Asidua

Matthew

I am studying Computer Science at Queens University Belfast.

I decided to choose Computer Science because after using programming in my A-Level coursework, I wanted to be able to continue learning how to write code and learn new programming languages. I feel very privileged to have been awarded with an Asidua scholarship. It is a brilliant opportunity and I am grateful for the help that Asidua has given me so far.

If you want to learn more about my experiences in Asidua, please read my regular blog updates below…

25th February 2011
I have returned back to university since my last blog entry, but I was fortunate enough that Asidua let me keep working on a part time basis. One of my days at university was quite light, so this meant that I could go to class, and then come in to Asidua. I was also provided with a laptop so that I could do some of my work from home. This was really flexible so I didn’t find it too hard to juggle my university and Asidua work.

My summer placement really helped me to do my university assignments, in particular my Games Programming module. This module was 100% coursework, in the form of a game, but it is marked on the quality of the code, so my time at Asidua really helped me to understand object orientated programming and apply it to the game.

In second year, we have to look for our placements for third year, but because of my scholarship I don’t have to! This took the pressure off and let me concentrate on my work.

 

16th August 2010
This week I started to make improvements to the client based on the feedback from last week’s meeting. We had some screenshots to get ready for a presentation so there was a big rush to get everything sorted. Thankfully we got them finished with time to spare!

 

9th August 2010
This week I continued to work on the mobile client. I had to start giving the application some visual branding for the customer. We had another meeting with members of the Asidua GB staff so that we could get some feedback on what they thought, and they gave us some advice on how the client could be improved further. Also this week was the Asidua family BBQ, it was a really good night and was made even better by the fact that Asidua paid for all the burgers!

 

4th August 2010
This week, I was continuing on with my tasks for the mobile client. I had some interesting tasks, like making use of the device’s camera and GPS. This week our team is giving a walkthrough of the client to some members of the Asidua GB team. This will involve sharing a desktop of one of our computers so that they can see the simulator, we are also using a webcam to show the actual device as well. It will be interesting to get some feedback from people about changes or improvements that could be made.
Our team is getting closer to getting each person’s tasks to integrate into a complete system, which is encouraging to see. Let’s hope everything works the way it is supposed to!

 

26th July 2010
This week I started to work on the mobile client. One of my team members, Brent, was now working on server-side development, so I was asked to continue on with the client. Although this could sometimes be challenging, it was really rewarding to see it working the way it was supposed to! We now have a blackberry, so it was nice to see the program on an actual device. The tasks that I had to complete were assigned to me by JIRA, a task management program. This made it really easy to see what I had to do.

 

16th July 2010
Over the first few weeks with Asidua I have had various inductions about the company. On my first day I met the team that I would be working with over the next few months of my summer placement. I had to set up my computer for development and read over the projects specification. My line manager gave me a task of creating a testing environment, using Java, that would pass commands to a simulator and save the result. After studying java in my first year at Queen’s I already knew the basics, but this task required me to know a bit more, while working on the program I felt like I had learnt more java in my first week with Asidua than I had in a whole year at Queen’s. If my lecturer is reading this, I’m only joking! I have enjoyed my time with Asidua so far and look forward to the weeks ahead.

 

1st July 2010
I have really enjoyed my first few weeks with Asidua and  even though I have only been here for a short time, I feel that I have already learnt a lot.