Computing within Northamptonshire is dynamic with interests in many aspects of computing and engineering. All views are the author and the site is the property of the author.
Showing posts with label BCS Northampton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BCS Northampton. Show all posts
On 12th March 2018 two members, Dr Ali Al-Sherbaz and Dr Scott Turner of the University of Northampton's Computing team presented a session for the BCS Northampton group and the wider public on Blockchain. During the presentation some of the work that has been happening at the University ( https://computingnorthampton.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/bcs-northampton-blockchain.html) including work from both staff and students was used as a vehicle for discussion. A lively, enjoyable and engaging discussion happened; with various members of the audience raising their views on blockchain and bitcoin, and where they felt the future of this technology lay. Below are the slides from the session:
Computing undergraduates from the University of Northampton have been recognised for their work with awards from a prestigious society.
Ten students received awards during the Northampton British Computing Society branch annual general meeting, which was held at Avenue Campus on Tuesday 3 October.
Gary Hill, Head of Computing at the University, said: “I’m proud that our students are receiving awards for their achievements from the British Computer Society and HMGCC.
“To have such an award win on their CVs will help to give them a competitive edge when they embark on their chosen careers.”
Jan Jaworski, left, and Ohood Sabr
The award winners were:
Best first year student – Jan Jaworski
Best final year student – Ohood Sabr
Best Barclaycard Business-related dissertation – Kelly-Nicole Maitland-Coffin
University of Babylon MSc scholarships – Ohood Sabr and Mustafa Altameemi
HMGCC (Her Majesty’s Government Communications Centre) awards were also presented during the evening to the following:
Best dissertation – Warren Haskins
Best group project – Aleexa Cresta, Mahbub Haque, Saifur Rahman, Tomas Taujanskas and Tobi Ayilara. Pictured below.
All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with. Twitter: @scottturneruon
BCS Northampton Branch & University of Northampton
BCS Young Professionals Information Security Group
present
Advanced Penetration Testing Bootcamp (201)
Do you think you have the skills to work as a white hat hacker? Does the idea of penetration testing applications and infrastructure and learning the techniques for breaking into systems seem to be your ideal career?
If you are a student in IT or you have experience as IT or Security professional, and maybe already know the difference between Nmap, MetaSploit and Burp, then this could be the event for you!
A one day advanced penetration testing bootcamp, starting with how to develop a career in penetration testing, reviewing the methodology involved and getting close up with the tools used by professional ethical hackers. The event has hands-on sessions with theory and labs.
Please note this opportunity is only open to a maximum of 40 attendees early booking is advised.
Since this course is advanced due to the technical topics and tools covered, to leverage full value and be able to keep up with the pace during the day, strongly recommend and invite those who have previous experience within IT Security, ethical hacking and/or have prior experience of working with Linux, web applications, databases, and network protocols to register early.
Soft copies of materials will be provided after the event. Make sure you bring your laptop with Kali Linux preinstalled or live bootable and able to connect to wifi!
Joining instructions will be provided on registration few days prior to the event.
Global Cyber security leader Forcepoint released its 2017 Cyber security Predictions Report last month.
This year's report examines the increasing convergence of the technological and the physical worlds and the long term implications of this new digital ecosystem on organizations and institutions worldwide
Cyber security experts from Forcepoint and Raytheon collaborated to develop these predictions.
Scott Bullock Forcepoint's Cloud Trust Officer will present an overview of the predictions along with an analysis of how well Forcepoint performed last year. Scott is a member of Northampton BCS Group Committee.
Location
Rm 205
Newton Building
University of Northampton
NN2 6JB
All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with. Twitter: @scottturneruon
10th November 2016 - All Quiet on the Ethical Front: Behaviour and Professionalism in Project Management
Room NW205 Newton Building, Northampton University
Speaker: Brendan D'Cruz
Alistair Godbold stated in an article entitled Are You an Ethically Mature Project Manager? (APM Blog, July 2014): As our projects become more complicated and complex, and our activities span many countries and cultures through the supply chain or during roll out, the potential for conflict and differences on ethical views increases. The range of stakeholders we deal with is becoming wider; project initiators, investors, policy makers, sponsors, project leaders, members of project teams - all of whom are likely to face a broad range of issues. In many instances the managerial problems we used to face as technical challenges now often have an ethical dimension requiring reflection on individual or communal values. There is also the increasing importance of the long-term reputation of the business to consider which is becoming increasingly important.
