Dr Matthew Craven
Profiles

Dr Matthew Craven

Lecturer in Applied Mathematics

School of Computing, Electronics and Mathematics (Faculty of Science and Engineering)

Role

  • Lecturer in Applied Mathematics.
  • Nominated for SSTAR awards in the categories of "Inspirational Teaching" and "Sensational Programme Lead".
  • Lead of the Plymouth GPU Research Center.
  • Research interests in many aspects of Mathematics (see 'Research' section for details).
  • Programme Manager for the (six) Foundation Year Technology programmes in the Faculty of Science and Engineering.
  • Stage Tutor for four of the above six programmes.
  • Senior Personal Tutor.
  • Member of the University Senate.
  • One of two SoCEM disability champions, and a qualified mental health champion. Mental Health First Aider.
  • Admissions Tutor for BSc (Hons) Mathematics with Foundation Year, and assistant Admissions Tutor for year 1 and above Mathematics programmes.
  • Teaches across several schools, including service teaching, Mathematics degree students and 3rd year projects supervision.
  • Regular speaker at outreach events, including several Mathematics Masterclasses in collaboration with the Royal Institution.
  • PGCAP mentor for new staff.
  • Applied Mathematics seminar joint organiser - if you wish to give a seminar then please contact me! Details of current seminars are available on CMS seminars calendar and UoP Mathematical Sciences Seminar Page.

Professional membership

Institute of Mathematics and its Applications
London Mathematical Society
Foundation Year Network

Teaching interests

Undergraduate

2018-19 Sem 2:
MATH2604 Mathematical Methods and Applications
MATH3628 Final Year Mathematics Projects
PRCO304   Computing Projects

CPD courses on Big Data (April 2019)

2018-19 Sem 1:
MATH051 * Mathematical Methods I
MATH055 Mathematics 1
MATH3628 Final Year Mathematics Projects

* denotes module leadership.

2013-2018: STAT008* Statistics for Extended Science; MATH051* Mathematical Methods I; MATH1015* Mathematics with Applications 1; MATH236 Engineering Analysis; MATH2501 Advanced Calculus and Transforms; MATH2604 Mathematical Methods and Applications; MATH3501/3602 Final Year Projects

I also have many years of teaching experience in many different venues and levels, from foundation year to MSc levels and PhD workshops.

Research interests

Applications of artificial intelligence and HPC:

Copulas and combinatorial optimisation in financial mathematics for business
Combinatorial enumeration methods for approximation of optimal solutions
Hyperheuristics and machine learning for discovery of symbolic objects
Group-theoretic cryptanalysis
Real time visualisation and performance analysis of algorithms (particularly Evolutionary Algorithms and variants)
Structure-preserving mappings and algorithms
Mathematics education

(In many of the above I make use of parallel computation on an HPC cluster and/or GPUs.)

Current PhD Students:

T. Alotaibi, Large Scale Portfolio Optimisation Using HeuristicAlgorithms Built Around Copula Financial Models (Director of Studies)

(2019) A. Verulkar, Game-Theoretic Approaches Towards Insider Threat Detection and Mitigation (2nd Supervisor)

Other research

I am an external member of the Cybersecurity research group at the University of Abertay Dundee.

Grants & contracts

Externally Funded Projects:

2014-2017: NVIDIA: Award of NVIDIA GPU Research Center. (Principal investigator. Seven CMS staff and one colleague in Computing carried out research ranging from Particle Physics, Industrial Engineering to Cryptanalysis supported by hardware from NVIDIA. Successfully renewed in 2015 and 2016. Since then, the centre has continued as a pan-school initiative in the guise of the Plymouth GPU Research Centre.)

2016: Medicem: "Clinical Assessment of the WIOL-CF". P. Buckhurst, H. Buckhurst, P. Hewson, M. Craven.

Research groups

  • Centre for Mathematical Sciences (CMS)

