Speech Pitch

In this episode we share information about the Greek island, Kos that is hosting Interspeech 2024. You will learn how you can travel from the airport to the conference venue itself, what to pack for this trip, the food culture of Greece, fun activities in the island and some survival Greek. To practise some survival Greek press here

In Travel Information.pdf you can find some traveling information to the venue.

Book in advance the shuttle service specially organized for Interspeech 2024 delegates HERE.

Survival Greek:

Thank you , [efxaɾiˈsto]

You are welcome, [parakaˈlo]

Where is the toilet, [ˈpu ˈine i tuaˈleta]

Water, [neˈɾo]

Yes, [ˈne]

No, [ˈoçi]

Left, [aɾisteˈɾa]

Right, [ðeksiˈa]

Help, [voˈiθia]

Fire, [foˈtça]

Hotel, [ksenoðoˈçio]

Good morning, [kaliˈmeɾa]

Good afternoon, [kaliˈspera]

Good night, [kaliˈnixta]

Pharmacy, [faɾmaˈcio]

Hospital, [nosokoˈmio]

Hosts: Pascal Hecker, Spyretta Leivaditi

Editor: Spyretta Leivaditi

00:00:00 -Intro
00:00:22 -Outline
00:00:40 -About Kos
00:01:33 -Kos geography
00:03:47 -History
00:05:32 -Language, currency, payment
00:06:51 -Safety
00:07:58 -Taxis
00:08:40 -Weather
00:11:01 -What to pack
00:11:30 -Power adaptors
00:12:04 -Medicine and pharmacies
00:13:35 -How to get to the conference venue
00:15:31 -Buses
00:19:16 -Bus app for Kos "Kos near bus"
00:19:35 -Hotels
00:20:49 -Food
00:26:22 -Vegetarian food options
00:28:09 -Drinks
00:31:33 -Activities on Kos
00:36:49 -Beaches
00:39:15 -Travel destinations by ferry
00:40:30 -Greek words

Matt Coler is an accomplished academic and a leading figure in the field of Voice Technology. He is an Associate Professor of Language and Technology at the University of Groningen, Campus Fryslân. Notably, Matt initiated and now leads the Master’s Program in Voice Technology at the university, a testament to his dedication and expertise in the field. In addition to his teaching and research responsibilities, Matt also leads a summer school in Speech Tech at the University of Groningen, providing students with an immersive learning experience and a deeper understanding of speech technology.

In this podcast episode, Matt shares his unique journey from studying Philosophy and Mandarin Chinese in the U.S. to becoming a professor in Groningen. His research interests are diverse, but a common thread is his focus on under-resourced languages. Matt believes that academia has a crucial role in supplementing industry by addressing problems that may not be as lucrative but are nonetheless important. He provides an overview of the Master’s Program for Voice Technology, emphasising its practical applications and collaboration with industry. The program is designed to equip students with the skills and knowledge they need to make significant contributions to the field. Matt also discusses the Speech Tech Summer School, which explores a new topic each year, keeping the curriculum fresh and relevant. This approach reflects Matt’s commitment to staying at the forefront of advancements in speech technology.

Hosts: Wenxi Fei, Pascal Hecker

Editor: Spyretta Leiavditi

Chapters:

00:00:00-Intro

00:00:20-Welcoming Matt Coler

00:00:52-Matt's background

00:02:10-Matt's research journey to in Groningen

00:07:00-Matt's research areas

00:12:18-Assessing speech

00:18:13-Matt's stance on industry and academia

00:20:50-MSc Voice/Speech Technology at University of Groningen in Campus Fryslân

00:44:34-Speech tech Summer School

00:52:41-Ethical aspects in his research

00:57:34-Matt's take on work-life balance

01:03:00-Fun questions

01:11:14-Outro

There is no such thing as a banquet that lasts forever, and farewells can be bittersweet as we part ways with old and newfound friends from the conference. Yet, the real magic often happens behind the scenes.

