{"id":7277,"date":"2026-07-23T20:11:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T20:11:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/?p=7277"},"modified":"2026-07-24T15:44:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T15:44:33","slug":"celebrating-the-next-generation-of-tech-talent-software-engineering-for-smarter-and-safer-driving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/celebrating-the-next-generation-of-tech-talent-software-engineering-for-smarter-and-safer-driving\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating the next generation of tech talent: Software Engineering for smarter and safer driving"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bringing together creativity, technology and industry expertise, this year\u2019s Computer Science and Engineering Final Year Project (FYP) Showcase celebrated the exceptional achievements of our graduating students. In partnership with IT services company Netcompany<\/a>, the annual event provided a platform for students to showcase their original technology-based solutions, developed throughout their final year. Their projects explored ways to address real-world challenges, with students presenting their ideas to industry professionals from Netcompany<\/a> and Smart DCC<\/a>. Now in its fifth year, the showcase highlights the breadth of talent across the School and gives students the opportunity to gain valuable industry insight, receive expert feedback and showcase projects with real-world applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From more than 400 final-year project submissions across the School, ten outstanding projects were selected to be showcased. The finalists were recognised for their achievements and invited to present their work to a panel of industry experts. All ten students received prizes ranging from \u00a3100 to \u00a31,000 in addition to competition categories for 1st<\/sup>, 2nd<\/sup>, 3rd<\/sup>\u00a0and Social Impact prizes.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This blog series will highlight some of the finalist projects, sharing their experiences of developing their ideas, presenting their work to industry professionals and reflecting on their journey studying at Westminster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We spoke to Software Engineering BEng<\/a> student, Chaniru, one of this year\u2019s finalists, about his final year project, his Westminster experience and career ambitions.
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Ten finalist with professionals from Netcompany and Smart DCC<\/sub><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Could you tell me a bit about your course and what aspects you have particularly enjoyed?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am studying the Software Engineering BEng<\/a>. What I have enjoyed most about the course is its strong emphasis on practical, hands-on software development rather than focusing solely on theoretical concepts. The curriculum consistently encourages us to bridge the gap between academic computer science and real-world software engineering practices and architecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In particular, I have enjoyed modules that allowed me to gain experience developing complete software products. The Software Development Group Project in my second year gave me valuable experience collaborating within a development team, while my Final Year Project has allowed me to take ownership of a project from design through to implementation. These experiences have been especially rewarding because they closely reflect the challenges and workflows encountered in industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Could you share some of the skills you have developed during the course and how these skills have prepared you for your final project and future career?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technically, I\u2019ve developed strong skills in object-oriented programming, algorithms, mobile development, and integrating machine learning models. Beyond coding, the course taught me Agile project management and rigorous testing methodologies. Balancing complex vector math and temporal logic for my final project required intense time management and iteration. These skills have completely transformed how I approach problem-solving. I no longer just write code, but I engineer robust systems, which makes me feel very prepared to enter the tech industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Could you share some details about your final project? What inspired this project?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My final-year project is called DriveSafe. It is a proof-of-concept, cross-platform mobile application that functions as an Edge AI Driver Monitoring System. Using a smartphone’s cameras, it detects signs of driver fatigue including microsleeps, yawning, and head nodding, providing multi-sensory alerts to help keep the driver awake and focused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inspiration for the project is deeply personal. My father used to commute long distances for work and would often return home late and exhausted. On the occasions when he had to drive himself, he would sometimes briefly drift off at the wheel. Seeing how dangerous those situations could be made me want to explore how technology could help prevent similar incidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That personal motivation was reinforced by research showing that drowsy driving contributes to around 20% of fatal road collisions. As I investigated existing solutions, I found a significant accessibility gap. The most accurate driver monitoring systems are typically built into expensive, high-end vehicles, while many smartphone-based alternatives struggle in real-world conditions, such as when drivers wear sunglasses or drive at night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My goal with DriveSafe was to help democratise road safety by developing a privacy-first, mathematically robust solution that performs all processing directly on the user’s smartphone. By leveraging Edge AI, the application avoids sending sensitive data to the cloud while making advanced driver monitoring technology more accessible to everyday drivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chaniru collecting his award from Netcompany<\/sub><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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How does it feel to present your project to industry professionals?