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

Posts tagged ‘University of Wales Trinity Saint David’

Visit to MATLAB EXPO 2015

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Representatives from Swansea’s School of Applied Computing (Arya, Carlene and Archie) recently visited the MATLAB EXPO in Silverstone.

MATLAB (matrix laboratory) is a multi-paradigm numerical computing environment and fourth-generation programming language that allows matrix manipulations, plotting of functions and data, implementation of algorithms, creation of user interfaces and is primarily used for numerical computing.

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Lecturer Dr Carlene Campbell finds the Simulink element of MathWorks-MATLAB useful in teaching Computer Networks & Internet Security:

I did enjoy the expo, especially the first speaker. The demonstration room allowed one to gain ideas for research projects and more…  – Carlene

While Phd student tutors Archie and Arya both use Matlab for their research:

I found the event very informative and rewarding, especially considering it was free to attend. The keynote was particularly good as it showed how Matlab is used across a diverse range of industries and the types of system it’s been involved with the development of, perhaps most notably the New Horizons Flight Software. The technical talks and demonstrations were also great; they also weren’t too long so it was easy to stay focused. Several sessions will be beneficial to my research and I’d strongly recommend the event to anyone in the faculty. – Archie.

The event was spectacular. I found most of the presentations, relevant and useful. The demonstrations were great. In particular, one of the exhibitions was so helpful that I might be adapting a similar approach in my PhD experiment. – Arya

To view the demonstrations please click the image below:

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For more information about the event please click-here. And for event proceedings  please click-here.

Virgin Graduate scheme : Lewis Meehan

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UWTSD Computing Graduate Lewis Meehan tells us about his exciting new future at Virgin Media:

Q. What was your HE course?

A: BSc Computer Networks

Q. What is your job title and role?

A: Systems Integration Graduate

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

A: Virgin Media – Data Services, owned by Liberty Global – the largest telecommunications company in the world.

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

A: Independent working/research and also the broad range of industry specific knowledge.

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

A: Every day is different. Some days I’ll be in my local office working furthering my HE studies towards certification [Cisco certifications: CCNA+CCNP+CCNA Specialisation+CCNP Specialisation], alongside providing standardised connection packages to small-medium businesses and assisting on larger  project based work for bespoke networking solutions. Other days I’ll be at a clients site and some might even be spent in hotels going segwaying, raft building or even just days out with the other Virgin Media graduates.

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

A: Working with some awesome and expensive technology, which changes from day to day. Also the responsibility I’ve been giving from the start, Virgin Media put a lot of trust in their employees which creates a really nice environment to work in.

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

A: Make University a friendly competition; it’ll help both you and other people on your course at the end of it.

> For more information about Graduate positions at Virgin please click-here.

Adam Curtis : Computing Careers & Tech Start-Ups

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Adam Curtis, CEO of Hoowla & Software Development Agency ‘ClockWorkBear’ and Co-founder of TECHHUB Swansea visited UWTSD Swansea’s School of Applied Computing today to talk to Enterprise & Innovation students about Careers in Computing and Tech Start-Up opportunities.

The Student Group thoroughly enjoyed Adam’s talk and look forward to seeing him again at Start-Up Weekend Swansea next month.

Event: Sensor Networks – Monitoring the Environment

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Tomorrow night (Thursday 15th October) from 6:30pm onwards in the Alex reading room (refreshments at 6:30pm lecture at 7:00pm) Professor Ian Wells will be delivering a Lecture address as the incoming chair of the IET Wales South West Local Network. The talk will be on the use of Sensor Networks for Environmental monitoring including the ASTEC project that was very revolutionary for its time, as it was the worlds first underwater network that used Radio Frequency communication.

Professor Ian Wells is Professor of Digital Signal Processing and Head of the School of Applied Computing at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Swansea. He has been a lecturer, researcher and manager for nearly 30 years. His current personal research interests include sensor networks (both terrestrial and underwater), ultrasonic non-destructive testing (NDT), medical signal processing, communication systems and computer networks.

Contact Name: Hugh Woodward (hwoodw2928@aol.com)
Date & Time: October 15th 2015 at 7.00pm, Refreshments from 6.30pm.
Venue: Alex Reading Room, Institute of Sustainable Design, UWTSD, Alexander Road, Swansea, SA1 5DX
Registration: Members of the public are warmly welcomed to this free event – registration is not essential but would be helpful: http://www.theiet.org/events/local/225957.cfm?nxtId=224579.

