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University of Southampton Life, Page 3

GDP is finished!

A couple of blogs ago I wrote a little about my team’s group design project (GDP). Progress was going well at that point, but we still had a few weeks left of really hard work to make sure we could finish everything and get the monster of a report in on time (24000 words!). Well, I’m very pleased to say that we managed it and now I’m allowed to tell you a little more about what we were creating as well. Continue reading →

Working at IBM

Work continues steadily at IBM. If I told you what I was actually doing I'd have to kill you - such is confidentiality - and I'd prefer not to have to trace the IP of everyone who visits this blog and hunt them down with some futuristic weapon that nobody knows about yet either. I've always thought there were two major points I'd have to consider when considering a role in a company: firstly, how technical it is, and secondly how artistic it is. Continue reading →

On the Topic of Coursework

So what better to see in the new year than with a fresh exam season? Let’s ignore that though, and talk about coursework, as there’s been some pretty special stuff emerging in the previous week. Both the Scripting Languages group coursework and the Computer Graphics coursework assignments were due in recently, and so the labs has been a showcase for some amazing software. Continue reading →

Life at Southampton and ECS

Aaaand breathe! Sitting back and reflecting on an incredibly fast-paced semester from the comfort of an armchair at home, I’m struggling to articulate what life at Southampton and ECS is like – there’s so much to it! Whether it be the challenging coursework, the (admittedly sometimes befuddling) engaging lectures, the task of balancing all of this with a social life amongst the swathes of opportunities various societies present, or just remembering to maintain some form of lifestyle in... Continue reading →

Ministerial Meeting

A few weeks ago I received a rather exciting email. I’d been asked by the department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to meet the Secretary for State for Business and Enterprise, Mark Prisk MP and brief him on the work of the United Kingdom Electronics Skills Foundation. Naturally this was something I couldn’t refuse, even though it was scheduled for the morning before our major Master’s Group Design Project was due in. Continue reading →

Lots of Exams But Christmas Is Coming!

So, I’ve just submitted the last assignment due before Christmas and thought I should update this thing to let everyone know what’s been going on for the past few weeks! We had our ITO sailing trip; it was the best experience so far on our course! We all had a great time… that was until we wrote the assignment on it: / I never thought I would submit a report with nearly 5,000 words in it this semester, but it somehow turned out that way! I suppose that is better than only managing 50... Continue reading →

It all gone so quickly

Less than a week left until Christmas break. The term has flown by with lots going on and not enough time to do it all in. Everyone seems to have settled in and found the things they want to do. I said before to give everything a go. Do it! I have found something that I didn’t even know existed before I came to uni. Canoe polo is an unusual sport (something like rugby and basketball in a kayak) but I really enjoy it and it gives me time to relax and have fun. Continue reading →

Second Year is Not So Bad

When I am very close to the end of my second year’s first semester I can't avoid realising that it was not as bad as it sounded beforehand. Obviously, first year must have been a pretty good training for the following one. Although, I must admit that more than once already, I have found myself in a weird frame of mind. One of those times where you really need to have some strong will to get the job done. Continue reading →

Group Design Project

I’ve blogged a lot recently about everything that’s happened to me outside my degree (well, actually that’s not quite true, I’ve not really blogged a lot recently, oops) so I think it’s only fair that I take a look again at what goes on inside the hallowed walls of ECS. This term I have been super-busy with the Masters Group Design Project, or GDP as it’s affectionately (?) known. Continue reading →