51Âþ»­

Industry leading cyber defences and cutting-edge fashion from 51Âþ»­ drew crowds on the final day of the GREAT Festival in Hong Kong.

The fourth and final day of the festival, which is the Government’s flagship international trade event, showcasing the best in UK creativity and innovation, saw 51Âþ»­ – the sole education partner for the show – giving demonstrations throughout the day.

Architecture students Tom Cox and Khanh Nguyen returned to the festival after a headlining slot on day two, showing their designs for sustainable living and farming complexes – tall ‘vertical villages’.

Meanwhile, Fashion Design students showed off their outfit collections with a catwalk show over lunch and Professor Andy Collop, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for 51Âþ»­, outlined #51Âþ»­works and #51Âþ»­global, the university’s innovative programmes aiming to offer work and international experiences for all students, giving them the rounded skill sets employers look for.

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Experts from 51Âþ»­’s Cyber Technology Institute – including Professor Helge Janicke, who heads up the unit – put on a fascinating display which illustrated how cyber attacks could pose widespread physical threat to urban areas.

Using tanks filled with water, the team simulated a hacking attack which caused the water levels in the vessels to change – which on a bigger scale could cause city-wide flooding and blackouts.

They then showed how this attack could be defended, using the skills taught in 51Âþ»­’s classrooms.  

Professor Janicke was asked about the demonstration by Liam Fox, Secretary of State for International Trade, who was touring the festival on the last day.

He said: “He was telling me how we have to invest in cyber security and ensure our infrastructure in protected from threats.

“Our demonstration shows how easy it is to launch a cyber attack but also how this can be defended against it if you have the skills, which we provide.”

Professor Collop, who was earlier in the day interviewed by Gadget Show presenter Ortis Deley, said that overall, the festival had been a success.

He said: “It has been fantastic for the university and for the students. Today has been a very busy day at the festival and we have had some really great discussions about creating opportunities for students, about developing work and international experiences which work for them and add real value.”