Stannies student attends University of Sydney’s National Computer Science School
Every year, the National Computer Science School at the University of Sydney holds a summer school for a group of students from across the country that are interested and competent in Computer science, software development and robotics. In January this year, the school was held for its 15th year. This year Mark Brodie, winner of the Computing Studies Faculty Award for placing first overall in Preliminary Software Design and Development Course also attended.
The school consisted of around 70 students from across the nation, most of whom had just completed year 11 and some who had just finished year 12. The school was held over 10 days at the University of Sydney, with a number of undergraduates and postgraduates from the university volunteering their time to teach the school. The school consisted of students being divided into 6 groups, 4 of which over the course of the school, developed web pages and web applications, and eventually making a facebook-like social networking site. The websites were designed and created with a variety of programming languages including Python, CSS, SQL, JavaScript and HTML. The other 2 groups worked with embedded systems, or robotics as it is more commonly known. The robots used were similar to commercially available Roomba Vacuum Cleaners, but without the vacuum unit. The Students were required to make these robots perform advanced tasks, implementing complex search algorithms and infrared communication in order to make the robots perform goals simultaneously. The school was a great learning experience for all involved, with even the most advanced students present learning a great deal from the tasks required.
The Stannies Computing Faculty hopes to continue its involvement with the NCSS in the years to come through the Computing Studies Faculty Award winner.
Mr Shane Thurston