GCU London to develop tech experts of the future

A LONDON postgraduate campus in the heart of Silicon Roundabout has opened its doors to the tech entrepreneurs of the future – as tech start-ups have been hailed as the saviour to Britain’s economy.

GCU London is set to develop tech skills even further with the introduction of its new MSc Web Systems Development (.NET) programme, which is the only UK postgraduate course in web development to focus specifically on Microsoft’s .NET framework.

The one-year post-graduate course at GCU London, which is located within East London’s Tech City, will provide students who have some experience of software development technologies with the opportunity to develop their careers further.

Programme leader Dr James Paterson said: “The tech industry is absolutely booming here in London. Every day we are seeing new start-ups popping up across Silicon Roundabout and I think this is the perfect time for GCU London to introduce its MSc Web Systems Development course.

“There are great career opportunities within the tech scene and software development offers a wide range of responsibilities and tasks, including working on new projects as part of a development team; supporting existing applications; attending design meetings; liaising with clients and customers; and writing, developing, testing and reviewing code.

“Microsoft’s .NET framework is one of the key technologies for development of today’s software, in particular for data-driven websites. It is vital that those entering employment in the tech sector are armed with the skills that will set them apart from the competition. This advanced course offers a deep dive into the latest technologies and best practices which developers need to build modern web applications on the .NET platform.”

GCU London’s MSc in Web Systems Development (.NET) will offer a solid grounding in advanced practice in the development of .NET web systems and will, in addition to the postgraduate qualification, provide preparation for the relevant Microsoft professional certifications, which are widely valued in the software industry. Students will study a range of topics related to specific .NET technologies and principles and practices of modern web development, and will develop their skills further though undertaking a substantial industry-linked development project.

Microsoft .NET skills are highly valued by employers for a range of job roles such as web developer, software developer, software engineer, web support analyst and technical analyst.

The programme has been running successfully at GCU London’s sister university, Glasgow Caledonian University, for two years.

Dr Paterson added: “The course has proved extremely popular, so it is on the strength of this that we have branched out to offer it at GCU London.”

GCU London is currently recruiting for the MSc Web Systems Development course, which will begin in January 2013. For more information visit: http://www.gculondon.ac.uk/study/websystemsdevelopment/