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

Posts tagged ‘Swansea’

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

pic02

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.

Happy-Bird-x

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.

Category:

Uncategorized

Tagged with:

Upcoming Events @ TechHub Swansea

This half-day workshop provides an overview of User Experience and why it is an important consideration in the development of products, systems and applications. A series of presentations outline real-world implementations and case-studies by leading internationally renowned User Experience experts.

Join us at TechHub Swansea for a workshop on Growth hacking with founder of True Up, Liam Reynolds (trueup.co.uk)

Start Up Business Support and Pizza! Join regional sponsor of TechHub Swansea for an afternoon of business support and pizza, get practical support and guidance, FREE, for all members.

TechHub Swansea have gone all roaring ’20s and are thrilled to invite you to our exclusive prohibition party. …it’s a strictly need to know event, so ‘speak-easy’!

Have you heard of the Raspberry Pi computer? Do you want to know more and see what others are doing with this amazing low cost device? Come along to the Swansea Raspberry Jam event and meet other Raspberry Pi users

As a start-up you need to plan for future and your future success. Getting your website found online by the right people is a huge part of modern-day marketing and being listed for the correct keywords by the search engines is essential.

The Welsh Government Creative Industries team is busy doing a series of regional briefing events across Wales. The events are a brief presentation on the support available from the Welsh Government to creative sector businesses and a plenary, followed by the opportunity of 1:1 half hour slots with Welsh Government Business

Growing and Organising your Engineering Team Advice Clinic

Category:

Uncategorized

Tagged with:

Graduate Profile: Thomas John

Thomas-John

What was your HE course/s and when did you graduate?
I studied the HND Computing and Information Systems course, and after graduating from the course, I enrolled on to the 3rd year of the BSc (Hons) Computing and Information Systems course before graduating with a 2:1 Degree.

What is your job title and role?
I am a Software Tester for a company called Dezrez Services Ltd which is based in Swansea.

Could you briefly describe the organization you work for?
Dezrez Services Ltd provides Software Services for Estate Agencies to help the Estate Agencies deal with Sales, Lettings, and also Property Management. The company also offers Support for the Software.  A few products that Dezrez have include:

  • Dezrez PM (Property Management)
  • iPad Valuation App
  • Website in a Box
  • Template Designs
  • Mobile Dezrez

Which skills learned at University are helpful to you in your job?
After graduating from University, some skills have really helped me in my role. With the Assignments and the Final Year Project deadlines, I have learnt how to meet deadlines of Testing Tasks, Testing Activities and Sprints. This has really helped me deal with Testing Tasks and Testing Activities that are set for me. Also my Final Year Project has helped me as I understand the need for Usability within a Software program and how important it is for the Software and for the User.

Do you have a typical day and how would you describe it?
My day would normally involve testing the Property Management software package that Dezrez have developed. I would use TFS (Team Foundation Server) to look at a Task Board to see what Testing Tasks I have been assigned to Test and then I would record any Issues (Functionality, Usability, Compatibility, Design, Spelling/Grammar) or Feature Suggestions in TFS and the Dezrez CRM System.  When a release is performed for new functionality and fixes to go up live, I would perform a Test Plan to make sure that functionality already in place has not been affected by the new functionality.

What aspects of your job do you enjoy most?
I enjoy the challenge of helping the company find issues within the software, helping the company release the software, and that it is suitable and ready for release. I also enjoy working for the company and learning new techniques for testing the products that the company provides.

Do you have any advice for students who are currently studying their HE course?
I would say when an assignment is handed out, start on it as soon as possible. Use the resources that the University provides (library etc.) and the time in which there are no Lectures or Tutorials wisely to do research for assignments, and also take the opportunity to learn some exam preparation techniques. Also if doing a Final Year Project, I would start the Project as soon as you can as I completed my Literature Review at the start of January and that gave me time to make amendments to the sections and also start the Implementation stage early which was really helpful.

In a summary please write a little statement that explains the positive aspects of your experience at University and whether you would recommend it to anyone in the future:
When starting at University, I was a little nervous with the change from College. But the University, the Support, Friends and also the Lecturers made me feel comfortable after a few weeks, I settled in great and worked hard to gain my HND. After gaining the HND, I realised that I wanted to do further education and decided to enrol on the 3rd year of the BSc Degree and it was the best decision I have made. I have made some great friends through my 3 years at the University, and I have also developed myself further as a person through the experience. I recommend the University highly as it a great place to study and I have learnt so much there.

