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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Week 1 • Monday 26 September 2022 • #22.02

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Good morning! It’s Monday 26th September 2022, and it’s the first week of teaching in semester 1. Please make sure you know your teaching timetable (see below) and, more importantly, where activities are scheduled, as these can take place at different locations across the campus. I hope you have settled into life in Manchester and have managed to get out and explore the campus and all the sights that Manchester has to offer. I’m sure it will soon feel like home.

Each year we recognise outstanding achievement by awarding prizes to our students, last year’s recipients are recognised below. Congratulations to all the prize winners, your awards are very well deserved! Also, well done to Phoebe Pinney for her winning entry in the Kilburn window design competition, you can see her eye-catching design below. Phoebe’s artwork will be immortalised on the large window looking out onto Oxford Road (top right hand side of Kilburn looking from Oxford Road).

Have a great week, on with today’s news ...

Paul
Undergraduate Programme Director

SUPPORT SERVICE SPOTLIGHT:

The Disability Advisory and Support Service (DASS) at the University is a specialist service supporting students with any condition that has a significant, adverse and long term effect on normal day to day activities. DASS helps students with a range of conditions which includes but is not limited to dyslexia and other learning difficulties, autism spectrum condition, mental health difficulties such as anxiety and depression, mobility and sensory impairments, unseen disabilities like epilepsy, HIV, AIDS, chronic fatigue, IBS and Crohn's. DASS can help students access exams, study and specialist support but only if you register with them. You can make an appointment with DASS at any time. Make an appointment and register here. For advice talk to the welfare team. If you decide you don’t wish to register with DASS, this may affect the level of support that you can receive from the University.

YEAR TUTOR OPEN HOURS.

The year tutors are here to support you if you need any help and advice, so feel free to contact your year tutor by email. They also run a weekly open hour where you can pop in (in-person or virtually) for a chat:

Year 1 (not CM): Gareth Henshall. Open hour: Monday 12:00 - 13:00, Kilburn 2.82
Year 2 (not CM): Ahmed Saeed. Open hour: Wednesday 12:00 - 13:00, Kilburn 2.80
Year 3/4 (not CM): Tim Morris. Open hour: Tuesday 11:00 - 12:00, Kilburn 2.107
CM (all years): Andrea Schalk. Open hour: Tuesday 11:00 - 12:00, Online only
UG Director: Paul Nutter. Open hour: Monday 12:00 - 13:00, IT119

PASS2.

Ingy Abdelhalim (Y3, CS) and Nadine Abdelhalim (Y3, CS) write: Hello from the PASS2 team! We hope you all had a great welcome week and are enjoying year 2 so far. The first PASS2 session will be held this week on Thursday 29th in the Collab in Kilburn from 12-1pm. We highly recommend that you all come as we’ll be talking about second year modules and there will be snacks. Hope to see you all there :D Make sure to join the PASS2 discord to keep up to date and ask any questions you like!

WINNER OF THE KILBURN WINDOW DESIGN COMPETITION.

During the summer, we ran a competition to suggest a design to be placed on the large window from Kilburn’s first floor onto Oxford Road to showcase Computer Science in Manchester. We are happy to announce that the panel has agreed on a winner, after receiving some very interesting and inspired designs: Phoebe Pinney (Year 3, CS). Her design (see below) was found to be well-suited for the unusual place and showing an engaging representation of the many aspects of CS, including a nice human touch. It will now be put forward to be realised on the Oxford road window, in collaboration with Estates and other relevant departments.

2021-22 PRIZEWINNERS.

