Last term, I spoke to second year student Joe Boston about the BSc Creative Computing, his student project, and his plans for the future:<\/p>\n
Rose: Why Creative Computing? What made you choose this degree programme?<\/strong><\/p>\n Joe:<\/strong> When I was choosing my degree, I looked at other courses but I didn\u2019t want to do pure computer science. I\u2019ve always been interested in computers and the programming element was really important to me, but I also wanted to study for a degree that let me explore audio and visual components as part of that. This course is a lot more practical than other computer science programmes that I looked at, and I felt as though that would be better for my employment prospects because employers can see that you can apply what you have learned.<\/p>\n Rose: Can you tell me a bit about the projects you\u2019ve been working on?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n Joe:<\/strong> Ok. Some of these things have been part of assignments for the course but some of them are just things I\u2019ve been able to create because of the skills I\u2019ve learned over the last couple of years. I\u2019ve chosen to specialise in Android phone apps but really you can specialise in anything you want.<\/p>\n At the moment I\u2019m working on a game called \u2018Long Cat\u2019 which is based on an internet meme of the same name [Joe shows me \u2018Long Cat\u2019 in action on his phone \u2013 you can see a video of it here<\/a>]. I\u2019ve also been building a 3D logic game that plays around with different colour spaces. Nobody\u2019s done this in this way before so it\u2019s a new market. There\u2019s a video here<\/a>.<\/p>\n That\u2019s one of the things that\u2019s great about this course \u2013 by the end of your third year you\u2019re expected to have developed some software that\u2019s ready for the market so it\u2019s really good preparation.<\/p>\n Rose: So are you looking forward to your third year? Do you have a dissertation?<\/strong><\/p>\n Joe:<\/strong> I\u2019m looking forward to the 3rd<\/sup> year project. It\u2019s called Research and Development, so you do the research but whereas on other courses you\u2019re doing that research and writing it up, in R&D, it\u2019s really practical so it\u2019s a combination of learning and applying what you\u2019ve learned. Sometimes it\u2019s even doing something then learning how you\u2019ve actually done it. Creating your own software means learning from your own mistakes because you\u2019re not just learning the theory \u2013 you\u2019re learning how to apply it!<\/p>\n Rose: And after you\u2019ve finished the degree? Have you thought about what you want to do afterwards?<\/strong><\/p>\n Joe:<\/strong> I\u2019ve already had a few job offers! Even while I\u2019ve been studying I\u2019ve done paid work and built up a portfolio from the skills I\u2019ve learned on this degree so it\u2019s already benefitted me in that way. I think it comes from the focus of the degree being on learning things so proactively.<\/p>\n Rose: And if you were to tell prospective students about the degree, what would you say to them?<\/strong><\/p>\n Joe <\/strong>[laughs]: I\u2019d tell them to learn some Maths! No, the Maths isn\u2019t too challenging\u00a0 – you only learn what you need to be able to get on with the creative side \u2013 that\u2019s definitely the focus of this course. I\u2019d also tell them about all the programming languages this course has helped me learn! I think this department stays on top of what\u2019s new and makes sure they\u2019re always teaching up-to-date and relevant web technologies. They introduce new languages as they become prevalent in the industry and that was really important to me.<\/p>\n You can visit Joe\u2019s website here<\/a> or why not take a look at videos of his work on YouTube<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last term, I spoke to second year student Joe Boston about the BSc Creative Computing, his student project, and his plans for the future: Rose: Why Creative Computing? What made you choose this degree programme? Joe: When I was choosing my degree, I looked at other courses but I didn\u2019t want to do pure computer … Continue reading Student Interview: Joe Boston<\/span>