'Wizards of Cov' impress with showcase of computing talent

Coventry University's up and coming computing talent displayed work to industry luminaries at the end of April during the Department of Computing's celebrated 'New Wizards' film show.

The event, which was held in Coventry University's £55million high-tech Engineering and Computing Building, consisted of a showcase in which students demonstrated their films and gave an entertaining snapshot of their creative computing efforts.

Now in its sixth consecutive year, New Wizards is an annual showcase which celebrates those who embrace the latest technologies to create innovative, exciting products. The popular event forms part of Coventry University's ongoing commitment to promote emerging talent, build links with business and produce industry-ready graduates.

As well as allowing students to show off their skills, the New Wizards event provides them with the opportunity to network with potential employers. Amongst the many companies already signed up to attend this year's show are the BBC, Blitz Games Studios, Tesco Mobile, National Grid and Birmingham Airport and Coolio Ltd.

This latest showcase gave students on courses such as Computing, Games Technology, Multimedia Computing, Ethical Hacking and Computer Science the chance to exhibit their work to family and friends and provided a great opportunity for them to sell their skills to major industry figures.

Paul Gilligan, co-founder of Coolio Ltd, said:

What impressed me the most is the diverse range of subject areas that the University is giving its students access to - we've seen everything from very beautiful and creative animations to people using mind-control copters. There's a great range of different areas being taught which I think is an absolute credit to the University.

There is also the mentality here in preparing students for industry – I've seen some very capable second years and it will be very exciting to see what they're up to a year from now. The fact that the University is inviting people here today, along with other interactions that I've had with Engineering and Computing, demonstrates that this is a very forward thinking University and I think it's going in a great direction.