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

Posts tagged ‘Success’

Graduate Profile: John Rees @ ARM

 

Q. What is your Name? John Rees

 

Q. What University course/s did you study? B.Eng Computer Systems Engineering (Electronics)
“A stepping stone to engineering.”
Q. What is your job title and role? Technical Director at ARM. Leader of the ARM Mali GPU SW Architecture Team. I lead a team of architects who work to define the SW architecture of the GPU driver for supporting OpenGLES, Vulkan and OpenCL khronos APIs for mobile, digital television and emerging markets demanding the needs of a GPU.

 

Q. Could you briefly describe the organisation you work for? ARM develops and licenses a wide range of software and silicon IP for inclusion in SoC designs that are deployed in very wide number of market segments and domains,  Arm is unique in that it does not produce SoC devices itself.

 

Q. Which skills learned at University are helpful to you in your job? Embedded Systems, Digital Systems, Digital Signal Processing, Object Orientated Programming, Control Systems, Electronics

 

Q. Do you have a typical day and how would you describe it? There is no typical day!  Working on GPU’s is a challenging environment and we face new challenges almost daily stemming from new trends in the market place, new technologies in silicon, competitors and the continuous customer quest for differentiation and pushing the boundaries of technology. Beyond that the typical day is spent analysing incoming product requirements and finding solutions within the many constraints, requesting or reviewing GPU HW features, obtaining wider ecosystem support, documenting the SW designs, engaging with customers and as a leader ensuring that people collaborate well together.

 

Q. What aspects of your job do you enjoy most? I really enjoy my job when we can find a solution to a given problem, there is a real buzz when you find it, I have found over time that it does not matter if it is hunting a bug in a system or code module, finding a solution to a architectural problem or fixing some working practice or process within an organisation where it will improve engineering.  Working with many bright people and understanding how different people solve problems, it can be challenging to come to some alignment but satisfying when you do. Another aspect is seeing products in the market that I can attribute to my work and show people.

 

Q. Do you have any advice for students who would like to start a Career? I would advocate using your spare time for hobby projects, its a cliche but there really is much to be gained from practical application.  You can learn a lot of essential and transferable skills that you will draw upon throughout your University program and your career. Further, it can help to narrow your interests that you really engage with and enjoy. Having some of the skills on board before you join an organisation can really help you in your early roles.

 

Q. A Quote that sums up your time at the University? A stepping stone to engineering.

 

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

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Graduate Profile: Nathan Dickinson

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Q. What is your Name? Nathan Dickinson 

Q. What was your University course? B.Sc. (Hons) Computing & Information Systems

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Q. What is your job title and role? My current job title is Product technical lead for the vDoc product of the Vizolution product suite.

Q. What does the role involve? This role involves me being the de-facto technical expert in all aspects of the vDoc product production with the overall goal being to align multiple development teams to delivery and fulfil customer requirements. Daily duties include attending stand-ups, providing estimates for new functionality, ensuring coding standards and providing technical leadership to development teams and steer and provide technical design and architecture for requirements. Also heavily involved in product support and deployments to ensure smooth roll-out and running of the product on a daily basis.

vDoc is an unassisted document sharing solution that allows customers to seamlessly progress their own customer journey through the upload, download or electronic signature of documents via a secure customer portal.
http://www.vizolution.co.uk/solutions/vdoc/

Q. Could you briefly describe the organisation you work for? Vizolution is a CX Tech company focused on streamlining difficult customer journeys. The Vizolution suite of digital products streamlines the end-to-end customer journey and supports the omni-channel strategy of our customers across branch, telephony and digital channels. It’s SaaS products are quick and easy to implement. The solutions eliminate breaks in the customer journey to deliver improved compliance, customer service and satisfaction and conversions as well as reduced costs.

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 Q. Which skills learned at University are helpful to you in your job? Confidence and self-belief, the environment in the university was very open and students were encouraged to interact as much as possible, feedback was always constructive and lecturers often pushed to get the best from me. This really helped with my self-belief and confidence allowing me to step out of my comfort zone and push my self and my abilities. It is this I believe has allowed me to progress to where I am today.


Q. Do you have a typical day and how would you describe it? My days vary quite a lot but usually start with attending stand-ups for the development teams of which there are five that work on the vDoc product. I am then usually attending meetings to either provide high level estimation and technical implementation guidance/design for new functionality. Performing code reviews to ensure code is of a suitable standard and follows our defined coding standards. Assisting other developers with issues or problems and providing technical guidance. Occasionally I have the chance to develop some functionality myself but I am mostly in a hands off type of role now.

