Your weekly round-up of undergraduate life in The University of Manchester Department of Computer Science from Paul Nutter, Director of Undergraduate Studies.

LATEST | UG | Y1 | Y2 | Y3 | Y4 | Courses | Timetables |
2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 all

#31 • Monday 4 June 2012 • Exam Week 4

Good morning all. It's the final week of the exams, and I hope everything has gone well.

This will be the last Monday Mail of this academic year, so I'll take this opportunity to wish you a happy and rewarding summer.

For those of you graduating, I hope to see you and your families on Graduation Day.

For those heading off for a year's Industrial Experience, good luck for what I hope will be a fantastic experience for you.

And for those returning for your next year of study, have a great summer and we look forward to welcoming you back to the School in September.

EXAMS - KNOW YOUR SCHEDULE. It's your personal responsibility to get to the right exam, at the right time. If you have any emergency issues relating to attending an exam – you MUST contact our SSO office IMMEDIATELY the problem arises (→ sso@cs.man.ac.uk / tel: 0161 306 6625).

EXAM RESULTS. Results will be published as follows: 3rd Year: 27 June; 4th Year MEng: 9 July; 1st and 2nd Years: 5 July. You can access your results in Campus Solutions (and Arcade), and results will be posted on the Year noticeboards in Kilburn. Please note that we are not able to give results out over the phone, so please do not ring. If you have any concerns over your results, please contact your appropriate Year Tutor → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/ugt

GRADUATION DAY. This year's Graduation Ceremony is on Tuesday 10 July at 1000 in Whitworth Hall, followed by our Graduation Party in the Courtyard (or if rainy, the Atlas Rooms) in the Kilburn Building, at 1200. You can keep your gowns on for the party!

PAST EXAM PAPERS. A reminder that you can see past exam papers → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/assessment/exam_papers/index.php?view=ug

JOB OPPORTUNITY. The Student Union's newspaper, The Mancunion, is seeking web developers → http://www.student-direct.co.uk/2012/06/01/web-developers-wanted

COMPS FACEBOOK PAGE. Keep in the picture about competitions → https://www.facebook.com/groups/104658903001137/

GIVE US FEEDBACK. The University wants to hear your views. Please take a moment to complete the Semester 2 on-line Unit Survey, and also the Student Barometer → http://my.manchester.ac.uk

CAREERS. Come to the Graduate Recruitment Fair in Manchester on Wednesday 13 and Thursday 14 June 2012, 10.30am - 4.00pm, The Armitage Centre, Fallowfield, Manchester. Hundreds of graduate jobs plus some postgraduate course places. 160 exhibitors. Register → www.manchester.ac.uk/graduatefair

HAVE YOUR SAY. Anything bugging you? Talk to us. → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/have-your-say/

The Monday Mail archive → http://goo.gl/xjOJo

I hope you have a good week, and best wishes for the summer,
Toby

#30 • Monday 28 May 2012 • Exam Week 3

Good morning all. I hope your exams are going well – and that you are enjoying this marvellous weather!

IBM PRIZEWINNERS. Congratulations to 2nd year students Mika Baikuatova, Cristina Finta, Adam Higginson and Jurijs Matrosovs, who together as team "I7" in COMP23420 Software Engineering have won this year's IBM Prize. And well done to everyone else too! John Sargeant commented that the standard was incredibly high this year.

BE CAREFUL. There have been a number of thefts and incidents in and around the Kilburn building in the past few weeks. As you know, daytime access to Kilburn is open, so keep your belongings safely with you at all times, and don't leave anything unattended, especially your laptop and mobile devices. If you see anyone acting suspiciously please contact University security immediately on 0161 306 9966.

PAST EXAM PAPERS. A reminder that you can see past exam papers → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/assessment/exam_papers/index.php?view=ug

COMPS FACEBOOK PAGE. Keep in the picture about competitions → https://www.facebook.com/groups/104658903001137/

GIVE US FEEDBACK. The University wants to hear your views. Please take a moment to complete the Semester 2 on-line Unit Survey, and also the Student Barometer → http://my.manchester.ac.uk

HAVE YOUR SAY. Anything bugging you? Talk to us. → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/have-your-say/

The Monday Mail archive → http://goo.gl/xjOJo

Have a good week,
Best wishes,
Toby

#29 • Monday 21 May 2012 • Exam Week 2

Good morning all. I hope your exams are going well.

ARCADE HITS THE MILLION! On Monday 14th May, at just after 3pm, the ARCADE server processed its millionth transaction. ARCADE began in September 1993, and enjoyed an exclusively command-line interface until late Summer 2000 when its trusted-user GUI was created. This is used today by, for example, SSO staff. The client-server for general users was deployed on April 20th 2001, with its first customer being Renata Schmidt at 16:20 that day. Just over eleven years of almost continuous service later, it unceremoniously handled its millionth request – at 15:01:06 on the 14th May 2012. And who was the unwitting user? Well, somewhat anti-climatically, it was Moodle, checking the course registration list for COMP30020. But, either side of that exact count, we find labprints being created by first year student Bogdan Guna. Bogdan is the lucky winner of a small prize and a nice certificate.

QUIET ROOM. Thanks to everyone – 156 of you! – who responded to last week's poll about the proposed Quiet Room in Kilburn. I've updated the webpage with the results. Layout 1 was by far the most popular choice. I thought the poll worked well, and we intend to use this mechanism again in the future, for finding out your views. I shall resist the temptation to do a poll to ask what you think about polls. → http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~toby/quietroom/

PAST EXAM PAPERS. A reminder that you can see past exam papers → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/assessment/exam_papers/index.php?view=ug

COMPS FACEBOOK PAGE. Keep in the picture about competitions → https://www.facebook.com/groups/104658903001137/

GIVE US FEEDBACK. The University wants to hear your views. Please take a moment to complete the Semester 2 on-line Unit Survey, and also the Student Barometer → http://my.manchester.ac.uk

HAVE YOUR SAY. Anything bugging you? Talk to us. → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/have-your-say/

The Monday Mail archive → http://goo.gl/xjOJo

I hope you have a good week,
Best wishes,
Toby

#28 • Monday 14 May 2012 • Exam Week 1

Good morning all! I'm sure it will not have escaped your attention that the Summer Exam period starts this week. I wish you all good luck.

It may sound obvious, but make sure you know your exam schedule precisely – I strongly urge you to print a copy, and don't rely on accessing it online, just in case of network failure, etc. It's your personal responsibility to get to the right exam, at the right time. If you have any emergency issues relating to attending an exam – you MUST contact our SSO office IMMEDIATELY the problem arises (→ sso@cs.man.ac.uk / tel: 0161 306 6625).

PAST EXAM PAPERS. A reminder that you can see past exam papers → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/assessment/exam_papers/index.php?view=ug

COMPS. The inaugural CodingDojo competition took place on Wednesday 9 May. With a total of 7 teams participating, they struggled through 12 challenging algorithmic problems. The winning team received £20 of Amazon vouchers each: Varuna Venkatesh, Tanvi Bhardwaj and Darkhan Imangaliev. The runners-up received £10 of Amazon vouchers each: Marius Popescu, Victor-Sorin Paunescu, and Mircea Gabriel Suciu. Congratulations!

NEW COMPS FACEBOOK PAGE. Keep in the picture about competitions → https://www.facebook.com/groups/104658903001137/

GIVE US FEEDBACK. The University wants to hear your views. Please take a moment to complete the Semester 2 on-line Unit Survey, and also the Student Barometer → http://my.manchester.ac.uk

HAVE YOUR SAY. Anything bugging you? Talk to us. → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/have-your-say/

The Monday Mail archive → http://goo.gl/xjOJo

I hope you have a good week,
Best wishes,
Toby

#27 • Monday 7 May 2012 • Week 12 (B)

Good morning! It's Week 12 – a B week, and the final teaching week of the year, which can mean only one thing ... the exams are coming. And it's a Bank Holiday today too – so how about this for service?