This interactive session will explore how the issues of ethics, professionalism and compliance are being dealt with by professional bodies, and what this means for individuals operating at the front when delivering projects, programmes and business solutions. In particular, the session will consider:
* Codes of conduct - do they really mean anything?
* Competence standards - are they appropriate, and how can you evidence them?
* Project corruption - what is it and why does it matter?
* Professional behaviour - what are they, and how can they be enhanced?
* IT-enabled change initiatives - are we doing the right things right?
* A series of ethical dilemmas will be presented to participants during the session, and there may be occasional context and imagery derived from the First World War.
Arrive 7pm for drinks and biscuits, with 7:30pm start
All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with. Twitter: @scottturneruon
Computing undergraduates from the University of Northampton have been recognised for their work with awards from two prestigious bodies.
Ten students received awards during the Northampton British Computing Society branch annual general meeting, which was held at Avenue Campus on Thursday 29 September.
Gongs were awarded by the British Computing Society (BCS) and HM Government Communications Centre (HMGCC)
Gary Hill, Head of Computing at the University, said: “I’m proud that our students have been recognised for their achievements from the British Computer Society and HMGCC.
“To have such an award win on their CVs will help to give them a competitive edge when they embark on their chosen careers.”
The award winners were:
BCS Best Computing 1st Year Award – Oloruntobi Abimbola Ayilara
BCS Best Computing Student Performance Prize – William Hurer-Mackay
BCS Best Business Computing 1st Year Award – Florin-Sebastian Ciobanu
BCS Best Business Computing Student Performance Prize – Souad McFarlane
HMGCC Best Dissertation Prize – Riyam Khalid Kareem Marjan
HMGCC Best Group Project Prize – Doaa Mundher Dalal Al-Midhatee, Gideon Awuah, Solomon Green, Ohood Hazim Sabr Sabr and Sana Ullah.
All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with. Twitter: @scottturneruon
Location: Room NW205 of The Newton Building at The University of Northampton, Avenue Campus, St Georges Avenue, Northampton, NN2 6JB 7pm
Agenda
* AGM
* Election of Officers
* Briefing regarding proposed training events on a Tuesday night
Want to join the Committee? A general member is a good way to start However if you have previous experience you may be interested in one of the other posts. Take a look at the various posts and requirements, and if you are interested please get in touch with the Northampton Group. Roles for Committee Members The following two mandatory roles must be filled by two separate individuals. All other roles and suggested activities, may be shared amongst committee members as they see fit. The activities suggested for non-mandatory roles are indicative only. MANDATORY ROLES Chair Must be a professional member of BCS (MBCS/FBCS) Responsible for the supervision of all matters concerning the effective leadership of the Member Group. Chairs all general (AGMs and EGMs) and committee meetings. Prepares the Chair’s Report for each AGM. Ensures the formulation of strategies for the committee and implements appropriate actions to achieve the strategic goals. Treasurer Must be a professional member of BCS (MBCS/FBCS) Prepares annual budget and potential project funding each year. Responsibility to the Member Group Committee for the Member Group funds and any other appropriate financial business. Reports at fixed intervals to Member Group Committee. Submits income and expenditure statements produced by BCS Finance for the AGM. Deals with payments and receipts to and from operational budget and liaises with BCS Swindon necessary. Notifies, through Member Groups Team (groups@bcs.uk), any forecast overspend together with (a) circumstances leading to this position and (b) proposed action plan to resolve the situation. At least 3 other (General) Committee members. (Can carry out some of the roles listed below.) Helps runs the group generally. Deputise for other officers as required. Particularly required for helping to establish the season’s programme. RECOMMENDED ROLES The following roles are covered by the committee, whether by an individual or shared alongside another role. Secretary Gives due notice of all general meetings (AGMs and EGMs) to all group members. Gives due notice of committee vacancies to all group members. Arranges suitable locations for committee meetings. Prepares and issues agenda for all general meetings and committee meetings. Records the minutes of all general meetings and committee meetings Sends a digital copy of each set of approved minutes to the Member Groups Team on groups@bcs.uk. Handles correspondence between Member Groups Team and the Member Group. Maintains committee address list, via the Member Groups Team on groups@bcs.uk. Membership Secretary Must be a professional member of BCS (MBCS/FBCS) Welcomes new members and distributes information on forthcoming events and other introductory information. Encourages individuals who have enquired about membership to join. Co-ordinates the recruitment of IT professionals at Member Group events and through other methods, using member data provided on the group committee secure area Records attendance numbers at events and sends numbers through to the Member Groups Team on groups@bcs.uk Co-ordinates a list of