I am very pleased to announce that Revell Research Systems instituted an Undergraduate Prize at the University of Plymouth this summer as part of the celebrations of our 21st year in business as a consulting practice.
The award in its inaugural year (2006) is for the top performing student on the FdSc Internet Technology in Business programme that I wrote the technical modules for back in 2005. This is the successor programme to the Business Information Technology programme that I've been involved in for over a decade.
I am also extremely pleased to announce, slightly ahead of the formal press releases and just before the actual presentation, that Miss Sara Sheridan BA(Hons) FdSc is the first winner of this academic prize.
Sara initially studied at Plymouth University for her first degree in Fine Art at their Exeter campus just off Topsham Road, which she was duly awarded in 2002. Her initial thoughts were for a career in education, but she felt she needed some further qualifications in Information Technology to bolster her anticipated career in education.
Initially, Sara joined the FdSc ITB programme with a view to just picking up enough modules for her initial purpose. However, Sara soon discovered she had some hidden talents in Information Technology and stayed the course, passing the programme with flying colours.
Jim Marks, her tutor at the Exeter Business School where she studied, remarked that: "Sara joined the programme with no previous IT experience and continually performed at an outstanding level in all subjects. She demonstrated exceptional levels of commitment, motivation and enthusiasm and inspired higher levels of performance in her peer group."
Sara, who was the only woman in her group, has performed magnificantly and I am sure she will make a considerable contribution to the IT profession as her career progresses.
She has recently joined the internationally renowned Sophos antivirus company at their headquarters in Abingdon, near Oxford. I am sure she will prove to be an excellent recruit from their perspective and I wish her luck in her "surprise" career.
Next year, we have agreed with the University of Plymouth to award the prize to the top full-time final year student on their BSc(Hons) Computing programme and expect to make awards in at least 2007 and 2008.