I chose Computer Science Innovation at Lancaster for a number of reasons; it seemed different from the standard Computer Science offered at most Universities as we would be geared towards research tasks and innovative exercises in cutting edge technology. The research project allowed me to gain in-depth technical knowledge in an interesting area working closely with experts in their field. The Innovation course pushes you to attempt to publish a scientific research paper in your 2nd year of undergraduate which I found extremely challenging and hard work but an opportunity that is not widely available elsewhere.

I was impressed with Lancaster University from the moment I looked round on an open day. The campus is massive and has a good selection of bars! I got the feeling when I was looking around that I could live there for 3 years. I was impressed with Lancaster's position in the University league table and also that the Computing Department had a new building; InfoLab21.

9 bars and a massive range of food outlets, what more could you want! I was very impressed with the range of societies available and there is a gym on campus that is good value. Lancaster is great for a night out with good rail links for traveling.

No I'm a loner :) ...Yes I made some very good friends at Lancaster that I hope to stay in touch with. It was a shame to leave Uni as my new job is the other side of the country from most of my mates, but I hope to keep in touch.

I decided in my summer between 2nd and 3rd year at uni to apply for a summer placement. An email came round about a position at BT that sounded interesting. I gained invaluable experience from this and strongly recommend placements to everyone. I also posted a CV on an Internet jobseekers site and got 10 phone calls from different companies within a week.

I decided to return to BT as I really enjoyed my placement and they seemed to be a good corporate to work for. I am now a systems engineer based at their research center at Adastral Park, Ipswich.

I believe my experiences at Lancaster have set me up well for my career. Companies look through CVs for something that stands out and in my case the manager that hired me for my summer placement saw the word Innovation in the degree title and was immediately interested. A lot of corporate companies have buzz words and Innovation tends to be one used a lot in the Computing sector. The things I have learnt from my 3 years have already come in useful at work!