Category:

Uncategorized

Tagged with:

Watch this Space: Exciting New Courses

The Team at the School of Applied Computing have been busy updating all existing courses and writing a lot of exciting new ones*. The School’s undergraduate portfolio is being greatly extended with 7 new courses:

  • Applied Computing
  • *Business Computing
  • Business Information Technology
  • *Cloud Computing
  • Computing and Information Systems
  • Computer Games Development
  • *Computer Graphics & Visualisation
  • Computer Networks
  • Computer Systems & Electronics
  • Electrical & Electronic Engineering
  • *GIS & Environmental Conservation
  • *Mobile Computing & Application Development
  • *Robotics & Intelligent Systems
  • Software Engineering
  • Web Development
  • *Wireless Communication Systems

WATCH THIS SPACE ;-). For more information please click-here.

* Subject to validation.

Category:

Uncategorized

Tagged with:

Spring : Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Course

If you are interested in obtaining certifications in Computer Networks, our spring Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Routing and Switching course is starts on February 5th, 2014 and ends on November 6th, 2014.

There are no pre-requisites and anyone can enrol. The classes are to be held in room MH505 known as the Cisco Lab located in the main building in Mount Pleasant Campus. The course is 30 weeks in duration and is presented on Wednesdays and Thursdays 17:30 – 20:30.

Our school has been a Cisco Regional Networking Academy since 1991, where students can gain high level experience in the design and implementation of very advanced computer networks.

If you are interested, please e-mail the Cisco Academy at :ciscoacademy@sm.uwtsd.ac.uk

Further information about this course is available from UWTSD’s website: please click-here.

 FAQs:

Q. How is the course structured?
We offer the latest version of the course (CCNA v5.0). Detailed structure can be found in attachment.

Q. What jobs will I qualify for?
Please click here: http://www.technojobs.co.uk/info/candidate-guides/ccna-salary.phtml

Category:

Uncategorized

Tagged with:

Research Profile: Virtual Reality e-Counselling Service in Wales

Researchers at the Centre for Psychology & Counselling and School of Applied Computing at Swansea Metropolitan (University of Wales: Trinity Saint David) have received funding from Tenovus, Wales’ leading cancer charity, through its innovation grant funding scheme to develop and evaluate an on-line counselling service for young people in Wales who either have a personal diagnosis of cancer or who are caring for someone with cancer.

CEvolve_team_SMU_8302

Lead applicant, Dr Ceri Phelps, a Health Psychologist at Swansea Met, stated that:

“young people across the South West Wales area will be involved in all stages of this exciting project including its initial design. The e-counselling service will take the form of an avatar-based virtual reality counselling world in a format familiar to many young people today who use computer games machines such as Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s Playstation 3. If shown to be successful, the virtual reality counselling world may be adopted by Tenovus for ongoing delivery of cancer support services to young people throughout Wales with huge scope for offering a wider alternative to face-to-face counselling for all age groups”.

Technical Lead, Andrew Baker from the School of Applied Computing, having extensive experience working in Real-Time Computer Games Development is overseeing all technical and creative aspects of the project. Andrew said, “This is a very exciting project to be involved in which incorporates Applied Research across a broad spectrum of disciplines.” Young people feel comfortable with the whole concept of avatars.

FrontPage_Screenshot2

The Project Team recently presented the ‘Health Psycology in Action‘ poster at the Tenovus Research Conference in Cardiff (SWALEC Stadium) and received very positive feedback. Furthermore, the Project has also recently been commended by the NHS Ethics committee. This is Fantastic news as the Project now progresses to phase 2. Congratulations to all involved in this highly innovative contemporary and benevolent initiative.

Dr Ian Lewis, Head of Research for Tenovus said,

“Our Tenovus Innovation Grants offer new research opportunities to discover ways to reduce the impact of cancer.  With cancer incidence in Wales amongst the highest in the world, we need to develop new and innovative ways to help support people not just throughout the duration of their cancer treatment, but beyond.”

tenovus

Category:

Uncategorized

Tagged with:

The pay and perks of a career in Information Technology (IT)

In this video, technology role models explain the rewards of working in IT and Technology:

Category:

Uncategorized

Tagged with:

Want to be the next Mark Zuckerberg? Find out what most schools don’t teach

Category:

Uncategorized

Tagged with:

Graduate Opportunities in Wales: IT Management & Software Development

prosper_logoProsper Recruitment are currently seeking Graduates and Postgraduates for exciting job opportunities in the field of Software Development:

Software Developer (Ref. 3110) : Gwent

> Permanent  £30-£33K
Our client is a leader in the manufacture and supply of high quality products for the financial and retail sectors. They currently have an opportunity for an experienced Software Engineer to join their team as soon as possible

Main Duties

  • To design, support and maintain the company’s software products and applications
  • Assist internal and external customers to derive appropriate software specifications for products.
  • Manage and develop new software projects through the entire development lifecycle.
  • Design, develop and validate software changes in compliance with approved procedures and within agreed timescales.
  • Manage temporary or contract personnel on PC-software projects.
  • Provide advice, support and training on software use to staff and customers.

