Computer programming for engineering applications
Professor Owen has been involved in writing computer code for engineering applications since the mid-1970s. He has worked on a variety of platforms and with a variety of computer languages and software programs as computing evolved from mainframes to the personal computer and now cell phones and tablets. This has also meant learning a number of programming languages, including Fortran, C, C++, and Java.
Current work in this area is on industrial projects with a research group in Bergamo, Italy. This would involves Android programming to interface cell phones with machines used in manufacturing and assembly in factories.
Programming smart, networked devices is currently a very hot technological growth area. This area of technology encompasses a number of fairly recent concepts: the Industrial Internet, the Internet of Things, M2M (machine-to-machine), V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle), Industry 4.0, Smart Factory, etc. For an overview of this area of technology, see this presentation on the Internet of Things.