LAB MARKING. We need to get all outstanding lab marking completed this week. There's a huge amount of data to crunch and get right. I know I can count on your patience and goodwill as we get the books in order. If you have any issues, please speak to your relevant lab manager ASAP. Remember, please, there is a vast amount of data, and everyone is doing their best to get it all organised.

MAY BALL. The May Ball is at the Palace Hotel on Saturday 12 May. There'll be some staff there too (you'll spot us – we're the Old People). Prof Jim Miles, our Head of School, has asked me to pass on his apologies – he would love to be there, but alas is away in Canada on business.

NEW QUIET ROOM. An idea came in from the online Suggestion Box (https://suggest.cs.manchester.ac.uk) to establish a Quiet Room for UG students, where you can study quietly without the kind of distractions we usually find in labs and open areas, and without having to truck down to John Rylands. We've consulted your Student Reps, and now we're on the case, with plans to establish such a room in Kilburn, to be ready for September 2012. If you have any views on the idea, please email me.

ACM PROGRAMMING COMP THIS WEEK. Wednesday 9 May, 1300-1630 in Collab 1, Kilburn. A chance to practise your programming for competitions, with submissions automatically judged, supported languages C, C++ and Java, prizes for winners (still to be decided) hosted by Manchester Coding DoJo. → https://www.facebook.com/events/444463162246565/

NEW COMPS FACEBOOK PAGE. Keep in the picture about competitions → https://www.facebook.com/groups/104658903001137/

PAST EXAM PAPERS. A reminder that you can see past exam papers → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/assessment/exam_papers/index.php?view=ug

GIVE US FEEDBACK. The University wants to hear your views. Please take a moment to complete the Semester 2 on-line Unit Survey, and also the Student Barometer → http://my.manchester.ac.uk

FILL THE CABINET. You pass by it every day. It's the Byte Cafe museum of computer history. But, it's out of date. We'd like to refresh it. What should go in there? Send in your suggestions, and if yours is picked by the School, you could win £50 in Amazon vouchers. → http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~gbrown/comps/cabinet/

HAVE YOUR SAY. Anything bugging you? Talk to us. → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/have-your-say/

The Monday Mail archive → http://goo.gl/xjOJo

I hope you have a good week,
Best wishes,
Toby

#26 • Monday 30 April 2012 • Week 11 (A)

Good morning everyone. It's Week 11 – an A week. Lots of news this week, including major competition successes and some exciting Summer vacation work opportunities here in the School.

TEACHER OF THE YEAR. Wow! Our very own JOHN LATHAM has been awarded the "Teacher of the Year" Distinguished Achievement Medal by the University. I know you'll want to join me in congratulating John on this fantastic, and extremely well-deserved honour.

SSCC REPORT. We had a lively (as usual!) SSCC meeting on 18 April – you can read the meeting report here → https://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/csonly/sscc/minutes.html

WORK AT CERN. Calling all first year students. Based on Lake Geneva, CERN is the biggest science and engineering project in Europe. It generates more data than any other single scientific experiment and has huge computing challenges. Interested in having a year out working there in 2013-14, or summer vacation work there? Come to a meeting at 1pm TODAY Monday 30 April, in Kilburn LF15, when Jane Mackenzie from CERN will explain the scheme. → http://goo.gl/ns8GJ

SUMMER VACATION WORK. The School is offering paid summer vacation work for UG students to work on a number of projects. The deadline for you to apply is 5pm on 13 May. Appointments will be announced on 20 May. The projects and their managers are listed below – please contact the appropriate manager directly ASAP for full details, and to apply.

- EPS/341 Web Application Programmer - Mike Keeley → mjk@cs.man.ac.uk

- EPS/342 Agile Software Engineering Course Developer - Suzanne Embury → sme@cs.man.ac.uk and Caroline Jay → cjay@cs.man.ac.uk

- EPS/343 Java Applet Developer - Aravind Vijayaraghavan → aravind@cs.man.ac.uk

- EPS/344 Online Learning Materials for Computing Education Developer - Amanda Banks → abanks@cs.man.ac.uk

- EPS/345 GUI designer & programmer - Nick Filer → npf@cs.man.ac.uk

- EPS/346 Course Support Software Programmer (COMP32211/32212) - Jim Garside → http://apt.cs.man.ac.uk/misc/vac_work_12.html

- EPS/347 Course Lab Material Developer (COMP22111) - Jim Garside → http://apt.cs.man.ac.uk/misc/vac_work_12.html

- EPS/350 Video Dissemination System Designer - Bernard Strutt → bstrutt@cs.man.ac.uk

- EPS/351 Data Publication Programmer - Sean Bechhofer → sb@cs.man.ac.uk

COMPETITION SUCCESS #1. Congratulations to Sam van Lieshout (CS, Y2), Jenny Ward (CM, Y2), Ben Marshall (CS, Y2) and Pez Cuckow (CSBM, Y2), whose entry to the Microsoft Imagine Cup has just been placed 3rd in the UK. They designed a novel medical sensor system running entirely from a mobile phone. The system, called "Project Sky High", monitored ultrasound and blood pressure details, using low-cost components and a smartphone. The team was praised by the judges for their economical design, and implementation of a novel communications protocol that made use of the audio jack on the phone - allowing them to transmit the health data along a standard audio cable to and from the mobile device. → http://goo.gl/KfwTg

COMPETITION SUCCESS #2. And congratulations to Luke Torjussen (CSwIE, Y3), supervised by Robert Stevens, who has been shortlisted by the judges in the "Little Chip Student Awards". Luke's entry, called "Blazon", revived the medieval art of drawing a coat-of-arms with a modern twist - parsing a formal grammar and auto-rendering the images directly from textual specifications. → http://shielddrawing.appspot.com/

...and keep up to date with comps → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/employment/competitions

PAST EXAM PAPERS. A reminder that you can see past exam papers → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/assessment/exam_papers/index.php?view=ug

GIVE US FEEDBACK. The University wants to hear your views. Please take a moment to complete the Semester 2 on-line Unit Survey, and also the Student Barometer → http://my.manchester.ac.uk

HAVE YOUR SAY. Anything bugging you? Talk to us. → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/have-your-say/

The Monday Mail archive → http://goo.gl/xjOJo

Have a good week,
Toby

#25 • Monday 23 April 2012 • Week 10 (B)

Good morning everyone. It's Week 10 – a B week.

COMFY CHAIRS. You've probably noticed the new comfy area by the Byte Cafe. We hope you enjoy it! If you have any other ideas for more environmental improvements, I'd be glad to hear them.

CSSOC NEWS (1) - The May Ball. In conjunction with Languages and Religions and Theology, and including a sparkling reception, three course meal and wine, as well as a photographer, chocolate fountains and casino tables! All for the bargain price of £22 - On sale between 12 and 2 in the Byte cafe this week. → https://www.facebook.com/events/174462389338175/

CSSOC NEWS (2) - Hoodies. Last chance to get your hoodie this year! Available in a range of colours, with the CSSoc logo on the back and an embroidered crest on the front. £22 each. Add on £3 if you want your name embroidered onto it too! On sale between 12 and 2 in the Byte cafe this week.

CSSOC NEWS (3). The Annual General Meeting and Committee elections take place this week on Weds 25 April at 2pm in IT406. This is your chance to have your say in society policy and choose who you want to lead it next year. Want to get involved and run for a position? → dean.phythian@manchester.ac.uk to express your interest and find out more!

VACATION WORK OPPORTUNITY. Interested in helping the School run its annual UK Schools Computer Animation Competiton activities? We have 8 weeks' paid vacation work available June-July. For full details of job spec and how to apply, by deadline 27 April: → http://goo.gl/RVC7d

RESEARCH OPPORTUNITY. Want to do research but tempted by industry? You can do both! The Centre for Digital Entertainment is recruiting for the October 2012 intake of doctoral students. Current students are with Disney Research, Electronic Arts, Aardman Animations, Double Negative Visual Effects and many others. The Centre will pay your university fees plus a yearly maintenance grant of £15,090 tax-free, typically with a further £3,000 when you are in the sponsoring company. → www.digital-entertainment.org.

