Professor Guy Brown commented that “Harvey was an outstanding SURE student. Given the short timescale of the project, we agreed a plan of work that was very ambitious - and he exceeded all expectations… It would be hard to ask more of a SURE student; Harvey meets all of the criteria set out; committed, utterly reliable, inquisitive, conscientious, excellent communicator and technically outstanding.”
We asked Harvey about his experience of taking part in the SURE scheme and how he feels it has benefited him.
“As an undergraduate, the SURE scheme was a fantastic opportunity to be involved in a fully-fledged research project. Supervised by Professor Guy J. Brown, head of the Department of Computer Science, I developed an Android mobile app which connected to various small sensors and recorded data for the analysis of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA). We were able to collect a small data set from a few participants, which I then used in the development of software tools for determining whether a subject was likely to have OSA.
Having never before used Android Studio for app development, MATLAB for data analysis, worked with any of the sensors involved, read many research papers, submitted an ethics application, or written an academic report covering all of the above, the six all-too-short weeks of the SURE project were a gold mine of productivity and experience. I made several mistakes, as was to be expected, but came out with a wealth of knowledge and interest in an area of healthcare that was previously entirely unknown to me.
My CV, as you might imagine, looks considerably better than it did before I applied for the scheme. In the time since, the healthcare company which advised on the project (Passion For Life Healthcare) have taken me on part-time to continue the project while I finish my 3rd year of studies, and it looks like I’m set for a Year in Industry spent pursuing the area further.
In short, taking part in SURE was brilliant. If offered the chance to do another, I would leap at it. So, if you’re reading this as an undergraduate, I’d strongly recommend that you do exactly that.”
For more information about the SURE scheme please see their web pages https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/sure