An Interview with Placement Student Bradley Armstrong

We caught up with Bradley Armstrong to get his take on placement year, his time on Kainos AppCamp and his plans for the future.

How did you find your placement year within Kainos?

Placement year was a great experience. I was given a variety of tasks and got the opportunity to work with different teams on a range of projects. I enjoyed getting to meet and work with different people every day, who were all willing to lend a hand when I needed help with something I was unfamiliar with. Placement year improved my personal and professional development, and gave me a good understanding of what a career in IT is really like.

After my placement year I was lucky enough to be offered part time work in Kainos. The hours are flexible which means I can easily work around my degree in Queens University Belfast, and even better, the work I do in Kainos complements the work I do in university.

Are you working on anything exciting at the moment?

Yes I am a developer on a ?4.8 million EU consortium project called VERVE. The project is a virtual reality environment designed to help patients with a range of disorders including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. More information about the VERVE project can be found here.

What skills did you develop throughout your placement?

Placement has helped me develop and improve a host of skills including my communication skills and my ability to work well within a team. Working in different project teams required me to improve the way I organised and prioritised my work, and this helped me keep on top of my workload as I jumped from one project to another.

My technical ability has improved dramatically as a result of working with a number of different technologies to date. Placement allowed me to put everything I learnt in university into practice, and naturally I was able to strengthen and build upon my knowledge throughout the year.

You took part in the first year of Kainos AppCamp what made you apply for a place?

When I saw the advertisement for Kainos's first AppCamp online there was no doubt in my mind that I needed to apply for the opportunity. The sole reason for applying was the invaluable experience of working within one of the UK's top IT companies (the shiny hardware was just a bonus!). I applied with the mindset that I would love to be part of such an innovative company, but I didn't think I'd have much of a chance with such tough competition from other first year students. I was delighted to hear that my application had been successful!

I would definitely recommend anyone considering AppCamp to apply for next year's programme. Kainos look at your entire skill set and not just your technical ability.

Did you enjoy the experience and what was the best part?

I really enjoyed the AppCamp experience. The best part for me was working within Kainos and meeting the other AppCampers. I met some very smart, like minded people that I still talk to everyday. We often catch up over lunch or a few drinks and they are great to bounce ideas off and help build upon an idea that I've dreamt up!

You continued to develop an iPhone app after the competition can you tell us a little bit about it?

Glenn Sayers (a fellow AppCamper) and I have started working together to continue the development of my app from AppCamp Clubs NI. Our work has consisted of developing a multi-platform mobile application, complete iOS app rebuild and a web portal which will allow nightclubs to manage their profiles on the app and retrieve guest list sign ups from Clubs NI users.

We also recently released a mobile application solution for one of Belfast's most popular nightclubs, which consisted of an external iPhone app, internal iPad management app and internal PR iPhone app which allows customers of the club to sign up to the guest list and receive notifications directly to their phone.

How far is it along in the development process?

The nightclub solution is live on the Apple App Store now for download and we're applying the finishing touches to the Clubs NI iOS rebuild for release in the next month or so.

Do you have any plans to develop more apps in the future?

Yes, I have a lot of ideas in the pipeline and it's just a matter of finding the time to work through them all! I hope to be developing mobile applications for the foreseeable future.