CAREERS. Come along to the Graduate Recruitment Fair in Manchester on Wednesday 13 and Thursday 14 June 2012, 10.30am - 4.00pm, The Armitage Centre, Fallowfield, Manchester. Hundreds of graduate jobs plus some postgraduate course places. 160 exhibitors. To register → www.manchester.ac.uk/graduatefair

PAST EXAM PAPERS. A reminder that you can see past exam papers → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/assessment/exam_papers/index.php?view=ug

CALLING ALL CREATIVES. The European Commission is inviting all 20-year-old Europeans to get creative and voice their views on the single market by launching a creativity competition. Winners will be offered 4-week internships in the European Institutions. Other prizes including tablets, smartphones, cameras, MP3 players, vouchers and travel passes will be awarded on an on-going basis from April to September. → www.generation1992.eu

...and keep up to date with comps → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/employment/competitions/

HAVE YOUR SAY. Anything bugging you? Talk to us. → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/have-your-say/

The Monday Mail archive → http://goo.gl/xjOJo

Have a good week,
Toby

#24 • Monday 16 April 2012 • Week 9 (A)

Good morning everyone. I hope you had a great Easter break. Welcome back to Week 9 – an A week.

SSCC MEETING THIS WEEK. If you have any issues you'd like raising at this week's Staff-Student Consultative Committee meeting – Weds 18 April, 2pm, please contact your reps immediately. → https://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/csonly/sscc

NATIONAL STUDENT SURVEY (NSS). 3rd and 4th year students: there's only two weeks left. If you haven't yet, please take a moment to fill in the National Student Survey. → http://www.thestudentsurvey.com

VACATION WORK OPPORTUNITY. Interested in helping the School run its annual UK Schools Computer Animation Competition activities? We have 6 weeks' paid vacation work available June-July. For full details of job spec and how to apply, by deadline 27 April: → http://goo.gl/RVC7d

CSSoc MAY BALL @ THE PALACE, 12 May. Tickets on sale from the Byte cafe 12-2 each day in the week of 16 April. → http://www.facebook.com/#!/events/174462389338175/

PAST EXAM PAPERS. A reminder that you can see past exam papers → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/assessment/exam_papers/index.php?view=ug

VOTE FOR US! The School has two entries in a European Competition for Best Innovation in University Outreach and Public Engagement. Anyone can vote on entries, until 19 April. Why not vote for us! Click on an entry to read its description and then click the "vote for this entry" button. → http://engageawards.com/all-entries

COMP - CALLING ALL CREATIVES. The European Commission is inviting all 20-year-old Europeans to get creative and voice their views on the single market by launching a creativity competition. Winners will be offered 4-week internships in the European Institutions. Other prizes including tablets, smartphones, cameras, MP3 players, vouchers and travel passes will be awarded on an on-going basis from April to September. → www.generation1992.eu

...and keep up to date with comps → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/employment/competitions/

HAVE YOUR SAY. Anything bugging you? Talk to us. → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/have-your-say/

The Monday Mail archive → http://goo.gl/xjOJo

Have a good week,
Toby

#23 • Monday 26 March 2012 • Easter break

Good morning everyone. I hope you're enjoying the Easter break.

G23 LAB CLOSURE. The Kilburn G23 ground floor computer cluster will be CLOSED on 2-3 April for engineering work on the ventilation system.

EASTER OPENING. The Kilburn Building will be open at the following times. During this period the only UG labs open will be 1.8 and Tootill.

26 March–5 April: Normal opening hours for UG students
Access only available during this time using an out-of-hours pass

6-7 April: Open from 08.00 – 16.00
Access only available during this time using an out-of-hours pass

8 April: Closed

9 April: Open from 08.00 – 16.00
Access only available during this time using an out-of-hours pass

10–15 April: Normal opening hours for UG students
Access only available during this time using an out-of-hours pass

16 April: Normal term-time access

FREE FLASH WORKSHOP. Introduction to Flash CS5: Learn how to use Flash to create interactive learning objects to enhance your CV.
Tuesday 17 April 10am - 4pm. Free lunch provided!
Registration for this free one day training event is open to all students. Limited places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. For more information or to register please email Jenny Kennedy → jkennedy@cs.man.ac.uk.

FILL THE CABINET. You pass by it every day. It is the Byte Cafe museum of computer history. But, it's out of date. We'd like to refresh it. What should go in there? Send in your suggestions, and if yours is picked by the School, you could win £50 in Amazon vouchers. →http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~gbrown/comps/cabinet/

NATIONAL STUDENT SURVEY (NSS). 3rd and 4th year students: please take a moment to fill in the National Student Survey. → http://www.thestudentsurvey.com

COMPETITIONS #1. Intel "Accelerate Your Code" Competition
→ http://software.intel.com/fr-fr/articles/AYC-early2012_home/

COMPETITIONS #2: The ACM PROGRAMMING COMP. Improve your programming and employability skills → http://www.tinyurl.com/acmManchester

...and keep up to date with comps → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/employment/competitions/

HAVE YOUR SAY. Anything bugging you? Talk to us. → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/have-your-say/

The Monday Mail archive → http://goo.gl/xjOJo

Enjoy the break,
Toby

#22 • Monday 19 March 2012 • Week 8 (B)

Good morning everyone, and welcome to week 8 – a "B" week. Friday 23rd is the last day before the Easter break, and we start again on Monday 16 April. I hope you all have a good break – it's been a long time since Xmas!

SECOND YEAR STUDENTS - "OWN" 3rd YEAR PROJECTS. As soon as you return from Easter, it'll be time to choose your 3rd Year Project. If you'll be selecting from the list of projects the School publishes, then you'll do that after Easter. If, however, you would like to propose your OWN project, you need to act now. Full details on the
Third Year Project web pages→ http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/ugt/COMP30040/show.php?id=3

NATIONAL STUDENT SURVEY (NSS). 3rd and 4th year students: please take a moment to fill in the National Student Survey. It's vitally important to our School that as many of our students as possible do so. → http://www.thestudentsurvey.com

COMPETITIONS #1: The Higher Education Academy invites students to submit a photograph or digital image that captures the essence/excitement of Computer Science, and might motivate others to study it. Prize: £250 book token, and invitation to attend the Higher Education Academy National Annual Conference in July 2012 (all expenses paid). Interested? Contact: karen.fraser@heacademy.ac.uk by 1 April 2012.

COMPETITIONS #2: The ACM PROGRAMMING COMP. Improve your programming and employability skills → http://www.tinyurl.com/acmManchester

COMPETITIONS #3: The Team Working Awards. Have you been in a team that's done something cool? Go for an award! Deadline 21 March. → http://www.tlso.manchester.ac.uk/students-as-partners/events/stwa/

...and keep up to date with comps → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/employment/competitions/

HAVE YOUR SAY. Anything bugging you? Talk to us. → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/have-your-say/

The Monday Mail archive → http://goo.gl/xjOJo

Hoping you have a good week,
Toby

#21 • Monday 12 March 2012 • Week 7 (A)

Good morning everyone, and welcome to week 7 – an "A" week.

LAB UPGRADE. We're delighted to tell you that we've received funding from the University to upgrade the Tootill Engineering Labs – with 76 new PCs with 24" monitors, and some new furniture. This major upgrade will take place over the Summer and be ready for use in September 2012.

