One of the best things about being an engineering student at Sheffield is the many opportunities to work closely with clients

Watch: our interview with Anannya

I had quite a few reasons for choosing to study Computer Science at the University of Sheffield. I attended the interview day and really enjoyed the interactive activities that they laid out for us and I also enjoyed the opportunity to talk to some of the older students. It was very reassuring to talk to them but actually one of the more major reasons I chose this department is because in our third year they allowed us to choose our own modules which is something many computer science departments don't do. At the time it didn't really matter to me as much but now that I'm in my third year it is a big deal being able to choose my own modules.

I want to finish my masters once I graduate and, I'm not yet sure, but I think I want to go on to do a PhD. Last semester, I did a module on bio-inspired computing and I quite enjoy the merge between biology and computer science and programming and I'd quite like to pursue that field in my PhD I think. Afterwards I might want to go into industry, it’s a few years in advance so I'm not sure yet.

I think one of the best moments in my study so far is when I attended a startup weekend about two years ago. I went as a developer because that's where my skillset lies and for the first time I was standing in a room with people who needed a developer on their team. Everyone was calling me to the side and saying ‘oh you're a developer, I'd like your help in building this app’ or this website or this system and I realized for the first time how important it is for my skill set to be applied to help these people bring their ideas into into life, whether that's in the form of an app or website or system.

One of the major reasons I chose this department is because in our third year they allowed us to choose our own modules, which is something many computer science departments don't do.

Anannya Kumarvel

Computer Science

I'm working towards my dissertation which is on modeling wine quality. I'm currently trying to determine a series of algorithms to use them appropriately to train data and ultimately assess the quality of wine. Outside of this project the skills and techniques that I'm using would be useful in the industry of big data.

One of the best things about being an engineering student at Sheffield is that the department allows us many opportunities to work closely with clients and this really prepares us for work in the real world industry: keeping to deadlines, teamwork, leadership skills all of these are useful when it comes to industry and one of the best things about being an engineering student is the fact that we're able to help people bring their ideas to life.

We interviewed Anannya in 2017.