Turn On Your Future @ UWTSD's School of Applied Computing & Electronics

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Young people from across Wales descended on Swansea to take part in the all-Wales final to find the most talented students in the field of web design. Hosted by Gower College Swansea and Judged by Industry Experts from the School of Applied Computing, the WorldSkills Web Design Competition is part of a network of tournaments supported by the Welsh Government and the European Social Fund to highlight the importance of developing strong Employment skills.

WorldSkills UK is the name for high quality skills competitions that are run annually throughout the UK. These competitions aim to encourage young people and adults across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to excel in their skill area. They raise participation, esteem and standards in vocational training.

Congratulations to all the finalists listed below who made it through the heats to the Web Design Final:

  • Mathew Bevan – Coleg Llandrillo
  • Craig Mosey – Coleg Sir Gar
  • Sarah Twigg – Coleg Llandrillo
  • Jack Lloyd Davies – Gower College Swansea
  • Jakub Pietrzyk – Gower College Swansea
  • Jake Rooney – Coleg Llandrillo

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Congratulations to the Winners:  Jack Lloyd Davies, 1st , Jakub Pietrzyk, 2nd and Matthew Bevan 3rd

For the winners, the Swansea EU and Welsh Government-backed event could set them on the way to compete in the WorldSkills UK final later this year and possibly the WorldSkills International event in Rio de Janeiro.

James Williams, Senior Lecturer from the School of Applied Computing who judged the event, said: “WorldSkills Competitions are fantastic events and create opportunities for Students to develop their skills and enhance their Employment prospects. Congratulations to Gower College for providing and hosting the event and to all the students who pro-actively engaged and took advantage of the opportunity. It was great  to see the students enthusiasm, they all performed really well, showcasing their skills in the creation of a fully-functional Multimedia Web Site. Congratulations to all the finalists and Good luck with your future Careers.” 

Congratulations to all students who took part in the Multimedia Web Development Comp.

Team

This year as part of the learning activities for the Multimedia Web Development module students were asked to demonstrate their web programming and animation skills to create a Casual Game using HTML5 Canvas.

Well done everyone and congratulations to the winning group: Ashley Tindal, Matthew Tobin, Stephen Gibbs and Chris Tidridge.

Game

“Bombs Away” was the winning game and team members won Amazon MP3 vouchers.

bcsLogo

The School of Applied Computing is pleased to announce that it’s HND & BSc Computing Portfolio has been accredited as fully meeting the educational requirements for BCS Accreditation. The BCS British Computer Society is a professional body and a learned society that represents those working in Information Technology both in the United Kingdom and internationally.

An Accreditation Panel of the BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, visited Swansea Metropolitan : University of Wales Trinity St David on Thursday 1st November 2012 for an accreditation visit. The students highly commended the enthusiasm of staff and the support that they receive at all levels. The students were very positive, open and informative about their programmes of study particularly the practical nature of the courses.

The School’s BSc Degree courses have been accredited as fully meeting the educational requirements for CITP registration and the Software Engineering and Computer Games Development programmes also partially meet the educational requirements for CEng registration. In fact the School’s Computer Games Development degree is just one of a handful of courses in the UK that have this status.

The School’s HND Computing courses have also been accredited by the BCS, and again we are only one of just a handful of Universities in the UK who have partial IEng accreditation for their HNDs, and at the moment the only one in Wales.

For students of the School of Applied Computing these accreditations provide the academic base for BCS Professional Membership and lead towards BCS Chartered IT Professional accreditation. Professional Membership and BCS Chartered status carry the right to use the post nominal letters MBCS CITP and CEng (where appropriate).

For more information about the British Computer Society please click-here and for more information about the levels of accreditation please click-here.

HEEG---STEM

A member of the School’s Lecturing Team James Williams recently Presented at Kingston University’s HEEG event Innovation in Enterprise Education working with STEM and other disciplines on ‘the Bright Spark within us all’. The day featured entrepreneurs, educators and practitioners wrestling with the challenge of bringing together disciplines to enable, challenge, and drive entrepreneurship.

The Heart of Creativity and the Bright Spark within us all: a Unified Model of Intelligence and Creativity for the 21st Century. This session will outline a Unified Model of Intelligence and Creativity, which includes multiple intelligences such as Physical Cognitive Emotional Intuitive and Divine intelligence as competencies in the process of learning and growth, Self-Realisation and Actualisation. The Model encompasses and describes the elusive light of illumination, the bright Spark within us all and aims to assist us in clearly understanding the process of Creativity and Innovation from concept to creation in order to enhance these qualities within.