COMPUTER ANIMATION FILM SHOW. Come and see the latest CG animations from SIGGRAPH, the world's leading Computer Graphics annual event. Free to all. Weds 14 March, 2-3pm in Kilburn LT1.1. → www.siggraph.manchester.ac.uk

COMPETITIONS #1: The ACM PROGRAMMING COMP. Improve your programming and employability skills → http://www.tinyurl.com/acmManchester

COMPETITIONS #2: The Team Working Awards. Have you been in a team that's done something cool? Go for an award! Deadline 21 March. → http://www.tlso.manchester.ac.uk/students-as-partners/events/stwa/

...and keep up to date with comps → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/employment/competitions/

HAVE YOUR SAY. Anything bugging you? Talk to us. → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/have-your-say/

The Monday Mail archive → http://goo.gl/xjOJo

Hoping you have a good week,
Toby

#20 • Monday 5 March 2012 • Week 6 (B)

Good morning everyone, and welcome to week 6 – a "B" week. A huge amount to squeeze into this week's edition! So without further ado...

EXAM RESULTS. You'll be aware we were unable to publish all the COMP exam marks at the same time, leading to a delay for COMP15111, COMP25112, COMP28411 and COMP32111. This was because exam timings made this Semester's marking schedule extremely difficult for staff. All the COMP marks are now published, and we apologise to you for the delay.

EXAM FEEDBACK SESSION. To take advantage of the exam script viewing session scheduled for 2pm-4pm on Wednesday 21 March, please email sso@cs.man.ac.uk by the deadline of 1200 on Wednesday 7 March to request which specific COMPxxxxx scripts you wish to view, giving your name and Student ID number.

CEQ feedback. Every Semester the School carefully reads all the Course Unit Evaluation Questionnaires that you fill in, and also the University Evaluation Questionnaires. Having now processed all the data, this is our first opportunity to report back to you on the actions we are taking in response to your comments. These include looking at ways to improve the feedback you receive in courses. → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/have-your-say/ceqs.php?view=ug

SSCC. The Staff-Student Consultative Committee met on 22 Feb. Full details of the lively discussions are on the SSCC page. Don't forget – talk to your Reps. They represent you! → https://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/csonly/sscc

FOAMARANG SILLINESS! Win £50 in the NSS Foamarang Competition. Collect your free foamarang from University Place and make a photo/video with it, then upload to Facebook. Deadline 9 March. → http://www.facebook.com/UoM.NSS.foamarang?sk=wall

CSSOC & GAMING SOCIETY EVENT. The Computer Science Society is hosting a FREE joint gaming event with the Gaming Society. Friday, 9 March @ 8pm in the Student Union. Come by and enjoy your favorite console games!

SCHOOL SEMINAR. Find out about "Rules, Inconsistencies and Nonmonotonicity", in a talk by Professor Andrzej Szalas. University of Warsaw. LT1.4, 7 March 2.15pm. →
http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/research/seminars/school

COMPETITIONS #1: The VK CUP CHAMPIONSHIP. This computer programming competition is held by VK, Codeforces and Saratov State University. VK is the largest European social network with more than a 100 million active users. The Championship Final Round will be held in July in St. Petersburg. Top 50 contestants of the Round 3 will be invited to the Finals, with trip expenses covered by the organizing committee. Qualifying round on 9 March (24 hours). → codeforces.com/blog/entry/3977

COMPETITIONS #2: The ACM PROGRAMMING COMP. Improve your programming and employability skills → http://www.tinyurl.com/acmManchester

HAVE YOUR SAY. Anything bugging you? Talk to us. → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/have-your-say/

The Monday Mail archive → http://goo.gl/xjOJo

Hoping you have a good week,
Toby

#19 • Monday 27 February 2012 • Week 5 (A)

Good morning all, welcome to week 5 – an "A" week.

NATIONAL STUDENT SURVEY (NSS). 3rd and 4th year students: please take a moment to fill in the National Student Survey → http://www.thestudentsurvey.com

NSS COMP! Win £50 in the NSS Foamarang Competition. Collect your free foamarang from University Place and make a photo/video with it, then upload to Facebook. Deadline 9 March. → http://www.facebook.com/UoM.NSS.foamarang?sk=wall

SSCC. The Staff-Student Consultative Committee met last week. Detail will be mailed out as soon as possible.

EXAM FEEDBACK SESSION. There'll be an opportunity for you to look through your Semester 1 exam papers, to help you understand your performance. This will be on 21 March, 2pm-4pm. We'll shortly be mailing out details of this event – you'll need to sign up in advance so we know which scripts to get ready.

ACM PROGRAMMING COMP. Improve your programming and employability skills → http://www.tinyurl.com/acmManchester

TEAM WORKING AWARDS. Have you been in a team that's done something cool? Go for an award! Deadline 21 March. → http://www.tlso.manchester.ac.uk/students-as-partners/events/stwa/

HAVE YOUR SAY. Anything bugging you? Talk to us. → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/have-your-say/

The Monday Mail archive → http://goo.gl/xjOJo

Have a good week,
Toby

#18 • Monday 20 February 2012 • Week 4 (B)

Good morning all, it's week 4 – a "B" week.

STAFF-STUDENT CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE. The next meeting is this Wednesday, 22 February, so please contact your Reps ASAP if you'd like any issues raised. → https://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/csonly/sscc

ACM PROGRAMMING COMP. Gavin Brown writes: We'll be shortly starting a regular "programming challenge" meeting, which will be a student-led activity, assisted by staff mentors, with the idea to prepare students for entry into international competitions. This year we will be targeting the ACM international programming competition. Entering competitions is also a great way to prepare for job interviews – a recent graduate from this School has been going through the application process for Facebook, and the interviews involve several programming challenges that are spookily like the ACM challenge competition last year... Interested? Sign up to keep in the loop → http://www.tinyurl.com/acmManchester

ROYAL VISIT. Prince Andrew visited us last Tuesday to meet the graphene Nobel Prize Winners Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov. So if you wondered what all the security around the IT Building was about, now you know!

WIN AN IPOD or KINDLE. Design an image to be used in the new Alan Gilbert Learning Commons building. Deadline TODAY! Monday 20 February. → http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/projects/aglc/imagecompetition

DIGITAL TALENT DAY. Interested in careers, placements, internships or part time work? Come to the Manchester Digital Talent Day on Wednesday 22 Feb. Some of Manchester's most exciting digital and new media companies will be attending and they want to talk to you! Wednesday 22 February 2012, 12.30-15.30, Manchester Town Hall. Register now: → http://talentday.eventbrite.com

TEAM WORKING AWARDS. Have you been in a team that's done something cool? Go for an award! Deadline 21 March. → http://www.tlso.manchester.ac.uk/students-as-partners/events/stwa/

HAVE YOUR SAY. Anything bugging you? Talk to us. → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/have-your-say/

The Monday Mail archive → http://goo.gl/xjOJo

Have a good week,
Toby

#17 • Monday 13 February 2012 • Week 3 (A)

Good morning all, welcome to week 3 – an "A" week.

COURSE UNIT CHOICES. Please check your Semester 2 Course Unit choices immediately. These must be CORRECT, or you may not be able to sit the appropriate exams! If there are any anomalies please contact your Year Tutor immediately. You can check your choices here → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/ugt/choicescheck.php

PLACEMENTS WITH CISCO / IMAGINATION. Looking for a placement or struggling to get one? Interested in working for CISCO or Imagination? Then come along to meet both companies on Weds 15 February in Room 2.15, Kilburn, from 1.30pm- 3pm. To reserve a place → http://goo.gl/4IVkP

STAFF-STUDENT CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE. The next meeting is Weds 22 February, so please contact your Reps ASAP if you'd like any issues raised. → https://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/csonly/sscc

POSTGRADUATE OPEN DAY. Interested in postgraduate study? Come to the School's Postgraduate Open day next week on Wednesday 15 February, from 14:30 in IT407. Registration needed → http://www.manchester.ac.uk/postgraduate/opendays

STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD. The Careers Service are running an event to help you build your employability skills. Wednesday 15 February 2012, 12.30pm -3pm, Room C9 in Renold Building. Sign up at → www.manchester.ac.uk/careerslink

FRATERNITY. Alpha Kappa Psi is Manchester University's premier business fraternity, combining the best of the British and American styles of University societies. They run events with the biggest names to suit all career aspirations. Come and meet: Tuesday 14 February, 6-7pm Room 7, Student Union. info@akpsimanchester.com and → http://akpsimanchester.com

WIN AN IPOD or KINDLE. Design an image to be used in the new Alan Gilbert Learning Commons building. Deadline Monday, 20 February. → http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/projects/aglc/imagecompetition

TEAM WORKING AWARDS. Have you been in a team that's done something cool? Go for an award! Deadline 21 March. → http://www.tlso.manchester.ac.uk/students-as-partners/events/stwa/

HAVE YOUR SAY. Anything bugging you? Talk to us. → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/have-your-say/

The Monday Mail archive → http://goo.gl/xjOJo

Have a good week,
Toby

#16 • Monday 6 February 2012 • Week 2 (B)

Good morning all, welcome to week 2 – a "B" week. Quite a lot to tell you this week.

