{"id":7287,"date":"2026-07-23T15:31:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T15:31:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/?p=7287"},"modified":"2026-07-24T15:43:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T15:43:33","slug":"celebrating-the-next-generation-of-tech-talent-software-engineering-with-electronics-and-the-future-of-robotics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/wearewestminster\/celebrating-the-next-generation-of-tech-talent-software-engineering-with-electronics-and-the-future-of-robotics\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating the next generation of tech talent: Software Engineering with Electronics and intelligent robotics"},"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 with Electronics BEng<\/a> student Matthew, one of this year\u2019s finalists and the winner of first place about his final year project, his Westminster experience and career ambitions.
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Ten finalist with professional from Netcompany and Smart DCC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Could you tell us a bit about your course and what aspects you have particularly enjoyed?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the things I have enjoyed most about studying the Smart Computer Systems BEng now the Software Engineering with Electronics BEng<\/a> has been the combination of software development and hardware engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The course has allowed me to explore different areas, from programming and software engineering to electronics, circuits, motors and embedded systems. Having this combination of skills has helped me understand how software and hardware work together to create real-world solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I first started the course, I had no previous knowledge or experience in robotics. However, during my second year we built an autonomous micro-mouse, where we programmed a robot to navigate through a maze. This project sparked my interest in robotics and encouraged me to explore the industry further and understand how these technologies are being developed and used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Could you tell us more about your final-year project and what inspired it?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For my final-year project, I developed a Gesture-Controlled Robot Arm for Laboratory Pick and Place, that uses a camera and a computer vision model to translate hand movements into movements performed by the robot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The system uses reference points captured by the camera to calculate the movement of the hand and convert this information into steps that control the robot arm. I designed the entire system myself, from the software and image processing to connecting the laptop with the robot arm and manufacturing the physical components through an external company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also developed a graphical user interface (GUI) to help users understand the movement of the robot arm through X, Y and Z coordinates:<\/p>\n\n\n\n