UWTSD Applied Computing Blog

Notice: UWTSD Careers fair – Wed. 22nd March

This fair is specifically targeted at the technology, IT and Engineering disciplines, and there will also be a range of employers who have vacancies to suit students seeking business and managerial, police and public service roles.

Some example employers attending include: Kier, Sony, Applaus Aerospace, AirBus, Digital Health Care Wales, South, Wales Police Force, CELSA Steel and Botanic Gardens of Wales.

Bring along your CV, as many employers have live vacancies and you could land yourself that first graduate job or some relevant summer work. UWTSD Careers service will also be running CV support sessions throughout the day, and you can get Career help and advice from them.

Date: 22nd March
Venue: IQ building
Room: 002 – SA1
Time: 11.30 – 2.30
If you have any questions, please contact: careers@uwtsd.ac.uk

A CONFERENCE ON “CISCO NETWORKING ACADEMY’S ROLE ON CURRICULUM FOR WALES”

The School of Applied Computing and Cisco Networking Academy Support Centre at the University of Wales Trinity St. David are organising a Conference for School Head Teachers and ICT Teachers focusing on the new curriculum for Wales (Computation Progression steps 3, 4 & 5). We invite you to a half-day Conference to be held on 18th January 2023 (Wednesday) from 9.30am to 2.00pm.

The Conference will be exploring the curriculum for Wales focusing on Computation Progression steps 3, 4 & 5, and the alignment opportunities with Cisco Networking Academy to provide an integrated learning model
that is industry aligned. We’ll be hearing talks from representatives from Industry and Academics.

To register: www.uwtsd.ac.uk/itacademy/cisco-networking-academy-conference

If you need any further details, please contact itacademy@uwtsd.ac.uk.

On Wednesday, November 23rd, 2022 at 7pm, Barry Kirby, Managing Director at KSharp Ltd will deliver an IET lecture on “Engineering the Human Factor” in person and online at UWTSD, IQ building, room 002 in Swansea.

About the event: Engineers are humans, therefore surely we know how people will use the products and services we develop, don’t we?. This talk will give an insight into the value of considering users at all stages of the project lifecycle, with real world examples of what happens when people are not considered, and the advantages that can be gained when you do. A high level overview of the tools, techniques and processes involved in Human Factors Engineering will be rounded off with a “next steps” for all engineers to consider in their current or future projects.

For further event information please click here:
https://tinyurl.com/yw47j5fk

To register to attend the event please click here: 
https://tinyurl.com/v4j2k6fr.

The Applied Computing team at UWTSD are thrilled to welcome a number of new members to the team. This post features ‘Munyaradzi Murira‘ one of our new Computing Lecturers.

Munya has kindly answered some questions to share his passion for Computing & technology below:

Q. What inspires you most about Technology? I am inspired by how Technology improves the lives of people by automating tasks at home, schools, universities and in industry. The way it brings people together despite their physical location. I really cannot imagine life without the use of technology, as it meets so many of our needs.

Q. How do you think Technology is changing and will change the world for the better? Technology will always evolve and will continue to improve peoples’ lives. One of the areas which comes to the back of my mind is Internet of Things (IoT). IoT is developing rapidly, and I can envision a world where IoT devices are connected, and the communication is automated with minimal human interface. IoT will continue to employ different technologies to ensure automatic data transfer, analysis, and prompt response among various devices. The technology in play will include AI, Big Data, Machine Learning and Cloud Computing. Career opportunities in Network and Cybersecurity will continue to rise as the interconnection of various devices will add complexity to the internet.

Q. What is your current favourite App./Technology and reason you find it useful/enjoyable? Favourite App is the WhatsApp messenger. I use it for socialising with friends, workmates and family who are all over different countries. It is easy for anyone to use as it is free and internationally available. It allows me to remain close to my loved ones, as I can create distinct groups according to how I would want to interact with different groups. I find it so easy to send text, voice messages, make voice and video calls, share images, documents as it supports instant messaging and voice-over-IP.

Some of Munya’s areas of expertise, interests and professional activities are included below.

