The main thing I believe I have taken from this course is the fundamentals, the first language taught is Java and I was originally concerned my future career would be based around a different language. But I soon realised that the fundamentals they taught allowed me to pick up any other coding language in no time.

I was drawn in by the campus layout the university has; when I went for an Open Day I remember driving up the windy path and seeing lots of students having barbecues on the fields and thinking that looks cool I wish I was one of them, and now I am! I chose the Computing Department specifically because of the huge number of great academics they have here and the cutting edge research that takes place.

The facilities offered were fantastic, we had access to a number of 24 hour labs, of which 2 were exclusively for computer scientists, meaning you were never short for a PC or two. Also some of the courses such as Embedded Systems exposed you to a range of interesting technologies and hardware that I had never had any contact with before.

One could say too many :P The University has a college system meaning when you arrive you will be introduced to your college where you will live for your time at Lancaster. Lancaster has 9 colleges on campus each of which has its own bar :). But that's not it, not only do they offer you somewhere to socialise, its a group you can feel a part of; with regular events ranging from paint-balling days out to posh Christmas balls in full black tie attire.  I still keep in touch with many of my Uni friends and in fact am sharing a house with two of them at the moment.

Even of my course there was always a great feeling of camaraderie and no person should be left behind, there was a number of times that 6-7 of us would be up late working on a project in the labs together. 

On finishing my Undergraduate degree i was put in contact with a Mobile Application Development Company based in the North West who offered me a summer internship. This was a fantastic opportunity as I was able to lead a small team in project building a mobile solution for one of the biggest construction firms in Europe.

I am currently in the first year of my PhD at Lancaster, studying Mobile Computing and Mobile Map Applications. I am also freelance to a number of firms in the UK for anything from consultancy to good old nose to the grind stone coding.

I was that impressed with the facilities and quality of research at the University, it spurred me on to do my Masters Degree and my PhD here also.  The courses and projects helped me find my area of research and as I was always interested in Mobile Development I was able to explore this field in greater depth.