MEET THE PRESIDENT. The President of the University, Professor Nancy Rothwell, is visiting the School TOMORROW Tuesday 7 Feb. She's hosting a special open meeting for students at 13:15 - 13:50 in Kilburn Lecture Theatre 1.3. Come along and meet her. You can ask her anything you like – this is an important opportunity to make your views heard – direct to the Head of the University!

3rd YEAR STUDENTS: Our 3rd year deadline summary chart is now up. (Y1 and Y2 students, we haven't fogotten you – making a similar chart for you is much harder, but we're working on it.)

→ http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/ugt/year3

COURSE UNIT CHOICES. Please review and enter your Semester 2 Course Unit choices immediately. You have until the end of this week (Fri 10 Feb) to finalise your choices, but we would appreciate you entering your choices right away, please. Your Personal Tutor can of course advise you on your choices.

MEET THE WINNERS. Just before Christmas, the School competed in the ACM international programming competition. Pez Cuckow, Edgars Sedols, and Mihail Kovachev competed against dozens of Universities from across Europe in series of (very) challenging coding problems. They finished a heroic 18th in all of Europe, and 4th in the UK! We want to get more students competing next year, so the guys will be giving a presentation about their experiences, including what difficult coding problems they faced, and how you could be involved next year. Lecture theatre 1.5, at 1pm, Wed 8 February.

WIN AN IPOD or KINDLE. Design an image to be used in the new Alan Gilbert Learning Commons building.

→ http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/projects/aglc/imagecompetition/

TEAM WORKING AWARDS. Have you been in a team that's done something cool? Go for an award! Deadline 21 March.

→ http://www.tlso.manchester.ac.uk/students-as-partners/events/stwa/

STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD. The Careers Service are running an event to help you build your employability. Room C9 in Renold Building on Wednesday 15 February 2012, 12.30pm -3pm. Sign up at → www.manchester.ac.uk/careerslink/

HAVE YOUR SAY. Anything bugging you? Talk to us.

→ http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/have-your-say/

The Monday Mail archive → http://goo.gl/xjOJo

Until next week,
Toby

#15 • Monday 30 January 2012 • Week 1 (A)

Good morning all, welcome to the first week of teaching – an "A" week.

The exams are over and I hope you did well and didn't get too stressed out. Now we're back to teaching, and it promises to be a busy Semester, with lots going on. I hope you have a good one. Onto today's news:

IMPORTANT FOR 3RD YEAR STUDENTS. There's a special 30-minute "2nd Semester kick-off" meeting for all 3rd year students on all programmes, at 1pm on Wednesday 1 February, in Kilburn LT1.1. This is an important meeting, hosted by the Head of School. Please make every effort to attend.

MEET THE PRESIDENT. The President of the University, Professor Nancy Rothwell, is visiting the School to meet us all next week on Tuesday 7 Feb. She's hosting a special open meeting for students at 13:15 - 13:50 in Kilburn Lecture Theatre 1.3. Come along and meet her. You can ask her anything you like – make your views heard!

HONOUR. In recognition of his pioneering work on the ARM processor (you almost certainly have one in your phone) our very own Professor Steve Furber has been elected a Fellow of the Computer History Museum in San Jose. → http://tinyurl.com/7z4kvme

COURSE UNIT CHOICES. Please review and enter your Semester 2 Course Unit choices immediately. You have until the end of Week 2 (Fri 10 Feb) to finalise your choices, but we would appreciate you entering your choices right away, please. Your Personal Tutor can of course advise you on your choices.

LIBRARY. Don't forget that the School Library is located in SSO, where you can find copies of all the books on course unit reading lists. Pop in, or → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/resources/library

HAVE YOUR SAY. Anything bugging you? Talk to us. → http://goo.gl/3SsBZ

The Monday Mail archive → http://goo.gl/xjOJo

Until next week,
Toby

#14 • Monday 23 January 2012 • Exam Week Two

Good morning all,

I hope your exams are going well.

TEACHING. Teaching resumes next Monday, 30 January, a week A, so please check your timetables in advance so you know what's what.

LABS UNAVAILABLE. During the exams period, some of the labs will be used for on-line exams, and will be unavailable for normal use. During this period, if you can't access a usual lab room, you may use the machines in the MSc lab (Kilburn 2nd floor, Room 2.25a/b). Labs will be unavailable as follows:

Mon 23 Jan: am - 3rd.
Wed 25 Jan: am & pm - 3rd.
Fri 27 Jan am & pm - Tootill.

COMP. Computer Science Undergraduate of the Year Award. Win a 12-week summer internship with BT as well as a brand new laptop. Deadline 31 Jan 2012. Last years winner, Adam Copp from the University of St Andrews said “The application process wasn't too long, the prizes are fantastic, and nabbing the internships on offer landed me a graduate job!” → www.facebook.com/undergraduateoftheyear

FEEDBACK. Make your views heard: talk to your SSCC reps...

→ https://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/csonly/sscc

...or use our Suggestions box

→ https://suggest.cs.manchester.ac.uk

The Monday Mail archive

→ http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/newsletters/students/mm

Until next week,
Toby

#13 • Monday 16 January 2012 • First Exam Week

Good morning all, and welcome back. Happy New Year! I hope you had a pleasant Xmas and New Year break.

EXAMS. As you probably know :-) the two-week exams period starts today, so I wish you all good luck. Top tips: stay calm, write and illustrate your answers clearly – keep in mind that someone has to read them!

LABS UNAVAILABLE. During the exams period, some of the labs will be used for on-line exams, and will be unavailable for normal use. During this period, if you can't access a usual lab room, you may use the machines in the MSc lab (Kilburn 2nd floor, Room 2.25a/b). The UG labs will be unavailable as follows:

Mon 16 Jan: am G23, Tootill, LF31; pm G23, Tootill.
Tue 17 Jan: pm 3rd, G23, Tootill, LF31.
Wed 18 Jan: am 3rd, G23, Tootill, LF31; pm 3rd.
Fri 20 Jan: pm 3rd.
Mon 23 Jan: am 3rd.
Wed 25 Jan: am & pm 3rd.

LAB TIMETABLES. From the start of Semester 2 teaching, we'll be publishing timetables on each of the lab doors (Unix, Toothill, G23) so it's clear to everyone when a lab is booked for a session.

SYSTEMS FAILURE. The rs0 server was down in the week of 9 Jan, Our apologies for this. Normal service has now been resumed.

Until next week, good luck with your exams,
Toby

#12 • Monday 12 December 2011 • Week 12 (A)

Good morning all, welcome to week 12 – an "A" week.

It's the last week of the semester too, as I'm sure you will have noticed! I hope the semester went well for you, and on behalf of the School I wish you a happy Xmas and good luck with your revision for the January exams.

XMAS OPENING TIMES. If you're planning to work in Kilburn over the Xmas period, please check the Xmas opening times, in the Announcements section of the UG homepage:

→ http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/ugt

SSCC MEETING. We had a lively SSCC meeting last Wednesday. One new initiative we'll introduce in Semester 2 is a weekly meeting with UG reps, so any issues can be raised promptly. The minutes of last week's meeting are now up on the SSCC page, thanks to SSCC Secretary Dalwinder Bagdi.

