Staff supporting Christmas Jumper Day
The SOAC staff have been supporting Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day today. Here are a few of them looking festive:
Archive for December, 2016
Happy Holidays :-)
The Applied Computing Team would like to wish all our Students, Graduates and Partners a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year – Enjoy the Holidays Everyone 
Aiden Herbert (Graduate of BSc Software Engineering)
We were happy to see Aiden Herbert, graduate of BSc Software Engineering (and MSc Applied Computing 2015), again yesterday. Aiden came back to talk to our current students about life after University. Aiden is now working as a software engineering in Cheltenham.
Here he is with staff members Gaynor and Sue.
Teaching with Twitter and Non-destructive testing of New Materials (Seminar)
Our Faculty Research Seminar for December was held today.
Luca Pagano (Senior Research Engineer) spoke on “Non Destructive Testing” and ways to detect damage in composite materials, using applications such as aircraft wings, without the need to disassemble them.
Mr. Andrew Smith (Senior Lecturer, Open University) gave a talk on “Teaching with Twitter” – including teaching via many other social media outlets. Many colleagues from other Faculties (eg Education) also joined us today to hear his talk. Check him out on @OUCisco or @teraknor on Twitter.
Many thanks to both our speakers, very different subjects, but both very interesting talks.We will be posting the slides from these talks on Moodle soon in case you missed them!
Green Walk, December 2016
As part of our Green Impact, we held another of our occasional lunchtime walks today. It was a lovely day and unseasonably warm (well, for December!) Taking part were staff members Sue Maw, Carlene Campbell and Gaynor Thomas, and Software Engineering Year 1 student Rory and Jonathan.
We walked up the hill from campus to the Mayhill Wildlife Corridor which has fantastic view over Swansea Bay, and less than a 10 minute walk from campus.
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Graduate Profile: Rob Lewis (BSc Computer Networks)
Q. What is your Name? Robert Lewis
Q. What was your University course? BSc. Computer Networks
Q. What is your job title and role? Network Engineer
Q. Could you briefly describe the organisation you work for? SA1 Solutions – Providing server and network support for customers.
Q. Which skills learned at University are helpful to you in your job? Cisco qualifications which have proved incredibly useful in my line of work. A very good understanding of Network infrastructure and network security. Confidence in speaking to a group of people and clearly explaining your thoughts and views on something.
Q. Do you have a typical day and how would you describe it? One of the best things for working for my current employer is that there is no ‘Typical day at work’. Each day presents me with a new challenge whether it be a networking issue, a server issue or a telecommunications issue. In my capacity as Network Engineer, it is my duty to identify and resolve any issues within a timely manner. Other days consist of project work whether it be building phone systems in CentOS through the use of FreePBX or working on current network management systems.
Q. What aspects of your job do you enjoy most? Ability to work hands on with the latest equipment and the feeling of working as a part of a team.
Q. Do you have any advice for students who would like to start a Career? No one will go into a career knowing absolutely everything and that’s not a bad thing. The whole process is a learning curve and you will never stop learning, especially in the technology field as it progresses so quickly. You must always be confident in your own abilities. Finally, if you ever get an opportunity to do something that interests you, take it with both hands.
Graduate Profile : Esam Mohamed M Naas
Q. What is your name? Esam Mohamed M Naas
Q. What was your University course? MSc E Commerce Technology
Q. What is your job title and role? IT Coordinator/Systems Analyst & Developer
Q. Could you briefly describe the organisation you work for? Wall Colmonoy Limited is a pioneer company in alloys manufacturing and engineering
Q. Which skills learned at University are helpful to you in your job? Computer networking, advanced programming and web design
Q. Do you have a typical day, and how would you describe it? Yes, systems administration and network availability
Q. What aspects of your job do you enjoy most? Data analysis and extraction
Q. Do you have any advice for students who would like to start a career? Believe in yourself and learn everything related to your subject
