Department of Computer Science


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

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#13.32 • Monday 2 June 2014 • Exams Week 4         The Monday Mail

Good morning! It's Monday 2nd June, and it’s the final week of exams – I hope they’ve been going well.  

This is the last Monday Mail for this academic year, so I'll take this opportunity to wish you a happy and rewarding summer. If you’re graduating, we hope to see you and your families on Graduation Day (Monday 14 July). If you’re about to start a year's Industrial Experience, good luck for what I’m sure will be a fantastic time for you. If you’re returning for your next year of study with us in September, have a great summer and we look forward to seeing you soon. On with today’s news...

Best wishes,
Toby http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~toby


CSSOC NEWS.

  CSSoc Chair Neha Agrawal (Y3, CSE) writes, “Hi guys, on behalf of CSSoc, I would like to thank everyone for their continued support and for turning up to our events. It's been an awesome year! I'd like to introduce Josh Langley (Y1, CSwIE) and Bryn Hanby-Roberts (Y1, CSwIE) who will be taking over as Co-Chairs from next year. Have a wonderful summer!”


HARDCORE HACKATHON.

  1UP is organising another Hard-Core FPGA projects Hackathon this Thursday 5 June at 16:00 in Collab, starting with a talk on "Parallel Programming using VHDL", followed by hands-on programming. Everyone welcome! Pizza and refreshments provided https://sites.google.com/site/1uphardcore


MEET THE STEMETTES.

  On Sat 21 June the Stemettes (women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) will be at Thoughtworks on the 26th floor of City Tower in Manchester, with the usual mix of food, fun and prizes. Sign up (or volunteer for the Women In Computing panel) http://goo.gl/EnF1ZU


FILM DATA HACKATHON.

  Calling all cinephiles and dataphiles! Abandon Normal Devices in partnership with the BFI are running a weekend hackathon on 28/29 June at Manchester’s Cornerhouse,  about everything cinema. The winning teams will have the opportunity (and cash up to £1500) to have their concept funded for further development http://goo.gl/faIieP


HACK WEEKEND.

  Centro are running a Hack Weekend Challenge on 21/22 June at Centro House, Birmingham, with food and refreshments included. Prizes include Apple stuff and High Street vouchers. Full details http://www.centro.org.uk/hackchallenge


ROBOTICS.

  MCS Projects ( http://mcsprojectsltd.co.uk) in conjunction with local experts in educational robots are running robotics competitions for schools across the north of England and are looking for CS students to help (paid at  £50 per day + expenses). Contact Paul Waterworth mcsprojectsltd@gmail.com


SUPPORT A SCHOOL.

  Manchester Grammar School is running a ‘Computing for Beginners’ week. They’re looking for students with Linux / RPi skills to help for 1 or 2 days, between 24-27 June. A great opportunity to enthuse kids about Computer Science, get some experience, and enhance your CV. Contact Simon Duffy s.j.duffy@mgs.org


CAREERS / COMPS / REPORT ENVIRONMENT ISSUES.

  Links at http://tinyurl.com/themondaymail


#13.31 • Monday 26 May 2014 • Exams Week 3         The Monday Mail

Good morning! It's Monday 26 May and it’s yet another public holiday today! I hope your exams are going well. Remember, if you have any emergencies, contact SSO immediately compsci-sso@listserv.manchester.ac.uk or 0161 306 6625. On with today’s news...

Best wishes,
Toby http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~toby


VENTURE SUCCESS.

  Huge congratulations to Radu Nedelcu (Y3, CSBMwIE) and Life Sciences PhD student Daniel Jamieson who jointly won the top prize of £10,000 in the Technology category of the Venture Further Awards, the annual start-up competition run by Manchester Enterprise Centre. Radu and Daniel won with their drug discovery and validation knowledge database system Biorelate, which uses novel, state-of-the-art text mining software with expert curation to extract complex data from published literature, with a GUI developed by Radu as his 3rd Year Project, supervised by Goran Nenadic. Below Radu (right) and Daniel (left) receive their award from Lynn Sheppard, Director of the Manchester Enterprise Centre http://biorelate.com

Radu Nedelcu (Y3, CSBMwIE) and Life Sciences PhD student Daniel Jamieson


CALLING ALL GEEKS.

