## BIO
**Robert Cooper**
| **Objective** | An enthusiastic and self-motivated individual, with a proven track record of high academic achievement. I have recently obtained a degree in Computer Science with first Class Honours. | |
| **Education** | 2002-2005 **Lancaster University, ** Lancaster
**BSc** Computer Science **First Class Honours**
My degree includes modules in Object-oriented programming, system architecture, AI, multimedia technologies, web technologies, software engineering, operating systems, concurrent programming, databases, HCI and networking and distributed systems. I have experience of programming in Visual Basic, Visual [login to view URL], Java, Scheme, C#, C, C++, DirectX and SQL
I have recently worked on my final year project which involved the creation of a MMOG focussing on the demands of communication over a potentially lossy channel prone to high latency and limited bandwidth.
1998–2000 **KGV College,** Southport, Merseyside
**‘A’ Levels**, Computing (A), Geography (B), General Studies(B), Physical Education (C) Computer Literacy and Information Technology (RSA)
1993–1998 **Christ the King Catholic High School,** Southport, Merseyside
**GCSE (10),** 5 A’s, 3B’s and 2C’s | |
| **Work Experience** | January 2001-August 2002 **Office for National Statistics,** Birkdale, Merseyside
The Office for National Statistics is a department of the British government responsible for providing statistical and registration services. ONS also incorporates the General Register Office (GRO) for England and Wales, responsible for ensuring the registration of all births, deaths and marriages and maintaining an archive dating back to the early 19th century. I was employed at ONS as a software tester, this role involved studying the functional requirements for any new software developed for the organisation, liaising between the developers and the end-users during development, creating and executing test scripts to ensure the final product matched the specification and offering support once a system is migrated to the live environment (including verifying and raising errors on the system and managing requests for change.) I tested a number of large scale systems while part of the testing team at ONS, although my main role was as the main tester on a medical research system using the data from the 2001 census. In doing this I gained experience in working with both Unix and Windows NT based systems written in numerous languages as well as the complexities involved with developing applications to handle databases containing millions of records.
My time at ONS taught me a great number of valuable lessons, I was able to be a part of a large organisation and was able to learn how such organisations manage schedules, budgets etc. During my employment I also became deeply involved in the development of large scale software applications, from the earliest meetings balancing user requirements against the time and resources available through to their eventual migration to day to day use and on to their maintenance and enhancement. It was this experience which really cemented my desire to pursue a career in the computing (and in particular the computer game) industry.
September 2000 - December 2000 **Quantum Microponents Ltd,** Southport, Merseyside
Quantum Microponents is one of the major PC and component distributors in the UK. During my time with the company I worked as a PC assembler, a job which involved building desktop systems from their basic components. Although I was only with Quantum a short time this experience gave me a detailed knowledge of computer architecture, something which has been very useful not only for my studies at university but also for diagnosing and fixing problems with both my own and other people’s computers.
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| **Other Experience** | Since the age of 16 I have combined my programming knowledge and my passion for gaming by making a number of freeware games. The first game released was a big success and since then my website has grown steadily, now attracting around 20,000 visitors per month. I was able to use the knowledge gained from both my working experience as well as my university education to release the third instalment of my game (entitled Chart Wars 3 – [login to view URL]) in 2004. Working on these titles and managing the website has taught me a great deal about the importance of keeping to published deadlines when releasing titles as well as the importance of good testing before release and excellent after-release support (patching, enhancing etc.)
I am very proud of the way my latest game has been received - over 8,000 people downloaded it on the day of release and since then it has been downloaded by upwards of 70,000 from the Osiris Games site, the game has also been featured on a number of magazine CDs and was recently voted the ‘Best freeware game of all time’ by a freeware website.
The success of these projects have put me in a position to expand Osiris Games to include a number of other programmers, this has given me some limited experience of management as well as giving me the opportunity to act as a mentor for one of the less experienced programmers in the team, this has proved to be an immensely fulfilling experience and something I look forward to doing in a more professional environment in the future. |
| **Interests & Activities** | I enjoy both playing and watching football/soccer and am an avid supporter of Liverpool FC. I am a big fan of every kind of music and so I like to spend as much of my free time as possible going to concerts with my friends. I also enjoy meeting friends for dr |
## Area of Expertise
I have in-depth knowledge of Visual Basic, Visual [login to view URL], Java, SQL and Access. I also have considerable experience with Pascal, C, C++, C#, DirectX and have also had experience in coding applications to run on mobile platforms.
