Dear all,
Welcome to the blog for week one! Posting a comment and responding to one another's comments will give you 1% of the module marks per week. To gain the 1% you must post your comments by the Friday of each week. In the case of this week it will be fine to have a few extra days (Tuesday of week 8) as it usually takes a few days to get everyone on to the blog.
The campus based students will be discussing the same issue with the distance learners.
This week (for 1%) I simply want you to introduce yourselves. Cover the following issues:
1. Distance learner or campus student
2. Name
3. GIS Experience (particularly programming experience)
4. Current work / study
5. Interests
6. Hopes for after the GIS course.
I will start the ball rolling!
My name is Paul McKenzie and I have been working/studying GIS for 14 years and teaching for 8 years. After completing my MSc I did a bit of e-tutoring before starting my PhD. I am currently teaching on the undergraduate and postgraduate courses in GIS. I love running and am currently training for Belfast Marathon (although haven't fully committed yet)! I also like films, Johnny Cash and church activities (a weird mix I know)!
I look forward to reading your comments.
Paul
Hi all,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Claire Lauder. I live in Wicklow so am a distance learner. I have used GIS in my previous job (data manager RSPB) but only at a basic level. I am an ecologist by profession and have no programming experience so a wee bit worried about this module! I am not working at the moment. I am also a runnerl, although stick to 5k and 10k's these days. I did Dublin marathon a few years ago and I recommend everyone should do at least one in their life, so sign up Paul!! It is an amazing experience!! I coach athletics to U10's at my club (Kilcoole AC) and my two girls keep me pretty busy! My hopes for after the course are to have a much better grounding in GIS and I really would like to pursue a career in GIS.
I have already made some friends on the course through the EGM714 module, big hello to Nicky and Kevin!
Ciao for now
Claire
Hi Claire, good to see a familiar face!
DeleteNicky
Hey! Hi again!
DeleteHi everyone,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Liam Miller and I'm an on campus student. I completed a placement year with the University of Ulster using GIS and have worked for them ever since on a part time basis. I unfortunately have no programming experience and this is primarily why I'm doing this course. I also enjoy running and will be doing the Omagh half marathon at the end of this month. After this course I hope to gain a graduate level GIS job to start my career within the industry.
Hope everyone's enjoying the course
Liam
Hi Liam, by now I know you well! May your grades be ever soaring!
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Foteini Vagena, and it is as exotic as it sounds. I live and work in Greece as a senior civil engineer in the town planning department of the city of thessaloniki. I have completed all my studies in the UK and have an MSc in civil engineering. I have no previous GIS experience. Through my studies I have been taught visual basic and the classic engineering programming language Fortran but it was ages ago and I surely don't consider myself experienced in programming. Nowadays I have no spare time, to practice my favourite sport tennis, because of my three year old son who is always catching infections this year since it's his first year at the kidengarden!! . GIS is going to help me with my career development in the department but also because it integrates my skills I hope I can raise my chances to apply to other relevant job opportunities.
Bye Bye for now
Foteini
Hi folks
ReplyDeleteMy name is Nicky Moloney (on Blackboard I am Nichola but that only gets used if I am in trouble). I'm based in Thurso, the most northerly town on Great Britain so I'm most definitely a distance learner. I'm on the part time MSc GIS programme.
Looking at the module outline, I've got CSS and HTML experience, but it's all self taught several years ago so I am probably behind the times now. I work as a data management specialist in the Environmental Closure and Demolition department at Dounreay, a former nuclear research site which is in the process of being decommissioned. I've been there for 6 years and GIS is part of my day to day job and I am a big geek so I really enjoy it. I'm by no means an expert though so I decided to join this MSc programme to be able to compete on the job market when I've finished here.
In what spare time I have (which seems to be rapidly dwindling these days) I like to go geocaching or play my bass guitar.
Cheers for now
Nicky
Hi everyone,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Tom Corcoran. I am from Sligo and I am an on campus student. I studied Environmental Science at Undergraduate level at Coleraine where I was first introduced to GIS and decided to study the GIS post graduate diploma. Unfortunately, I have no programming experience to date but I am looking forward to geting some experience in it from this module. I like going to the gym in my spare time. I also hope to start a GIS career after I complete the course.
