In our spotlight series, we showcase and celebrate our students! Dalen is a student on cohort-2 who is due to finish the course in the new year and fulfil a new digital role!
OS – What are your key achievements before coming into coding?
DC – I’ve recently completed a Masters in Psychology from the University of Nottingham. This year marks my tenth year of playing the guitar in which I regularly record. I have finally mastered cooking fresh Indian curries!
OS – When did you decide to become a software engineer?
DC – January 2020.
OS – What is the best and the worst thing about studying software engineering?
DC – The best thing is quenching of the thirst for knowledge I have for how things work in programming when you reach that eureka moment it’s like nothing else. However, normally when you get to that moment something else will go wrong and you have to start all over again.
OS – What role do you see yourself fulfilling in 5 years?
DC – I will be a full-stack web developer with a partial role in data analysis.
OS – What would be your ideal development job?
DC – Senior full-stack developer, for now.
OS – What value have you found on the DEEPer program?
DC – Firstly, the team is great, undivided attention is given to the students alongside golden advice and knowledge. To self-learn programming is entirely achievable but to have advice and a wealth of knowledge to reference in an instant deems extremely helpful. I’ve found DEEPer has given me great foundational knowledge on how to program and a view of the ‘bigger picture’ of the programming world.
OS – What projects have you been working on?
DC –
- SparkAR Instagram Filter – I have created an AR filter which showcases the user wearing the product (earrings) for a local business. This consisted of learning two new programs (Blender & SparkAR), whereby I had to 3D model a set of earrings, and create a facial tracking system whereby the 3D models would track onto the user’s ears.
- E-commerce website – for this project I am utilising Bootstrap and an E-commerce solution (WooCommerce) to create a custom-made website to sell food products for a local business.
- Designing and creating portfolio sites – I have been working on my own and others personal portfolio websites, learning the fundamentals of UI/UX design and implementing basic backend functions in PHP, such as sending an email to myself through a contact form on the site.
- DEEPer project – check-in type application (Rate my mug) – I am currently developing a web app which allows users to submit pictures and a review of their own mug (cup), also allowing interaction between users through a comment section. This project uses PHP as a backend and MySQL to handle the database of entries, for the frontend I have employed a mixture of Bootstrap and custom CSS.
Dalen is due to complete the Digital Engineering Education Programme in January 2021 and will be ready to progress his career into Software Development. DEEPer was established to fill the Digital Skills gap in Lancashire; equipping students Like Dalen with the skills and knowledge that employers need. If you would like to find out more about the programme and discuss any opportunities you may be able to offer our students, please contact Gaby (gabrielle@cbpartners.org).
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