  Ciprian Tomoiaga (Y2, CSwIE) writes: Don't be just a geek! Be a cool geek! And help others discover the awesomeness behind Computer Science. Join the Manchester Ultimate Programming committee for next year and make sure the legend continues ( http://tiny.cc/LegendOf1UP). All years welcome, all skills including leadership, teamwork, organisational, design, you name it, are valuable. All you need to do is to sign up on this nice coffee-themed form (because hey, it's exam time)  http://tiny.cc/Join1UP


HACK WEEKEND.

  Centro are running a Hack Weekend Challenge on 21/22 June at Centro House, Birmingham, with food and refreshments included. Prizes include Apple stuff and High Street vouchers. Full details http://www.centro.org.uk/hackchallenge.


ROBOTICS.

  MCS Projects ( http://mcsprojectsltd.co.uk) in conjunction with local experts in educational robots are running robotics competitions for schools across the north of England and are looking for CS students to help (paid at  £50 per day + expenses). Contact Paul Waterworth   mcsprojectsltd@gmail.com


SUPPORT A SCHOOL.

  Manchester Grammar School is running a Computing for Beginners week. They’re looking for students with Linux / RPi skills to help for 1 or 2 days, between 24-27 June. A great opportunity to enthuse kids about Computer Science, get some experience, and enhance your CV. Contact Simon Duffy s.j.duffy@mgs.org


IMPROVING STUDENT LIFE.

  Have you got an idea that could improve student life using digital technology? You could get £5,000 to develop it this summer http://jisc.ac.uk/student-innovation


CAREERS / COMPS / REPORT ENVIRONMENT ISSUES.

  Links at http://tinyurl.com/themondaymail


#13.30 • Monday 19 May 2014 • Exams Week 2         The Monday Mail

Good morning! It's Monday 19 May. I hope the exams are going well for you. If you have any exam emergencies contact SSO immediately compsci-sso@listserv.manchester.ac.uk or 0161 306 6625.  On with today’s news...

Best wishes,
Toby http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~toby


TEACHER OF THE YEAR.

  Dr Richard Neville has been named The University of Manchester Teacher of the Year. Congratulations to Richard on this fantastic, and extremely well-deserved honour which reflects his commitment. This is the second time in 3 years that one of our staff has been awarded Teacher of the Year  John Latham won in 2011. Well done Richard!

Richard Neville


BEST SUPPORT STAFF.

  And congratulations to Holly Dewsnip, our Recruitment & Admissions Intern, who has won Best Individual Support Staff in the Manchester Teaching Awards, run by the Students Union. Well done Holly!

Holly


ROBOTICS OPPORTUNITY.

  MCS Projects ( http://mcsprojectsltd.co.uk) in conjunction with local experts in educational robots are running robotics competitions for schools across the north of England and are looking for Computer Science students to help (paying £50 per day + expenses). Great for your CV. For details contact Paul Waterworth mcsprojectsltd@gmail.com


EPS POETRY COMP.

  We didn't win, but we had 10 great entries! Read them here  http://www.epspoetry.com/poems.php?sid=2


SUPPORT A SCHOOL.

  Manchester Grammar School is running a ‘Computing for Beginners’ week. They’re looking for students with Linux and RPi skills to help for 1 or 2 days, between 24-27 June. A great opportunity to enthuse kids about Computer Science, get some experience, and enhance your CV. For full details contact Simon Duffy s.j.duffy@mgs.org


IMPROVING STUDENT LIFE.

  Have you got an idea that could improve student life using digital technology? You could get £5,000 to develop it this summer http://jisc.ac.uk/student-innovation


CAREERS / COMPS / REPORT ENVIRONMENT ISSUES.

  Links at http://tinyurl.com/themondaymail


#13.29 • Monday 12 May 2014 • Exams Week 1         The Monday Mail

Good morning! It's Monday 12 May and it’s the first of the 3 exam weeks. I hope all goes well. I know it sounds obvious, but make sure you know your exam schedule and locations precisely – it's your responsibility to be in the right place at the right time! In case of emergencies contact SSO immediately compsci-sso@listserv.manchester.ac.uk or 0161 306 6625.  On with today’s news...

