Dr Mariam Cirovic
Academic and research departments
Computer Science Research Centre, School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering.About
Biography
Mariam is the Senior Programme Lead for the School of CSEE. She has wide-ranging experience in programme development and curriculum design at both the UG and PGT levels. Her teaching interests lie in Database Systems, Business Intelligence and Software Engineering, and she is currently focussed on pedagogical research, where she has led numerous teaching innovation projects.
She completed her MSc in Computer Science at UCL, London, and then her PhD in Computing at the ÌÇÐÄVlog. Her PhD research was in the area of Ontological Engineering and was carried out in conjunction with the SoCIS (Scene of Crime Information System) project. After that she worked as a Research Fellow on ASPIC (Argumentation Service Platform with Integrated Components) and worked as a Research Scientist in GeoLang, before taking up a position at ÌÇÐÄVlog.
University roles and responsibilities
- Senior Programme Lead
- Personal Tutor
- Athena Swan UG Theme Lead
Teaching
I am passionate about teaching database systems. Data sits at the heart of almost every modern system, whether it is a social media or gaming platform or a banking, healthcare, or AI system. This data needs to be stored securely and organised such that data retrieval is fast, accurate and consistent. Database systems provide this functionality – from relational databases that store customer data securely to graph databases used for social network connections to vector databases used by AI systems for finding similar items. Timely access to the right data drives strategy and large profits, saves lives and pushes science boundaries while late or incorrect data can incur massive losses and risk lives. Studying databases systems is not only exciting but also essential since database skills are highly valued in Industry.
I am module leader for the year 1 module COM1035 - Data and Database Systems. In this module you will learn about the importance of data storage and retrieval, and will focus on the design, implementation and optimisation of relational database systems such as MySQL. You will also learn about the limitations of relational systems and alternative popular NoSQL databases such as MongoDB document database and Neo4J Graph database systems.
I also teach on the MSc Data Science module COMM076 Database Systems and Business Intelligence. In this module you will learn about relational database management systems such as Microsoft SQL Server and their role as Online Transaction Processing Systems (OLTP) to manage and retrieve transactional data as well as Online Analytical Processing Systems (OLAP) to analyse large datasets to provide insights for strategic decision-making (business intelligence).
I am a supervisor for COM3001 - Professional Project, where students apply all the knowledge and skills they have learnt to a project of their choice. I enjoy supervising collaborative projects as well as projects that develop pedagogical tools. Some examples are: Diagnostic Tool for Chiari Malformation Associated Pain and Syringomyelia, in collaboration with the VET School, which is currently being used by veterinarians and dog owners: and led to a publication; PAD Monitoring Mobile Application, which monitors pulmonary artery disease in patients in collaboration with Clinical scientists; Logic Legends, a gamification tool to teach logic gates to school pupils in collaboration with a local school.
I have previously taught on COM1034 - Software Engineering and Object-Oriented Programming.