Each year the Department recognises outstanding achievement by awarding prizes to UG students who have excelled academically or made significant contributions to life in the Department. We awarded certificates to winners at the 2nd and 3rd year Welcome Week talks last week. The following students received awards for last academic year:

Vlad Surbu (Year 3, CS): Professor’s Prize for Outstanding Performance in Year 2;
Joshua Coates (Year 3, CM): Professor’s Prize for Outstanding Performance in Year 2,
Wenqi Zhu (Year 3, HCI): Professor’s Prize for Outstanding Performance in Year 2;
Waadullah Hussain (Year 2, CM): Golden Anniversary Prize for Excellence in Year 1 Studies, Michael Jealous Prize for Best Year 1 Student;
Zachary Hales (Year 2, CMwIE): Golden Anniversary Prize for Excellence in Year 1 Studies;
Yat Hei Lau (Year 2, CSE4): Golden Anniversary Prize for Excellence in Year 1 Studies, Netcraft Prize;
Juying Voong (Year 2, CMwIE): Golden Anniversary Prize for Excellence in Year 1 Studies;
Alexandru-Stefan Buburuzan (Year 2, AIwIE): Golden Anniversary Prize for Excellence in Year 1 Studies, Netcraft Prize;
Rishi Ravikumar (Year 2, AI4): Netcraft Prize;
Yat Long Poon (Year 2, CS): Netcraft Prize;
Egor Chernyshev (Year 2, CSwIE): Netcraft Prize;
Kimi Goyal (Year 2, CS4): Netcraft Prize;
Vishal Kandasamy Sekar (Yer 2, CS): Netcraft Prize;
Jin Yun Wong (Year 2, CSE): Netcraft Prize;
Mohammad Altaisan (Year 2, AI): Netcraft Prize.

Huge congratulations to all, really well done and just rewards for all your efforts. Give yourself a big pat on the back!

HARDWARE LIBRARY.

Did you know we have a student hardware library in the Department? We have a wide range of components you can borrow, all for free! We have everything from Raspberry Pi components to drones, microcontrollers to Microsoft Kinects and basic electronic components to robots … even VR headsets. To see what is available for you to borrow (for free!) have a look at the library catalogue. If you want to borrow an item then all you have to do is reserve it online. You will then be contacted by Steve Rhodes who will tell you when you can pick the item up from the Kilburn building. Please note, any loaned items should not be taken away from Manchester and any lost or damaged items must be replaced. We also have a 3D printer that you are free to use, which is located in Tootill 0. Please speak to Steve Rhodes before using it.

GOOGLE DEVELOP STUDENT CLUBS.

Sambbhav Knare (Year 2, CS4) writes: Thank you so much for meeting with us at the Society Fair!! We have our first "Meet The Committee" Social on Wednesday, 28th September. Join us to get to know more about the workshops, speaker sessions, and competitions planned for this year. It's a great way to socialise and make friends. FREE SNACKS AND DRINKS WILL BE AVAILABLE!! (may also include Pizza.) Bring your friends too!! Follow us on Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter | Discord to get updated. Visit our website and follow us for the latest events.

FIRST YEAR BOOT-UP LABS.

If you are a first year student and you haven’t completed the boot-up labs, then we will be running a catchup session on Wednesday 13:00 - 15:00 in 1.8/1.10. Please make sure you complete the activity as it exposes you to Linux which is the operating system you will be using for the majority of your time in the Department. In addition, you need to complete lab 3, as this introduces you to Git and helps you to set up Git in your home file store. It's vitally important you set up Git properly, as you will using it for a number of course units this year (and future years).

COMP10120 WELCOME WEEK WORKSHOPS.

Last week, we ran the Welcome Week Workshops for 1st year students and gave them some tricky tasks: they had to build a gantry to carry our well-known duck! This year’s students impressed the COMP10120 team with their innovative and clever designs - and with their highly ambitious constructions! They showed great team spirit and amazing engagement throughout. We are looking forward to see more from this new cohort!

TIMETABLES.

Your teaching timetable is now available via my.manchester. Please check your timetable regularly over the next few weeks as changes may be made. All course units should have a page in Blackboard, even if this just links to another location (such as Teams) where the course material can be found. Please note: timetables may differ between students doing the same course unit, this is because, due to student numbers, some activities, such as labs, run across multiple sessions. Please only attend those sessions indicated in your own timetable. If there are any issues with your timetable then please contact student support.