In this episode, we were joined by two dedicated members of the UK Speech 2023 local committee: Hend TM Elghazaly and Olga Iakovenko. As the conference venue quieted down after attendees departed, they offered us a glimpse into the world of conference organisation as a team. From the joys they found in the process to the challenges they encountered, they shared their insights and experiences, leaving us with valuable advice for future student volunteers.

In this episode, we had the pleasure of interviewing three senior students from the Centre for Doctoral Training in Speech and Language Technologies, University of Sheffield: George Close, Mary Hewitt and Tom Pickard. Drawing from their personal experience, they shared valuable insights on how to navigate conferences without getting exhausted, along with recounting their most memorable and unexpected moments.

In this episode, we had the pleasure of speaking with Robbie Sutherland and Mattias Cross, two first-year PhD students from the University of Sheffield, working on speech and language technologies. With limited conference experience, they discussed their expectations for such events and posed insightful questions for seasoned senior students to shed light on.

UK Speech annually extends its invitation to local businesses, offering them a platform to showcase their advancements in speech technologies. In this exclusive interview, we had the pleasure of hosting representatives from Oxford Wave Research, a company specialising in audio and speech processing, voice biometrics, and deep learning-driven product development.

During our conversation with Dr Anil Alexander and Dr Finnian Kelly, we delved into the vast potential of speech technologies and their significance for everyday individuals. The discussion also touched upon the unique research dynamics within a smaller company and strategies for fostering collaboration with academic researchers. Last but not least, Anil and Finnian revealed the qualities they seek in potential new team members -- yes, they are hiring! Tune in to seize this opportunity!

Apart from big speech research groups, there are also many other research groups of various sizes. In this episode, we interviewed Dr. Jennifer Williams, an Associate Professor at the University of Southampton, who has worked a lot on privacy and security in the speech field. Joining us was Beatrice Pakenham-Walsh, a final-year undergraduate student. UK Speech 2023 marked Beatrice's conference debut, where she presented a poster on using audio analysis to detect pain.

In this episode, Dr. Williams and Beatrice shared their experiences and perspectives on doing speech research at the University of Southampton. We discussed the challenge of interdisciplinary work, the role of a research community and how individual researchers can use a community to identify potential collaborative opportunities. 

Apart from big speech research groups, there are also many other research groups of various sizes. In this episode, we interviewed Dr Zoe Handley, an Associate Professor at the Department of Education at the University of York. Dr Handley has more than 20 years of experience in applying speech technologies in language education. 

In the discussion, Dr Handley shared her views about the evolution of speech technologies from the perspective of language learning and teaching. She also talked about how to find collaborations outside the researcher’s institute, and how to leverage conferences such as UKSpeech to find such collaborations. At the end, we also discussed the connection between STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) and social sciences, as well as applications in general.

The University of Cambridge has one of the biggest speech research groups in the UK. In this episode, we have Dr Kate Knill and her colleague Dr Mengjie Qian from the Machine Intelligence Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. Dr Knill is a Principal Research Associate in the Machine Intelligence Laboratory. She is also one of the keynote speakers at UK Speech 2023. Her speech is titled ‘Foundation Models in Spoken Language Processing: Time to go home or make hay?

In this episode, Dr Knill recapped her keynote speech with the key line for the audience to take away. Together with Dr Qian, she also shared her opinions about the big changes in automated language teaching and assessment over the past few years, as well as what it will be like in the next 5 to 10 years. We also discussed the potential to apply such automotive assessment techniques in the music field. In the end, they shared their vision about the UK and Ireland Speech 2024, which will be held at the University of Cambridge.

This episode is the first in a special series of mini-episodes covering the UK Speech 2023 Conference. In preparation for the conference, we have ISCA-SAC’s volunteer Guanyu Huang talk to Dr Anton Ragni, the Local Committee Chair of the conference, about its organisation, history, and impact of the conference on the speech research community in the UK.