Best wishes,
Toby http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~toby


MAY BALL.

  Last Friday 9 May was the annual May Ball at the Midland Hotel run with the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures. A great evening by all accounts!

Three photos from the May Ball


REVISION HELP.

  The Library is running study sessions to help students work out their best strategies for revision. Find out more and book a place http://goo.gl/pqbyI3


LF31 CLOSED THIS WEEK.

  LF31 will be closed for essential system maintenance from tomorrow Tues 13 May to Friday 16 May inclusive. Please use Tootill, Collab or the 3rd Year lab (Room 1.8) instead.


IE MEETING TOMORROW.

  There’s an important meeting, with pizza, in IT407 at 13:00 tomorrow Tues 13 May for all students going out on Industrial Experience this summer. The meeting will cover what you need to do before, during and after your placement. If you can't make it, please let Duncan know asap Duncan.Hull@manchester.ac.uk


SUPPORT A SCHOOL.

  Manchester Grammar School is running a ‘Computing for Beginners’ week. They’re looking for students with  Linux and RPi skills to help for 1 or 2 days, between 24-27 June. A great opportunity to enthuse kids about Computer Science, get some experience, and enhance your CV. For full details contact Simon Duffy s.j.duffy@mgs.org


IMPROVING STUDENT LIFE.

  Have you got an idea that could improve student life using digital tech? You could get £5,000 to develop it this summer  http://jisc.ac.uk/student-innovation


SMART CITIZEN.

  Future Everything is running a free workshop on Weds 28 May and giving away 25 Arduino and Intel powered Ambient Sensors to be deployed around Manchester. Get tickets (deadline this Weds 14 May) http://futureeverything.org/events/smart-citizen-workshop/


BEST ELEARNING AWARDS.

  Have you done a course this year which makes innovative and effective use of eLearning? Vote for the best and win an iPod or iPad (deadline 16 May) http://is.gd/epsbest


CAREERS / COMPS / REPORT ENVIRONMENT ISSUES.

  Links at http://tinyurl.com/themondaymail


#13.28 • Monday 5 May 2014 • Week 12 (B)         The Monday Mail

Good morning! It's Monday 5 May and it’s Week 12, a B week, and the final teaching week of the year. It's the Early May Bank Holiday today too – so no timetabled activities in the School today, back to normal tomorrow. Have a nice day whatever you’re doing. On with today’s news...

Best wishes,
Toby http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~toby


FIRST YEAR PROJECT SHOWCASE.

  The showcase last week was a great success and the work on show was as fantastic, original and imaginative as ever. Well done to all First Year students!

Project showcase photo


DUCK NEWS.

  We may well be the only School of Computer Science in the country (the world?) with our own family of ducks. For the last 4 years Mrs Duck has visited us every Spring to lay her eggs in the courtyard. She must like it here! Thanks to local charity Animals In Distress, the family were collected last week and taken to more comfortable accommodation in Cheshire.

Mrs Duck and her ducklings


PIZZA AND CHAT.

  We’re reviewing the way we teach, and we need your input. What do you like/dislike about our teaching methods? If you have views, make them heard come to our informal chat session 12:3014:00 next Monday 12 May. Pizza will be served. Pre-registration required, sign-up deadline 17:00 this Friday 9 May http://goo.gl/mF6cPP


COURSE UNIT FEEDBACK.

  Another way to make your views known is the online Unit Survey, so please give us your feedback on each of your Semester 2 course units deadline this Friday 9 May. We take your feedback seriously, and we act on it http://www.studentnet.manchester.ac.uk/enhancing-my-experience/tellus


SUMMER VACATION WORK.

  Deadline 17:00 today Monday 5 May for applying for work in the School during the summer vac http://studentnet.cs.manchester.ac.uk/employment/vacationjobs


PASS NEXT YEAR.

  We’re still recruiting PASS leaders for next year, and holding another PASS Expectations session for potential leaders tomorrow Tues 6 May at 13:00-14:00 in Collab1. Sign up http://goo.gl/7D6MwS


ATHENA SWAN SUCCESS.