WEEK NUMBERING.

You may find that in your timetable this week is labelled as week 2. However, as this is the 1st week of teaching, then we generally refer to it as “Week 1”, so you will find all the course unit information will refer to this week as “Week 1”. You’ll be pleased to hear that the timetable and teaching week numbering matches in semester 2.

THE UNDERGRADUATE HANDBOOK.

The Undergraduate Handbook is your one-stop resource for all information related to your studies. It contains information about your degree programmes, details on progression, how to change degree programmes or interrupt your degree programme, information on student support etc. The handbook also has information related to how to apply for mitigating circumstances if your learning has been affected. You can always find the link to the handbook (as well as other useful links) at the top of each Monday Mail in the 'Essential Links' banner.

DEPARTMENT REGISTRATION:

A reminder that all students need to complete Department registration in the Undergraduate CS Community Blackboard Page. Please navigate to your year group on the left hand side menu in section 'Year Group Information' and complete the registration questionnaire no later than 30th September 2022.

COURSE UNIT SELECTION.

You have until 15:30 Friday 7th October to finalise your Semester 1 course unit choices. After that deadline your course selections freeze, and changes for Semester 1 will no longer be possible. Please ensure you are also enrolled on to your Semester 2 choices by this date (120 credits in total). Course unit selection will reopen in February for you to make changes to your Semester 2 course unit choices. Please note: 1st years have no choice in the 1st semester.

FIND YOUR WAY IN THE ENGINEERING BUILDINGS.

You will find that a lot of your teaching takes place within Engineering Buildings A and B; this is also where you will find the student support hub. To help you navigate the warren or corridors and floors in the building we have produced a Google Map. It is mobile-friendly and doesn’t require you to download any more apps. Use the search and type in your room number, lecture theatre name or study space. You can also find cafes, water fountains, printers as well as your nearest first aid kit. Just open the map and search for the room or area where you need to get to using the search box on the left hand side of your screen. For a step-free, accessible route, select ‘avoid stairs’.

BUILDING OPENING HOURS.

The normal opening hours of the Kilburn building are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. Engineering Buildings A and B are open 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday. Both buildings are closed at all other times, including weekends, bank holidays and over the university Christmas closure period. The John Rylands Main Library and the Alan Gilbert Learning Commons are open outside of these times.

UNICS ICE-BREAKER EVENT.

Join us for our second social of the year on 28th September 2022 (2pm till 5pm). Come along to a game of Human Bingo twisted within a murder mystery! This will be your chance to get to know other members of our amazing community. Come along for free snacks, games, and cheerful memories!

GREATUNIHACK.

GreatUniHack is back! We are pleased to announce that this years’ hackathon will take place in person in MMU Business School, in less than two months. It is a fantastic opportunity to socialise and collaborate with other like-minded students. There will be a chance to win prizes, get some swag and enjoy free food over a weekend of intense coding and other activities. Register your interest here.

UNICS SKILLS WORKSHOPS.

This year, UniCS is starting our skills workshops! These workshops are aimed to help you get started as a programmer, develop your skills by teaching you to use different frameworks and tools, and helping you with coding interview questions. You can register your interest for these workshops here. We are also looking for workshop volunteers to help us run these workshops. This will be a great opportunity for you to show off your skills as a Computer Scientist, and will count towards your volunteering hours! If running our workshops seems like a task you can manage, sign up to become a workshop volunteer here.

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH INTERNSHIPS.

Sarah Clinch writes: Are you a first or second year looking to gain some experience of research? The interaction and modelling lab are hoping to recruit two undergraduate research interns for the academic year 2022/2023. You’ll be working on real research projects, helping to collect and analyse data, with the ultimate goal of getting a paper published. The positions are unpaid, but this is great experience for anyone considering a career in research, and a successful project will lead to co-authorship of an academic paper. More info and how to apply can be found here.