Q. What aspects of your job do you enjoy most? It would have the be the problem solving, quite often I am faced with complex issues to which I need to provide technical guidance for, whilst this can be challenging and frustrating at times. The sense of achievement when something you’ve planned turns out how you expected it to or sometimes even better it makes it all worth it. My position can be quite stressful but its taking these small wins and seeing the impact our technology is having is what keeps me motivated

Q. Do you have any advice for students who would like to start a Career? Prepare early, there are going to be hundreds of graduates across the UK in your sector all looking for jobs, be proactive and get your foot in the door first. Look for summer placement work, try and reach out to places where you would like to work to see if they have any openings or what opportunities they have for graduates. Most important be persistent and be strong minded, there will be times where you will be turned down at interview, instead of taking that negatively look for the positives and look for areas to improve and come back stronger. You’ve done the hard work in getting into university and taking your degree so you deserve a good career so just remember that.

You’ve done the hard work in getting into university and taking your degree so you deserve a good career so just remember that.

Q. A Quote that sums up your time at the University? One of the most challenging but at the same time rewarding experiences of my life.

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Graduates deliver Inspirational Talks @ UWTSD SOAC Swansea

Many thanks to Business Technology Graduate Dan Hawkes (BT), Web Development Graduate Jordan Crocker (Senior Web Developer) and Computer Networks Graduate Simon Downes (PhD student) for visiting the University today to talk with our students about their University and Career journey to date, sharing valuable hints and tips for academic and career success. Inspirational invaluable and greatly appreciated. Thank you all.

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Graduate Profile: Thomas Matti @ ARCADIS

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Q. What is your Name? Thomas Matti

Q. What was your University course? Business & Information Technology.

Q. What is your job title and role? Risk Management Analyst.

Q. Could you briefly describe the organisation you work for? I work for a company called Arcadis which is the Leading Global Design & Consultancy firm for natural and built assets. Applying deep market sector insights and collective design, consultancy, engineering, project and management services. We have 28,000 people active in over 70 countries that generate more than €3 billion in revenues. We support UN-Habitat with knowledge and expertise to improve the quality of life in rapidly growing cities around the world.

Q. Which skills learned at University are helpful to you in your job? The first role at the company included working with database formulas which I learnt on the course. These skills helped me complete tasks with ease.

Q. Do you have a typical day and how would you describe it? My typical day would consist of coming into work at 7:30, look at my calendar to see what tasks I have for the day such as: Sitting with peers to discuss new potential risks, attending meetings and presenting findings to senior management.

Q. What aspects of your job do you enjoy most? Results, it’s nice to actually see some improvement in your work and receive recognition from it.

Q. Do you have any advice for students who would like to start a Career? I think personally having a degree is crucial for really kick-starting your career.

And as cheesy as it sounds the advice I would provide is never give up!

There were times on my course where I didn’t understand information, contemplated is this what I wanted to do? But as long as you have the mentality to never give up and be hopeful that something will come out of it then something will. Then you can apply that mentality not just to the course you’re doing but also to the career you’re seeking.

Q. A Quote that sums up your time at the University? Highs and lows, but worth the Graft.

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STUDENTS SHINE @ TECHSTARS SWANSEA 2017

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Above : Applied Computing Student representatives from Winning Teams SneakyBrain and GigaLife receiving their Enterprise & Innovation Awards for winning the TECHSTARS SWANSEA Competition.

Students (below) from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David School of Applied Computing recently participated in TECHSTARS SWANSEA 2017. Students were offered the opportunity to pitch their ideas for a start-up to a panel of experts including: Paul Harwood (Co-Founder of TechHub Swansea), Andrew Thomas (CEO of BrightSeed Ltd.), Anne Swift (Enterprise Manager for Welsh Government) and Kathryn Penaluna (Enterprise Manager at UWTSD). The event was organised by Senior Lecturer James Williams who teaches on the School’s Enterprise and Innovation module.

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James Williams said: “I arranged the event because I know there is great potential within every person and when people are given the opportunity to apply themselves in a supportive environment they discover that potential for themselves. In this case I arranged the event to allow 2nd Year Business Technology & Computing students studying the Enterprise & Innovation module to have the opportunity to pitch their innovative ideas and prototypes applications to a panel of independent judges from industry. The feedback they received was beyond expectation, it was very positive and I’m sure the students learned a lot from the experience.”

