Graduate Student Profiles: Geraint North

Geraint North from Althorne in Essex, took A levels in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Chemistry, before studying for a degree in Software Engineering. He is now a project manager for Transitive, a University spin-off company.

"After making my university applications, I received offers from all the other major Computer Science universities, including Cambridge, but what really drew me to Manchester was that the school offered a great mix of classical computer science and up-to-date, practical engineering. The wide range of subject matter in the first year meant that we gained a lot of experience with corners of the discipline, such as functional programming and hardware design, that I'd never really experienced before. I also knew the city of Manchester quite well, as several of my close friends were already students there. I really liked the feel of the city and the great nightlife that it offered."

The choice of specifying my degree as Software Engineering, rather than Computer Science was a reflection of my intention to specialise in the field of software. The programme included some great courses provided by the Business School on Business Accounting and Law that I'm finding extremely useful now I'm working out in the real world. The sheer size of the school means that there is a huge range of different courses on offer.

For my year in industry, I worked for a Manchester-based software start-up called IBM Transitive, which is a spin off from the School of Computer Science. I'd recommend a year in industry to anyone - it's an opportunity to earn some money that certainly comes in useful in your final academic year, and also to get some industry experience that really does consolidate everything that you've learned in the first two years. Plus, going back to University after a year of industrial placements really does feel like a holiday! The Industrial Experience part of the course was very important to me - the industry moves fast, and the year spent in industry gave me insight into software development in the real world that made my third academic year all the more valuable.

The degree programme at Manchester ensured that I built a broad understanding of the fundamental aspects of computer science, which I could apply to any technologies that I would end up working with. The software industry moves so fast that a course that taught only the current hot technologies wouldn't be of much use to you five years down the line. This meant touching on some quite esoteric subjects, even in the first year, such as SML and LISP. Although very few people will find the concepts introduced in these programmes immediately applicable in their future careers, I've found that they taught me some alternative ways of thinking about software problems that have led me to solve them in pretty innovative ways. The effects of this kind of teaching, which gives you the mental tools to solve any problem that you come across lasts much longer than training on the specific tools of the day."

When I graduated I went straight back to Transitive, the university spin-off company that had provided me with my industrial placement and funded my third year project. The company was growing quickly, and a new business opportunity meant that two days after my graduation I was on a plane to California to turn a research project that I'd worked on in the previous year into a real product!

That was pretty exciting stuff - it was great to be working with an enthusiastic customer on something with which I was already an expert. Another engineer and myself spent two intensive weeks on-site at the customer's headquarters, working side-by-side with their engineers to get a prototype working.

I worked on the project for about a year, and several of the innovations that we developed have since become patents that bear my name. In June 2003 I was given the opportunity to lead IBM Transitive's new Software Reengineering group - a team of five engineers who had the responsibility for performing engineering work that would be beneficial to the increasingly large number of Transitive project teams. This was a great opportunity for me to get my first experience of management without completely moving away from the technical disciplines that I enjoyed so much.

In March 2004 IBM Transitive began a new customer engagement, and I took on the role of project manager. This meant that for the first time I was getting seriously involved in the business side of Transitive and was now running a team of 10 engineers. I still play a large technical role in the evolution of our technology and products, but what I now get in addition to that is the rush of seeing the project come together with a level of coordination that I helped to create.

The best thing about the University of Manchester is the variety of people that you meet. People come from all over the UK and the world to study at the University, and since the University is so large there's never any shortage of new and interesting people - I met my fiancée there! Another good thing is the amount of accommodation types available - there is a huge choice, spread over many sites across Manchester. This means that you can be right on top of the University if that suits you, or you can choose somewhere a bit quieter. Nightlife is equally broad, with pubs, clubs, cafes and restaurants catering for all tastes."