UNIVERSITY FORMULA STUDENT AI TEAM.

Nikola Radulov (Year 3, AIwIE) writes: Are you a Formula 1 fan? Have you ever wanted to know what happens when Verstappen and The Terminator combine? If the answer is yes, join the Formula Student AI team, where we aim to build a driving system that runs a fully autonomous vehicle and compete with it at Silverstone this summer. We are looking for people with interests in Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive Robotics, Image Processing, System Integration, Robotic Process Automation and Simulation Modelling. If this is you, then please send your CV, along with a paragraph describing what you can bring to the team (max 150 words) to nikola.radulov@student.manchester.ac.uk.

STUDENT REPS.

Don’t forget that if you are a 1st, 3rd or 4th year student interested in being a student rep then you can nominate yourself by following this link and completing the form. The deadline is the 28th September 2022, that’s this Wednesday! So, please nominate yourself NOW if you are interested. If you want any further information then contact Tom Carroll, the Chair of SSLC. More information about SSLC and what being a rep involves can be found on the SSLC Page on the Blackboard CS UG Community page.

THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY.

Get out and about with the International Society. The International Society will help you make the most of your student life in Manchester. With over 4,500 members from over 130 countries, the Society is the best place for you to make new friends and get out and about both in Manchester and beyond. Check out the website to find out what’s on, from boat rides to British afternoon teas and bingo, there is something for everyone! Find out more: Welcome 2022 | International Society

BUDDY SCHEME - PARTICIPATE OR VOLUNTEER.

Are you looking to make a difference to somebody's time at university? Would you like to meet new people from all walks of life? If yes, then we have the perfect opportunity for you! We are looking for volunteers to provide social support to their peers by checking in on them every now and then, having regular chats or meetups with them, attend our events and more! All hours that you spend volunteering with us will count towards your Stellify Award (Make a Difference). We provide you with the training you'll need including a short safeguarding module. We offer support throughout the whole time you volunteer with us and answer any questions you may have. Scan the QR code below to sign up as a volunteer or a buddy, or reach the SU on the following contacts: peerbuddy.su@manchester.ac.uk, @umsubuddyscheme.

TURING LOUNGE.

We have a number of social areas in the Kilburn building that are available for students to use. One of these is the Turing Lounge, which can be found on the 1st floor of Kilburn (near the outside area). To help build a community feel in Kilburn, we have a table tennis table that you can use whenever you like; this was introduced at the request of the Student-Staff Liaison Committee a number of years ago. Please look after it, bats and balls are provided. A risk assessment is provided, so please read this (we don’t want anyone being blinded by errant ping pong balls!). Have fun!

LIBRARY.

This from Gemma Smith: Get Started – support from the Library. The Library is here to support your learning throughout your University experience. We provide you with:

Access to resources like books, journals and databases
Training to help you success in your studies
Spaces to study if you’re on campus
Help and support, including IT support

You can also attend an online drop-in session or visit us on campus to learn about using the Library from our friendly team:

Textbook Rescue: Get a free, pre-owned textbook for your subject donated by last year’s departing students. Visit the Main Library from 10am on Wednesday, 21 September. First come, first served.
Chat with Library staff: Visit our Get Started stand at the Main Library to chat to our friendly staff about how the Library can support your studies. Find us in the Main Library foyer from 11am-3pm, Monday-Friday (19 September-7 October).

Find out more:

Get Started with the Library

For further help see our Library Help pages or talk to us via LibraryChat.

SOMETHING TO SHARE?

The deadline for sending in Monday Mail items: 12:00 (noon) every Friday. Just contact Paul.

Welcome to Gareth’s Puzzle Corner, this is your weekly fix of brain teasers and logic puzzles. You are given 4 different puzzles to tackle. One is an easier Sudoku, the second is a more challenging Sudoku, the third is a different form of logic puzzle and finally we have a chess puzzle for you. I hope you enjoy the puzzles and if you have any puzzles you wish to feature or ideas for Puzzle Corner then please get in touch.

