Staffs Uni eSports Varsity

Posted on 17th May 2017 by Joel

On Sunday May 7th Staffs Uni went head-to-head against Keele in a number of eSports titles to determine who would be crowned winner.

With a rise in eSports over the past few years thanks to streaming services such as Twitch & big deal sponsorship, there’s never been a better time to get involved.

Games included competative staples such as Overwatch, CS:GO, League of Legends and Smash 4 amongst others over the whole day, with other events for spectators including a Halo 4 tournament, free to play gaming stations, and a VR demo area run by Overclockers UK.

While Keele may have taken the win for this event, Staffs will be hungry for a comeback in the near future.

For more information about studying eSports and games design, why not come to one of our Open Days?

Games Design @ Staffs Uni

Posted on 16th May 2017 by Joel

Check out some of the great international coverage our games courses have had in Indian press recently!

“a unique chance of gaining in-depth insight into the industry”

Click the images to read what our head of Games & Visual Effects Bobbie Fletcher has to say about the exciting games courses on offer here at Staffs University.

“Staffordshire University’s Epic Games Centre is an industry sponsored fully-equipped space comprising the best gaming equipment, resources and the University’s world-class facilities”

Why Study Computing @ Staffs Uni?

Posted on 15th May 2017 by Joel

At Staffordshire University we always ensure that our students have the most relevant knowledge for this fast paced industry. On the 10th of May our very own Dr Justin Champion and Chris Howard attended a one day event in Manchester, which was jointly hosted by Cisco and UKFast, with the idea behind the event being to bring together industry and academia to better understand what recent developments are happening within computing.

The talks were given by various companies to give an insight into how they are seeing the sector develop, and what skills our future graduates will require to get a head start upon graduation, with the event also being an excellent opportunity to network with industry players and to reinforce the understanding of what skills our graduates will need for the future.

Here at Staffs Uni, we aim to produce the type of graduates which the networking industry is so keen to hire.

Dr Justin Champion & Chris Howard

Student Trip: Cyber Security Expo, Bristol

Posted on 12th May 2017 by Joel

Computing students on a number of our undergraduate degree courses recently had the good fortune to attend the Cyber Security Expo taking place in Bristol.

This event, one of the largest trade events in the UK, brings together employers and potential employees such as our students, and is attended by some of the largest international security companies, all able to give our students unique advice & insight into how to further their careers in the sector.

Our students were able to talk to many of the companies in depth, creating networking oppurtunites, and gaining the certainty that the skills they’re learning about are in demand by the industry.

Staffs Uni students with their prizes!

A number of Staffs Uni students also completed a challenge run by Huawei, seeing them taking home a Raspberry Pi each!

Here’s what one student had to say about the day…

“…it was an excellent trip, and allowed me to “network” with large companies and talk about what is expected in terms of technical & soft skills when I graduate, and allowed me to put my name out there in the industry and pick up industry contacts”

Noisefloor 2017 – International Music & Film Festival

Posted on 11th May 2017 by Joel

Early May saw the return of Staffordshire University’s Noisefloor Festival, a 3 day event dedicated to electronic music and experimental film, showcasing student work produced on our undergraduate and postgraduate courses, as well as playing host to pieces by a large number of international artists.

With the recent move of many music and film courses to our Stoke campus this was the first time the new state of the art facilities, such as our brand new Cadman TV Studio, had been used for the event, alongside our Film Theatre for the nights film screenings.

Students were also involved with helping select the line up, with those performing coming from the UK, the US, Cyprus, and Lithuania, amongst many others.

Keep your eyes peeled for more informatoin regarding Noisefloor 2018, and to find out more about Noisefloor 2017 as well as a full list of performers, visit the website by clicking here.

What Happens When A Reporter Tries Our Latest Games Design Technology?

Posted on 10th May 2017 by Thomas Lancaster

You may have seen our Games and Visual Effects department in the news a lot recently, with courses like BSc Games Design hitting the headlines.

