2022 6 Weeks Placement Presentations
By Martyn Hordern,
Last week (13th July) we concluded our 2022 6 weeks placement projects with the students presenting their findings. This was the first in person event since 2019 due to COVID.
We had 5 students presenting on 4 subjects which had been set by forensic specialists from Staffordshire Police.
Two projects were around forensic awareness an area of focus this year for the partnership. One was around creating a simple set of guides around forensic packaging to ensure a first time correct approach, another was based on looking into the Crime Scene Assistant App both from a police and academic perspective.
As always we had plenty of choice for students to look into the world of digital forensics with the chosen project looking at retrieval of data from instant messaging apps using a range of forensic tools.
Lastly, working with the forces Forensic Investigations team we had a student looking at recovery of DNA from car steering wheels comparing swabs to mini tape and trying to mimic how a car thief would seed their DNA onto the car.
All four presentations raised lots of interest and questions and it was clear from the students feedback that the placements were really useful in terms of the insights it gave them into working with the police and its clear some future career choices had been made.
Grateful to all those who supported the students, this is in addition to the day job and those who attended on the day especially ACC Mattinson for her closing comments and awards to students and staff.
Likewise, thank you to staff at Staffordshire University including School of JSS for their support.
Best wishes to the students who graduate this time, some to carry on in academia and others to start their careers hopefully in forensics.