Easier Sudoku - Classic Sudoku by sudoku.com

Normal sudoku rules apply.

Challenging Sudoku - The Quiet Box by Akash Doulani

Normal sudoku rules apply. Along green lines, neighbouring digits differ by at least 5. A purple line shows a sequence of consecutive digits, not necessarily in order.

Bonus Puzzle - Network by puzzlemadness.co.uk

Each puzzle has one power cell marked with a lightning bolt, the aim of a Network puzzle is to link every cell in the puzzle to that power cell. Dead-ends are not allowed.

Chess Puzzle - Maidla Vs. Smyslov, 1996

Drag and drop the White pieces to regain material.

Answers to the Previous Week

The answers to last week's puzzles can be found here.

Welcome Week • Monday 19 September 2022 • #22.01

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Good morning! It’s Monday 19th September 2022, it’s Welcome Week and the start of a new academic year. Today is a bank holiday (a national holiday) due to the state funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, so there are no activities scheduled today and the University is closed. However, there are plenty of activities happening during the rest of the week (more details below). If you are a new student joining us, then welcome to the Department of Computer Science. My name is Paul Nutter and I’m the Undergraduate Programme Director, which basically means I’m responsible for the day-to-day running of the undergraduate degree programmes in the Department. This is our weekly undergraduate newsletter, which is sent to all undergraduate students every Monday morning (hence the name) during term-time.

If you are a returning student, then welcome back! I hope you had a good summer and, hopefully, found some time to relax and recharge your batteries.

The aim of Monday Mail is to keep you up-to-date with what’s happening in the Department, as well as publicising all the great things our students get up to! Our students are involved in lots of activities and events, for example university societies, PASS and hackathons. We use Monday Mail to tell you all about what’s happened and what our students have achieved. If there’s anything you’d like to share via Monday Mail, then please send me an email.

A lot has happened over the summer in the Department and in the Kilburn building (see below). What we’ve missed over the past few years, mostly as a result of the COVID pandemic, is the community feel in the Department. I’d really like to see this sense of community return and, hopefully, for you to think of the Kilburn building as your home. We’ve even put a brand new sign up on the lower first floor to identify it as the home of Computer Science students!

Have a great week, I'll hopefully see you around ...

Paul
Undergraduate Programme Director

STUDENT SUPPORT HUB.

Need help during Welcome Week? You can find your local hub in Engineering Building A. Our friendly staff are located on the first floor of the building (1A.042) between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday and are eager to help you with queries of any nature such as:

General student life enquiries, help with registration and start of year questions
Advice and referrals specific to your subject area.
Welfare, student support and student service general queries.

The team will always do their best to answer your query, but if they can’t, they will sign-post you to the right place. We also have private spaces for you to discuss confidential issues with our staff. So, if you have any questions or need support then just pop along to see us.

MEET THE YEAR TUTORS.

The Undergraduate team is here to support you throughout your time in the Department, and you’ll meet them during Welcome Week. Each year has a Year Tutor who is responsible for looking after that cohort of students, apart from CM students who have the same Year Tutor across all years. The tutors are here to provide you with help and support, so please contact them if you have any issues/questions. The Year Tutors are:

1st Year Tutor (not CM): Gareth Henshall (bottom left)
2nd Year Tutor (not CM): Ahmed Saeed (bottom centre)
3rd/4th Year Tutor (not CM): Tim Morris (bottom right)
CM tutor (all years): Andrea Schalk (top left)
Director of UG: Paul Nutter (top right)

Contact details can be found below in the year tutor open hour section below.

STUDENT SUPPORT IN CS.

