project suits me perfectly.

WildlifeNL

Within the WildlifeNL project, I am mainly active in Work Package 2, in which a data platform is to be defined and developed, to which smartphone apps will then be connected. I am also involved in the activities of WP1 because the content of WP1 gives me a lot of context. The challenge in defining and developing the apps for WildlifeNL lies in clarifying the wishes (user stories) of the consortium members, so that the functioning of the apps will later fit in with the project’s objectives as well as possible. Because obviously the consortium members come from all sorts of different directions and have different goals, it is important that we can discuss this openly in workshops and arrive at a common goal. This is very different from when an app is made for a specific customer, where in principle the customer knows very well what they want and why. In addition, the world is ever changing so I would like the technology to be sufficiently open that it can change with it in the future.

Getting started

I think it is fantastic that I can contribute with my technical knowledge and skills to a domain that used to be very distant for ICT people,. I think it is of great value that these two worlds come together and can learn from each other.