non-member attendees. Maintains a database of key contacts to facilitate the distribution of publicity material and other information. Must comply with BCS Data Protection Guidelines. Email Coordinator Acts as a focal point to distribute emails to Member Group members (e.g. notifying them of forthcoming events) using the BCS List Server facility. Can be asked to send emails to own group members by other groups. Distributes information regularly to an established network of contacts. Webmaster Non-CMS: Creates and maintains the group website, liaising with BCS Web Team (webteamcms@hq.bcs.org.uk) over the various methods. Non-CMS: Either posts content to the website or provides access to committee members to post their own content. CMS sites: Sends through to BCS Web Team (webteamcms@hq.bcs.org.uk) amendments for the Member Group website. The Webmaster may also facilitate the use of other online channels for publishing events – such as social media, discussion forums – or the Member Group may have a separate ‘Social Media Officer’ to do this. Publicity Officer Ensures maximum coverage of group events, both before and after they occur. Writes copy for media on Member Group activities. Ensures all Group events are included in the BCS Diary. Liaises with local press and radio. Organise mail shots, programme cards, posters, etc. Young Professional Group (YPG) Representative Liaises between the Member Group Committee and the YPG Executive Committee, as well as representing the views of young professionals within the Member Group.
Arranges and publicises YPG events, provides details of special offers and YPG projects. Creates local Student chapters within local universities. Attends YPG Congress on behalf of the Member Group Committee. Liaises with other Member Group YPG Representatives. Events Coordinator / Programme Card Coordinator Puts the season’s event programme together Makes administrative and logistical arrangements for the events, including venue, catering etc. using the BCS Events Booking System where appropriate. OTHER OPTIONAL ROLES The following roles are optional. Education Liaison Officer Corresponds with universities, colleges and schools, with a possibility to set up Student Prizes in the area. Organises suitable events to represent the BCS in local schools and colleges, such as careers evenings, or attends those organised by local schools and Careers Offices. Disability Support Officer Acts as a focus for local initiatives and actions where the use IT is to the benefit of disabled people. Identifies and organises events to increase the awareness and understanding of the IT industry towards the needs of the disabled. Industry Liaison Officer Liaises with local companies and any local representative bodies such as the Chamber of Commerce Liaises with local public sector bodies and other organisations such as charities, in order to promote the BCS and professionalism in IT, particularly as it relates to the local context and the branch. Promotes Member Group activities and encourages suggestions for events; facilitating BCS membership enquiries and assisting with awareness of BCS products and services. Social Media Officer Engages with members, potential members and other organisations and groups using social media. Uses social media to advertise events.
If you'd like to find out more about Computing at the University of Northampton go to: www.computing.northampton.ac.uk. All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with
IVR Part 2 - Understanding the development technology
Avenue Campus, University of Northampton
7pm starting at 7:30pm
With the advent of VOIP and VoiceXML, the IVR and speech industry now shares much of its architecture with that of the Web industry, and it is now possible to write a single application and deliver its functionality via speech, mobile app or Web browser, or for a user to start a transaction with one technology and complete it via another. These are exciting times for converged technologies.
Despite this convergence and advances within the industry, the speech channel still presents some challenges to users. Touch-tone IVR systems are widely considered to be unpopular, and now seem outdated, and guided speech recognition is often parodied for having a limited ability to understand its users. The Holy Grail of speech automation is Natural Language Understanding, which allows users to speak to the computer as if speaking to a human operator, but how natural is it to interact with a computer using voice, rather than, say, a Web browser, and what particular problems does this mode of interaction present to the user?
How to find Avenue Campus
If you'd like to find out more about Computing at the University of Northampton go to: www.computing.northampton.ac.uk. All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with
If you'd like to find out more about Computing at the University of Northampton go to: www.computing.northampton.ac.uk. All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with
Annual General Meeting of the Northampton Branch of the BCS, which will be held on Tuesday 29th Sept at University of Northampton, Newton Building, NN2 6JB, 7pm to 9pm
All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with
Taken from: http://northampton.bcs.org/events.php?menu_id=4
Doors open at 10.30am for an 11.00am start
You are warmly invited to take part in a Family Day in July at Bletchley Parks National Museum of Computing (TNMOC) on Sunday 19 July. Bring all the family – there will be activities suitable for children of all ages.