Issues can impact students at any time, usually when you least expect it. If you are affected by any issues, and if they start to impact your studies, then it’s vitally important that you speak to someone and get the help and support you need. If you need any support then please request an appointment directly with our Student Support and Wellbeing Administrators, Guy Malkin and Maria Sloan, or drop into the student hub in Engineering Building A and ask to speak to someone confidentially about anything that might be affecting you and your studies. Guy and Maria are also the Disability Coordinators for CompSci. If you have any ongoing physical or mental health problems, or conditions such as ASD or ADHD, that affect your studies, and are not already registered with the DASS Team at the University (Disability Advisory and Support Service), contact Guy and Maria who can advise you. If you are registered with DASS and there are problems with your DASS plan you can speak with them about this too. You can contact Guy and Maria at CompSciWelfare@manchester.ac.uk

YEAR TUTOR OPEN HOURS.

The year tutors are here to support you if you need any help and advice, so feel free to contact your year tutor by email. They also run a weekly open hour where you can pop in for a chat:

Year 1 (not CM): Gareth Henshall. Open hour: Monday 12:00 - 13:00, Kilburn 2.82
Year 2 (not CM): Ahmed Saeed. Open hour: Wednesday 12:00 - 13:00, Kilburn 2.80
Year 3/4 (not CM): Tim Morris. Open hour: Tuesday 11:00 - 12:00, Kilburn 2.107
CM (all years): Andrea Schalk. Open hour: Tuesday 11:00 - 12:00, Online only
UG Director: Paul Nutter. Open hour: Monday 12:00 - 13:00, IT119

PASS1.

The PASS1 team (Pranav Aggarwal (Y3, CSwIE), Nikola Radulov (Y3, AIwIE), Ahmed Soliman (Y3, CS), and Nathan Taylor (Y3, CS4)) write: Welcome and greetings from the PASS1 team! We’re sure you’re excited to be starting your studies and hope you’re settling in alright. PASS or Peer Assisted Study Sessions is a scheme where students mentor students. This week we have two scavenger hunt sessions set up for you on Tuesday 1pm-3pm and Thursday 3pm-5pm, starting in the Kilburn LF area, so do come along and say hello!

PASS2.

Ingy Abdelhalim (Y3, CS) and Nadine Abdelhalim (Y3, CS) write: We hope you are all having a great welcome week and are enjoying year 2 so far. The first PASS session will be held on Thursday 29th in the Collab in Kilburn from 12-1pm. We highly recommend that you all come as we’ll be talking about second year modules and there will be snacks. Hope to see you all there :D

UNICS NEWS.

Joshua Simanullang (Y2, CS) writes: UniCS is the Computer Science Society at the University of Manchester. We are a big community with a passion for technology and creating innovative solutions for everyone. Welcome to the faculty of Computer Science at the University of Manchester. We are proud to announce our committee for 2022/23:

Chairs: Germaine George (Y3, CS) and Gwydion Smit (Y3, CS4),
Secretary: Joshua Simanullang (Y2, CS),
Treasurer: Ali Lakho (Y2, CS),
Events: Dhrishaj Garg (Y2, CSwIE),
Procurement: Siqi Li (Y3, AI),
Graphics: Dhruv Sharma (Y2, AIwIE),
PR: Mehar Mehta (Y2 AI4),
Hackathons: Mateusz Krajewski (Y3, CS4wIE),
Dev: Sambbhav Khare (Y2, CS4),
Game Dev: MJ Ponsonby (Y2, CS) and
May Ball: Keshav Gupta (Y2, CMwIE).

We are opening positions for teams so please join us and register! Find us at the Societies’ Fair on 21st September from 10 am - 4 pm at Armitage Sports Centre and join us for our first social for this academic year - Pub Crawl, on 23rd September from 8 pm. The meeting point is Turing Tap. Also, don’t forget to register your interest in our upcoming workshops and GreatUniHack here. Become a member of UniCS today through the Students’ Union website.

GOOGLE DEVELOP STUDENT CLUBS.