Computing at Schools Conference – 7th October 2015

A CONFERENCE ON THE FUTURE OF THE ICT CURRICULUM IN WALES

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The School of Applied Computing at the University of Wales Trinity St David is hosting a half-day ‘Computing at Schools‘ Conference on the 7th October 2015 from 1pm to 5pm.

The Conference will be taking a look at recent changes in ICT affecting the curriculum for Key Stages 1 to 4, and in particular at the New Computing Progression Pathways. We’ll be hearing talks from:

  • CAS – Computing at Schools – Wales;
  • CISCO Networking Academy;
  • Birmingham City University representatives; and
  • An IT skills and career-building program for learning institutions and individuals worldwide.

Location: Cadogan Conference Room, Mount Pleasant Campus.
Time: Wednesday 7th October 2015, 1pm to  5pm.
Fee: Free of charge.
Facilities: Refreshments will be available. Limited number of free NCP car park spaces are available.

To register for this event please click-here: http://www.uwtsd.ac.uk/applied-computing-visit-days/. If you need any further details, please contact kapilan.radhakrishnan@uwtsd.ac.uk or telephone 01792 481192acuwtsd

Storify of Simon Bevan’s talk on Google and Digital Marketing

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Storify of Simon Bevan’s talk on Google and Digital Marketing >

FREE Event: Google Talk at UWTSD Swansea

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Overview: Simon Bevan will talk about his experience of working at Google 2005-2014. Topics will include:

  • Digital Marketing
  • Pay Per Click advertising
  • Google Company
  • Culture and values.

Date/time: Tuesday 17th March at 4 – 5.30pm with Simon Bevan.
Venue: LifeDesign Studio, located above the Library on Mount pleasant campus.

Applied Computing Postgraduate student and part-time tutor Archie Watt will also be talking about his visit to Google for the TC Summit in California and the Top Contributor (TC) programme.

We hope you can make it ;-).

NEW: UWTSD Applied Computing YouTube Channel

Checkout Swansea’s School of Applied Computing New YouTube Channel for Graduate interviews hints tips and more:

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Graduate Profile: Wayne Hawkins

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Q. What was your HE course?
I completed the BSc (Hons) Computer Games Development.

Q. What is your job title and role?
Currently I am a Software Developer at Quicklink. I work on updating software, and new projects. A lot of it has been for Mac and iPhone.

Q. Could you briefly describe the organization you work for?
Quicklink deals with providing broadcast solutions for people out in the field, such as reporters and television companies who require live streaming from remote locations.

Q. Which skills learned at University are helpful to you in your job?
A few of the key skills include:
– Adapting to different programming languages
– multi-threading
– software development
– networking.

Q. What aspects of your job do you enjoy most?
I haven’t found a task I like the most within the company, at least not as much as my previous position as a project assistant at the University. If I had to choose something I would say working on our software on the iphone.

Q. Do you have any advice for students who would like to start a Career?
The only advice I would give is work hard in all your subject areas. My overall grade was not brilliant because I didnt focus on subjects I was weaker in. Apply for everything! Even if you think there is no way you could get the job based on your final grades. It seems like people want programmers badly!

Meet your library elf: Suzanne Taylor

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Here’s a little post to introduce you to your magical, mischievous, ever-so-helpful, elf-like subject librarian ;-). Our resident  librarian on the Mount Pleasant Campus Owen Library is Suzanne Taylor (below middle). Computing students, please get in touch with Suzanne if you need any help in finding or accessing library resources.

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Q. Favourite Christmas movie:

It’s a Wonderful Life’ as it shows the positive impact one person can have upon so many lives or ‘The Holiday’ because I would love to spend Christmas in Kate Winslet’s  country cottage.

Q. Favourite Christmas book:

It would probably have to be A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

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Q. Favourite Christmas food:

A roast turkey or chicken dinner with all the trimmings, – minus the sprouts :-).

Q. One of the best things about Christmas:

There’s something very special about driving to see family early on a frosty Christmas morning when the roads are empty. Also walking my dog on a beach on Boxing Day and seeing him chase the ball along the tide’s edge.