This event is for members of BCS Bedford and Northampton branches and their families.
TNMOC enables visitors to follow the development of computing from the ultra-secret pioneering efforts of the 1940s through the mainframes of the 1960s and 1970s, and the rise of personal computing in the 1980s - including a newly rebuilt and fully operational Colossus, the world’s first electronic programmable computer.
TNMOC receives no government or lottery funding and you will be impressed by the enthusiasm of the staff involved in the project including the many volunteers who regularly give up their valuable time to ensure that this ever growing collection is restored and maintained.
It would be a good idea to register NOW since the number is limited to a maximum of 50 (25 people from each branch) and the event is heavily subsidised by the BCS. Note that children below the age of 6 years are welcome but will not be included in these numbers (but we still need their details for catering purposes). The cost per person (6 years and over) for the whole day is £10 and this includes a finger/sandwich buffet lunch. Registration is only available to BCS members.
A base room will be made available for use during the day with tea, coffee and water freely available all day. The LEGO will be kept in this room so that those who do not complete the competition in the morning will have the opportunity to try it in the afternoon.
If you'd like to find out more about Computing at the University of Northampton go to: www.computing.northampton.ac.uk. All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with
This is free to all BCS members , but the number of places is
strictly limited to 30! To book a
place use the following link. https://events.bcs.org/book/1608/
Do you think you have the skills to work as a white hat
hacker?
Does the
idea of penetration testing applications and infrastructure and learning the
techniques for breaking into systems seem to be your ideal career? If you've
been working as a developer, in infrastructure or application support, and
maybe already know the difference between nmap, metasploit and sql injection,
then this could be the event for you! We are
running a one day overview of penetration testing, starting with how to develop
a career in penetration testing, reviewing the methodology involved and getting
close up with the tools used by professional ethical hackers. The event has
hands on sessions with theory and labs. Make sure you bring your laptop!
(Joining instructions will be provided on registration few days prior to the
event). Please
note this opportunity is only open to a maximum of 30 attendees, and that we
recommend only those who have a genuine interest in a penetration/ethical
hacking/security testing career, and have experience of working with web
applications, databases, and network protocols should register to leverage full
value from the content. Details on
Location and Branch http://northampton.bcs.org/events.php?menu_id=4
If you'd like to find out more about Computing at the University of Northampton go to: www.computing.northampton.ac.uk. All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with
Location: Room NW041 in The Newton Building, Avenue Campus, University Of Northampton, NN2 6JD Presenter: John Blackburn
Arrive at 10:00am for a 10:30am start. Finish 16:00 approx Follow up to successful VOIP presentation, take part in a workshop where we form into small workgroups to:
Install and configure a FreePBX (Asterisk) VOIP PBX to a Raspberry PI.
Install a physical VOIP phone and a lap top soft phone to connect to the PBX.
Form VOIP trunks to interconnect to other PI PBXs and make routed calls.
Configure a trunk to an external VOIP provider and make external calls.
If time allows, configure phone services and directories.
There
will be an initial presentation followed by the workshop tasks where
you can work your way step by step to a functioning private telephone
network. There will be advice and help throughout. If
possible, bring a laptop - the workshop will form attendees into 5
workgroups each working on their own small PBX configured using a
laptop. It is envisaged that there will be up to 5 attendees in each
workgroup.
If you'd like to find out more about Computing at the University of Northampton go to: www.computing.northampton.ac.uk. All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with
21st April 2015 - IT Service Management - Putting the theory into practice
Location: Room NW205 in The Newton Building, Avenue Campus, University Of Northampton, NN2 6JD
Presenters: Karl McCarthy
Duration 19:00 for 19:30 - 21:00
So, How relevant is traditional IT service management based on the ITIL framework today, with the advent of cloud computing and Software as a Service? Why is IT Service Management Important and how can it be practically applied; from military operational enterprise IT solutions to SME SaaS organisations?
Karl McCarthy will present a personal view on the practical application of the ITIL V3 framework for IT Service Management. With a particular look at IT Service Management use in a deployed Military Environment (for the full spectrum of support required in deployed operations) vs. an ITIL Lite application within the SaaS environment.