Graduate Profile: Ana Mirsayar
Q. What is your Name? Ana Mirsayar
Q. What was your University course?
· BEng Computer System and Electronics
· MSc e-Commerce
· PHD in Telecommunications from King’s college London
Q. What is your job title and role? UK RTI (Research, Technical and Innovation) Coordinator/ Project Manager. I work for Thales UK, Vice President of RTI which enables me to get a helicopter view of the company’s business units (Under water systems, Avionics, Defence, Cyber security and Transportation). I go to different Thales sites to hear the progress on major works. I also manage my own projects
Q. Could you briefly describe the organisation you work for? Thales is a French company that has expanded internationally. They work on many different business units and some great examples of their work can be found under the activities tap. It is such a large company with a vast scope of work that if I was to give you small examples then I won’t be doing it justice.
Q. Which skills learned at University are helpful to you in your job? Some of the soft skills that became handy were communication, team work, task prioritising and discipline and the attention to details particularly for example in PCB design. Work under pressure, I remember for our final project work one of the guys dropped out of the course due to personal reasons and we had to pick up on his work and still deliver on the same deadline.
Q. Do you have a typical day and how would you describe it? I am usually in a couple of teleconferences, and a meeting or two. On a quiet day I look at the road map for my projects to monitor progress. I regularly ask for updates from the team and plan ahead and I allocate tasks to members. I must say that I’ve only been managing projects in the last year. Before which I was a senior design engineer who designed and developed mathematical algorithms. So I’d say my maths modules became very useful. Also understanding the systems at a top layer and looking down was also something I had learnt at university which is essential for detailed designing as you need to understand the concept of operation and applications.
Q. What aspects of your job do you enjoy most? I enjoy having an appreciation for the technical nature of the work as it always helps the project managers make better decisions in comparison to the mangers that have a business background. My job is varied and it involves travelling inside and outside the UK which I do enjoy. Interacting with customers and hearing their needs for our products is also enjoyable.
Q. Do you have any advice for students who would like to start a Career? My humble opinion for the students would be not just to study for a label (PhD) or just to get high marks. Make sure you really understand the concept because the devil is in the details and that is the most important thing. Engineering is a great career to have as it is fun, satisfying, challenging and its safe, as many surveys show that job security in engineering is quit high.
Graduate Profile: Luke Byers
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During the Working Week
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At the Weekend 🙂
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Q. What is your Name? Luke Byers
Q. What was your University course? BSc (Hons) Business Information Technology
Q. What is your job title and role? Technology Risk Analyst
Q. Could you briefly describe the organisation you work for? Australia and New Zealand Bank (ANZ)
Q. Which skills learned at University are helpful to you in your job?
Business environments (internal and external), Business Continuity Management (BCM), Written and presenting skills.
Q. Do you have a typical day and how would you describe it?
Analysis and reporting of data, testing of controls in place to mitigate risks and providing assurance to risk managers. Providing advice to ensure people comply with policies.
Q. What aspects of your job do you enjoy most?
Operational risk is an interesting space with so many factors, In particular I enjoy working within the Technology department and understanding how a large financial organisation deals with the changing landscape of technology trends and cyber threats.
Q. Do you have any advice for students who would like to start a Career?
If you see an opportunity that interests you don’t be afraid to go for it. Prepare for interviews well, be confident in yourself and you will get a chance!
Q. A Quote that sums up your time at the University?
I learned a lot while having fun and making friends along the way, what more could you ask for!
MEng Trip
Our MEng Applied Environmental Engineering students went on a trip yesterday. As part of their course, they study water treatment procedures and techniques. Today they toured the facilities at Gowerton Sewage Treatment Works, and also the Felindre Water Treatment Works, to see how industry handles water treatment. Here are a few photos of the day. 🙂 Many thanks to the staff at Gowerton and Felindre for showing us around their facilities.
UWTSD Applied Computing Blog 