Tech Day 2020 at Guernsey College of Further Education

Following our attendance at GCFE's Tech Day 2020 last week, we caught up with our colleague and former Guernsey College student Brett Le Goupillot to speak about what the event means for local students interested in a career in tech.

Can you tell us a little bit about the event?

Tech Day is brilliant because it gives Computing and IT students a fantastic opportunity to showcase their technologies and skills, and to demonstrate a wide range of projects: from AI to security solutions, software development to games.

Having taken part in the day as a student, I was delighted to be invited to get involved as part of the Agilisys team supporting the event.

The scope and talents demonstrated in the various projects were immense, and we had the tough job of judging the winning project for the Most Innovative award. But in the end we agreed that the stand-out entry was the easy-to-use ‘Time is Money’ app which calculated how long it would take to afford an item of your choosing based on your data inputs.

We were also delighted to present the Best Team award to the ‘Dead Stationery’ team, as chosen by the students’ course tutors.

It was an enormously successful event – with much credit owed to the Business Administration students for their hard work behind the scenes and front of house – and we were lucky to have some great conversations with highly engaged students on the importance of excellent project management and team working.

How was the general atmosphere throughout the day?

It was clear that the students have a real passion for what they were talking about. This was evident not only when engaging with visitors but also with each other - their genuine interest and enthusiasm shone through.

What areas of tech did students show a particular interest in?

There was a real variety of ideas: from apps to security to games. While a lot of them housed similar themes, the way they displayed the project differed greatly.

For example, quite a few teams based their projects on security, but one was an NFC (Near Field Communication) access card management system, while others were security-based websites. One student created a database of users where the system highlighted key areas that were a potential security risk.

What makes these events important?

It allows the visitors and prospective employers to see what students are learning and their capabilities. It also gives the students the opportunity to speak to experienced workers in the fields they want to go into.

What was the highlight of the event?

It’s extremely difficult to choose a highlight, but the scope and diversity of the projects was very impressive.

That meant that, while students supported one another, no two teams were doing the exact same thing – so each project was uniquely interesting and creative.

The event was also extremely professional in its execution thanks to the hard work of the Business Administration students. From printing the visitor passes, creating a guest register and advertising the event, everything ran smoothly to ensure the event was a huge success.

Lastly, from speaking with the course tutors about the projects and the teams, I can say without a doubt that each tutor was extremely proud of the exceptional hard work and perseverance of their students. It was fantastic to experience this first-hand, and to have participated in a local event that provides such support and encouragement for the young people in Guernsey.

Brett Le Goupillot is a Junior Project Manager at Agilisys, passionate about the customer contact aspect of his role and the opportunity to work across different programmes. Brett was a former student at the Guernsey College of Further Education and attended the very first Tech Day in January 2017.