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First prize went to a project called Sneaky Brain (Team pic above), an App which contains Maths games and puzzles designed to help Primary School children strengthen their Maths skills. Michael Johns, who is a member of the winning group and a student on the BSc Computer Games Development, said: “What was nice about group work is the ability to bounce ideas off each other which was further enhanced as we come from different programmes so that we were able to build on ideas from different viewpoints and knowledge.” Andrew Humphreys, who was also in the winning group said: “The biggest thing that I learned about was how enjoyable branding is, and the many opportunities there are to be creative within a tech company. There is a need to create new apps that are different to others already in the market.” Congratulations to Team members: Andrew Humphreys, Michael Johns, Ashley Vessey, Oliver Jordan, Kieran Hawkins.

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The standard of entries was so high that second prize had to give jointly. The two entries who placed second were called GigaLife (Team pic above: left), and Parking (Team pic above: right).

  • GigaLife is a role play game that helps raise awareness about Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Team leader Evan Smith, who is a student on the BSc Computer Games Development course, said: “The group project was lots of fun, the character development was challenging as [main character] Sofia is me and it was difficult delving into my past experiences. Each character owns a theme and Sofia interacts with them – she has options to apply emotions and you learn more about yourself as you interact with other peoples.” Congratulations to Team members: Evan Smith, Samuel Mounter, Samuel Goacher, Kyle Thomas, Cerys Nickels.
  • Parking is a mobile app which gives live updates to show the availability of parking spaces within a city. It will give directions using GIS to the carpark and will time your visit to let you know when the ticket is about to run out. There are also plans to develop the app in the near future to include features that will link the app to parking attendants and to be able to show which bay number you are in to find your car when you return. Congratulations to Team members: Callum Whitcombe, Paige Harris, Ben Green.

Judge and Enterprise Manager at UWTSD Kathryn Penaluna said: “The event demonstrates creativity and the passion required to take forward an idea with a social conscience.” Fellow judge Andrew Thomas added: “It’s really nice to see exciting and passionate pitches for business ideas going forward.”

 

To see the picture gallery of the event please click-here.

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Graduate Profile: Adam Davies

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Q. What is your Name? Adam Davies
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Q. What was your University course? BSc Computer Networks
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Q. What is your job title and role? Infrastructure Engineer. This involves managing a virtual infrastructure built on VMWare vSphere along with managing the SAN, backups, operating systems and servers
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Q. Could you briefly describe the organisation you work for? CGI, a Canadian company which operates out of 40 countries with 68,000 employees.
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Q. Which skills learned at University are helpful to you in your job? The most useful skills I learnt at University were from the module based on network design. It got me to think of the bigger picture and how each component affects the other. This has been useful when implementing new services into the existing virtual infrastructure that I manage.
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Q. Do you have a typical day and how would you describe it? The best thing about my job is that there isn’t a typical day; I could be swapping out a failed hard drive or troubleshooting a virtual machine one day or adding new components to the infrastructure the next day.
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Q. What aspects of your job do you enjoy most? The thing I enjoy most about my job is when something goes wrong. This is where your skills are really put to the test and you always end up learning something new.
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Q. Do you have any advice for students who would like to start a Career? The best advice I could give current students is to stay up to date with the IT industry. It’s ever evolving so in order to make an impact you really need to know what’s going on in the industry. Get in to the habit of reading articles as this will help you identify what’s up and coming and what your employer can use to improve its offerings to its customers.

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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!

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Graduate Industry Speakers

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Many Thanks to Applied Computing  Graduates Dafydd Moore (IT Manager @ Waitrose – John Lewis PLC), Lisa Fox (Business IT & Computing Teacher) and Edd Turtle (Leader Developer @ Hoowla) for coming back to speak with our students today, for sharing industry insights and hints & tips for Academic Career and Life Success. Congratulations on your achievements to date and we hope you visit us again soon.

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SoAC lecturers become Senior Fellows of Higher Education Authority

Dr Stephen Hole, Associate Professor
Dr Kapilan Radhakrishnan
Dr John Rees

 

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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First Class Result for the School of Applied Computing

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At the School of Applied Computing exceptional numbers of First Class Honours students have graduated, with many also receiving the prestigious British Computer Society (BCS) Award.

Professor Ian Wells, Head of School said: “The School of Applied Computing at UWTSD is proud to announce that we have an exceptional number of First Class Honours students graduating this year. We have eight in Computing and six in ‘Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering (two of which are at MEng (Master of Engineering) level). Five of the Computing students will also receive the British Computer Society (BCS) award giving them full Chartered IT Professional (CITP) status and membership of the BCS. In a profession where traditionally there are few females these results are of particular significance since four of the students receiving the award are female.”

Professor Wells added: “Holding CITP status reflects your integrity, professionalism and dedication to your work. Your status will be recognised in a formal listing of Chartered IT Professionals on a register available to potential clients and employers on the BCS website.”

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