Enigma talk at Staffs University

The story of the Enigma machine and the team who cracked its code attracted 160 people to a lecture at Staffordshire University.

Academics, students and members of the public packed into the Red lecture theatre in the Octagon to listen to Dr Mark Baldwin’s: The Codebreakers.

The Enigma machine was a portable encryption device widely used by the Germans, and thought to be totally secure.
But using mathematical analysis and modern technology a team of Allied experts based at Bletchley Park devised techniques for breaking the codes.

They were able to read hundreds of thousands of German messages and provide a wealth of intelligence which saved numerous lives.

Dr Baldwin has given over 200 lectures on code breaking in the Second World War to audiences around the world.

The story of Enigma was made into a book by Robert Harris and a hit film starring Dougray Scott and Kate Winslet.

The Jim Lucking Prize for the best first year student on the Computing degree was presented to Ian Baker, Paul Bailey and Lukas Hornby during the event on October 23.

They each won a cheque for £50 and free student membership to the British Computer Society until they graduate.

The prizes were awarded by the North Staffordshire Branch of the British Computer Society.

Senior lecturer Ian Sunley said the audience found the lecture and the demonstrations fascinating.

“The Enigma machine is so valuable that the insurance company insist that there is someone with the machine at all times,” he said.

“This means that if you park the car with the machine in it then one person has to stay in the car. When we took Dr Baldwin and his wife for a meal before the lecture then Enigma came with us and was placed discretely under the table in a black case.”