  We’re delighted to announce that the School has received an Athena SWAN Bronze Award, which recognises good practice in recruiting, retaining and promoting women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine in academia www.manchester.ac.uk/athenaswan


EXAM RESULTS.

  Exams begin on Thursday 15 May. For details of when results will be published http://studentnet.cs.manchester.ac.uk/assessment/results/index.php?view=ug


REVISION SUPPORT.

  Speaking of exams, the Library is running study sessions to help students work out their best strategies for revision. Find out more and book a place http://goo.gl/pqbyI3


MENTORING YOUNG CODERS.

  The Festival of Code are looking for mentors as part of Young Rewired State (YRS) over the summer of 2014. If you have expertise and enthusiasm for software development, robotics or data crunching you'd like to pass onto young people, why not get involved? http://festivalofco.de/mentors


SMART CITIZEN.

  Future Everything is running a free workshop on Weds 28 May and giving away 25 Arduino and Intel powered Ambient Sensors to be deployed around Manchester. Get tickets (deadline 14 May) http://futureeverything.org/events/smart-citizen-workshop/


IMPROVING STUDENT LIFE.

  Have you got an idea that could improve student life using digital technology? You could get £5,000 to develop it this summer http://jisc.ac.uk/student-innovation


BEST ELEARNING AWARDS.

  Have you done a course this year which makes innovative and effective use of eLearning? Vote for the best and win an iPod or iPad (deadline 16 May) http://is.gd/epsbest


JOIN A LONDON STARTUP.

  Silicon Milk Roundabout is a huge London jobs fair for startups. If you’re a final year student looking for a job, their next event is this coming weekend 10-11 May http://www.siliconmilkroundabout.com/


CAREERS / COMPS / REPORT ENVIRONMENT ISSUES.

  Links at http://tinyurl.com/themondaymail


#13.27 • Monday 28 April 2014 • Week 11 (A)         The Monday Mail

Good morning! It's Monday 28 April and it’s Week 11, an A week. I hope you had a good Easter break, and you're back refreshed for the last two weeks of scheduled teaching, then the exams! On with today’s news...

Best wishes,
Toby http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~toby


PASS AWARDS SUCCESS.

  The Students as Partners Celebration Evening was held at the Palace Hotel on Thurs 3 April, and the School won second place in the PASS Scheme of the Year awards. There are 23 PASS schemes across the University, so this is a fantastic achievement! Congratulations to our Student Coordinators Matt Akerman (Y3, CSE4) and Dalwinder Bagdi (Y3, CSwIE), Year2 PASS Coordinators Danielle Grayston (Y3, AIwIE) and Jack Evans (Y3, CS), all of our 33 PASS Leaders, and Staff Coordinators Andrea Schalk and Gavin Donald. Well done all!

PASS Awards 2014


PASS NEXT YEAR.

  We’re still recruiting PASS leaders for next year, so please sign up and help the scheme to get even better in 2014! We’re holding another PASS Expectations session for potential leaders next Tues 6 May at 13:00-14:00 in Collab1. Sign up http://goo.gl/7D6MwS


FIRST YEAR PROJECT SHOWCASE.

  The 1st Year Project Showcase takes place today Monday 28 April at 11:00 on LF. Everyone is welcome to come and see the great project work from 1st year students https://moodle.cs.man.ac.uk/mod/wiki/view.php?id=1140&page=Phase4+Step11


COURSE UNIT FEEDBACK.

  Please give us your feedback on each of your Semester 2 course units deadline 9 May. We take your feedback seriously. Use  a handy app or on-line   http://www.studentnet.manchester.ac.uk/enhancing-my-experience/tellus


SUMMER VACATION WORK.

  We’re offering paid work opportunities in the School during the summer vac. Enhance your CV with new skills and tech, and do important work for the School. Application deadline 17:00 next Mon 5 May http://studentnet.cs.manchester.ac.uk/employment/vacationjobs


TEACHING FORUM.

  We’re reviewing the way we teach, and we want your input. What do you like/dislike about our teaching methods? Do you like/dislike lectures Do you prefer workshops? Or something else? Why? We're running an informal Forum session at 12:30 14:00 on Mon 12 May (note the change of date) to hear your views on teaching methods. Pizza will be served! Pre-registration required, sign-up deadline this Friday 2 May http://goo.gl/mF6cPP


ARM TALK.

