Dissertation
Here's what I did for my MSc dissertation
Major Project
Here's what I did for my BSc Major Project
FOSDEM
During my time at university, I was an active member of both AberCompSoc and the BCS. A highlight during my time there was attending FOSDEM (Free and Open Source Software Developers' European Meeting) in Brussels.
I attended in 2017, 2018, and 2020—only missing 2019 while away on my Industrial Year. Beyond just attending talks, many members of AberCompSoc who went with us had attended previously and were volunteers who helped run the event and convinced us to help out, I still have the t-shirts to this day. Helping with the logistics of such a massive, community-driven conference provided a unique "behind-the-scenes" perspective and a real sense of contribution to the FOSS movement. Of course, it wasn't all work; following the "official" tradition of the FOSDEM Beer Event at Delirium, we also had time to explore Brussels itself which was always a fun time.
SailBot
AberSailBot is the student-led robotic sailing team, founded around 2012 by a small group of undergraduates and has since become a staple of the CompSci department.
I helped work on this during my time at University, specifically working on the boat known as "Kitty", however I sadly never got a chance to attend any of the competitions that were held. The boats were my first ever exposure to microcontrollers and embedded systems, which turned out pretty helpful as they both turned up again at various points in my Uni course, particularly the robotics sections.
This was also my first encounter with Python. Coming from a Java background in Sixth Form, I was struck by how intuitive Python was, especially considering I was dealing with something completely out of my wheelhouse, having never touched an embedded system before, never mind an entire autonomous sailing boat. That early exposure was so impactful that it ultimately led me to choose Python as the primary language for my Major Project and Dissertation, as with those I was again dealing with something I hadn't touched before, and it proved to be the right choice.