    Several works (five journal articles, one conference paper and one book) currently in preparation (as of 07/03/19). Some recent publications are:
    • M. J. Craven, D. I. Graham, Parallel Stochastic Solution of Portfolio Optimisation Problems with Cardinality Constraints, submitted (2018).
    • M. J. Craven, J. Sharp, "The Mathematics Problem": A Plymouth Foundation Year Case Study, J. FYN 1 (2018), 23-35.
    • G. James, D. M. Burley, N. Steele, R. Clements, J. W. Searl, P. Dyke, J. Wright, M. J. Craven, T. Reis, J. Stander, Advanced Modern Engineering Mathematics, 5th Edition, Prentice Hall (2018).
    • D. J. Walker, M. J. Craven, Visualising the Operation of Evolutionary Algorithms Optimising Water Distribution Network Problems, in "13th Intl. Conf. Hydroinformatics" (G. La Loggia et al., eds.), EPiC Series in Engineering 3 (2018), 2250-2258.
    • D. J. Walker, M. J. Craven, Toward the Online Visualisation of Algorithm Performance for Parameter Selection, in "EvoApplications 2018" (K. Sim and P. Kaufmann, eds.), LNCS 10784, Springer (2018), 547-560.
    • W. Dash, M. J. Craven, Exploring Botnet Evolution via Multidimensional Models and Visualisation, in STM 2017 (G. Livraga and C. Mitchell, eds.), LNCS 10547, Springer (2017), 72-88.
    • M. J. Craven, Review of “Adversarial Risk Analysis”, J. Royal Stat. Soc. Series A 180 (2) (2017), 682. DOI: 10.1111/rssa.12259
    • M. J. Craven, S. P. Martin, BBIOS: A Characterization of Evolutionary Algorithm Stability, in "GECCO 2017 Companion" (P. Bosman, ed.), ACM (2017), 17-18.
    • M. J. Craven, D. I. Graham, Exploring the (Efficient) Frontiers of Portfolio Optimization, in "GECCO 2017 Companion" (P. Bosman, ed.), ACM (2017), 19-20.
    • M. J. Craven, D. Robertz, An Evolutionary Approach to Solving Systems of Equations in Polycyclic Groups, Groups Complexity Cryptology 8 (2) (2016), 109-125.
    • M. J. Craven, H. C. Jimbo, EA Stability Visualization: Perturbations, Metrics and Performance, in “GECCO 2014 Companion” (C. Igel, ed.), ACM (2014), 1083-1089.
    • S. Pournouri, M. Craven, E-Business, Recent Threats and Security Countermeasures, Int. J. Elec. Security and Digital Forensics 6 (3) (2014), 169-184.

    Reports & invited lectures

    • (with J. Sharp) Exploring the Frontiers of Foundation Years in Mathematics - An Update on a Work in Progress, FYNAC18, Nottingham, UK, 5th-6th July 2018.
    • (with D. J. Walker) Visualising the Operation of Evolutionary Algorithms Optimising Water Distribution Network Design Problems, HIC 2018, Palermo, Italy, July 2018.
    • (with D. J. Walker) Toward the Online Visualisation of Algorithm Performance for Parameter Selection, EVOIndustry, Parma, Italy, 4th-6th April 2018.
    • The Plymouth GPU Research Centre, Big Data Group, University of Plymouth, 19th March 2018.
    • (with W. Dash) Exploring Botnet Evolution via Multidimensional Models and Visualisation, STM (track of ESORICS) 2017, Oslo, Norway, 14th Sept 2017.
    • Exploring the (Efficient) Frontiers of Portfolio Optimization, GECCO2017, Berlin, Germany 15th-19th July 2017.
    • BBIOS: A Characterization of Evolutionary Algorithm Stability, GECCO2017, Berlin, Germany 15th-19th July 2017.
    • (with J. Sharp, M. Lavelle and C. Christopher) Exploring the Frontiers of Foundation Years in Mathematics - An Enhanced Transition, FYNAC'17, Warwick, UK, 13th July 2017.
    • Group Cryptography, University of Plymouth, 14th Dec 2016.
    • Portfolio Optimisation in Financial Mathematics, University of Plymouth, 23rd Nov 2016.
    • (with J. R. Woodward) The Mappings Project, University of Stirling, 28th July 2016.
    • How to Break Cryptographic Schemes with Monte-Carlo Methods and High-Performance Computing, University of Stirling, 15th July 2016.
    • Big Data: Machine Learning, Heuristic Methods and the Future of Cybersecurity in HPC Environments, Invited keynote funded by SICSA, Big Data in Cybersecurity Conference, Napier University, 10th May 2016.
    • Monte-Carlo Attacks on Cryptographic Protocols, University of Hull, 27th January 2016.
    • Information Security and Evolutionary Techniques, University of Stirling, 5th June 2015.
    • A Smörgåsbord of Applied Mathematical Treats, University of Plymouth, 12th Nov 2014.
    • EA Stability Visualization: Perturbations, Metrics and Performance, GECCO2014, Vancouver, Canada, 12th-16th July 2014.
    • Evolutionary Algorithms in Group Theory with an Application to Public Key Cryptography, University of Plymouth, 27th Jan 2014.

    Other academic activities

    • I have taught many Royal Institute Mathematics Masterclasses and outreach events, the most recent in March 2019.
    • I regularly lead sessions at Mathematical Sciences open and applicant days for undergraduate students.
    • I review for the Journal of Operational Research (JORS) and Applied Soft Computing, among others. Also I was a programme Committee member for the GECCO-UP Workshop 2013 and a Review Committee member for the VizGEC Workshop in 2015-2019.
    • I review EPSRC grant applications in cryptography.
    • I lead the Applied Mathematics research group on Computational Algebra and Symbolic Computation, and also the Plymouth GPU Research Centre.

    Additional information

    I am always happy to hear from prospective PhD students in the areas specified in my research section, and in particular, Group-Theoretic Cryptology and Financial Mathematics. For informal enquiries, please contact me directly. To apply officially for a PhD position at Plymouth, please click here.

    Links

    http://math-sciences.org/
    https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/schools/school-of-computing-and-mathematics/mathematics-and-statistics