Background

I arrived in the School of Computing Science as an undergraduate in 2001 following completion of the Year in Industry Scheme, during which I worked at Lite-On Ltd, Ashington. In Summer 2003, I undertook a STEP summer placement at Hepscott Water Systems Ltd.

On completion of my BSc in 2004, I began my PhD, supervised by Professor Paul Watson. My research project concerned distributed query processing in peer-to-peer database systems. I submitted my Thesis in October 2007 and from then until December 2008, worked as an RA, still in the field of P2P database systems. I was awarded my PhD in December 2008.

In January 2009, I began work on the CVR (Cardiovascular Risk) project. This involved writing a software tool called CV-Decide that could have been used by GPs to evaluate a patient's risk of cardiovascular disease and examine the effect of possible treatment options. CV-Decide was successfully piloted in participating practices within NHS South of Tyne & Wear in April 2011.

I have worked as a Teaching Assistant and later as a Teaching Fellow from mid-2009 onwards. I was promoted to Lecturer in August 2017.

My work in the Teaching Innovation Group has also interested me in research involving teaching styles and pedagogy. The "Teaching" tab on this page lists all the modules I'm currently involved in and also some of my additional responsibilities.

I won a Teaching Excellence Award in 2015 in the "Innovative Teaching Methods - SAgE" category.

In 2014, I was shortlisted for a Teaching Excellence Award in the "Innovative Teaching Methods" category.

I was the Computing Science administrator for the 2014 REF.

My office is USB 2.047 on the second floor of the Urban Sciences Building.

Teaching

I am the Stage 2 co-ordinator and also manage all demonstrating/practical issues for Stage 2 of our undergraduate programmes. Therefore, I may be found in many Stage 2 practicals.

I will also be teaching on the following modules during the current academic year:

CSC2021 Software Engineering,

CSC2022 Software Engineering Team Project,

CSC2024 Database Technology,

CSC2513 Database Systems (now taken by external students only), 

CSC8407 Project and Dissertation in e-Business (dissertation co-ordinator for those MSc EBIS students on the Information Systems stream doing their dissertation in the School of Computing Science). 

Additional Responsibilities: 

I also teach on the Computing strand of the Partners Assessed Summer School Programme and I like to get involved in outreach work if possible too such as undertaking some school visits to promote our degree courses.

I undertake placement visits to some of our students who are working in industry on their placement year.

I organise the Stage 1 campus treasure hunt, an induction activity.

I have instigated a connection with Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums which has seen them provide undergraduate dissertation project specifications. Any student interested in such a project, please look at the details provided in NESS and then please contact me for more information. 

 

Research

My work as a Teaching Fellow has interested me in research surrounding teaching styles & pedagogies.

I was a member of the CV-Decide project team, producing a software tool to communicate risk and assist in shared decision making for patients at a high risk of cardiovascular disease.

Publications