Lewis Birkett

What was your course like?

My course had a mix of practical classes and lectures. Each module had a well-informed teacher – usually they were from the industry so they had many stories and links from the material back to real world examples. Whilst I was learning essential programming skills, I was also surrounded by games which really kept my interest.

What did you most like about your course?

One of the best parts was a group project which gave me the opportunity to work with the other students across different courses including animation and music. It gave me an appreciation of different areas of study whilst we worked to build a real game. My favourite module was Animation and Simulation Programming. We took the physics of real life and developed simulations in a game world. We slowly built up a small car, adding movements and various effects to it.

What have you done since graduating?

I spent five years working with the government agency Ordnance Survey in a variety of roles, moving from application support up to a software engineer. Most recently I have moved to a new company, OmniCom, offering tier three support liaising between customer services and software development, so it uses all my skills.

Did Teesside University help you reach your ambitions?

The skills I gained at Teesside were invaluable. Although I’m not working in the gaming industry, the skills are transferrable and opened new doors elsewhere. The ability to learn new materials and take information on board has helped me jump up the career ladder.