Postgraduate Diploma in Science in Computer Science
Software Verification Engineer, Dynamic Controls
After completing a Technology degree in his home country India, Ravi decided that he wanted more experience in computer software and hardware development to go towards a future career.
UC’s offer of a scholarship and postgraduate studies in Computer Science soon had him moving to New Zealand.
"I wanted to gain more practical knowledge in certain areas of the field and the diploma offered courses that I was interested in," he says. "Additionally, some of the courses offered were dealing with trending technologies such as Augmented Reality."
The practical emphasis within his Computer Science courses was exactly what he hoped for from a postgraduate qualification, particularly the variety of tasks and technology covered.
"The courses at UC helped me explore different areas in the field and the assignments motivated me to think outside the box. They certainly helped me to increase my analytical and problem solving skills."
"I enjoyed the atmosphere and also the facilities here at UC. These things help students with their studies and there were also activities throughout the year which helped them freshen up."
One of his more memorable highlights was taking on an internship through UC with a Summer Research Scholarship, which involved working at Unison Networks for three months as a Software Intern.
"The experience was helpful in understanding how things happen in the real world and I would definitely recommend students to apply for the scholarship which provides useful career experience as well as a paid job," he says. "It helps in bridging the gap between the coursework and the real world."
Initially starting with a master’s degree, Ravi later decided to start working on his career after completing a year of study, which allowed him to graduate with the Postgraduate Diploma in Science. "The course structure at UC is quite flexible based on the student's needs," he says.
His current job with Dynamic Controls sees him testing software for medical mobility technologies, such as electric wheelchairs, which includes maintenance checks and verifying software requirements.
"I get to see the entire cycle of a product's development starting from design to product release into the market. It also helps me get to know more about the functioning of hardware components."
"I would like to gain more experience by doing various types of testing and then I want to work in other areas of software development such as website development or mobile applications development," he says.