“I had an Amazing time at the HEEG Innovation & Enterprise Event in London. Thank you to HEEG for the opportunity to Present and collaborate with other pioneering educators scientists researchers and industry professionals. It was a great opportunity to network and I am sure several positive collaborative initiatives will result. Visiting London is always a great Opportunity to enjoy the thriving and civilized culture, and a quick stop off in Millies Cookies and the Bagel Factory at Paddington always makes the journey home that much Sweeter”.

Millies-Cookies  Bagel-Factory

introteach

Many thanks to Company Director Andrew Bury from IntroTeach for visiting the School  and offering our Students some exciting Web & Mobile Application Development Project Opportunities.

logo-lloyds-enterprise-awards

Applied Computing  graduates short-listed as one of 8 companies for the welsh heats of the Lloyds TSB enterprise awards.

Congratulations to Swansea Met Applied Computing graduates Max Willems (CISCO 2009) and Daniel Morris (Web Development 2011) and Appah Prince a Swansea University graduate who have set up a business called Room Paddy. The business aim is to make travel more social, fun, enjoyable and pleasant.

RoomPaddy

Good luck in the Lloyds TSB Enterprise Awards and we wish you all the very best for your continued Success.

Students Go Head2Head & test their Web Design skills in the Header Comp 2013.

Congratulations to all participants for developing and applying their skills

& to the Ultimate Winners Richard Gleed and Tabarak Al-Rawazik

Win2  Win1

Group 1 & Group 2

Winner2 Winner1

Taster-session---graphic-ed

Gower College Swansea recently visited the School for a Taster session in Applied Computing. Led by one of our Lecturers Lee Cobley (aka the Cisco Kid, far right) the Students enjoyed using a Graphical Programming Environment to create an Interactive Application for Mobile Devices.

The School would like to thank Gower College Swansea Lecturer Clive Prosser (far left) and all the students who attended, we hope you Enjoyed the day. Many thanks also go to our in-house Researcher Tim Bashford and representatives from Swansea Metropolitan’s Computer Society for supporting the event. Much appreciated.

For more information about Taster sessions please contact Lee Cobley via e-mail on: lee.j.cobley@smu.ac.uk

JAmes

Name: James Simonson

What was your HE course and when did you graduate?
Computer Games Development (BSc hons).

What is your job title and role? Assistant Technical Manager.

 Could you briefly describe the organization you work for?  I work for Mailman (Shanghai). Mailman is a leading social media innovation & technology company. We take brands and talent from the west and create social buzz for them inside of China and Asia by utilizing social media, web technologies and offline media.

Mailman

“Being Bold, having a go”

We´re not all for profit. Much of our internal purpose is spurred by a great idea, a good cause, or by helping those less fortunate. We believe that openness and understanding and trying new things is the key to socializing business and making a positive change in the world.

OUR VISION: Is the ´socialization´ of the world’s best brands.

OUR MISSION: Is to transform the way businesses engage and embrace social media technologies to create better customer experiences. By investing in a ‘value-led’ communication theory Mailman delivers branded online assets that strengthen the relationships between brands and the people that matter most.

 Which skills learned at University are helpful to you in your job? Programming principles, Networking, Applied Mathematics and Software Engineering Principles.

I build websites and web apps for my company (front and back end), I also deal with server side programming, data visualization and data mining. I use allot of the programming methodologies and techniques taught to me throughout university, as well as mathematics and networking  when managing large data pools and re-constructing them for an end user.

Do you have a typical day and how would you describe it? Wake up, Drink coffee, then tackle some really challenging but fun problems. Help brain storm new ideas for potential clients, Work on a new project or maintain a current project, add features to existing sites, Research and develop new tools to aid in data gathering or end user experience. Then go out for company drinks on Friday

What aspects of your job do you enjoy most? I enjoy the Freedom I get with projects, the satisfaction of seeing my work online for millions to see and the free coffee my company offers.

Steve and James Book chapter

Two members of the School Dr. Stephen Hole and James Williams along with colleagues from the Business and Management Faculty Karen Jones and Rhian Pole have recently published a book chapter on the use of Web 2.0 Social Networks for Learning. The chapter looks at how the features of contemporary Social Network technology can be harnessed to enhance the Learning Teaching and Assessment process.

The book is titled Computational Social Networks: Tools, Perspectives and Applications and is published by Springer.

The study of computational social networks (CSNs) is an emerging interdisciplinary field, concerned with the intersection of social behaviour and computer systems. The book contains contributions from a selection of international world-class experts, with a specific focus on practical tools and applications. Topics and features includes the latest advances in Computational Social Networks CSNs, and illustrates how organizations can gain a competitive advantage by applying these ideas in real-world scenarios.