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

Posts tagged ‘Higher Education’

Emerging Trends Lecture: Complex Autonomous Robotic Systems

The Applied Computing Team at UWTSD, had the pleasure of welcoming Dr Rob Deaves (below), a visiting Professor of Robotics Systems Architectures to deliver a Guest Lecture on Complex Autonomous Robotic Systems.

The talk covered many related areas and enabled listeners to enhance their knowledge and skills in the following topics:

* Robotic components in a mass market commercial robot;
* Usefulness of visualisation tools;
* Testing campaigns based on simulation, prototyping and trials;
* Product and support systems;
* Appreciation of what is required to take research to product.

“In recent years autonomous robots are starting to provide useful functions for society. Future developments will be really exciting allowing robotics to help address the UN sustainability goals!”  – Dr Rob Deaves, RAEng Visiting Professor of Robotics Systems Architectures.

Dr. Rob Deaves, Guest Lecture at UWTSD Swansea, School of Applied Computing.

About: Dr Rob Deaves is a Dyson Robotics Architect from Imperial College London.

The Applied Computing Team would like to thank Dr. Deaves for taking the time to share his knowledge and experience with our staff and students. The lecture was organised by UWTSD Computing Lecturer Dr. Nitheesh Kaliyamurthy as part of the Emerging Trends module, a final year module on all Computing degree courses.

For more information about our courses please click-here.

Graduate Profile: Richard Martin – Web Developer

Q. What is your Name? Richard Martin

Q. What was your University course? BSc Web Development

Q. What is your job title and role? Developer

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Q. Could you briefly describe the organisation you work for?
We build estates management software.

Q. Which skills learned at University are helpful to you in your job?
Project management as well as coding and computational skills needed for a career in IT.

Q. Do you have a typical day and how would you describe it? Get in for nine and get the kettle on. As any developer will tell you software is fueled by caffeine. Spend my morning writing asp.Net MVC and SQL then some self study and onto the React and NoSQL project.

Q. What aspects of your job do you enjoy most? The freedom to manage my own time and investigate and research different technologies as I see fit. Also working with cutting edge technologies such as React.JS.

Q. Do you have any advice for students who would like to start a Career? Do your best in anything you do. My career as a developer started four years ago before I started uni when I took a three week temporary data entry position. I gave it my all as I always do. Within two weeks I had finished all the data entry and moved in to front end web design/development. Which lead into my degree. So, just always do your best at anything you do. You never know what will be your break into your career.

Q. A Quote that sums up your time at the University? Hard work, challenging and stressful but one of the best and most rewarding things I have done.

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>> If you would like to submit a Graduate Profile please contact james.williams@uwtsd.ac.uk.

Graduate Profile: Ana Mirsayar

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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.

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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

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!

SoAC lecturers become Senior Fellows of Higher Education Authority

 

The School of Applied Computing is proud to report that the achievements of three of its lecturers have recently been recognised by the Higher Education Authority (HEA).

Our congratulations go to  Dr Stephen Hole Associate Professor, Dr Kapilan Radhakrishnan and Dr John Rees, who were awarded prestigious Senior Fellowships of the HEA over the summer.

The status of Senior Fellow is awarded to those professionals who reach the highest standards of teaching and supporting learning in higher education.  The award recognises excellence across a broad range of key criteria, including management, coordination, subject and pedagogic research, scholarship, academic practice, professional values, supervision, assessment and mentoring.

The HEA, globally recognised for inspiring excellent teaching as an essential driver of student success, delivers a platform for continuous professional development and aims to improve learning outcomes by constantly enhancing the quality of teaching in Higher Education.

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WIPO – Digital Creativity: Culture Reimagined

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The School of Applied Computing celebrated World Intellectual Property Day which this year explores the theme of ‘Digital Creativity: Culture Reimagined’ – the current emerging and future of culture in the digital age. As part of the celebration some students (above) from the Managing People and Change module learned about the importance of Employee Engagement in 21st Century Organisations.

Graduate Profile: Aisha Iftikhar

Aisha-brdQ. What was your HE course?

BSc (Hons) Business Information Technology

Q. What is your job title and role?

Multiple business owner: My role is to lead businesses, as an MD Managing Director at Costcutters supermarket and as a Principal at Swansea sixth form College. This involves many different areas including leadership, teacher evaluation, student discipline, staff discipline, accounting and several others.

Q. Could you briefly describe the organization you work for?

Swansea Sixth-form College (SSC) offer a wide range of practical English language courses. SSC offer high quality teaching with flexible study options, in a beautiful environment designed to develop our students confidence and increase motivation. Whether your goal is to improve your job prospects, get a place at university, pass an English language exam, live and work abroad, improve your English for business purposes, adapt to life in the UK or travel and see the world, we have a course to suit you.

Q. Which skills learned at University are helpful to you in your job?

My 3 years at Swansea Met were life changing. The environment excelled my development as a student. The skills that I developed while studying have had a positive influence on my role, personally, my involvement in the community and professionally. Commitment, self-motivation and confidence, all of which are highly valued skills which I gained from my course have helped me in my role as a Principal.