Sambbhav Knare (Y2, CS4) writes: Google Developer Student Clubs are community groups for college and university students interested in Google developer technologies. Google Developer Student Clubs is a program supported by Google Developers. Our aim is to make learning fun and interesting for all students. We have planned a bunch of workshops for learning beyond classroom teaching. Prepare students for the Solution Challenges and build a community of developers who learn and grow together. Follow us on Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter | Discord to get updated. Visit our website and follow us for the latest events.

WELCOME WEEK ACTIVITIES.

There are a number of activities scheduled for Welcome Week. You can find out more in the CS UG Community Blackboard space. There are welcome talks scheduled as follows:

Year 1: Tuesday 20th Sept, 3 - 5pm, Thursday 22nd Sept, 12- 2pm, Simon Building Lecture Theatre E (building 50 on the campus map)
Year 2: Tuesday 20th Sept 3 - 5pm, University Place Lecture Theatre B (building 30 on the campus map)
Year 3: Thursday 22nd Sept, 2pm, Simon Building Lecture Theatre E (building 50 on the campus map)
Year 4: Wednesday 21st Sept, 11am - 12pm, IT407 (building 40 on the campus map)

There will be other activities scheduled throughout the week, for example 1st year Intro Labs and COMP10120 Workshops, and some activities arranged specifically for students on the CM and HCI degree programmes, so please check whats happening for year group in Blackboard (see the relevant Year folder to the left).

REGISTER FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR.

All students must register for the 2022/23 academic year on the student system by the 30th September. See the “get ready” welcome pages for further information.

COURSE UNIT SELECTION.

VIRTUAL MACHINE IMAGE.

As we are now fully back on campus, then we will not be providing a VM image moving forward. All machines in the Kilburn building are available for you to use and have been updated to a more recent version of Linux (Ubuntu 20.04 LTS).

SCAVENGER HUNT.

Are you a first-year student? With the help of PASS1 we are organizing a scavenger hunt throughout the whole campus. This is an excellent opportunity to familiarize yourselves with the university buildings and make some new friends from your course. Participate individually or in teams with friends! There is no need to register anywhere. Just show up on the day at the starting point - Kilburn LF area. We have two slots available during the week and you can drop in whenever as long as you finish in time. Come explore on Tuesday 1pm-3pm or Thursday 3pm-5pm at Kilburn LF area. Rewards? The friends we made along the way...NO. WE GOT CANDY. A lot of it. For more information and to keep up with news in CompSci follow our Instagram page at uomcompsci . See you there!

NOMINATE YOURSELF TO BECOME A STUDENT REP.

Gather feedback – work with staff – affect positive change! Develop your collaborative working, communication and leadership skills, and take a step towards achieving a Stellify award. As a student rep, you represent the students on your degree programme and work with staff to positively shape and change the university experience for your peers. As a member of the Student - Staff Liaison Committee (SSLC) you will work with staff and provide invaluable feedback from students about what's going well & what needs to be improved. We have got our complement of 2nd year nominations and are specifically interested in receiving nominations from 1st, 3rd and 4th year students. To nominate yourself, follow this link, or use the QR code below, and complete the form. Depending on how many nominations are received, we may hold an election to allow the students to decide who should be your rep or we may appoint all those students who nominated themselves. The deadline is the 28th September 2022, so please nominate yourself NOW if you are interested. If you want any further information then contact Tom Carroll, the Chair of SSLC.

CELEBRATING MANCHESTER COMPUTING LANDMARKS.

In June, the Department hosted an event to celebrate the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) History Committee approving two IEEE Milestone Awards for major developments that took place in Manchester: the “Baby” Computer and its Derivatives, 1948 - 1962; and the Atlas Computer and the Invention of Virtual Memory 1957 - 1962. The Baby and Atlas milsteones are the 17th and 18th (of 18) to be awarded in the UK and Republic of Ireland. As a permanent reminder of these achievements, two bronze plaques have been installed. The plaque celebrating the Baby can be found on the back wall of Coupland 1 on Bridgeford Street, which is on the outside wall of the room where the Baby was built. The plaque for Atlas, will be placed on the entrance to the Zochonis building, where Atlas was invented and the working machine installed on the 3rd floor in December 1962. You can watch the video of the full event here. If you are interested in reading the cases made for these awards, you can read them for Baby and Atlas. A paper on the Atlas supervisor (OS) and virtual memory can be found here.