Area of expertise: Munya’s area of expertise include Networks, Mobile Technologies, Operating Systems & Hardware, Routing and Switching, Programming in Java, Software Engineering with Objects, and C.

Interests: Munya’s interests include Computer Networks, Network security, CyberSecurity and Network Operating Systems.

Professional membership: Munya is a member of the ‘Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (IITPSA)’.

For more information about Munya and his area of expertise, interests and research, please click-here.

Welcome Munya, thank you for sharing the information above, for joining the Applied Computing team at UWTSD and for supporting our students.

The Applied Computing team at UWTSD are thrilled to welcome a number of new members to the team. This post features ‘Divya Chidambaram‘ one of our new Computing Lecturers.

Divya has kindly answered some questions to share her passion for Computing & technology below:

What inspires you most about Technology? Technology has been inspiring me since my childhood as it keeps evolving as per the needs. On both personal and professional level, it had always assisted me in time management, collaboration, with the aid of various gadgets and applications. During lockdown scenario, technological tools enabled me to set up ‘work from home’ and thus I could maintain a seamless productive workflow.

What is your current favourite App./Tool/Technology and why? I have many favourites. However, what immediately comes to my mind is ‘LogicLike’, a learning app for kids. What I like about it is that it is quite interactive and its gamified interface helps children to become better problem solvers. As a parent, I like it and encourage my kids to use it’s enriched content.

How do you think Technology is changing and will change the world for the better? In my opinion, I have seen technology constantly evolving by providing ways to do our work smarter. While I have seen personal comfort, technological innovations have undoubtedly contributed toward societal progress as well. I certainly believe that changes in technology will be good. Being a computer academician, I think Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning will become an indispensable foundation and most innovative products or process would rely on them targeting augmented workflow.

Divya’s areas of expertise, interests and professional activities are included below.

Area: Divya is a seasoned computer science professor with over 9 years of teaching experience at university level. Divya’s is passionate about teaching and helping students reach their full potential and her area of expertise is in computer science, programming and advanced software engineering.

Interests: Divya’s areas of interest include Web Design and Development, Databases, and Software Development.

Academic membership & publications: Divya is a member of ‘The Society of Digital Information and Wireless Communications (SDIWC) and the Engineers Registration Board. Divya has published journal papers in the areas of Grid Computing, Technology for education and Cloud Service Orchestration.

Welcome Divya, thank you for sharing some information about you and for joining the Applied Computing team at UWTSD.

For more information please click-here.

Q. What is your Name? Nathan Chaplin

Q. What was your university course?  Creative Computer Games Design

Q. What is your job title and role?  VR / AR Content Designer – To create content for VR application and AR application to allow people to have immersive experiences.

Q. Can you briefly describe the organisation you work for? UWTSD – University of Wales Trinity Saint David.

Q. Which skills learned at university are helpful to you in your job? Unreal Engine is a huge part of what I learnt in university to what I use today, it taught me how to create applications within it, but most importantly how to create VR (Virtual Reality) applications and how VR works. 

I have learnt so many skills from this course which I use within my job role. I didn’t just learn how software is used but also pipelines, team work and deadlines for projects and how to manage each part of them correctly.

Q. Do you have a typical day and how would you describe it? Every day is slightly different but has a similar workflow. I work to produce VR applications, but every day includes working on the next new mechanic. 

Q. What aspects of your job do you enjoy most? Working within Unreal Engine, as I get to create content which people get to experience and enjoy.

Q. Do you have any advice for students who would like to start a Career? Always look forward, keep working on the subject even if it a little bit. Each little bit of progress made is the right step in a career that you want.

Q. A Quote that sums up your time at the University? Success is made of small efforts repeated day in and day out, just don’t give up!.

For more information about Applied Computing courses at UWTSD please click-here.

Many thanks to Dan Hawkes (Test Facility Lead at BT) for providing a site visit and tour of the BT Tower in Swansea today. The tour included a fascinating look at the BT Test Centre facilities activities and projects at the Tower, including a review of how traditional contemporary and new technologies are tested.

Many thanks to BT for allowing us to visit the Tower in Swansea and for Dan for taking the time to share his knowledge and expertise. Much appreciated. The tour was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Diolch yn fawr iawn.