My father was in the REME as a Geotechnical Engineer and so from a young age I was exposed to electronic and computation devices. The interest bloomed into a passion and my academic route up to Uni consisted of physical sciences, mathematics and computing. Computer Science seemed an adequate marriage of mathematics, physics, and electronics so it was natural to choose it for my degree.

Being invited to join the CSI degree opened many new doors and gave access to the state-of-the-art technology. The small size of the class allowed for a level of friendly competitiveness which was absent in the larger normal course, which in turn caused us to see every problem as a massive challenge and an opportunity to best our peers! From the massive academic success within the course, the tactic seems to have bared fruit.

The most interesting part of the course for me was the Embedded Systems work, which was a nostalgic journey back to my electronic days and the opportunity to perform research and add to the scientific community. Within my Undergraduate year I have presented my work at a workshop in Glasgow and secured funding to spend a week in the University of Lisbon to further the research with my overseas supervisor.

It came highly recommended for Computer Science, and whilst talking to the staff on one of the Open Days, the friendliness and general enthusiasm for their work sealed the deal. Other institutions had similar credentials as Lancaster University but none had the staff that would squeal with glee at the sight of a new bit of technology!

From the Undergraduate Computing Labs, (where I spent most of my life the last few years!) there are 3 bars, 2 coffee vendors, 3 food places and 5 vending machines within 5 minutes walking distance. If the Department would take my suggestion of hammocks and showers seriously I would have never left! The gym is nice too.

Within 1 week of my second year at Uni, the first week of starting the CSI course, Prof Nigel Davies asked us if anyone wants to do some work for a local company. I grasped the opportunity as soon as I could and I'm still at that job today, terminating in the summer as my Post Grad starts.

Also during the course of my degree I obtained a summer job at a Software company in Wigan. This gave me more experience of enterprise work and of different development paradigms. Without the help of the Department or the course I would not of found these interesting and, for a student, highly paid jobs.

I am about to start my PhD at Lancaster, and hopefully, pursue a career in academia. That is the future however, and at the moment I am working as a software developer at a local software and communications company. 

I originally wanted to go into professional software development, and as I was young when I made this choice, game development. However, age and experience have taught me that that is not a career I would personally enjoy. The CSI course has allowed me a glimpse into the world of research, which offers the chance to do new things and attempt massive challenges.

The course taught good communication skills and how to successfully place your ideas to paper. The constant contact with staff allowed us to get to know the Department more, which in turn brought about a more casual working environment. This allowed us to express ideas and such we would normally have not with the 

formal "teacher student" situation. It seemed more like sitting down with a colleague and just discussing the 

current scientific hot topics of the day!