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Michael

"I left Goldsmiths being able to program software to a level that is commercially viable, something that has been of great value in my professional life."

Main details

Year graduated 2012
Department Computing
Occupation Communications Engineer at Atkins
Country United Kingdom

"In February 2009 I left my job as a car sales executive, to look after my son who was 6 months old at the time. My fiancé then suggested that I have a look at higher education options. Due to a motorcycle accident in my final year, my A-level results were not great, so with help and support from my fiancé I contacted all my local colleges and universities to see what my options were.

Professor Mark d’Inverno at Goldsmiths was incredibly helpful and invited me to come down, look around the department and have a chat about which course would be suitable. As a mature student Mark said that I would be able to apply for a place on either the foundation computing course or one of the Honours degrees. I completed an aptitude test and after our chat Mark made me an unconditional offer of a place on the Computer Science BSc, which I happily accepted. I was also made an offer by another university, which is just around the corner from my house, but I found the research being carried out was far superior at Goldsmiths, which is something I feel is very important for a subject such as computing as it is a constantly evolving subject that requires you to be up-to-date with new developments.

Goldsmiths is not only up to date with current technology but often instrumental in its development. What I liked about my degree most was the opportunity to challenge myself on a daily basis. The teaching at Goldsmiths is exceptional; all the lecturers are incredibly knowledgeable in their field and are willing to spend time sharing that knowledge with you. 

I left Goldsmiths being able to program software to a level that is commercially viable, something that has been of great value in my professional life. In my final year at Goldsmiths I received a number of offers for places on graduate schemes with large companies such as IBM, GlaxoSmithKline, Hewlett Packard and Atkins – they were very impressed with the work I had done and I feel it was a real advantage that I attended Goldsmiths. When I left Goldsmiths I joined the Graduate Scheme at Atkins, the largest multi-disciplinary engineering firm in Europe. I’m now working as a Communications Engineer, working on projects for companies and governments. I’ve been involved in the design of special airport systems for the new Jeddah airport in Saudi Arabia and I am now working on the passenger authentication system that uses biometrics to identify passengers.

The thing I will always remember about my time at Goldsmiths is the fun I had. Although people at Goldsmiths are very focused, they all enjoy themselves. I look back on my time there as being fun. I remember laughing almost as much as I learnt!"

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