  Dr Anton Lokhmotov of ARM will be giving a guest lecture for COMP35112 Chip Multiprocessors today Monday 28 April at 15:00 in LT1.3. The main topic is ARM's high performance SIMD attached processor ‘Mali’ system, and Anton is promising to tell some interesting stories accompanied by demos, so it should be entertaining. All welcome.


CALIFORNIAN PYTHON.

  Fernando Perez from the University of California, Berkeley will be giving a seminar today Monday 28 Apr at 14:00 (Lecture Theatre G20, Mansfield Cooper building) on Python and IPython as alternatives to MATLAB, Mathematica and SPSS http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/about-us/news-and-events/full-article/?articleid=883


REVISION SUPPORT.

  The Library is running study sessions to help students work out their best strategies for revision. To find out more and book a place http://goo.gl/pqbyI3


GREAT PRENEURS.

  Great Preneurs is hosting its first Conference about Manchester Startups this coming Saturday 3 May at Techhub Manchester. People from the Manchester Startup Scene will talk about raising capital, growing In Manchester, getting into an accelerator and investing in Manchester tech startups. Register http://greatpreneurs.com/conference/


WAR OF NATURE.

  Andrea Schalk and Colin Caine (PhD) have contributed to Manchester Museum’s From the War of Nature exhibition. Colin features in the exhibition discussing his computer simulations of conflict and co-operation and how life evolves. Why not have a look? (it’s the building opposite University Place) http://www.museum.manchester.ac.uk/whatson/exhibitions/fromthewar


MUSIC TALK.

  This Weds 30 April, at 14:00 in LT1.4, David De Roure from the University of Oxford e-Research Centre will talk about  Digital Music Research: from Music Objects to Social Machines. “The music business from studio to sofa (and studio on sofa) is well on the way to being digital end-to-end” http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/our-research/seminars


BEST ELEARNING AWARDS.

  Have you done a course this year which makes innovative and effective use of eLearning? Vote for the best and win an iPod or iPad (deadline 16 May) http://is.gd/epsbest


CAREERS / COMPS / REPORT ENVIRONMENT ISSUES.

  Links at http://tinyurl.com/themondaymail


#13.26 • Sunday 6 April 2014 • Easter vacation         The Monday Mail

Good morning! It's Monday 7 April and it’s the first week of the 3-week Easter vac. I hope you’re having a rest and maybe the opportunity for a catch-up. Year 3 students, good luck with writing your project reports. The Monday Mail is having an Easter break, but will be back again on Monday 28 April (Week 11, an A week). Meanwhile, on with today’s news...

Best wishes, Toby  http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~toby


EASTER OPENING HOURS.

  Kilburn is open as usual 08:00-23.30 throughout the Easter vacation, but you’ll need your out-of-hours pass for access from 18:00 to 23:30, and for weekends and Good Friday/Easter Monday.


HACKATHON WIN.

  Congratulations to Team Goat, aka Izz Abudaka (Y1, CS), Grzegorz Jacenków (Y1, CSBMwIE), Victor Lampreia  (Y1, CSwIE)  and Bartłomiej Siemieniuk (Y1, SE4), who won 4 prizes out of 7 at the Greater Manchester Open Data  Coding Challenge last week ( http://opendatamanchester.org.uk ) an extraordinary achievement! The Goats developed “Invest Locator”, which maps how a user's surroundings will change in the future ( http://lab.jacenkow.com/~TeamGoat/goatchange ) and “Lightchester”, a map of Manchester using street light data, with an option to show crime scene data, to see if the most illuminated places are the safest http://lab.jacenkow.com/~TeamGoat/goatlight

Hackathon success


STAFF VS STUDENTS.