Tom
I have to say I am rapidly feeling like the unfit member of the group with all these sporty folk!
ReplyDeleteN
Don't worry Nicky I am the same as you, I can't run the length of myself and I could probably count the number of times I have been to Gym (since joining back in September) on one hand!
DeletePhew, feel much better about that now. I am a member of the leisure centre in our town but it's a half hour walk away so it's a bit awkward when I need to spend time studying in the evening too!
DeleteHi everyone,
ReplyDeletemy name is Kevin Doherty and I'm a distance leaner student from Derry. I currently work as a GIS Technician for Northern Ireland Water, but very basic stuff, that's why I signed up! I have very little programming experience but I'm a bit of a geek so I've tried to teach myself HTML & CSS, with limited success :(
In my spare time I enjoy mountain biking and road cycling, and play way too much xbox for a man of my age.
Hopefully after the course I'll have a deeper understanding of GIS and a new qualification!!
Kev
Hi everyone,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Gavin Collins and I am a part-time on campus student of the course. I studied Geography as an undergraduate at QUB and I now currently work for an Northern Ireland Gas Utility firm. I experienced getting to work with GIS as an undergraduate immediately falling in love with it as it combined my interests of geography and IT! In my spare time I enjoy powerlifting and church activities. I chose to undertake the Master's course to improve my knowledge of GIS as a subject, the industry itself and my technical skills all to ultimately improve my employability in the field. I have no previous programming experience therefore I'm eager to learn what this module has to offer!
My name is Ayodele Ayeni ( simply call me Ayo!) I am a part-time student on campus. My academic background is in architecture. I have no previous knowledge of WebGIS and programming. I am working in the Planning Department of Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council. I am have been using ESRI ArcGIS and Mapinfo in the last five years in my day-to-day work. My interest will be football and global politics. I hope to complete this course and enhance my career progression within the GIS industry and possibly bring the knowledge I acquire into my workplace. I look forward to adding value to the professional discussion in this forum.
ReplyDeleteMy name is Sean O' Doherty and I am currently studing full-tume on campus. I completed my undergrad in Mathematics and have no experience in GIS at all.
ReplyDeleteI am currently on part time placement which really is allowing me to see the benefits it has in a workplace. I enjoy football and Judo which I have competed in for 15 years. Really hope this module is as interesting as it looks!
My name is Ciaran Lenehan and I am currently studying full-time on campus. My undergraduate is Environmental Planning from Queen's University Belfast and I have a MSc in Construction and Project Management and an LLM in Environmental Law and Sustainable Development. I had no previous GIS experience. I am currently working part time to fund this Masters.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy playing Gaelic football. I hope to gain experience and knowledge in GIS through this course and use it to seek employment in the GIS field.
I am looking forward to this module and learning about programming!
Hi Everyone,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Nicola and I am a full time on campus student. I completed my undergrad in Geosciences through the Open University, I really enjoyed distance learning it definitely made me more focused.
Before starting the course I had no experience in GIS and no experience in programming. To be honest computers scare the life out of me, so I am going to find this module particularly hard going, but I do enjoy a challenge.
Outside of Uni I don't get up to much, I work part time and I am on the committee of the Open Uni Geological Society, the rest of my spare time (ha ha spare time) is spent with family and friends.
I am currently on the placement module, in the Forestry Service, I have been there two days and have already learnt so much, it is fantastic to experience GIS in the workplace. I would really love to find employment in a similar position when I have completed the course.
Bye for now
Hello fellow OU alumni! When did you complete the Geoscience degree? I started the programme but my circumstances changed so I switched to the open degree.
DeleteHi Everyone,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Paul. I am a part-time distance learner based in Offaly. I did an undergrad in Archaeology and Geography in UCC and have been working as an archaeologist ever since. I started dabbling in GIS about 2 years ago, mainly trying to overlay historic maps with modern maps and aerial photos (with mixed success!) and later started using LiDAR data. So far I have found the MSc very challenging but also very interesting and enjoyable. I have no previous experience in programming so I think the learning curve over the next 6 weeks or so will be quite steep.
Like Fotini, my youngest daughter started playschool last September and I have never been sick so often! I like rugby (sorry Paul, I won't be doing any college work this Saturday), walking and reading, and have recently taken up cycling. I hope to use GIS more in my archaeological work and also want to improve my employment options outside of archaeology.