DEPARTMENT MUSEUM.

To coincide with the IEEE Milestone event, the Department has had the museum on the first floor of Kilburn (outside Atlas and Mercury) refurbished. Here, we document some of the key development in the history of computing at Manchester. Thanks to Prof Jim Miles for spending countless hours putting the exhibits and displays together. Why not visit and have a look!

NEW COLLABORATIVE STUDENT SPACE.

Over the summer the Department had the rooms LF5, 6 and 8 in the lower first area redeveloped into one lab space. The new space has a glass front which allows natural light into the lower first floor area and opening windows (so no more musty smell!). The room has four collaborative working pods (three for 6 people and one for 4 people) as well as 14 PCs. We are still finishing off the installation of the PCs, but hope to have the room completed soon. This room will not be timetabled for teaching activities, so is free for students to use throughout the year.

BYTE CAFE.

Those who were with us last year will know that the Byte cafe has been closed since the COVID lockdown, and there were no plans for it to reopen. So, over the summer we have had this space refurbished, with the three vending machines moved into this area. We have also introduced a kettle and a microwave for you to use. Please keep this area clean.

LF AREA.

We have made some changes to the Kilburn lower first (LF) area to provide some more social seating for you to use. You may also notice a strange box outside LF31. What is it? Well, it’s a (semi) soundproofed acoustic pod, where you can have private discussions, Teams/Zoom meetings, or have video interviews. There’s no need to book it, just use it when necessary.

LIBRARY.

This from Gemma Smith: Get Started – support from the Library. The Library is here to support your learning throughout your University experience. We provide you with:

Access to resources like books, journals and databases
Training to help you success in your studies
Spaces to study if you’re on campus
Help and support, including IT support

You can also attend an online drop-in session or visit us on campus to learn about using the Library from our friendly team:

Textbook Rescue: Get a free, pre-owned textbook for your subject donated by last year’s departing students. Visit the Main Library from 10am on Wednesday, 21 September. First come, first served.
Chat with Library staff: Visit our Get Started stand at the Main Library to chat to our friendly staff about how the Library can support your studies. Find us in the Main Library foyer from 11am-3pm, Monday-Friday (19 September-7 October).

Find out more:

Get Started with the Library

For further help see our Library Help pages or talk to us via LibraryChat.

SOMETHING TO SHARE?

The deadline for sending in Monday Mail items: 14:00 every Friday. Just contact Paul.

Welcome to Gareth’s Puzzle Corner, where every week Gareth Henshall will provide you with a weekly fix of brain teasers and logic puzzles. This week, you are given 4 different puzzles to tackle: one is an easier Sudoku, the second is a more challenging Sudoku, the third is a different form of logic puzzle and finally we have a chess puzzle for you. I hope you enjoy the puzzles and if you have any puzzles you wish to feature or ideas for Puzzle Corner then please get in touch.

Easier Sudoku - Classic Sudoku by sudoku.com

Normal sudoku rules apply.

Challenging Sudoku - Two Given Digits by Dipak R

Normal sudoku rules apply. Cells separated by X must contain digits summing to 10; cells separated by V must contain digits summing to 5. Not all possible Xs/Vs are given. Digits along an arrow must sum to the circled value. There are no repeated digits on the marked diagonal.

Bonus Puzzle - Star Battle by puzzlemadness.co.uk

The aim of this particular Star Battle puzzle is to insert one star in to every row, column, and region. Stars can't be adjacent horizontally, vertically or diagonally.

Chess Puzzle - Golsta Vs. Koellnew, 2020

Drag and drop the Black pieces to draw the chess match.