Students blogs

Craig Saunders

Course: MEng Software Engineering (second year)

Email: ask-a-student@ecs.soton.ac.uk

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9 November 2010

Almost a year since my previous blog post so I will fill you in with what has been going on in my life!

Last year shortly after my blog post I successfully applied for a position at Buckle Consulting, a local web design company close to campus. The job was ideal: web design being a familiar area to me, course related, part-time and working from home. I have recently finished my employment at Buckle Consulting to focus on my third year project (COMP3020), which is slowly consuming my free time.

I helped out the ECS UCAS tours through the winter and spring and will be doing the same again this year, so if you’re reading this I may well be showing you round!

In terms of the third year course, the workload has again increased with a gradual transition to the majority of the work being self-motivated. This year we were allowed to select the modules we wish to study (minus a compulsory Management module as I’m studying the MEng Software Engineering course).

I decided to take Scripting Languages (COMP3001) which focuses on three languages: Perl, Python and Javascript. The coursework for this module is a group project to produce ‘something’, which uses all three languages. The Python side has been my focus so far and is to be run from the Google App Engine, so I’ve enjoyed learning about that.

I’m also studying E-Business Techniques (COMP3018) and Security & Information Technology (INFO3005), which are both interesting modules in their own merit.

I’m also attempting to gain a Graduate Passport this year, which involves building up 200 points from a range of activities in extra-curricular activities. The Graduate Passport scheme is something definitely worth considering when joining the University and over three years 200 points worth of activities should be a doddle to attain.

I think that brings me roughly up to date so I will leave it at that for now.

11 Novemeber 2009

So it's Friday morning, its raining outside and deadlines are fast approaching but it's not all doom and gloom! My 9AM tutorial finished early so I thought I would take the time to update the world with the recent events of my life. The University held an Engineering and Computer Science careers fair which I attended to look at the possibility of doing a summer placement next year. Many of the major players were present including Microsoft, Bloomberg, IBM, Siemens... the list goes on. This fair is separate to the ECS careers fair normally held in February which is purely focused at the School's degree streams. I've now applied to about 10 companies - I'll let you know how it goes.

I can confirm that the rumours about second year are true, much to my dismay. The workload definitely steps up from first year and the deadlines come thick and fast. That's not to say that the work isn't interesting of course! One coursework I'm particularly looking forward to getting my teeth into is Operating Systems (COMP2009). This year the assignment is to code up a memory management system in C, which as daunting it might sound should be good fun.

Eric Cooke will be pleased to hear that I am now in a study group with four of the guys on my course and it really does help with keeping on top of difficult lectures. At the moment we book out group study rooms in the library for the two hour breaks in-between lectures although coursework is hindering the regularity at the moment.

Once again the topic of housing is rearing its ugly head as a current housemate is living elsewhere next year, so if anyone knows of a 5 bed house in Portswood which available for rent next year please let me know...

15 October 2009

Jumpstart again...no I didn't fail the first year, instead this year I was a helper. The day involved collecting my group from the introductory lecture, making ourselves lunch and then exploring Southampton in the city challenge. This year was a little different to last, instead of taking pictures of particular places around the City we had to create a story in pictures which incorporated certain places. At first we struggled to come up with an idea for the story but we got there eventually. All in all the day was enjoyable for me...and hopefully my freshers too!

Other than Jumpstart my second year is now well under way with lectures starting to pick up. I think it's fair to say Theory of Computing (COMP2011) will be a tough module but definitely worth studying. The Computational Systems (COMP2002) module so far has been very interesting as it's based around Scheme, a functional programming language which I have never dealt with before. The first semester of year 2 is heavily weighted towards coursework, which I personally prefer as the exam pressure isn't as great although good time-management is a must.

This year I'm living in a student house in Portswood with five of my friends from halls - as much as I miss halls, the two-minute walk home after a night out definitely makes up for it. This year I've joined the Southampton University Triathlon Society which I'm really enjoying. The training is spread over four days of the week so fitting it in with my workload could prove difficult, we shall see.

17 May 2009

So I make it about time for another overdue entry...

I'm now approaching the end of semester 2, which is the end of the first year - how crazy is that!! The second semester has been much more Computer Science based, even though I'm a Software Engineer I'm on the Comp Sci course for the first few years. I've especially enjoyed the Advanced Programming module (COMP1003) on Java and the courseworks have really progressed my Java skills. The module on System administration tools and techniques has been really interesting for me as it's based around UNIX, which is a platform I have never really touched nor understood. The coursework for this module taught me a lot about shell scripting which opens quite a few doors in the computing world.

Today I took part in the ECSS 6-a-side football tournament which was a good laugh despite my team losing all three games in the group stages. Thanks go to the two sport reps for organising it, really nice venue and well organised!

Once again the exams are looming, revision lectures are starting to kick in. Two weeks of solid revision in return for four months off seems like a fair deal to me, and on that note Data Structures and Algorithm revision is calling...

18 February 2009

It's been a good while since my last blog entry so I thought I would delight you with an update!

So Christmas has been and gone which meant a nice piece of programming coursework which I thoroughly enjoyed writing. The two weeks after the Christmas break marked the end of semester one, which can only mean one thing... Exams!

Being my first set of formal exams at university I didn't really know what to expect and more importantly how much revision to do. I probably should have started my revision earlier, at least I know that now for the summer exams. I made the schoolboy error of not reading the instructions at the start of one of my exams and ended up answering all the questions on the paper. Fortunately the lecturer is forgiving and will give me the best mark out of the all the questions.

I'm now in semester two and the modules are more focused on the actual computing which I'm finding much more interesting. The exam results are being returned next week which I am surprisingly looking forwards to.

I think we are currently sitting in the calm before the storm of the coursework which is going to be set next week. That should keep me busy I guess...

On a non academic note housing seems to be the hot topic at the start of year. I have decided to live with my block mates from my halls and we have signed the contract to a six bed house to the southern side of Portswood, can't wait to move in!

11 November 2008

Over a month has flown by now since I arrived at Southampton but at the same time it feels like I’ve been here forever. Settling into halls and this new style of life hasn’t been a problem, everyone is so friendly and easy to talk to - you can’t go wrong! It feels quite weird doing academic work again after such a long summer break but I’m glad to get back into the swing of things.

The course so far has been busy compared to some of my other friends but very enjoyable at the same time. JumpStart (which is the ECS induction programme) informally eased me into the course in the first week of arrival. I also managed to win an Amazon voucher so it can’t be bad! The content in the course is challenging enough but still comfortably graspable, the perfect mix if you ask me.

I’m really enjoying the lab sessions on a Tuesday at the moment, as I like to get stuck in and do the practical work. In the labs we are currently learning to program Java with the help of lectures and free textbooks provided by ECS (to keep!).

Having gone to visit some friends one weekend at another university I couldn’t help but compare everything to Southampton, and if I’m honest It seems like I’ve got a very good deal!

Time to do some work I guess...