The following two skills which have been vital for my role, which I gained in my course through research, planning and assignments:
1. Knowledge and understanding – Gaining specific knowledge related to a particular subject, for example historical or scientific data
2. Cognitive skills – Thinking skills, such as problem solving, analysis, research.

Q. Do you have a typical day and how would you describe it?

My typical day, as much I would like to say planned and calm, it is as hectic and sometimes unpredictable. There are no two days the same. I still feel I am learning something new everyday. My day can range from staff meetings, student inductions, class monitoring, teaching assessments and auditing. We also take pride in our diverse culture and at the same time our city, and reach out exertions and show off our heritage.

Q. What aspects of your job do you enjoy most?

My job role highly motivates me, I do enjoy all aspects of my job.
It’s a huge responsibility being part of such a successful college and to be responsible for so many different people. I love learning and meeting people.

Q. Do you have any advice for students who would like to start a Career?

Your whole life is a learning curve, the biggest challenge is in within yourself. Always take issues/problems as a challenge, remove all barriers.
Set high goals, you should never be able to accomplish your goal, you should get nearer and nearer each time. If you think you have reached it, then you haven’t set a high enough goal, the sky is the limit.

Commitment, reliability, humbleness and honesty to yourself and your job is your key ingredient for success.

Deborah Roberts: Web Developer @ DAC

29dd4d8What was your HE course?
The course that I did was BSc (Hons) Web Development.

What is your job title and role?
My job title is web developer/technical auditor at the Digital Accessibility Centre (DAC). My role varies to include design and development of small SME websites, Mobile Apps, technical auditing, accessibility testing and reporting on larger websites including clients such as Channel 4, Money Advice Service, HMRC, Lloyds, Santander and many more.

Could you briefly describe the organization you work for?
The organisation I work for deals with the accessibility testing of digital products to WCAG 2.0 standards. We have a team of expert testers that have a range of disabilities and use various Assistive technologies to ensure that these products are accessible and inclusive to all.

Which skills learned at University are helpful to you in your job?
The skills that I learnt at University that I have found help me are web design and development skills, report writing, how to research and meet deadlines and the final project that I undertook relating to accessibility and accessibility guidelines.

Do you have a typical day and how would you describe it?
I can be involved in any part or all of the process depending on how many audits are on-going. I could be working with the testers where I analyse code as they find accessibility issues with a website or mobile app in relation to their assistive technologies. I will then find the reason for the problem and offer companies a solution for fixing it.

I will then complete a technical audit and compile a report. This process is then followed up with a conference call with project managers and developers/designers to discuss a way forward for compliance.

I have also been involved in training developers, designers and project managers in creating accessible products, selling the service to clients and presentations.

A colleague and I also developed the Accessibility ‘hub’ for Virgin Media’s website.

What aspects of your job do you enjoy most?
I do enjoy getting out of the office and visiting companies all over the UK and seeing how they work. I have recently been to HMRC offices after being involved in a piece of work for them, along with Channel 4, ITV and Virgin. But the part that I like is the analysing of code, finding the reason why a screen reader for example is not working with the code and finding a way of fixing it. It is also nice to see the fixes that I have suggested being implemented and no longer causing my blind colleagues an issue.

Do you have any advice for students who would like to start a Career?
Yes, work hard and stay focussed, if you’re determined you’ll get there.

‘Exo Minor’ & ‘Happy Rainbow Bird’ by ChaosTrend

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Founded by one of our School’s Enterprising Graduates Darren Adams, Swansea-based Games Development Studio Chaos-Trend are proud to announce their new game “Exo Miner” on Steam Greenlight. Exo Miner is a procedurally generated, action based mining, exploration, construction and defence game.

Travel to unexplored sectors of space, claim new sectors for mining, set up defences, buy new ships and drones then customise them to fit your play style. Define patrol routes for protection or attack claimed sectors. Defend your own sectors from rival companies and leave your mark by building the biggest space mining corporation in the galaxy. Can you build a corporation to rival the mighty Europa Mining Company?

Watch this space: They are currently busily developing Exo Miner and some of the content is not yet final. They will be updating this page as often as possible with new info and content. 

Chaos-Trend have also recently released a new game titled ‘Happy Rainbow Bird‘ 🙂

Flap those wings, gain some height and use your skill and judgement to get the highest score you can as you Guide your birdie through the many pillars of doom.

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The Game is available Now on Google Play and iTunes.

Chaos-Trend are a small but well established Games development studio in Swansea, Wales. They have been running for over 5 years and have successfully released many games across many platforms. The core team consists of Graduates from Swansea Metropolitan – University of Wales Trinity Saint David that have obtained degrees in game programming and design. The founder members of ChaosTrend are: Darren Adams, Russell Drodge, John Franklin, and Ian Malsbury. There are now five in the Team, one being a former Creative Assembly programmer who worked on the award winning Total War series. They have written their our own game engine and tools from the ground up, and love to dream-up and create new and exciting games. For more information please click here.

Video: Discover University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Learn more about the Exciting Changes within Welsh Higher Education and the Newly merged Swansea Metropolitan University and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and the exciting plans for the future – check out the Discover University of Wales Trinity Saint David Video below as the Vice-Chancellor Prof. Medwin Hughes explains all:

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