Alexander Cossins
What did you enjoy most about your degree programme?
I thoroughly enjoyed how much my degree challenged my abilities. Consistently being faced with new and varied problem solving scenarios really engaged me during university. It gave me satisfaction when I could use the techniques learnt at university to successfully solve these novel problems.
Some of the students we are profiling have been awarded a departmental prize or award in recognition of their exceptional achievements. If this applies to you, please can you tell us about this and what it means to you?
Awards: Computer Science Prize, Logica Prize, 3rd place Final year project Poster Prize, Dean’s Commendation for Exceptional Performance These awards gave me motivation to make sure that I was performing my best at university and gave me recognition that my hard work was paying off.
Please tell us if you were a member of any societies, groups or sports clubs?
Computer Science Society.
What was the highlight of your time at Exeter?
The highlight of my degree was definitely working on my final year AI based research project alongside an experienced university professor. Reasoning with unforeseen difficulties and being able to to take concepts learnt from lectures to advance novel research in an area I was passionate about was a very rewarding experience.
What will you miss the most about University?
I will miss most working with the passionate course-mates who are always readily available to bounce ideas off, as well as the inspiring lecturers which enjoy sharing their expertise and experience.
What advice would you give to current and future students? (If you are an international student what would you like to tell future students from back home who might be thinking about applying to study in Exeter?)
Do not let the feeling that you are out of your depth demotivate you or hold you back, instead let it drive you to explore the idea further. This attitude helped me push through the challenges that stood before me at university and surprise myself at what I was able to accomplish.
What are your plans now that you have graduated?
I now aim to gain some experience working on real projects in the workplace and apply the concepts learnt at university. I have secured a graduate scheme working as a Software Engineer in September. Of course, I plan to enjoy my final summer off before that!