→ https://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/csonly/sscc

COMPS. Following on from last week's news of our recent successes in competitions, here are two new ones to think about entering: The Graduate (a BCS sponsored event) and GSMA Mobile Health Challenge. Full details:

→ http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/employment/competitions/current.php

QUESTIONNAIRES. We need your feedback on your courses. Please take a moment to fill these in the University's on-line Unit Evaluation Questionnaires on Blackboard – available until 22 Dec.

Make your views heard: talk to your SSCC reps, or use our Suggestions box → https://suggest.cs.manchester.ac.uk

The Monday Mail archive → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/newsletters/students/mm

cheerio and happy holidays,
Toby

#11 • Monday 5 December 2011 • Week 11 (B)

Good morning all, welcome to week 11 – a "B" week.

NETWORK SLOWDOWN. Those of you with home filestores on "studenta" (that is, all first and third years) will know that NFS access to your files ground horribly slowly from approximately 5:45pm on Monday last week, and through all of Tuesday. We apologise for the frustration this caused. From the moment the issue came to light we were anxious to restore normal service, but the cause proved extremely difficult to track down. However John "Sherlock" Latham managed to finally find the cause in the early hours of Wednesday morning. He fixed it too. We thank you for your patience during the slow service. If it caused any of you to miss a deadline, then please speak to your lab supervisor in your next lab.

COMP SUCCESS #1 ! The European final of the ACM international programming competition happened this past weekend. Congratulations to our team: 2nd years Edgars Sedols, Mihail Kovachev and Pez Cuckow, who took Manchester to 4th in the UK, and 18/70 in the whole of Europe! The ACM Comp is extremely demanding, so this is a superb result for us. We'll arrange an event in the early new year (after exams) when our team can present their experiences, and encourage others to follow in their success.

COMP SUCCESS #2 ! Robert Clarke (2nd Year) has won the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Optimization Competition, where the task was to present optimized pseudo-code to process share price data. The organisers said: "We were impressed by the consideration that Robert gave to the required precision of the variable used to store the averages, and his use of queues and threads, in dealing with the bottleneck within the problem." Well done Robert!

POSTGRAD STUDY. There's an information session TODAY - Monday 5 Dec - explaining what research degrees are, what it’s like to do one and what funding is available:

→ http://www.mdc.manchester.ac.uk/events/open-days/

MEET BBC RESEARCH. Come to the BBC Research & Development Division's Drop-in session, Tuesday 6 Dec, Kilburn Lower First 12 - 2pm.

MEET IBM. Staff from IBM's manchester lab will be in Tootil labs between 12 and 5 on Wednesday 7 Dec. They're running a challenge on implementing storage technologies in Java. Prize for individual (or team) that completes the task first, or gets the furthest within the time limit.

→ http://www.facebook.com/events/277876125582104/

Sign up page: → http://tinyurl.com/IBMEvent2011

QUESTIONNAIRES. We need your feedback on our courses. From today the University's on-line Unit Evaluation Questionnaires are up on Blackboard. Please take a moment to fill these in - available until 22 Dec.

BCS/IET FEEDBACK. I forgot to tell you last week that The School was visited recently by the Accreditation Panels from the BCS/IET, and also by our colleagues in Faculty, who periodically review us. It all went very well, I'm happy to say, but the one thing that really stood out was how impressed they all were with the 30 or so UG and PGT students they met informally over coffee. Well done all!

SSCC MEETING. The next meeting will be on Weds 7 December, so if you have any issues you'd like your Reps to raise, please contact them right away.

→ https://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/csonly/sscc/

Make your views heard: talk to your SSCC reps, or use our Suggestions box → https://suggest.cs.manchester.ac.uk

The Monday Mail archive → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/newsletters/students/mm

cheerio,
Toby

#10 • Monday 28 November 2011 • Week 10 (A)

Good morning all, welcome to week 10 – an "A" week. Quite a lot to mention this week!

STRIKE DAY. As you will know, the University and College Union has called for strike action on Wednesday 30 November. At the time of writing, the situation is that the Kilburn building will be open as usual, and you should assume that all your scheduled activities will be taking place as normal, unless you have been emailed and told otherwise. If there are any changes to this situation, we will email you.

SSCC MEETING. The next meeting will be on Weds 7 December, so if you have any issues you'd like your Reps to raise, please contact them.

→ https://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/csonly/sscc/

STUDENT-LED ACTIVITIES. Several student-led activities have got going recently, including Man-Up, OpenGL, Type Theory, Microcontrollers. So we've set up a Wiki to as a central contact point. We hope you'll find this useful, and please let me know if you have an activity you'd like to be included:

→ http://elearn.cs.man.ac.uk/studact

THURSDAY LAB SLOWDOWN FIXED! If you're in a lab at 3pm on Thursdays, you'll be aware that the computer system can be dreadfully slow around that time. As soon as this came to light, we started looking for the cause. You may have also noticed that the past two Thursdays have not had this problem! This is not a coincidence – we made a change on Wednesday 16 Nov, which does seem to have fixed it. Thank you for your patience during the investigation period. As for the cause, I'll quote John Latham: "I blame Firefox''! Full details of the cause, and fix:

→ http://qanda.cs.man.ac.uk/questions/4898/what-was-causing-the-system-delay-at-3pm-on-most-thursdays-this-term

BEST 3rd YEAR PROJECT WEBPAGES: Congratulations to the winners: Yue
Catherine Gong, Simona Matei and Luke Torjussen. These pages achieved
a combination of looking attractive, having structured technical
content, leaving readers wanting to know more. The pages done by the
following were also worthy of an honorable mention: Thomas Cass
Tushara Fernando, Pulkit Jalan, Michael Ray and Kesiye Wis-Wolo. See
them all at:

→ http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/ugt/2011/COMP30040/assigned.php

MOVEMBER SHAVE-OFF. Computer Science students from the University Judo Club will be having a sponsored shave-off of their mos, in the Byte Cafe area, on Wed 30 Nov. Pay to inflict the pain of waxing, all in a good cause.

H&S ONLINE COURSE. If you haven't yet completed the H&S online course unit in Blackboard, we ask you to do so by Weds 30 Nov.

POSTGRAD STUDY. Thinking of doing a research degree? The President has announced the President’s Doctoral Scholar Awards

→ http://www.mdc.manchester.ac.uk/funding/pdsaward/

There will be an information session explaining what research degrees are, what it’s like to do one and what funding is available, on Monday 5 December:

→ http://www.mdc.manchester.ac.uk/events/open-days/

Make your views heard: talk to your SSCC reps, or use our Suggestions box → https://suggest.cs.manchester.ac.uk

The Monday Mail archive → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/newsletters/students/mm

cheerio,
Toby

#9 • Monday 21 November 2011 • Week 9 (B)

Good morning all, welcome to week 9 – a "B" week.

CHARITY DAY. The School raised over £800 for Children In Need from the booksale and online auction last Friday, so thank you to everyone!

QUIZ NIGHT. CS Soc and the School are organising a Quiz Night this Thursday (24 Nov) at Jabez Clegg. The quiz starts at 6pm and food and drink will be provided. Student and staff teams will be allocated on the night. Free to all but places are limited – registration required – so don't delay:

→ http://tinyurl.com/CSQuiz2011

COLLAB. The Gaming Society will be using Collab 1 & 2 on LF on Weds 23 Nov, from 7-10pm, so it'll be unavailable during that time. We hope this won't inconvenience anyone.

COMPS. 2nd year students – win a 12 week summer internship with BT as well as a brand new laptop, in the TARGETjobs IT and Computer Science Undergraduate of the Year Award, sponsored by BT.

→ http://undergraduateoftheyear.com

3rd YEAR PROJECTS. Last year's third year project reports are now available on the School Library pages

→ http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/resources/library/3rd-year-project.php

CAREERS: BT Drop in session Tuesday 22 Nov, 12-2pm, Kilburn Lower First floor. Do you have a passion for technology? Gain insight into one of the largest communications services companies in the world.