I look forward to getting to know you all through the blog and discussions. It's great that the on-campus and distance-learners finally get to meet, if only virtually.
All the best,
Paul
Hi my name is Lisa, I am a full time campus student. I have no programming experience. I don't have much time to do things outside of Uni due to a job as a barista in Gvs station. I'm not sure what I want to do after my masters is finished, I think I might go travelling for a while before getting a job.
ReplyDeleteHi everyone,
ReplyDeleteMy name is John Corry, I'm on the distance learning course, and I'm originally from Sion Mills. I have been coerced into using GIS on an almost daily basis now in my job, as an Area Planner for the Civil Service. I have absolutely no programming experience, other than updating our existing website when there are specific types of announcement to be made on behalf of my team. So I'm interested to learn about this now. I'm going to have to add myself to the list of runners above, and confess to being a bit of a road runner myself. Haven't really had the time to get out as much this year, so not really hoping to exceed the 10k race distance this year, but love it nonetheless. I'm hoping that I can develop a new skillset for the transition to local government in my workplace next year, that's my main aim of partaking in this course. I look forward to talking with everyone on here over the coming weeks!
John
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Jenny and I am a F/T distance learning student. I live and work full-time in Dundee so I don't have a lot of spare time at the moment but normally I enjoy going out to movies, theatre, gigs etc.(I'm not one of the fit and healthy runners I'm afraid but might be something I will look to change this year!) I have only done a small amount of visual basic so my programming skills are next to none really. I am hoping to land myself a nice GIS job after completion of this course...so fingers crossed.
Good luck with the course.
Jenny.
Hi there, my name is Lasse and I am a fulltime on campus student. I've now about six modules of GIS experience under my belt and I'm loving it so far!
ReplyDeleteI currently am studying this module as well as doing a placement with Sally Cook.
I am interested in and hopeful for gainful employment in the GIS field after graduating.
Hi everyone!
ReplyDeleteMy name is Laura and I'm a part-time distance learning student. I did my undergraduate in Marine Science through UUC and I have literally no experience in GIS or programming! I currently work full time to fund this course and in my free time I enjoy cycling, volunteering with the RSPB and listening to music. I hope to improve my career options after completing this course.
Look forward to talking to you all,
Laura.
Hello
ReplyDeleteMy name is Victoria Campbell and I study part-time via Distance Learning. I did my undergraduate Geography at University of Exeter which involved modules in GIS. I immensely enjoyed the modules and found it was my best subject so decided a career in the industry would be a good choice. I currently work for a NI gas utility company using their in house GIS system to map the location of gas mains. I live in NI with my hubby and in my spare time you will find my up the Mournes or in a Forest, walking, hiking and reading. I hope to gain confidence in the software and enhance the skills gained at undergraduate level.
All the best with this module guys.
Vikki
My name is Vincent O'Brien and i am from Garrison Co.Fermanagh. I am a campus student. I completed my undergraduate in Environmental Planning in Queens. I have no experience of GIS until now, however so far i have found it very interesting. I currently work the days i am not on campus doing gardening work such as hedge/tree cutting, lawn mowing and general gardening work. I am keen sportsman but the main sport i partake in is Gaelic, i play for my club Devenish as well as just finishing my last year of u21 for the county team. Following this course i would like to get a job relating to GIS as i find it interesting and would consider it a good career path.
ReplyDeleteMy name is Finbar Gillen and I'm doing the course on a full time basis. I did my undergraduate in Environmental Planning in QUB. I am looking forward to the module as it includes a lot of programmes/skills that employers are looking for
ReplyDeleteAll the best in the module
Finbar
Hi i'm Vanessa and I am a full time campus student from Aughnacloy, Co.Tyrone. I completed my degree in geography here at the University of Ulster last year so have gained good GIS experience at undergrad as well as on this course. I have no idea about programming so this should be an interesting module! Unlike most here i am not a runner but a hockey player however due to work I had to take a year out this year. Anyway good luck everyone
ReplyDeleteMy name is Nicky Doris and I am from Cookstown. I graduated from UUC in 2004 with a Degree in Geography. I am completeing this course part time. Since graduation i have been employed by Cookstown District Council. Currently within my employment i use GIS but i have no programming experience. Im interested in playing/ watching football or cycling. I am doing this course to develop my career
ReplyDeleteHi there,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Ailbhe McCusker and I am a distance learner, even though I only live in Belfast. I work for Land & Property Services in the Ordnance Survey section where I have worked for the past year and a half in the Product Management Team. I have experience in using ArcGIS and touched on the use of MapInfo, FME and Radius Studio etc. but I do not have any programming experience so this module will be very new to me. I am interested in Horse Riding and Snow Boarding, although I have only gotten to do the latter recently. I hope by the end of the GIS Degree, I will be more competent in using GIS and will be able to use it to improve my abilities in work.