Karl McCarthy is the Head of UK Service Delivery for White Clarke Group in Milton Keynes, leading the professionalisation of the ITIL processes and framework for the organisation. Karl is a seasoned Information Systems (IS) and Communications Technology executive experienced in leading IS professionals, security minded architecture strategy and projects for the successful delivery of operations in the most demanding, hostile environments. A Chartered IT Professional and Fellow of the BCS with experience developed over a 25-year career as an Engineer and Officer in the Royal Air Force.
If you'd like to find out more about Computing at the University of Northampton go to: www.computing.northampton.ac.uk. All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with
If you'd like to find out more about Computing at the University of Northampton go to: www.computing.northampton.ac.uk. All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with
If you'd like to find out more about Computing at the University of Northampton go to: www.computing.northampton.ac.uk. All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with
Two parallel Raspberry Pi activities were run by the BCS Northampton branch at the Newton Building, University of Northampton, UK The first activity was aimed at generating interest in the use of of VOIP on the Raspberry PI and covered a number of topics:-
Outline of VOIP as a voice technology
Advantages of VOIP telephony for business and the consumer.
FreePBX on the Raspberry PI - build, configuration and usage.
Discussion of VOIP trunk technology, VOIP services.
Demo of a PI FreePBX system with two VOIP phones.
The second activity was aimed a beginners to the Raspberry Pi and was run by staff and a student from the Department of Computing and Immersive Technologies, University of Northampton. The central aim was, what can you do with that Raspberry Pi this half term? You brought a Raspberry Pi but
never got around to using it, what could you try? During this session some basic example
activities were shown.
Basic Scratch programming activity:- Bonfire Night Game. Create graphical stars and make them act like fireworks - shot across the screen, multiply, expand changing colours and then shrink
Scratch control of LEDs via a Raspberry Pi making two LEDs flash all under the control of a Scratch based program.
Junkbot program a robot made from a Raspberry Pi,
a drinks can, pens, and a motor and get it to draw (see the video below and http://junkbots.blogspot.co.uk/ for
more details)
The event attracted both members of the BCS and non-members (youngest two being 7 years old).
If you'd like to find out more about Computing at the University of Northampton go to: www.computing.northampton.ac.uk. All views and opinions are the author's and do not necessarily reflected those of any organisation they are associated with.
Location: Second Floor, Newton Building, University of Northampton, NN2 6JD
Duration - 15 to 20 minutes
Aim: - to generate interest in the use of of VOIP on the Raspberry PI and, if sufficient interest is generated, to organize a more detailed workshop in the future.
Topics Covered:-
1. Outline of VOIP as a voice technology
2. Advantages of VOIP telephony for business and the consumer.
3. FreePBX on the Raspberry PI build, configuration and usage.
4. Discussion of VOIP trunk technology, VOIP services.
5. Demo of a PI FreePBX system with two VOIP phones.
Associate
Professor in Computing and Immersive Technologies, University of Northampton
Public
Engagement Ambassador and National STEM Ambassador
Date - 30th October 2014
Where- Second Floor, Newton Building,
University of Northampton NN2 6JB
Time
- 19:30-21:00
Aim - What
can you do with that Raspberry Pi this half term, you brought it but never
got around to using?
This is one of the two
Raspberry Pi focused parallel session being run on 30th October2014 by BCS Northampton.
In this session some basic example activities will be shown and facilitated. It
is an informal drop-in session, so come have a try at some simple programming
and control with the Raspberry Pi. All based around a fun, free programming
language Scratch (scratch.mit.edu).
Audience-
Beginners to
Raspberry Pi, including general public, members and non-members. Children are
welcome to this.
Example Activities-
1.Basic Scratch programming
activity:- Bonfire Night Game. Which can be done on either the Raspberry Pi or
PCs.
Students within Computing at the University of Northampton continue to shine. Here is a list of the prize winners for 2013-2014. Prizes are sponsored by
21st April 2015 - IT Service Management - Putting the theory into practice
Two parallel Raspberry Pi activities were run by the BCS Northampton branch at the Newton Building, University of Northampton, UK 
The central aim was, what can you do with that Raspberry Pi this half term? You brought a Raspberry Pi but
never got around to using it, what could you try?