POSTGRADUATE STUDY. Considering doing a Masters or PhD? Come to the Postgraduate Study Fair on Wednesday 23 November 10.30am - 4pm at Manchester Central. 90 different exhibitors including UK universities and some overseas ones - all promoting their postgraduate courses.

→ http://www.manchester.ac.uk/postgradstudyfair

Make your views heard: talk to your SSCC reps → https://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/csonly/sscc/ or use our Suggestions Box → https://suggest.cs.manchester.ac.uk

The Monday Mail archive → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/newsletters/students/mm

cheerio,
Toby

#8 • Monday 14 November 2011 • Week 8 (A)

Good morning all, welcome to week 8 –an "A" week.

COMPETITIONS. Students in our School have won lots of UK and international competitions in recent years. Get involved! Check out our new Comps page

→ http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/employment/competitions

CHARITY BOOKSALE. On Friday 18 November the School, in conjunction with CS Soc, will be running its annual Charity Booksale and online auction, for Children In Need. If you have any unwanted books and CD/DVDs, or any other items you'd like to donate, please take these into SSO as soon as you can.

TUTORS. A reminder that as well as you having your own Personal Tutor, there are also Year Tutors, responsible for the smooth running of each year. They are: Tim Morris (Y3), Thierry Scheurer (Y2), Paul Nutter (Y1), Nick Filer (Y4), Andrea Schalk (CM, all years) and Tom Thomson (CSE). If you have any concerns, they would be delighted to hear from you.

CAREERS. The Careers Service have launched a Facebook Group for Computer Science, to post details of employer presentations, jobs and tips on how to get ahead in your career.

→ http://www.facebook.com/groups/222964407739414/

CAREERS: Drop in session Tue 22 Nov: BT
Do you have a passion for technology? Gain insight into one of the largest communications services companies in the world at The University of Manchester, Lower first Kilburn Building, School of Computer Science, 12-2pm.

POSTGRADUATE STUDY. Considering doing a Masters or PhD?
Come to the Postgraduate Study Fair on Wednesday 23 November 10.30am - 4pm at Manchester Central. 90 different exhibitors including UK universities and some overseas ones - all promoting their postgraduate courses.

→ http://www.manchester.ac.uk/postgradstudyfair

Make your views heard: talk to your SSCC reps...

→ https://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/csonly/sscc

...or use our Suggestions box → https://suggest.cs.manchester.ac.uk

The Monday Mail archive → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/newsletters/students/mm

cheerio,
Toby

–
Toby Howard
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Senior Lecturer (Computer Graphics)
School of Computer Science,The University of Manchester, UK
www.cs.man.ac.uk/~toby

#7 • Monday 7 November 2011 • Week 7 (B)

Hello all, I hope you had a pleasant Reading Week. Now we're back to normal business, for the second half of Semester 1, with Xmas not far away!

It's week 7 and it's a week B. Note, that's B, not A.

NEW HEAD OF SCHOOL. Prof Jim Miles took over as Head of School on 1 November 2011, and writes the following to you all:

"Dear undergraduates, I'm really looking forward to being Head of School of Computer Science. I'm determined to make the School the best place in the country to study, and for us to try to make your time here as stimulating and inspiring as we can. If you have any good ideas for ways that we can improve what we do then I'd like to hear them. I will be calling in to some lectures soon to introduce myself and I'll be asking for comments or suggestions then, but if you ever feel the need to let me know anything or to meet me then please get in touch." - Jim Miles

→ Jim.Miles@manchester.ac.uk

→ http://nest.cs.manchester.ac.uk/people/jjmiles.php

SSCC minutes. You can read the full minutes of the 26 October SSCC meeting, now up on the SSCC webpage.

→ https://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/csonly/sscc/

LIBRARY. Something that came up at SSCC was that not everyone seems to be aware of the School Library, located in SSO (Kilburn Room LF21), where you can find copies of books on Course Unit reading lists. Go to the link below to find out more, or just pop into SSO and ask.

→ http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/resources/library

CHARITY BOOKSALE. On Friday 18 November the School, in conjunction with CS Soc, will be running its annual Charity Booksale and online auction, for Children In Need. If you have any unwanted books and CD/DVDs, or any other items (e.g., mp3 players, yoghurt-makers, foot-spas, that kind of thing) you'd like to donate, please take these into SSO as soon as you can.

CAREERS. Morgan Stanley is hosting a drop-in session, on Tuesday November 8, 2011, 1.30-14.00, on the Lower First floor, Kilburn Building. View live demos and talk with experienced technologists.

POSTGRADUATE STUDY. Considering doing a Masters or PhD?
Come to the Postgraduate Study Fair on Wednesday 23 November 10.30am - 4pm at Manchester Central. 90 different exhibitors including UK universities and some overseas ones - all promoting their postgraduate courses.

→ http://www.manchester.ac.uk/postgradstudyfair

Make your views heard: talk to your SSCC reps, or use our suggestions box → https://suggest.cs.manchester.ac.uk

The Monday Mail archive → http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/newsletters/students/mm/

bye for now,
Toby

#6 • Monday 31 October 2011 • Week 6 (Reading Week)

Happy Halloween everyone. It's Reading Week (aka Week 6), so there are no scheduled teaching activities this week. It's a chance for you to take a bit of a break and make sure you're up to date with everything. Business as usual resumes on Monday 7 November.

The Staff-Student Consultative Committee had a lively meeting on Wednesday 26 October. Full minutes of the meeting will be published next week by your Secretary Dalwinder Bagdi (2nd Year, CSwIE), but one notable outcome is that at your request we are extending the Kilburn Building opening hours to 0800-2330, 7 days a week, effective from Tuesday 1 November. This extension will be on a trial basis, and will be reviewed at the beginning of December.

The University wants your views. Fill in a short survey and you can win £1,000 of Amazon vouchers.

→ http://www.studentnet.manchester.ac.uk/barometer-survey

Interested in working for Samsung? Call into their open session on Friday 4 November at 1000, Room 5.004, Crawford House, Booth St East.

Make your views heard: we have two Suggestion Boxes you can use anytime, and anonymously if you wish (but if you give your name we can get back to you). One is on the wall next to the SSCC noticeboard on LF; the other is on the web:

→ https://suggest.cs.manchester.ac.uk

* The Monday Mail is archived at
http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/newsletters/students/mm/

Enjoy Reading Week,

Toby

#5 • Monday 24 October 2011 • Week 5 (A)

Hello everyone, it's week 5 (an "A" week).

Apologies for lab room G23 being too hot last week – we've asked the heating engineers to fix this ASAP. Do please tell us (mailto: environs@cs.man.ac.uk) if ever rooms are too hot / cold for comfort.

This week it's the annual Manchester Science Festival, and the School gets involved each year. Our Augmented Reality and 3D computer graphics activities are at MOSI today, Monday 24 October...

→ http://www.mosi.org.uk

... and tomorrow Tuesday 25 October, our very own Dr Andrew Robinson presents his show "Computers Rock our Music World!" at the Martin Harris Centre here on campus, at 7.30pm. Free entry but registration required:

→ http://www.manchestersciencespectacular.co.uk/?p=108

Get in it to win it! The School has had huge competitions successes in recent years – students have entered international computing competitions and won, especially the Microsoft Imagine Cup. If you're interested in entering the 2012 Imagine Cup (or any other competition) please let our Competitions Wrangler, Gavin Brown, know (mailto: gbrown@cs.man.ac.uk).

→ http://www.imaginecup.com

Next week (31 October) is Reading Week, so there'll be no timetabled teaching activities. It's a good opportunity to reflect on how you're getting on, and what you've achieved so far... and perhaps do a little Reading too! Teaching business as usual resumes on Monday 7 November.