The Tamworth Herald recently visited Staffordshire University to try out our £110,000 motion capture studio. You can read what reporter Sam Jones thought about his visit here.

Speaking to the Tamworth Herald, Dr. Bobbie Fletcher, Head of Department for Games and Visual Effects, said that the studio “has eight cameras on a purpose-built rig, and we’ve also invested in a Cara facial motioncapture system too.

“This means that we now have the capability of motion capturing more than one individual, like fight scenes for example, and also capture the person/people’s faces.”

As reporter Sam Jones said of the studio facilities in his own words, he was “rather jealous of current and soon-to-be students who use this for their university projects”.

Staff And Students Rock Out At Annual Staffs Journalism Party

Posted on 9th May 2017 by Thomas Lancaster

You might already know that our journalism courses at Staffordshire University are guided by staff who work closely with students in the Multi-Platform Newsroom and in front of the cameras on the TV News Set. You might also know that many of our journalism staff are still active practitioners who you can see reporting on TV, writing for newspapers and using their real-world experience to support students.

But, did you know that we are also home to a band of rock music machines?

If you were one of the hordes of Staffordshire University journalism students, past and present, who found themselves at The Underground in Hanley, you’d have been able to catch the Journalism staff and student band in a rare public appearance.

Playing a selection of favourite songs from across the decades, the band were joined by vocalists including Professor Mick Temple, Pete Leydon, Jo Goodall, Peter Brookes and (as the student football chants attested) “there’s only one” Mitch Pryce.

A fantastic (and loud!) night was had by performers and audience alike, but I wonder if the band are regretting teaching students modern journalistic techniques like how to broadcast live onto platforms such as Facebook Live now?

Music @ Staffordshire University

Posted on 8th May 2017 by Joel

Search for a Star!

Posted on 5th May 2017 by Joel

Staffordshire University was recently host to games design competitions Search for a Star and Rising Star, with games design students from up and down the country attending the event which included informal mentoring sessions, round table discussions, a networking lunch and talks by established industry professionals.

uinque networking oppurtunites for students with many big names in the games industry

This years speakers included Philip & Andrew Oliver, creators of the ‘Dizzy’ series of games and current founders of independent developer Radiant Worlds giving a history of games and their own personal experiences in the industry, as well as Tim Furnish of Sumo Digital Nottingham, and Liz Mercuri of popular game-engine Unity.

The event was not to be missed by those with a passion for games, giving a unique networking oppurtunity and first hand insight from games developers.

Find out more about Search for a Star by clicking here

TableTopTapOut Student Board Game Expo

Posted on 4th May 2017 by Joel

In a change from what might usually be expected from a Computer Games Design portfolio of courses a strong strand of analog games design stems through the courses that focus on understanding games ‘BSc (Hons) Computer Gameplay Design and Production’ and ‘BA (Hons) Games Studies’. In the level 5 Module ‘Gameplay Applications’ students have been working on a solo board game design task – cumulating in a Board Game Expo hosted in the Henrion Gallery on April 24th.

The Board Games have been designed with the theme of ‘making something mundane fun’ and all the elements of the design and the production were left up the students, including in some cases commissioning illustration and comic design students to work on the art aspects of the games.

Themes for the games varied greatly but included cleaning kitchens, washing clothes, stocking pound shops, packing for mini breaks, selling ice creams, commuting, commuting in space and infiltrating the food chain with questionable ingredients.

Nia Wearn, the module leader said “it was fantastic event and an excellent showcase of the student’s hard work. Many of the games have been produced to a high level and it was great being in a central place in the university surrounded by people enjoying new games”.

The event was open to the public and number of local board game players came to play and feedback to the students. We were also lucky to have a representative from PlayTest UK (http://www.playtest.co.uk/) attend, giving valuable advice to the students about the validity of the students game in the current marketplace.

“We’ll be running the module again next year so anyone who wants to get involved, or suggest a theme for the students to work on please don’t hesitate to get in touch” – Nia Wearn n.h.wearn@staffs.ac.uk