Dr Nick Milton

Chief Knowledge Architect
Email nick dot milton at tacitconnexions dot com
Tel +44 (0)115 913 5815

Biographical Details

I obtained a BSc in Electronics from the University of Southampton in 1981. I then worked as an electronics engineer for 10 years at Marconi and Plessey. Having achieved the level of principal engineer, I changed career. I obtained a BA in Psychology (1st class) from the University of Nottingham. I then completed a PhD at the University of Nottingham and worked as a researcher in the Artificial Intelligence group.

I began working for Epistemics in 1997. Since then I have worked with many organisations as a consultant and trainer in the areas of knowledge acquisition, knowledge engineering and knowledge management.

I am the author of two books: Knowledge Acquisition in Practice (2007) and Knowledge Technologies (2008). My achievements have been honoured with entries in Who's Who in Science and Engineering, the Dictionary of International Biography and Who's Who in the World.

Responsibilities

My work at Epistemics has involved five main activities: (i) Improving methods and tools for knowledge acquisition; (ii) Preparing and delivering training courses in knowledge acquisition, knowledge management and PCPACK; (iii) Contributing to the strategy and development of Epistemics products and services; (iv) Creating end-user documentation and website material; (v) Performing and supporting others in knowledge acquisition.

Knowledge Engineering Projects

Here are some of the projects that I have worked on at Epistemics:

• Cognitive Cockpit: I carried out knowledge acquisition with Royal Air Force pilots to produce a knowledge base in PCPACK. This was used to develop an expert system to automate the planning of defensive operations.
• Airbus: I provided consultancy and training to over 100 knowledge engineers at Airbus. This contributed to Airbus's adoption of MOKA and PCPACK for their knowledge management programme.
• BAE Systems: I have provided consultancy and training to 40 knowledge engineers at BAE Systems. This has contributed to their use of knowledge engineering for the retention and sharing of expertise.
• Cleary Gottlieb: I have carried out knowledge acquisition with leading corporate lawyers across Europe to create a number of knowledge webs that provide 'experience acceleration' for associates and junior lawyers.
• Rolls-Royce: I helped to establish the Knowledge Management Centre at Rolls-Royce and trained over 120 employees in knowledge engineering. I was a major contributor to the development of their SPEDE methodology.
• Airborne Early Warning: I carried out knowledge acquisition with Royal Navy radar observers to produce a knowledge base in PCPACK. This was used to develop an expert system to assist in threat detection and elimination.
• Finance: I provided training and assistance to knowledge engineers working on financial projects at Scottish Amicable and Prudential.
• Local Government: I provided consultancy and training for knowledge engineers working on government-sponsored projects to create economic improvements in the UK and to preserve cultural heritage in Italy.
• Thales: I provided consultancy and training for Thales. This led to the development of a large intranet-enabled knowledge base in the area of sensors, digital signal processing and algorithm development.
• Development: I have developed a generic ontology called GTO that can be used as the starting point for a knowledge base (see GTO web for further information).

Publications

Milton, Nicholas R. (2010). A new framework for psychology. Review of General Psychology, Volume 14(1), 1-15.

Milton, N. R. (2008). Knowledge Technologies. Milan: Polimetrica.
To download this book click here.

Milton, N. R. (2007). Knowledge Acquisition in Practice: A Step-by-step Guide. London: Springer.
To see information about this book click here .

Milton, N., Clarke, D. and Shadbolt, N. (2006). Knowledge Engineering and Psychology: Towards a closer relationship. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, Volume 64(12), 1214-1229.

Riley, P. H. and Milton, N. R. (2003). Data Processing Method and System. US Patent No. 6633788.
To view this patent click here.

Taylor, R. M., Bonner, M. C., Dickson, B., Howells, H., Milton, N., Pleydell-Pearce, K., Shadbolt, N., Tennison, J., and Whitecross, S. (2001). Cognitive cockpit engineering: Coupling functional state assessment, task knowledge management and decision support for context sensitive aiding. Human Systems IAC Gateway. Vol XII (1).

Milton, N., Shadbolt, N., Cottam, H. & Hammersley, M. (1999). Towards a Knowledge Technology for Knowledge Management. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, Volume 51, p615-664.
To download this paper click here.

Shadbolt, N. R. and Milton, N. R. (1999). From Knowledge Engineering to Knowledge Management. British Journal of Management, Volume 10, p309-322.
To download this paper click here.

Shadbolt, N. R., Tennison, J., Milton, N. and Howells, H. (2000). Situation Assessor Support System: A Knowledge-Based Systems Approach to Pilot Aiding. In P. T. McCabe, M. A. Hanson, S. A. Robertson (Eds.) Contemporary Ergonomics 2000. London: Taylor & Francis.

Emberey, C.L., Milton, N.R., Berends, J.P.T.J., van Tooren, M.J.L., van der Elst, S.W.G. & Vermeulen, B. (2007). Application of Knowledge Engineering Methodologies to Support Engineering Design Application Development in Aerospace. 7th AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration and Operations Conference (ATIO). Belfast, Northern Ireland.
To view this paper click here.

Milton, N. R. (1999). Acquiring Personal Knowledge for Theory and Therapy. Presented at Reconstructing Health Psychology: An International Conference on Critical and Qualitative Approaches to Health Psychology. St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. July 1999.

Cottam, H. D., Milton, N. R. & Shadbolt, N. R. (1998). The Use of Ontologies in a Decision Support System for Business Process Re-Engineering. In Proceedings of IT& KNOWS Conference of the 15th IFIP World Computer Congress. Vienna/Budapest, August 1998.

Cottam, H. D., Shadbolt, N. R. & Milton, N. R. (1998). Acquiring Knowledge for Business Process Re-Engineering. Workshop Notes AAAI-98. Technical Report WS-98-13. Menlo Park, CA: AAAI Press.

Books

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Research Interests

My research work (which is a part-time activity) involves the development of psychological methods. One part concerns a new computer-assisted methodology for research and intervention (see my on-line PhD thesis for more details). My current research involves the development of a new framework for psychology.

Essays

Here are some short essays that I wrote as an undergraduate student of psychology. If you know very little about academic and research psychology, they will give you some idea of what it's about.

  The Placebo Effect
  Stress and Absenteeism
  Why do animals sleep?
  Social Psychological Methods
  Can knowledge be defined?
  Word Recognition
  Theories of Attention