Hackstart 2017 @ UCL
Yesterday my mentor and I attended an event aimed at anyone thinking about/ interested in Computer Science, hosted by the TechSoc at UCL. I found out about this event and similar ones via Eventbrite, which is great for searching subject specific events ranging from Sci&Tech to Health and Fitness. I’ve found loooadsss of great meet-ups through this ^_^
I set out to leave my house on time, which I did...but i somehow always manage to get lost -__- After trekking back and forth down the long roads of the uni buildings in the early spring heat, I finally made it- sweating, panting and more than slightly out of breath. After being joined by my mentor, the day began! ^_^
- a timetable layout of the day. I was in group C (beginners)
Session one: Music on Raspberry Pi
After being separated into our groups we were all lead out into a computer room, where we began our first session: ‘Music on Raspberry Pi’. We used an open-source programming environment ‘Sonic Pi’ to create, as the title suggests, music. The program was really informative, with tutorials written very well for a beginner.
I picked it up quite quickly and played around with some beats; my mentor also had a few tries and together we managed to make a pretty cool looping four beat track ^__^ Anyone looking for an up-and-coming DJ hit me up (▀̿Ĺ̯▀̿ ̿) I’m definitely downloading the program and trying out new projects at home!
Session two: How the Internet works
‘How the Internet works’ was the next session, a one hour presentation by a student who delved into the magic behind websites and computers, and how code is written to build these. It was a really informative session and I visibly remember my jaw dropping at one instance where he showed us the many layers of a simple web page. Mind=Blown. We were given the chance to ask him some questions towards the end, and I learned about why he chose computer science at uni, advice on UCAS applications and side projects, as well as many resources to visit to enhance our coding knowledge, in particular djangogirls and freecodecamp.
- close up of a network of servers... 100s of 1000s!
Session three: The next tech revolution? An intro to Quantum computing
This talk opened up the ideas of conventional computers versus quantum computers, where the latter uses quantum mechanics produce a much more efficient computer that is able to do many calculations at once- much more than the conventional. Since this was only a short session we couldn’t really go into depth, but she did a great job in laying out the basic ideas. In the q&a session I learned that this type of computing is still undergoing much research, and that Toshiba had some already produced and being tested. One thing we all found quite intriguing was trying to visualise what a quantum computer might look like. Our host told us she had even tried googling ‘Quantum Computer’ but alas nothing could be found. Who knows? Maybe in 20 years we’ll find out ◔ ⌣ ◔
- a company that faced much controversy after claiming to have Quantum Computers at a press conference, yet failing to produce them
Session four: How is it being a computer science student?
The final talk I attended was hosted by another student in his second year of computer science. This talk was mostly aimed at encouraging all of us that attended to pursue computer science at university. We were given advice that I found extremely valuable; right from UCAS applications and making our personal statements stand out, to finding jobs and internships during uni, to post-uni career advice. Here are some notes I made during the talk that stood out to me the most:
computer science has a huge support network- online communities, open courses, events, panels, blogs (─‿‿─) etc
80% of tech jobs are unposted- meaning connections and doing your own research is key when looking for opportunities to join companies (linkedIn!)
hackathons are some of the best ways to develop your coding skills- they’re open to beginners, free, and so is the SWAG ^__^
computer science is used in everything, from finance to medicine
He also gave us some great tips that he’d give to his younger self, some of which include making the most of online resources, reaching out to people, building your CV and doing your own personal projects. This session was extremely informative and though his enthusiasm and passion I came out of the talk feeling honestly inspired and motivated!