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It feels incredibly rewarding and a little surreal! Spending months deep in the codebase, overcoming complex algorithmic bugs and doing indoor simulations has been a long journey. Having the opportunity to present the final product to experts from Netcompany and Smart DCC is amazing. It validates all the hard work and provides a rare chance to get professional feedback on the real-world viability of my application. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What are your career aspirations and how do you think your course has prepared you to help achieve this?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I aspire to be a Software Engineer specialising in full-stack development and artificial intelligence, with a recent and growing interest in building agentic systems. Ultimately, my goal is to build tech-for-good systems that have a tangible impact on people’s lives. The Software Engineering BEng<\/a> has provided me with a solid foundation in system architecture and seamlessly integrating complex models into functional products. By combing our university projects with real industry products, the course has given me the technical and soft skills required to step confidently into a professional engineering role. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What has been the highlight of your time studying at Westminster?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The highlight for me has been the “Aha!” moments during development, specifically the day my DriveSafe algorithms successfully detected a simulated microsleep and triggered the haptic\/audio alarm perfectly without crashing the UI thread. But also, it has been the people. I’ve made an incredible group of friends here. Spending time with them, whether we were grinding through coursework at the Cavendish campus<\/a> or just hanging out and taking a break from our screens, the supportive community has made my entire university experience truly unforgettable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Empowering Students Through Industry Engagement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Huseyin Dagdeviren<\/a>, Senior Lecturer and Director of Employability in Computer Science and Engineering, shared:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Final Year Project Showcase continues to be a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the creativity, technical expertise and dedication of our students. Now in its fifth year, our partnership with Netcompany, alongside the involvement of Smart DCC, has allowed us to strengthen the connection between academia and industry, giving our students the opportunity to showcase their work, receive valuable feedback and build confidence in presenting their ideas to professionals.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The quality and diversity of this year\u2019s projects demonstrate the incredible talent within our School and the ability of our students to apply their learning to address real-world challenges. These experiences are an important part of preparing our graduates for successful careers in the technology sector.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mariella Chapman, Supplier Relationship Manager at Smart DCC shared:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe DCC team found the projects incredibly interesting and were genuinely inspired by the level of talent across the University. It was a real privilege to be part of the day, and we look forward to continuing to build on this through future collaboration and co-creation with Westminster.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Graham Robinson, Chief Technology Officer at Smart DCC and judge at the event commented:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was inspiring to see the creativity, innovation and technical excellence on display, with students consistently focusing on how their ideas could deliver real value for end users.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The showcase reflects Westminster\u2019s strong commitment to employability and real-world learning, providing students with opportunities to develop industry connections, gain professional experience and graduate as confident, skilled contributors in the ever-evolving technology sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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About Westminster<\/strong> As one of the most diverse universities in the UK, we are a global university with London energy, with more than 19,000 students from 169 countries. Visit our website to find out more about our <\/strong>Computer Science and Engineering courses.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year\u2019s Computer Science and Engineering Final Year Project (FYP) Showcase celebrated the exceptional achievements of our graduating students. The annual event provided a platform for students to demonstrate the innovative solutions they have developed throughout their final year to industry professionals from Netcompany and Smart DCC.<\/p>\n

We spoke to Chaniru, one of this year\u2019s finalists, about his experience studying at Westminster, the inspiration behind his final-year project and how his course has prepared him for his future career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":253,"featured_media":7285,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[87,83,11],"tags":[328,70,66,27],"class_list":["post-7277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-employability-and-careers","category-student-success","category-undergraduate","tag-software-engineering","tag-student-showcase","tag-student-work","tag-undergraduate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/253"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7277"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7488,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7277\/revisions\/7488"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}