Computer Science in Action – Emmanuel Centre, London
Computer Science in Action was the ultimate enrichment day for our A Level Computer Science students. In five lively sessions, held at the Emmanuel Centre in London, experts from academia and industry explored relevant topics that complement the curriculum. Ellie, a SWPS Year 12 student, has written the following account of the the event.
We started the day with a very informative talk from Katrina Dargel, A User Experience (UX) Researcher, about Navigating UX Design. During this talk, we learnt about how important it is for software designers to consider the user experience when designing websites and applications. Next, Matthew Leeke, Professor and Head of Education in the School of Computer Science at The University of Birmingham, explored how machine learning and algorithms can help to solve some societal problems. He also gave an insight into the potential ethical and privacy issues this raises. Lyndsey Scott, a Software Engineer and coding educator, delivered an interesting talk about the ins-and-outs of designing apps. I never knew there were so many tricks that software engineers use to make apps work like magic, from making them accessible to making them safe from cyber-attacks, they think of everything to make the internet as inclusive as possible.
Later in the programme, we had the opportunity to hear about some useful tips for exams from Matthew Leeke, who writes exams himself. This will be really helpful when we come to revising for our A Levels. Finally, we had a mind-boggling talk from Nic Harrigan, who is a Quantum Scientist, about the quantum computing race and the basis of how these computers could function – I still don’t know how he pulled off his magic trick! The day was really interesting and inspiring.
– Ellie Year 12