University | John Alexander Rowley

Online Work Examples – Smart or Stupid?

On June 29, 2011 in Internet, Nottingham Trent University, Off Topic.

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The last week or so Iv’e been updating the current pages of the website, namely the Professional Portfolio. This got me thinking, would it be a good idea (or not, as the case may be) to add a couple of examples of work / coursework / reports that I’d completed over the last few years. These documents could include Real-Time Engine Control Unit Analysis reports, Human-Computer Interaction Documentation and possibly even a chapter or two from my Final Year Dissertation.

There is, however, a couple of issues that immediately spring to mind.

Firstly, ownership. Nottingham Trent University in effect own all the work and ideas you produce as part of their modules over the years you study there. Publishing these reports could land me in a sticky situation with them. However, a courtesy email could be sent out to confirm it was approved to publish before making the content available.

Next, there is the risk of theft and plagiarism: If the same (or similar) module specification is repeated with upcoming students, the availability of my work may give them the opportunity for plagiarism. This could raise some serious issues with the university, but again an informative email could solve this issue.

Finally, there is a more personal issue of privacy and hard-copy impact; If I were to put chapters of my dissertation online, for example, the overall effect of my beautifully bound thesis (not to blow my own trumpet, too much!) may loose some of it’s impact when shown or lent to others. This is a much harder issue to overcome; Maybe just the Thesis shouldn’t be put online? Stick to smaller module reports, which to be honest are unlikely to see the light of day now (stored somewhere deep in DropBox) unless someone asks specifically for said report.

So, what do you think? Vote below! You’re more than welcome to leave a comment too!

Tagged with: documents • examples • online • reports • smart • stupid • thesis • university • vote • work

BSc(H) Software Engineering: Degree Result

On June 21, 2011 in Nottingham Trent University, Off Topic.

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Today I’m pleased to announce I have passed my final year at Nottingham Trent University. With a final degree result of 67.2% (that’s equivalent to a 2:1)

I’m over the moon, doing especially well in the business orientated modules (Project Management: 80% and Business Analysis: 72%!)

It’s been a long and at times challenging four years, with highlights including my placement at Fisher Scientific, demonstrating my Final Year Dissertation and meeting lots of new friends along the way (not to mention the antics in the old Computer Society room!!).

So, that’s it. In to the big wide world…..

… Or at least it will be after a couple of weeks chilling out / going on holiday / graduation ceremony!

But fear not potential employers! Iv’e been working on my CV over the last couple of days (adding my results, mainly!) and I’m all geared up to start the hunt! Check out my LinkedIn profile if you want to know more, or get in touch via the contact page and I’ll send you a link / attachment of my full CV!

For now, it’s time to celebrate!

Tagged with: 2:1 • Engineering • Graduate • Nottingham • result • Software • trent • university

Nottingham Trent University Graduation Ball 2011

On June 14, 2011 in General, Nottingham Trent University, Off Topic.

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Although I won’t know my results for a couple of more days, last night saw the celebrations of the end of year NTU Graduation Ball 2011! Amongst the live-act line-up was DJ Fresh (who performed Louder and others), Nero, The Futureheads and the best act of the night (IMO), Example.

Suited and booted, me and others danced right at the front of the stage all night, followed by a walk through Nottingham with ringing ears to the after party at the city’s Student Union bar!

What a night! The Nottingham Ice Arena was dressed in typical ‘prom-esque’ white sheets, and the music, lighting and entire night was amazing! Also noticed how ALL the DJ acts had MacBook Pros (Just to keep the blog partially on track!).

Wicked end to an awesome four years at Nottingham Trent University. Now let’s just hope the results replicate all the hard work?!

Tagged with: 2011 • Ball • Example • Graduation • Ice Arena • Nero • Nottingham • trent • university

Marketing Application for a Mobile Device

On April 22, 2011 in iPhone, marketing, Nottingham Trent University.

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“Probably the most important report you’ll ever write”.

That’s what we were told at the start of academic year in September. Fast forward eight months and it’s typed, printed, developed and handed in! Now that sounds flippant, but trust me when I say, it was a complete adventure to get done.

I’m talking of cause about my Final Year Project, details of which can be found over on the ‘Final Year Project’ page. To give you an overview, it’s an application for a smart-phone device (the iPhone, naturally!) aimed at marketing a small organisation based in Nottingham, UK.

The principle was simple: Pull content from the client’s existing website and Social Media sources, add locational information utilizing the mobile device’s built-in GPS features and bundle it all in one place for delivery into the palm of a user’s hand!

More than 240 days, 135 pages, 80 source files, 5 Tabs and 1 iPhone Application!

After iterations of development, implementation and testing, not to mention typing over 130 pages of research, product ideas and project management, the application was finally compiled for the final release!

