Outside of my research and teaching, I am keen to broaden participation in Computer Science. I am a member of the STEM ambassadors program, which aims to promote young people's learning and enjoyment of STEM.
I was an active participant in the Manchester Raspberry Jam, a group for both curious new-comers and enthusiasts of the raspberry pi computer, and established a similar event in Sheffield. Unfortunately COVID brought that to a halt and my personal health has prevented me from re-starting it. I am hopeful that another volunteer will re-establish this event.
I led my family's team in the beginners' section of 2017 Pi Wars competion (see our blog for more details of that). We returned again in 2018, this time in the intermediate section (with a new blog), and once more in the 2019 competition with yet another blog. I'm taking a breakfrom competing for a bit now (although will probably be involved as a volunteer),
My son put together a raspberry pi based weather station, and I've built a page to visualise the data from it. You can
see the weather station page here, and read
all about the process in these two blog posts: (1) and (2).
In my little remaining free time, I enjoy music, and play (not so well!) in Castleton Silver Band, also helping out with the training band.