Scott Logic, a growing Bristol-based software consultancy, partnered with the computer science society at the University of Bristol to host the Bristol Coding Challenge 2016 at its King Street office last Wednesday.
The event, which attracted many of the university’s tech-savvy students, involved a ‘beat the clock’ virtual trading challenge called Dead Cat Bounce. Created by Scott Logic’s own developers, the challenge required students to create bots that let them control a number of on-screen players.
“[The coding challenge] taught valuable skills, increased coding confidence and really kicked off the year”
These players then battled with opponent players to destroy one another, as well as collecting items during play that let them reproduce, banking more players for their team so they could slowly take control of the game.
The results: Students anxiously awaiting the
results of this year’s challenge
President of the University’s Computer Science Society, Hakeem Kushoro tells us: “The event was definitely enjoyable and engaging, especially to those who had never taken part in a hackathon before. It taught valuable skills, increased coding confidence and really kicked off the year. We hope this challenge happens again in the future!”
Recruiting talent
These coding events, which are held across the country, have been part of Scott Logic’s recruitment strategy since 2013, giving students the chance to find out more about the company and ask its staff questions in a fun and informal setting.
In fact, several members of the current Scott Logic team were introduced to the company and its graduate programme through one of these events.
“Graduate recruitment is strategically important to us as we continue to grow our consultancy business”
John Wright, Scott Logic’s Recruitment Manager explains: “Graduate recruitment is strategically important to us as we continue to grow our consultancy business.
“We facilitate these coding challenges as part of our annual student engagement activity, and it’s great to see them continue to grow in popularity. We received some great feedback on the night in relation to the challenge, and showcased our interactive trading game, Dead Cat Bounce.
“We were able to award some graciously received prizes including tickets for the upcoming Bristech conference and also a Raspberry Pi2.”
Scott Logic’s internship and graduate programmes for 2017 are open to applicants. Roles available include those in software development, software testing and user experience design. For more information on Scott Logic and its services, visit scottlogic.com.