So, it was quite a large project, as you’d expect from a final year student… Consequently I’m going to write a bunch of blogs over the coming weeks, discussing more precise details ranging from the project methodology to development of particular features. Stay tuned!

Tagged with: application • client • device • final • iPhone • marketing • mobile • Nottingham • nottingham trent • porject • university • year

An apology; The blog drought

On February 22, 2011 in General, Nottingham Trent University.

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University work. That’s the reason Iv’e fallen off the blogosphere recently. It’s been a really busy time, with birthday celebrations, university work and tight deadlines. Unfortunately I had to put blogging on the back-burner for a while!

But now I’m back, and have lots to talk about! In fact, as a signal of my return to the world of blogging, Iv’e bashed out three short articles on the work iv’e been concentrating on as part of my final year; Advanced Analysis and Design, Software Engineering, Business Analysis, Real-Time Analysis & Design and Project Management.

Iv’e tried to catagorise similar modules, using my own personal grouping criteria;

Advanced Analysis & Design and Software Engineering [The 'geeky' ones]
Business Analysis and Project Management [The 'business' ones]
Human Computer Interaction and RealTime Analysis & Design [The 'other' ones]

Of cause, there is also my Final Year Dissertation which I’ve been working on at points, which you can keep up to date with HERE.

Tagged with: advanced • Analysis • business • computer • design • Dissertation • Engineering • final • human • interaction • management • modules • nottingham trent • Project • realtime • science • Software • trent • university • year

Business Analysis and Project Management

On February 22, 2011 in Business, Nottingham Trent University.

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Business Analysis and Project Management are two of my favourite modules! Despite the ambiguous nature of BA, working on analysing E.ON on a global level including process identification, mapping to critical success factors, doing various data collection and evaluation (including, SWOT, PESTILE and McKinsey’s 7s) was intriguing and relatively strait forward once I got the hang of it. This was handed in via two 25% coursework’s, the first regarding KPI’s and HOQ (House of Quality) and the second via ‘request for proposal’ for a satellite management dashboard. This required a number of skills to be applied, both technical (graphical design) and business such as costing and data collection methodologies.

Project Management was very similar to Business Analysis, covering some of the same material. However it is much less case study specific and a more overall view of managing critical processes and analysing data. Including areas such as Perato analysis meant there was a strong mathematical basis to the module (both modules, in fact) but it was all explained. Having a frankly pretty bad grasp of A-Level mathematics I worried a little at first, but everything was explained and I now feel confident around the relatively simple calculations required to give good business analysis emphasis.

Tagged with: Analysis • business • final • management • modules • nottingham trent • Project • university • work • year

Career Prospects – Doors and Directions

On November 14, 2010 in Business, General, marketing, Off Topic.

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Iv’e been absent from the blogosphere as of late, and there is a good reason for that. It’s called ‘Final Year’. Iv’e had (and still have) three pieces of work in for the end of Monday (using Dropbox!). So, why am I blogging and not cracking on, I hear you cry! Well, there is a good reason for this.

This post isn’t like the usual post you’ll find on this site – It’s actually a blog about… ME! Final year work has really brought home the frankly geekyness behind the degree which I’m doing. It’s software Engineering (Computer Science basically) which is pretty well as deep as any course will go into computing. Now, I’m not saying its a bad degree, after all some people love this kind of thing (100101011010) but its just not me! (If you don’t get the joke in the previous brackets it’s not you, either!).

The whole thing just seems like computing for computing’s sake. After a year in industry I really have had my eyes opened to the bigger picture. The marketing, the collaboration and the use of computers to accomplish goals, rather than accomplishing goals for computers. I guess what I’m trying to say is that although the course I’m on is fine, and I’ve learned lots of really interesting stuff over the first two years, the placement I undertook was much more inspirational and was definitely the kind of work I’d like to be doing in 12 months, rather than the work I’m doing now!

As a quick example, I’ll talk a little about some of my modules. I think you’ll get the picture. My favourite module would definitely have to be a toss up between ‘Business Analysis’ and ‘Human Computer Interaction’. Although there is almost no emphasis on computers at all in BA, the HCI module is really the softer side of computer science – The principles behind good design and how design is interpreted.

The least favourite modules would certainly be either Advanced Analysis & Design or Advanced Software Engineering. These two (both Advanced versions of the second year modules) are very computer specific and aim at developing mainly coding practise and designing the code (rather than the user interface like in HCI). They are much more ‘Computer Science’ than the first two, targeting much more in depth content (in depth to computing, that is).

I guess I’ll wait and see what happens by this time next year. One thing I am very happy with is my Final Year Dissertation, which incorporates a healthy balance of graphical design (HCI), marketing / business (Business Analysis) and coding (Soft Eng). I think it’s safe to say though that Iv’e developed considerably since year 2 at university and am certainly more focused on where I want to be in 12 – 18 months time!

