James Gregory - Full Interview

Name: James
From: Huddersfield
Degree: MEng Software Engineering

I´ve always enjoyed computing. I got my first computer at the age of ten and was particularly interested in finding out how it worked and trying some programming. A friend´s father was a software engineer and started me off on a few small programming tasks. I´ve been interested ever since.

I wasn´t initially going to apply to Sheffield. I´d never visited the city, and always thought I´d stay closer to home. However, I attended an open day and was just blown away by the department and facilities. Genesys was another key reason why I chose Sheffield – it provides a really unique opportunity to get some work experience alongside studying. I also like the fact that Sheffield doesn´t feel like a huge city. The University is close to the countryside and you can look out of the taller University buildings and see the Peak District.

I chose my particular course because I see Software Engineering as having an emphasis on actual programming, whereas Computer Science is more about the mathematical aspects of computing and the background research. I´m a very hands-on person and I like to concentrate on the more practical and less abstract side of computing.

Of my first year topics, object orientated programming was the most enjoyable. This involved writing in Java and I really enjoy just getting stuck in and coding something. I also picked a couple of optional topics from outside computing, one of which was on technical writing. It teaches you how to communicate technical information effectively – something I know will be useful for the future.

Software Hut is the one of the main focuses in the second year. Teams of four students undertake a project for a client. Software Hut is a scaled down model of how businesses work, and gives you your first experience of working through a project from the analysis stage, through to design and finally testing a finished product. My team had to design an interactive website. We also had to design it in such a way that the client could manage the administration of the site using simple web based functions, without needing any programming skills himself. It worked reasonably well and the client seemed pleased with the end result.

The first and second year of the degree are about learning the fundamentals skills that you need to know. In the third year you apply these skills to the areas that interest you most and almost half of your time is taken up with a project. I´ve just started my project and I´ve chosen to extend the functionality of the testing server. The programmes created for Software Hut are tested by submitting the programme script to a testing server which identifies if any faults are present. The current system is a bit basic so I´m going to be extending its functionality, add more testing environments and making it more user-friendly. Although you get some guidance on your project, you work much more independently than previously, and are expected to research much of the material yourself.

Apart from my course, I´m also involved in the Dancesport society - primarily doing Latin and ballroom dancing. We have two practice sessions a week and also take part in inter-varsity competitions against other Universities. We also host the biggest dance competition in the UK outside the nationals. Last year I was treasurer for the society and this year I´m in charge of publicity.