Challenge accepted: two students take part in coding challenge.

via GIPHY

Velvet Spors (2017 Cohort) and Ahmed Al-Talabany (2016 Cohort) have accepted the challenge set by the Digital Economy Network (DEN) to code for one hour a day for 21 days.

Velvet and Ahmed join students from across the EPSRC Digital Economy CDT network to practice their coding skills and are recording their progress through Twitter using the hashtag #DENCodingChallenge. Ahmed is working on creating a map and running routing algorithms through it while Velvet is working on a bookmarklet.

 

Follow Velvet and Ahmed’s progress on Twitter and read more about the DEN Challenge here.

Call for Participants: Interviews on business-orientated rail travel experiences in the digital age

PhD researcher Christian Tamakloe (2016 Cohort) is currently recruiting participants to take part in an interview-based study.

What is it for?

The study forms part of a PhD project to explore how data from digital self-tracking technologies (such as smartphones and wearables e.g. Fitbits) can be used to better understand how and why business rail passengers use and value their time while travelling, as well as how this influences their travel behavior. Insights from the project will be used to power novel tools/ apps and services that will enable passengers to plan their rail trips around their preferred time use, improving their overall journey experience.

Who can take part?

This study is open to individuals who undertake work-related journeys via train fairly often. This could be at least two short/medium-distance (1.5 – 3 hours , cross-regional/national ) trips a month, during business hours for work purposes (e.g. attending conferences/trade fairs, internal/external meetings, visiting clients/suppliers/partners, etc.) or long-distance commutes (typically around 2 hours).

What does it involve?

Interview questions will revolve around preparations for journeys, activities engage d in at different stages and places of the journey, devices used and any strategies /hacks relied on to make the most of the time spent travelling.

The interview itself will last no longer than an hour and participants will be compensated for their time with £15 Amazon vouchers.

The study has been approved by the University of Nottingham Faculty of Engineering Ethics committee and all data will be recorded anonymously and used strictly for research purposes only. Participants are free to withdraw at any time during the interview .

What next?

Your involvement will help discover how to improve the rail journey experience. If you are interested in taking part in the study or would just like to know more about the research please leave your contact details at http://bit.ly/InterviewMe2 and/or send an email to Christian via Christian.Tamakloe@nottingham.ac.uk

 

 

Thank you!

Check out Christian’s Research Highlights here: https://highlights.cdt.horizon.ac.uk/students/psxckta

I GOT A NEW PART TIME ROLE…

It brings me great pleasure to announce that I am now the Social Media Specialist for Horizon CDT at the University of Nottingham.

I will be managing social media platforms and the blog for the unit, bringing it a fresh feel. We will be working towards showcasing students’ and staff members’ research as well as increasing engagement with our audiences. It feels very exciting to become part of the Horizon team and I can’t wait to get stuck in!

Written by Kate Green