Computing and Engineering Sciences Taster Day
Join us for a Computing and Engineering Sciences Taster Day.
Mathematics, computing and engineering power the advances in the modern world, from AI to data science and from the built world to the virtual. Join us to hear from our approachable, dedicated, and research-driven academics about what it’s like to study these fields at Chester. Be inspired by the beauty, intrigued by the questions and amazed by the impact of these subjects and discover how it will lead to a successful and fulfilling career for you.
Get a feel for all our undergraduate courses ( Computer Science, Software Engineering, Games Design and Development, Cybersecurity, Mathematics and Data Science) with our interactive tasters:
The mathematics of games
In Noughts and Crosses, you can always play to force a draw. But what about in other games? Can you always avoid losing? Or even always guarantee to win? In a 2-player game should you go first, or graciously allow your friend to go first (so you go second)? We will play some simple games and explore what strategies to employ in various different games, using the mathematics of combinatorics, graph theory and topology.
AI Vision: Teaching a Computer to See!
Ever wondered how computers 'see' and recognise objects, people, or locations? Join us for a hands-on session where you’ll use machine learning to build an AI model that can identify different images. We'll explore how AI learns, discuss the challenges of computer vision, and even uncover limitations like potential biases in AI training. No coding experience needed – just your curiosity!
Games Development and Design
Join us for an exciting Games Development and Design taster session, perfect for students aged 16-18 who are passionate about creating games! You'll get hands-on experience exploring key game design principles before bringing your ideas to life by building a small game in Unity game engine. Guided by experienced staff, this session offers a great introduction to game development and a chance to develop practical skills in a fun, interactive environment.
The SQL Murder Mystery
Data science is the process of using data to solve problems. As data scientists, we collect, summarise, investigate, and find patterns in data. There are many tools at our disposal to perform these tasks, but one of the most effective techniques is querying data - selectively retrieving specific information for analysis.
In this session, we will learn how to perform simple queries on a database to solve a murder mystery. We will examine an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) to understand where the data is stored and use SQL-Lite (a variant of SQL) to retrieve and analyse key evidence.
Together, as a group, we will solve the SQL Murder Mystery.
Individually, you will have the chance to solve smaller cases at the SQL Police Department.
There will also be guidance on how to complete your UCAS personal statement.
Suitable for: Year 11, 12 and 13 students. Teachers can book to bring a school or college groups or students can book themselves on individually.
Exton Park is centrally located in Chester, and accessible via the M53, A483, A41, A56, and public transport from the city centre.
Address
University of Chester, Parkgate Road, Chester, CH1 4BJThe Greenway Gate, accessible between 7am – 9pm with your University pass, is located at the back of the overflow car park and is the nearest point of access to the Millennium Greenway cycle path that connects to routes throughout the city.
Bache train station is a 15-minute walk from Exton Park and Chester railway station is a 20-minute walk. Arriva 1A and Arriva 1 run frequent services that stop with a short walk to Exton Park. All three Park and Ride routes, PR1, PR2 and PR3 have connections within walking distance to Exton Park.
Parking on campus is limited, so we recommend using public transport and/or walking if possible.