  Also congratulations to everyone at the Staff vs Students programming competition last Weds 2 April. It was fantastic to see so many people involved: 6 staff teams and 17 student teams. The vibe was amazing and Head of School Prof Jim MIles awarded the prizes. In 1st place were Will Brown (Y1, CSwIE) and Adrian Mircea Nenu (Y1, CSwIE); in 2nd place Stefan Katov (Y3, CSBMwIE) and Tomo Simeonov (Y3, CSwIE); and in 3rd place Dr David Lester and James Knight (PhD). Check the Staff vs Students official page for more pix, the problem set, solutions, and a detailed leaderboard http://www.uomdojo.com/svs

Staff-student comp photo


VOTE POETRY.

  Voting is now open in the EPS Faculty Poetry comp and we have 10 entries in from the School! Check out our entries and vote (deadline 18 April). Note: entries from other Schools are also available :-) http://www.epspoetry.com/poems.php?sid=2


SUMMER VACATION WORK.

  A reminder that we have some paid work opportunities in the School during the summer vacation. It’s a great opportunity to enhance your CV by learning new skills and tech, and do important development and support work for the School too. Apply (deadline 17:00 Mon 5 May) http://studentnet.cs.manchester.ac.uk/employment/vacationjobs


COURSE UNIT FEEDBACK.

  Please give us your feedback on each of your Semester 2 course units deadline 9 May. We take your feedback seriously, and act on it http://www.studentnet.manchester.ac.uk/enhancing-my-experience/tellus


TIMETABLES.

  You should have received your Semester 2 exams timetable direct from the University. If not, please see SSO. A reminder that you can access your timetables online http://studentnet.cs.manchester.ac.uk/timetables and you can use Pez Cuckow’s (Y3, CSBMwIE) app to get an iCal feed http://labs.pezcuckow.com/cstimetable and don't forget the UG Events cal that we're trialling. There’s an ics feed  http://goo.gl/FDIXGA and an HTML view http://goo.gl/2P7UFs


BBC INTERNSHIPS.

  The deadline for applying for internships at the BBC in MediaCityUK Manchester has changed it’s now 17:00 on 23 April   http://www.cs.manchester.ac.uk/industry/news/full-article/?articleid=878


TEACHING FORUM.

  The School is reviewing the way it teaches, and we need your input. What do you like/dislike about our teaching methods? Do you like/dislike lectures or some lecturing styles? Do you prefer workshops? Or something else? Why? We're running an informal Forum session at 12:30 14:00 on Mon 12 May (note the change of date) to hear student views on teaching methods. Students from all years welcome. Pizza will be served. Register by Friday 2 May http://goo.gl/mF6cPP


GOOGLE TRAVEL GRANTS.

  Google is offering travel grants for students to attend the following conferences: HITB Haxpo ( http://haxpo.nl ) May 27-30, Amsterdam; Craft ( http://craft-conf.com/2014) April 23-25, Budapest; Berlin Buzzwords ( http://berlinbuzzwords.de ) May 25-28, Berlin; and  Europython 2014 ( https://ep2014.europython.eu/en ) July 21-27, Berlin. Apply https://services.google.com/fb/forms/studentgrants2014


CAREERS / COMPS / REPORT ENVIRONMENT ISSUES.

  Links at http://tinyurl.com/themondaymail

Have a great Easter vacation and see you again on Monday 28 April.

 

#13.25 • Monday 31 March 2014 • Week 10 (B)         The Monday Mail

Good morning! It's Monday 31 March, and it’s Week 10, a B week. And it’s the last week before the Easter vac but you probably knew that! It’s been a long semester, and I hope it's been a good one for you so far.

Best wishes, Toby http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~toby


STAFF-STUDENT COMMITTEE.

  Last  week the SSC met for the second time this semester, and included a very interesting (and frank!) discussion about lectures. Read SSC secretary Dan Tzabar’s (Y2, CS4) report of the meeting http://sscc.cs.manchester.ac.uk


MEET THE PRESIDENT.

  The President of the University, Nancy Rothwell, is visiting the School today Monday 31 March, and she's holding an informal open meeting for all students at 10:30 – 11:00 in Kilburn 2.15 (second floor). If you have a gap in your timetable, do go along and meet her.


SUMMER VACATION WORK.

  Interested in some paid work here in the School during the summer vacation? It’s a great opportunity to learn new skills and tech, and do important development and support work for the School. Details of the positions available, and how to apply (deadline 17:00 Mon 5 May) http://studentnet.cs.manchester.ac.uk/employment/vacationjobs


CODE FIRST GIRLS.