Candidate Requirements

  • A relevant degree or equivalent with proven programming experience
  • Experience of C# and .NET framework and JAVA on a Windows platform.
  • Familiar with ASP, AJAX, CSS
  • Experience of RS232 and USB communications protocols
  • Experience of Microsoft SQL databases.
  • Knowledge of embedded C would be an advantage but not essential.
  • Excellent analytical, numeric and interpersonal skills.
  • Strong team player, flexible and customer-focused

Software Developer (Ref. 3109) : Swansea

> Permanent
Our client operates on a worldwide basis delivering the best Control of Work software tools and support services to the largest multinational oil, gas and chemicals companies in the world. They are seeking a talented individual to enhance their development team.

Main Duties

  • To support the company’s specialist software
  • Work with the development team at all stages of the development lifecycle
  • To research and take advantage of the latest technologies and advances

Candidate Requirements

  • Good degree in Computing or IT related subject
  • Proven experience of all stages of IT Product Design
  • Experience of using ASP.NET, .Net Framework, C# and SQL is required
  • It would be useful if you have knowledge in any of the following: HTML / CSS, JavaScript, MSSQL / Oracle, XML, Visual Studio
  • Excellent awareness of the latest technologies
  • Excellent communication skills with a good standard of written and spoken English
  • Self motivated team worker able to work unsupervised to tight deadlines
  • To be able to travel as there may be opportunities with this role

IT Manager (Ref. 2674) : South West Wales

> Permanent : Circa £35K
Our clients are established and highly successful medium sized coming offering services to manufacturing companies throughout the UK. The company are currently seeking to recruit an experienced IT Manager to play a key role in maintaining and developing their networked systems to support the business

Main Duties

  • Lead IT operational and strategic planning to suit business strategy
  • Benchmark, analyze, report on, and make recommendations for the improvement and growth of the IT infrastructure
  • Manage financial aspects of all IT, including purchasing and budgets
  • Develop and implement all IT policies and procedures, including those for architecture, security, disaster recovery, standards, purchasing
  • Manage the deployment, integration, monitoring, maintenance, development, upgrade, and support of all IT systems, including network servers, company website, telephone systems, PCs, operating systems, hardware, software applications, technical support
  • Manage small IT team including recruitment, supervision and development
  • Maintain, monitor, update and improve company website

Candidate Requirements

  • Strong technical knowledge of PC operating systems, networking, website and communication technologies and protocols
  • Strong technical knowledge of current network hardware, architecture design, and standards
  • Experience with Sage and SQL server database management systems
  • Ideally you will have experience in web / software development programmes
  • Proven experience in IT infrastructure planning and development
  • Ability to manage Managing Multi sites
  • You will have strong leadership and interpersonal skills
  • Ideally understanding of human resource management principles, practices, and procedures

Take a look at our current vacancies at: www.prosperec.co.uk and register today by emailing your CV to info@prosperec.co.uk.

Category:

Uncategorized

Tagged with:

Graduate Profile: Sion Williams

SionWilliams2

What was your undergraduate degree and when did you graduate?

I have a degree in Computer Games Development.

What is your job title and role?

IT Build Manager

Could you briefly describe the organization you work for?

I currently work for one of the fastest growing insurance providers in the UK, based in Exeter.

Did any of your degree modules inspire you or help you in choosing your job?

Interestingly the subject I disliked the most (Software Engineering) ended up being the bread and butter of my daily work.

What modules are most helpful to you in your job?

Build and Release management is an interesting field because it’s not an intensive programming role, be we are often seen as the problem solvers.

Where do you find yourself using the transferable skills that you developed in University?

Because of the architectural complexities behind games development I was often presented with a myriad of different types of problems – the skills I developed throughout the course are all used on a daily basis. In some ways I would even say I had an edge over some other candidates from a computer science background.

Where do you use your specialist skills and abilities?

Whilst I don’t do real-time software development, I do use many of my programming skills, and ability to learn programming languages.

Do you have a typical day and how would you describe it?
The build manager is the person responsible for managing the following processes:
-Create baselines from the initial version of software.
-Organize and refine the structure of your software.
-Set up build management projects for testing and staging.
-Set up and maintain process rules and folder templates.
-Collect software changes from developers, then build test areas.
-Run reports to find out features and tasks that are in or not in a build.
-Freeze software at important milestones, such as a customer release.
-Make the latest changes available to developers.
-Delete baselines that are no longer needed.
-Recreate old software releases to identify problems and create fixes.

What aspects of your job do you enjoy most?

Every day offers a new challenge. As I work on most projects in the company, I don’t get stuck doing the same thing constantly. I also have a real opportunity to make software development faster and more reliable. The pay is excellent too (more than a developer).

Any tips for someone wanting to develop a career in your sector?

If you have a passion for software development, but don’t want to cut code every day, then this is the perfect role for you. Work with open source tools, look at how they are built and find out ways to improve it. This will set you off on the right foot for a role in IT build management.

Category:

Uncategorized

Tagged with: