Runshaw College recently welcomed special guest speakers to join in with Runshaw’s ICT and computing conference – to the delight of both our students and staff.
The conference consisted of five guest speakers from across the computing industry, speaking to current students about their career journey, and how to prepare for life after college. Emily Graham, currently a 2nd year A-Level Computer Science student at Runshaw, talked about the first steps towards Cyber Security and how students can improve their knowledge through self study initiatives, work experience opportunities and future career pathways.
Having completed 2 years of his Computer Games Development course at UCLan, Cal Messenger secured a much sought-after sandwich year placement with Unity in Brighton. Cal spoke about his university projects, his six week placement in Vietnam and what students can do to get noticed.
Kelly Widdicks left Runshaw seven years ago to complete a degree in Computer Science at Lancaster University. She returned to talk about how she continued to post-graduate study and will shortly complete her PhD. Dr Barry Porter and Kirsty Holcroft also talked to students about the university, the Computer Science degree and gave tips on how to successfully apply.
Megan Pearson left Runshaw in 2018, having studied 4 A-Levels including Computer Science. Declining an offer from Warwick University, Megan chose to follow a degree apprenticeship pathway in Software Engineering with BAE. Megan spoke to Runshaw students about the application process, what to expect if they are accepted and some of the exciting projects that Megan has worked on.
Max Stevenson also left Runshaw in 2018, seeking an apprenticeship in Cyber Security. Max discussed his pathway into the profession, some of his experiences so far and proceeded to shock students with a demonstration of a simple laptop hack into a password list and a webcam.
Students who attended the conference got a lot out of it, “I liked how there was a range of speakers from different areas in computer science and that some were for apprenticeships and others about university, which really shows that there are more options out there than just university. This really made me think about my own options”.
The course tutors were delighted with each speaker, rounding off a successful conference. We thank all of our speakers for visiting the college and we wish them continued success in their area of work.