Tagged with: Analysis • business • Career • design • Engineering • geek • John Alexander Rowley • marketing • Software • university

Great laptops and deals for 2010 students

On August 20, 2010 in Affiliate Marketing, General, New Technology.

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SO, laptop deals are forever changing and seemingly getting cheaper, while at the same time advancing in technology. As every student will know, a laptop can be a godsend when it comes to lectures, whether you intend to spend your time typing up lecture notes or playing tetris! Either way, here are a couple of handy tips for freshers when looking into a new purchase.

Firstly, consider its use. Will this be a workhorse laptop, a desktop replacement if you will. This is most likely the case if you are embarking on a computer based degree such as Graphic Design or Software Engineering. For that, I would recommend something with a decent Quad Core or I3 processor, 4Gb of RAM (minimum) and a decent (preferably solid state) hard-drive to quickly compile code fragments and hold them in storage. Something like the Sony VAIO F12 Core i7 Laptop (VPCF12S1EB) is a good bet, with 6Gb of RAM and an I7 Intel processor, coupled with a dedicated NVIDIA 330M graphics card. Add a 16″ screen and 500Gb of storage and you’ll be set to compile your code, model your new characters or simply watch Star-Trek via Sony’s built-in BluRay player.

Of cause not everyone needs something quite so powerful (and expensive!). A more mid-ranged laptop for those more concerned with storage for their music and photos, as well as Microsoft Office and a bunch of other freebies to boot may want to consider the Acer Aspire Timeline 3810T (LX.PCR02.021). This mid-range laptop boasts an impressive 4Gb DDR3 RAM, coupled with a core 2 Duo processor which guarantees a fast start-up time and a moderate performance throughout. It’s got pleanty of storage too, with an identical hard-drive (320Gb SATA) to the 5741 mentioned above. On top of all that, it comes with a beautiful High-Definition 13″ screen (perfect for transport) and an integrated webcam (for Skype calls to “back home”). The price of this should be a reasonable £499.97, but for a limited time UCAS are offering promotional codes giving a £100 discount on this model. (See Here)

My final choice is the Acer Aspire Timeline 5810TG (LX.PDU0X.085), a similar (improved storage and screensize) laptop to the 3810G described above. This laptop would suit most students, with a dedicated graphics card for moderate performance, as well as a 500GB SATA drive (the largest one of the three) which will ensure all your videos and photos from freshers week will be stored no problem. It’s only downside is that it doesn’t come with Windows 7. However, Laptops Direct are offering an upgrade disk which any self-respecting student could install themselves for only £50. This takes the total to £499.97, which is still £250.00 cheaper than the recommended retail price. The beautiful 15.4″ screen and built in card reader is any university student’s dream. If your a bit geeky like me, at least!

It’s an important decision; The seemingly heartless machine will become your best friend as you spend countless nights together typing up essays in the dying minutes. To make life a little easier, Laptops Direct have listed their top selections, all of which UCAS are backing. Some even have UCAS discounts! You can see their choices Here. I would personally go for the Acer Aspire Timeline 5810TG as described in the previous paragraph. It’s a lightweight, stunning and good performance laptop.

Last but not least, you want to kit out your laptop with all the goodies you can. My recommendations would be to grab yourself a security lock cable, which will fit into almost any laptop on the market today using a generally un-noticed hole on the side of the case. I’d also get a wireless mouse, as long hours using a track-pad can be uncomfortable. Finally, a case with several compartments to carry the laptop, mouse and any paper based notes / books you may want to transport all in one bag.

Tagged with: Acer • Aspire • deals • discounts • freshers • laptop • notebook • students • university

Final week as placement student at Fisher Scientific

On July 28, 2010 in Nottingham Trent University, Website Design.

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Ok so this isn’t a technical post, and is probably not entirely suited to the blog as a whole, but I thought I’d write a short piece on my time at Fisher Scientific as a placement student from Nottingham Trent University over the last year.

My 52nd (final) week will be commencing next week, and it’s been invaluable to be able to put previously existing skills into practise, expanding on them to reach new levels. My Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Flash, Coding and many other techniques have been greatly built upon, not to mention the professional skill-sets I have picked up along the way. It’s hard to take on board the enthusiasm of lecturers and peers alike when they talk about a year in the industry, but it has been so SO worth it!

Apart from all the brilliant new skills I have acquired, I have also gained a group of amazing friends! Ones who I hope to keep in touch with over the years. Neil, Eve, Lee, Emma, Bek and all the others at Fisher, you have made my year at Fisher educational, enjoyable and most of all fun! Thank you. Thats what is so great about a placement – It’s the whole package!

If your indecisive about a placement, please take my advice and apply! It could be one of the best things you have ever done. I know it will be one of my life long memories!