Informatics MSc: What our students say

Student profiles

Don't just take our word for it – here's what some of our current and recent students say about what it's like to study at Kingston.

Name: Pete Stephens
Course: Informatics MSc
Year: 2010

"Having professionally trained as a software engineer at UMIST and GEC-Marconi in the late 80s and early 90s, I spent 20 years working for a number of well-known companies as a technical architect and project manager. However I recognised that my technical skills were gradually diluting as technology advanced and my career moved more towards management. This, combined with my desire to stay working at the 'coalface' as well as challenging myself to pursue some of my own ideas, led me to an MSc Informatics at Kingston University.

"I chose the MSc Informatics at Kingston as it allowed me to tailor a course that suited my own training outcomes, in my case a combination of web development and technical entrepreneurship, that would give me the extra confidence I needed to start up my own technology company. Another important reason was the dissertation which would an enable me to explore a particular idea I had about using the web to connect small service businesses to consumers.

"Although I was slightly reticent about how I would cope returning to higher education, things actually went quite smoothly. It was really refreshing to be able to discuss technology issues with like-minded people without the constraints of a corporate environment and I found the lectures applicable to the real world with an academic side that stretched and stimulated thought. I also met a lot of new people who I have stayed in touch with – and in some cases continue to work with professionally.

"Having gained a distinction, I then pursued my goal of setting up the technology company Philtinium Limited which specialises in the development of Web2.0 based ideas, the first of which is Soundtracktoyour.com, a music and social networking site that is due to be launched during the summer of 2012.

"Taking the MSc enabled me to gain the new development skills and an insight into the tools to support a technology business, without which I would probably not have pursued the creation of my technology company."