For those of you who have rejoined us after your year in industry (welcome back by the way) you may like to know that the stuff of legend, John Latham's long-awaited Java book, was actually published in February this year – yes, really! And it was worth the wait. Of course, John has noticed the irony of the title....

→ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Click_here_to_find_out_what_it_is_called/dp/1848900252/

A reminder that the first SSCC meeting is Weds 26 October @2pm. Please contact your reps to pass on any issues for them to raise:

→ https://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/csonly/sscc/

Microsoft will be outside University Place on Thursday 27 October to showcase some of their latest technology:

→ https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=191848567551603

Make your views heard: as well as talking to your reps (see above) we have two Suggestion Boxes you can use anytime, and anonymously if you wish. One is on the wall next to the SSCC noticeboard on LF; the other is on the web:

→ https://suggest.cs.manchester.ac.uk

Enjoy your week!

Toby

#4 • Monday 17 October 2011 • Week 4 (B)

Hello all, it's week 4 (a week "B").

You've now chosen your Staff-Student Consultative Committee reps. Please talk to them about issues that concern you, and they'll bring them to the first SSCC meeting on Weds 26 October. Meet your reps:

→ https://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/csonly/sscc/

Exam scripts review for Y2 and Y3 students. We'll shortly be announcing a session for students who would like to inspect their marked exam scripts, to help you understand your performance. Watch out for a separate email.

Today, Monday 17 October – Android Manchester October Meetup.

→ http://goo.gl/4ulMX

3rd year deadline chart. We've made a chart to show the deadlines for coursework on all 3rd year COMP courses. We hope it helps you manage your time. A semester 2 chart will follow. We're investigating extending such charts to years 1 and 2.

→ http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/ugt/year3

Outage. The School suffered an network outage on 13/14 October, due to a DHCP failure. Our apologies for any inconvenience caused. If this caused you problems with work/submission please speak to the relevant Lab Supervisor who will make sure you are not disadvantaged.

Microsoft will be outside University Place on Thursday 27 October to showcase some of their latest technology:

→ https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=191848567551603

Make your views heard - as well as talking to your reps (see above) don't forget we have two Suggestion Boxes you can use anytime, and anonymously if you wish. One is on the wall next to the SSCC noticeboard on LF; the other is on the web:

→ https://suggest.cs.manchester.ac.uk

Have a pleasant week,

Toby

#3 • Monday 10 October 2011 • Week 3 (A)

Hello all, welcome to Week 3 (it's a week "A", by the way)

Tomorrow, Tuesday 11 October is our Careers Fair. We have a fantastic list of 20 companies coming to see YOU: including Astra Zeneca, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, IBM, Imagination Technologies... see the full list and details:

→ www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/business/careersfair/2011

Goldman Sachs - Interview and Application Skills Workshop. On Wednesday 12 October Goldman Sachs will be delivering employability skills sessions for penultimate and final year students. The workshop will introduce students to the end-to-end recruitment process and include examples of common assessment exercises. To attend, you must SIGN UP in advance at:

12:00-13:00 session → http://goo.gl/kGrH5

13:00-14:00 session → http://goo.gl/oBbKT

Venue: Room G102, Kilburn Building

The Staff-Student Consultative Committee: nominations for student reps close on Wednesday 12 October, so please sign up before then on the noticeboard on LF.

Choice-o-matic! We have a new web tool to help you check your Course Unit and Theme selections. Yes, we realise this has come after the Semester 1 selection deadline of Friday 7 October, but you can still use it to look at your Themes and your Semester 2 units. This is a brand new system, and we welcome your feedback (email me please).

→ http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/ugt/choicescheck.php

Dean Phythian, Vice Chair of the Computer Science Society, writes: Hi everyone! As the Computer Science Society, we are here to try and help you get the most out of your time at Manchester, with careers and social events as well as representing any issues you have to the Union and the University as a whole. I've emailed you separately this week about this, just give me a shout if you want any more detail.

We will be holding sign up sessions all week, 12-2 in the Byte cafe. Sign up is free, so come along and say hi! We will also be promoting our Laserquest event at this time (to be held on Thursday 13th, tickets are Â£9) which we have emailed you about separately. Any questions, please contact us:

- http://cssoc.cs.manchester.ac.uk, currently being updated though
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cssoc.man
- Email cssc@cs.man.ac.uk

In the News: Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, and Universities Minister David Willetts popped into the School last week, to visit our Centre for Mesoscience and Nanotechnology (on the ground floor of the IT building) where the Nobel prize winning work on Graphene takes place. Full details:

→ http://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/news/display/?id=7484

That's all for now,

Have a good week,

Toby

–
Toby Howard
Director of Undergraduate Studies

#2 • Monday 3 October 2011 • Week 2 (B)

Good morning all. Weekly UG mail here. Quite a few items today - please do take a moment to look through.

Meet Bank of America Merril Lynch: We're inviting companies to 'drop-in' to speak to students about industry placement and graduate careers opportunities. The first session is scheduled for Friday 7 October when Bank of America Merril Lynch will be joining us to discuss technology roles in the financial services sector. Representatives from the bank will be on hand to speak to students on the lower-first floor 10:00 - 12:00. All students are also invited to a free Pizza lunch from 12:00 - 14:00 in the Atlas rooms.

Careers Fair here: Tues 11 October - www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/business/careersfair/2011

Check out our new Careers page: moodle.cs.man.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=91

You have up until Friday 7 October to finalise your course unit choices (FAQ: you can finalise your Semester 2 choices after Xmas, but it would help our planning if you could make preliminary choices now).

Nominations for this year's Student Representatives on our Staff-Student Consultative Committee (SSCC) open today, 3 Oct – please consider standing as a Rep. Nomination forms are on the SSCC noticeboard on the Lower First floor. Closing date: Weds 12 October. The SSCC is an important way for students to talk to the School, and vice-versa. It's not just a "talking shop", and it does result in changes, as previous SSCC reps will be able to tell you. So please get involved!

Staff changes: Graham Gough, Director of Undergraduate Studies for more years than anyone can remember, has stepped down in preparation for his retirement next year, and handed over to me. Thierry Scheurer has taken over from Steve Pettifer as 2nd Year Tutor, Andrea Schalk is the new CM Tutor, and Nick Filer now looks after M.Eng. You can see a full list of who does what at www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/ugt.

The COMP12111 labs start this week (3 Oct), groups are timetabled as follows:

Group W - Thursday 15:00-17:00
Group Z - Thursday 13:00-15:00
Groups X1-X7 - Wednesday 9:00-11:00
Groups Y1-Y7 - Tuesday 13:00-15:00
Groups X8-X10, Y8-Y10 - Friday 14:00-16:00

Due to a clash, 1st year Tutor Paul Nutter won't be available at his usual Open Hour time on Wednesday. If you'd like to speak to him, please email to fix a time.

Make your voice heard! – if you have any issues, please tell us. Lots of ways to do that on www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/ugt

Have a great week,

Toby

#1 • Monday 26 September 2011 • Week 1 (A)

Hello undergraduates!

This is your new "Monday Mail" – a quick and regular hello from the School where we pass on any news and remind you about important things.

First, a warm welcome to you all, new faces as well as familiar ones. We hope you have a stimulating and rewarding time over the next 12 weeks.

Four of our lecture theatres have been refurbished over the summer (you might have noticed!) and fitted with brand-new AV systems. There may, inevitably, be some teething troubles, so please bear with us while we get to grips with the tech.

A reminder to all students to please use Campus Solutions to make their Semester 1 Course Unit selections – we need you to do this ASAP – today please. You have up until Friday 7 October to alter your choices, but we need you to make a full initial set of choices now. (BTW no need to worry about Semester 2 choices for now).

Make your voice heard! – if you have any problems, worries, or concerns, please tell us. You can find lots of ways to do that on

http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/ugt/

Finally, the Staff-Student Consultative Committee: nominations for student reps will open on Monday 3 October, so please consider standing for that. More details next week.

best wishes,
Toby Howard,
Director of Undergraduate Studies