24 Jul 2019
First Digital Technologies and Sport Business PhDs awarded
On Wednesday 17 July, Dr João Carreira and Dr Qi Peng were awarded the first Doctors of Philosophy for their institutes from Loughborough University London.
Dr Bridget Backhaus was also awarded the second Institute for Media and Creative Industries PhD during the ceremony, which took place at Loughborough’s East Midlands campus along with the graduates from the School of Social Sciences and Centre for Academic Practice.
Dr João Carreira graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy from the Institute for Digital Technology. João’s PhD investigated error resilience and error concealment for HEVC standard. His research interests include 2D/3D image and video processing, robust video streaming over constrained networks and subjective quality evaluation. João was supervised by Dr Ahmet Kondoz, Director of the Institute for Digital Technologies, and Dr Erhan Ekmekcioglu, Senior Lecturer within the Institute for Digital Technologies.
Dr Qi Peng graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy from the Institute for Sport Business. Qi’s PhD, entitled The Institutional Change Process in the Chinese Sport Sector: An Organisational Analysis on the Chinese Football Association Reform examined the impact of policy changes on sport organisations through the lens of Multiple Streams Framework and organisational change theories. Qi was supervised by Professor James Skinner, Director of the Institute for Sport Business and Professor Barrie Houlihan, Emeritus Professor for the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences.
Speaking about her time at Loughborough University London, Qi said:
“I am very honoured to be the first PhD candidate to join the Institute for Sport Business and the first to complete a PhD degree at the campus. During the three-and-a-half years with Loughborough University London, I have received the best academic support from my supervisors who are world-class experts in their field.”
Dr Bridget Backhaus graduated with a Doctor of Philosophy from the Institute for Media and Creative Industries. Bridget, a former broadcast journalist, explored how community radio stations engage with their audiences for her PhD. Bridget was supervised by Professor Jo Tacchi, Associate Dean for Research, and Dr Rohit Dasgupta, Senior Lecturer within the Institute for Media and Creative Industries.
Professor Jo Tacchi, Associate Dean for Research, said of the graduates:
“Research is an integral part of what we do at Loughborough University London, and this special day honours the achievements of our PhD graduates and the hard work they’ve put into gaining their Doctorate.”