English
English
Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)
Chinese (Traditional)
French
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Thai
Dr Emmanuel Silva is is Course Leader: MSc Strategic Fashion Management and Senior Lecturer in Quantitative Methods at London College of Fashion for the Fashion Business School (FBS). Emmanuel is an active researcher who has published 36 journal articles including four Academic Journal Guide 2018 (AJG 2018) - 4 ranked publications. Emmanuel is also the recipient of a 2017 UAL Teaching Award.
Can you tell us about yourself?
I was born and bred in Sri Lanka where I was fortunate enough to be educated at St Thomas’ Preparatory School and St Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia. Following the completion of my Advanced Level education, I moved to UK in 2008 at the age of 18 to complete my higher studies. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Economics & Actuarial Science, and then completed a Master of Science in Risk Management at the University of Southampton. Thereafter, I was offered a full scholarship by Bournemouth University (BU) to undertake research towards the qualification of Doctor of Philosophy which was awarded in 2016 for my thesis entitled “Theoretical Advancements and Applications in Singular Spectrum Analysis”. During my PhD, I was employed as a Part Time Lecturer in Statistics and Econometrics at the Business School at BU where I lectured undergraduate, postgraduate and MBA classes, and lead several statistical units.
When did you decide to join the Fashion Business School at LCF?
In September 2015 I decided it was time for a new and challenging adventure and joined London College of Fashion as a Lecturer in Quantitative Methods. Initially, in addition to overseeing the planning and delivery of statistical content across the FBS, I taught on the then MSc International Fashion Management and BA Fashion Management Programmes. Since taking over the revalidated MSc Strategic Fashion Management course as the Course Leader in 2017, the focus has switched on to the organisation and planning of the course whilst I continue teaching across MSc Y3, Y4 and BSc Fashion Management Y2 units. Since joining LCF, I have had the pleasure of lecturing to a cohort of exceptionally talented, creative and curious Fashion Manaement students who are eager to learn, understand and improve their statistical knowledge.
I have had the pleasure of lecturing to a cohort of exceptionally talented, creative and curious Fashion Management students who are eager to learn, understand and improve their statistical knowledge.
What are you focusing on at the moment?
Apart from my teaching responsibilities, I also take a keen interest in research. My research interests are focussed around the theme of time series analysis and forecasting with Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA). I was privileged to learn SSA under the supervision and guidance of Dr. Hossein Hassani, a world-renowned researcher in SSA. As a filtering and signal extraction technique, SSA is extremely useful for analysing, understanding and extracting the underlying trends and oscillations in time series data to produce more accurate forecasts into the future.
Given the uncertainty and volatility witnessed around the globe, there is a demand for improved forecasting techniques and I endeavour to develop SSA as a productive tool for the future. To date, I have successfully produced varied innovative applications of SSA, bringing benefits to the fields of tourism, economics, energy, and genetics.These collaborative outputs have been published in several highly ranked academic journals such as Tourism Management, Annals of Tourism Research, Technological Forecasting & Social Change, Applied Economics, Information Sciences, Fluctuation and Noise Letters, International Economics, and Digital Signal Processing (to name a few).
When you joined, you were part of UAL Early Career Researchers scheme. How has LCF, as part of UAL, supported your professional development and your research?
As a newly established Business School, the FBS is keen on enhancing its research profile and I continue to receive enormous support and encouragement from Associate Dean Liz Gee who appreciates and understands the importance of research for teaching, practice and development. The guidance received from Rosemary Varley, Research Development and Subject Director, with completing a comprehensive research plan and accessing research funding has also been outstanding. Having been recognised as an Early Career Researcher, the University too continues to provide support sessions and guidance for developing research, including reduced teaching responsibilities during this period. Moreover, my application for Sabbatical leave via UAL’s sabbatical scheme was approved and it provides funding to cover my teaching and thereby enables me to concentrate heavily on producing most original and best executed research. I look forward to publishing more high quality research outputs over the coming years to enable the FBS to be better placed at the next Research Excellence Framework (REF).
So what are you future plans? How will your research develop?
I am currently working on two projects focused around the extension of SSA for forecasting in the fashion industry. In particular we are considering the impact of denoising on improving neural network forecasts for fashion variables. In addition, I continue to work with researchers across the globe for finding SSA-based solutions to real world forecasting problems.
Telephone
+44 (0)20 7514 7400
