InfoLab21

InfoLab21 is pleased to welcome Daniel Garrett, the 100th Intern to join the Knowledge Business Centre’s (KBC) Graduate and Student Academy since it started in 2007.

The KBC employs students from the School of Computing and Communications and computing graduates from both Lancaster and farther afield to work on funded business support projects that help Northwest businesses grow.

Daniel is a Computer Science graduate from Lancaster’s School of Computing and Communications and says that his involvement with the KBC has enhanced his experience as a student and is now helping him further develop his skills in preparation for his dream career.

MSci Computer Science

Daniel came over from the Isle of Man in 2010 to do an MSci in Computer Science with Industrial Experience. “I chose Lancaster University because of its position in the UK Top 10 Universities and because of its very good Computing Department. I have always been interested in Computing and was the first student at my school to achieve 3 ICT GCSEs! It’s also not too far for me to get back home from here.” Daniel says.

Summer Placement Scheme

In summer 2013 Daniel joined InfoLab21’s Summer Placement Scheme where he spent eight weeks in the KBC developing a web portal for local company In Touch. In Touch headed the Smart Streets Hub, an ‘Internet of Things’ project funded by the Technology Strategy Board. The Smart Streets portal was to act as a medium for dissemination and collaboration for users of the hub.

Nick King, Business Development Manager at InfoLab21, said, “The project needed a dissemination and collaboration medium and it was extremely beneficial that Dan was able to investigate the platform options and carry out the configuration of the resulting system. Both the company and I were very impressed by the way Dan approached the work. He was professional and thorough and provided company focused solution that fully met the project brief.”

Industrial Experience

From January to March this year, for the Industrial Experience part of his MSci, Daniel worked for Tripod Software, a mobile and web applications development company based in InfoLab21. Tripod is itself made up of three Lancaster University graduates, all with postgraduate degrees in computer science.

“Working at Tripod really helped me develop my skills. It gave me the chance to learn PHP, I also worked on Android development and Project Management Software. The company was really supportive. ”

Matt Potts, one of the founders of Tripod and a former Analyst Developer at the KBC’s Academy said “It was great to have Dan on board for a few weeks, it was a learning process for us as well as him. Dan soon picked up on how we worked and was a fast learner when it came to processes and technologies that were new to him.”

ISIS Programme

Daniel has just graduated with a 2:1 in his MSci and since April this year he been working full time at the KBC as an Analyst Developer, helping companies develop and grow by working with them on digital projects through the ISIS programme.

The Analyst Developers work under the guidance of the Delivery Team Manager and three Technical Officers. Each Analyst Developer works with businesses on a variety of projects such as mobile or web applications, other software development, research reports or data analysis.

So far Daniel has completed a project for MK Illuminations, building some software using Cake PHP and Kinetic JavaScript which allows the company’s staff and customers to create technical drawings of Christmas light displays. “They have been very pleased with the work and are even sending some Chirstmas lights as a thankyou!” says Daniel.

“I have also started a further two projects one is using Swift IOS a new programming language for this year. This means I will be the only team member with this particular skill. One of the great things about working in the Academy is that we all have different areas of expertise and we are able to help and learn from each other.”

“It is a friendly, supportive place to work and gain good experience to go on to find further employment. A lot of places ask for one or two years’ experience before they will consider your application, so this is an ideal place to build up that relevant experience. The Summer Placement and the Industry Experience in the MSci have also contributed towards this.”

“Following my internship my ideal job would be in Mobile and Web Development back home on the Isle of Man. There is a big e-gaming industry on the Isle of Man so I am confident I will find some good opportunities in that area.”

Further information

To find out more about student/graduate employment opportunities at the KBC please contact Stewart Kember kembers@lancaster.ac.uk

To find out more about Business Support for your business please contact David Oliver d.a.oliver@lancaster.ac.uk or Saesela Razvi s.razvi@lancaster.ac.uk.

Tue 16 September 2014