Hi everyone,
ReplyDeleteMy names Declan Carson and I'm from Dublin. I'm doing the course full time Distance Learning. I graduated from NUI Maynooth with a degree inHistory and Geography last year. During the course I completed 3 GIS based modules but unfortunately these did not cover any programming and I have no other programming experience. I hope to continue on to the masters program and then hopefully get a job in the renewable energy sector. I'm really looking forward to the module as it will be quite relevant to my work placement for EGM725 where I will be helping to maintain the company's website.
Hi everyone,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Rachel and I am a part-time distance learner in my second semester of the GIS course. I am a lecturer in criminology and have no programming experience whatsoever. I'm interested in learning new stuff and support Arsenal, so am still trying to get over 'our' exit from the Champions League on Tuesday! By the end of the Masters I hope to be able to do my own crime maps related to my research. Here's hoping!!!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi all,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Norbert, originally from Hungary but now I live in East Sussex (although only until next week when I move up to Pertshire to start my new job) and I am a distance learner.
I have an MSc degree in Forestry and work in the industry as well, using GIS daily but I do not have any programming experience
I would like to broaden my career options with the help of the course, primarily within the forestry industry, but would consider other choices as well.
I was forced to delay this module last year due to work related issues but now I really looking forward to complete it.
PS: WTB edit button, the only option was to delete my previous comment
Hi all,
DeleteMy name is Marcos and I am a Full Time distance learning student, although I started as a part time in September. I am from the North of Spain, but living in the south west of England for one year. I learned a bit of programming in C++ in the university, but it was six or seven years ago, so let’s learn again. I enjoy watching documentaries and practicing any outdoor activities.
Sorry for the delay.
Hi everyone
ReplyDeleteMy name is Alice Murphy and I am from The Moy, Co. Tyrone. I am a part-time distance learner and currently work full-time as a GIS Project Officer for a wind farm developer based in Belfast. I have used many aspects of GIS in my job but I am inexperienced in programming so I am looking forward to getting stuck in!
In the little spare time that I have I try to play a bit of GAA and I am also an underage coach for my local GAA club.
Regards
Al
Hi!
ReplyDeleteSorry for the delay.
My name is Giulia Bazzoni, I am Italian but I moved to Cardiff, in "sunny" South Wales 6 years ago. I work for a multidisciplinery consultancy as Environmental Impact Assessment coordinator. I use GIS (MapInfo) as part of my work but I have never done programming, so I am expetting quite a challange from this module.
The course so far has provided me with quite an invaluable knowledge in GIS, which is helping with the carrier. So I hope to continue on this track.
I have recently become a keen cyclist due to the fact that public transportation is so expensive. I have to say, once one start is quite addictive
Cheers
Giulia
Hi
ReplyDeleteI'm Sam Grace. I'm a distance learner starting the course in Semester 2.
I currently work in travel sales and have no previous experience of GIS or programming. I'm hoping the course will lead to a new, more interesting and rewarding career path.
Interests include wildlife, cycling and cricket.
Oops! bit late but better that than my last blog contributions: never. (not proud)
ReplyDelete1. Campus student
2. Matthew Eastwood
3. GIS Experience - very little outside of misreading google maps and getting lost more times than I care to admit. Having said that, I spent 3 years at Teesside University doing games programming and worked for 2 years in London doing just that for cell phones. When cell phones were crap.
4. Haha, nice try. 30+ yr old, back at home freeloading off Mum and Dad is a job, right?
5. Video games and movies. Would like to create both in the future. Perhaps GIS will ultimately fund them?
6. A job would be nice! And improve map reading skills.