  Last weekend the School hosted Code First Girls, organised by Entrepreneur First ( http://www.entrepreneurfirst.org.uk ) and Ciprian Tomoiaga (Y2, CSwIE).  22 attendees spent two days learning HTML, CSS, Javascript, and Bootstrap. This fabulous event was possible thanks to the hard work and commitment of students Neha Agrawal (Y3, CSE), David Buckley (PhD), Marios Katsakioris (Y1, CSwIE), Alexandru Mihailescu (Y1, CS), Francesca Popescu (Y1, SEwIE), Teo Taylor (Y1, CS) and PGT students Moss Abdelkhalik, Soldier Dey, Hamizah Badrul Hisham, Mamatha, and Vivek Vijayan.  Well done all, and thanks to Duncan Hull, Mabel Yau, Tony McDonald and David Rydeheard for their support. 

Two photos from the Code Girls event


RASPBERRY JAM.

  Also last weekend the School hosted the monthly North-West Raspberry Jam meeting. Lots of people young and not-so-young! had great fun with their Pis in LF31.

Two photos from the RPi event last weekend


ALT CAREERS.

  Network Rail are here today Monday 31 March to guest lecture in COMP101 about alternative careers in IT, including business analysis and project management. All welcome, LT1.1 at 11:00.


NSS PRIZEWINNER.

  The latest NSS prize draw winner is Nikki Schofield (Y3, CSwIE), whose name was picked by previous winner Ludwig Knoepfel (Y3, IC). Nikki receives a £100 Amazon voucher. Final year students: to enter the final draw on Fri  2 May, just complete the NSS and take your ack email to SSO.


COURSE UNIT FEEDBACK.

  For the next 3 weeks, you’ll have an opportunity to give us your feedback on each of your Semester 2 course units – please do this! We need and value your feedback we read it all, and we publish your lecturers' responses to you (see, for example, the Semester 1 responses https://wiki.cs.manchester.ac.uk/index.php/US_Response_AY1314_Semester_1 ). To give us your feedback, log into My Manchester and click My Blackboard, or use an app http://www.studentnet.manchester.ac.uk/enhancing-my-experience/tellus


APPSENSE LECTURE.

  Today’s COMP26120 guest lecturer at 15:00 in LT1.1 is Travis Walton from virtualisation tools company Appsense ( http://www.appsense.com ). Travis will talk about the role of efficient algorithms and data structures in computer games, and will relate this to the course material. You can talk to Travis afterwards about job opportunities at Appsense. All welcome, not just COMP26120 students.


STAFF VS STUDENTS.

  The second annual Staff vs Students competition takes place this Weds 2 April at 15:00 in the Collab. Places are almost full, so register ASAP if you want to take part. We have Amazon vouchers worth £200, free pizza during the comp, and free beer/non-beer in Kro Bar afterwards http://www.uomdojo.com/svs/register


CSSOC.

  Interested in being part of the CSSoc committee next year and running the society? All positions are open! For more information come to AGM this Weds 2 April at 13:00 ( url.cssoc.co.uk/agm ) .... and this Friday 4 April, it's the Easter pub crawl url.cssoc.co.uk/easter


SSO EARLY CLOSING.

  To allow staff to attend School meetings, SSO will be closing early today Monday 31 March at 15:30.


PASS2.

  Today Monday 31 March in Collab 1 at 17:00. All Y2 students welcome.


AGILE 3RD YEAR PROJECT CLUB.

  Tomorrow Tuesday 1 April at 13:00 in G33, we’ll be trying out some retrospective techniques to help bring out ideas for your project reports sembury@cs.manchester.ac.uk


GREAT PRENEURS.

  Great Preneurs is organising the first ever conference about Manchester Startups. Speakers include the editor in chief of The Next Web, Martin Bryant, and Ben Taylor, co-founder of Fatsoma. It’s at Techhub on 3 May 10:30 18:00 http://greatpreneurs.com/conference/


CAREERS / COMPS / REPORT ENVIRONMENT ISSUES.

  Links at http://tinyurl.com/themondaymail

Have a super week!