Realtime Worlds signs sponsorship deal with Dare to be Digital

Realtime Worlds Ltd (RTW), Scotland’s leading independent video game developer, has become a key sponsor of Dare to be Digital, the UK’s premier games design competition for students.

RTW and Dare, both based in Dundee, hope that the agreement will boost the city as Scotland’s hub for games excellence.

RTW will contribute to the development and expansion of Dare to be Digital both financially and through providing mentors and speakers to the contestants during the 10-week competition, which starts next month.

In addition, RTW’s CEO and creative director David Jones will become a Patron of Dare to be Digital and will join the judging panel for the grand finals in August.

RTW launched its first title, “Crackdown”, on Xbox 360 earlier this year, breaking records for more than one million downloads of the demo version, selling 850,000 units of the finished version within the first two months of it going on sale, and still being one of the top selling Xbox 360 games after more than three months.

Part of the sponsorship deal with Dare to be Digital will see “behind-the-scenes” features about making Crackdown going on show at Dare ProtoPlay – a unique exhibition of this year’s entries scheduled for Edinburgh in August as part of the Edinburgh Interactive Festival.

David Jones commented: "Talent is a key factor behind the success of every game, and Dare to be Digital makes a big contribution to spotting and developing high quality talent for the industry each year.

“I have been closely involved with Dare to be Digital’s organisers, Abertay University, for many years, advising them on course structure, lecturing to students, and benefiting from already having had many Dare graduates join RTW over the years.

“I am delighted to take that involvement and commitment to another level through this sponsorship and through becoming a Patron of Dare. We are employing 150 people at our Dundee office and would like to expand to near 200 by end of this year. Partnering with Dare will help attract more talent to our production hub in Dundee. We also have plans to work with Dare on our international expansion.”

Paul Durrant, Director of Dare to be Digital, commented: "Our involvement with David Jones as a Patron is a dream come true for Dare. We have been inspired by the international reach developed by David and his team at Realtime Worlds and we plan to build on our international involvement in Asia as the Dare brand becomes associated with talent and innovation in video games development around the world.

"We are also excited about the mentoring support on offer from the Realtime Worlds team and the opportunity to feature behind-the-scenes footage of their work, at Dare ProtoPlay."

2007 is a significant year for Dare to be Digital, as the competition takes place in three hosting centres across the UK instead of just one as in previous years. A total of 12 teams will gather in Dundee, Belfast and Guildford in early June, to spend the first nine weeks of the 10-week competition designing and building fully functioning prototypes of their video game idea, and receiving financial support and mentoring from games developers while they are in the competition.

In the 10th week of the competition, all the teams will travel to Edinburgh to take part in “Dare ProtoPlay”, a three-day showcase of all their work, at which the general public and industry experts will be able to play the games and vote for the winners as well. This year, the three winning teams will become the shortlist for a new “Ones to Watch” award at the BAFTA Video Games Awards in October.

Dare to be Digital 2007 has assembled an impressive list of sponsors, including London Development Agency, Nesta, Electronic Arts, AMD, NCR, Tiga, the Scottish Executive, Scottish Enterprise Tayside, Dundee City Council, the Digital Hub in Dublin and Belfast City Council with the Northern Ireland Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment’s Building Sustainable Prosperity Programme and Intertrade Ireland.

Myerscough College Gives Student a Greener Future

A mature student who came to Myerscough College hoping for a career change has successfully gained employment in the environment industry.

Chris Gaughan, aged 28, decided to pursue his dream of working in the outdoors as a countryside ranger after working in textiles for 10 years. Chris came on the Foundation Degree (FdSc) in Ecology and Conservation Management after undertaking voluntary work but struggling to find a full-time position. He said:

“I did part-time voluntary work for Lancashire Wildlife Trust and the council for 4 years before starting this course and had applied for full-time work, but although I had lots of practical experience I didn’t have any relevant qualifications. That’s when I found out about this course and decided to come to Myerscough to gain a recognised qualification to back up my experience.”

During the course, Chris gained employment with Lancashire County Council as a Seasonal Countryside Ranger for 6 months, and has recently secured a full-time post with them. This will involve working at Beacon Fell and other countryside parks across Lancashire.

Chris added:
“The course has given me the knowledge and skills I need to apply to jobs in the environment industry. The campus is lovely and perfect to study this kind of subject and the lecturers are friendly and approachable.”

Jeff Simpkin, a Lecturer in Ecology and Conservation Management at Myerscough College said: “This course is aimed at students like Chris who need a mix of practical experience, identification skills and academic knowledge if they are to succeed in the conservation sector. Chris has worked really hard on the course and we wish him all the best for the future in his chosen career.”

The FdSc Ecology and Conservation Management is a 3 year part-time course specialising in habitats management, species identification and ecological survey skills. It will also be available on a 2-year full-time basis for September 2008. Many graduates have gone onto successful careers in the environment industry, in jobs such as Conservation Officers, Ecologists and Countryside Rangers for local authorities and other organisations such as Natural England, the Environment Agency and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

For more information about the FdSc Ecology and Conservation Management at Myerscough College, please contact Course Enquiries on 01995 642211 or email enquiries@myerscough.ac.uk

Careers Openings In Nursing And Midwifery

The wide variety of career opportunities in nursing and midwifery will
be the focus of an Open Day to be held in the Clinical Skill Centre,
Ninewells Hospital this Saturday (May 19th).

Those attending the event, hosted by the University of Dundee, School
of Nursing and Midwifery, will have a unique opportunity to get 'hands
on' experience using some of the specialised equipment utilised in the
nursing and midwifery education programmes on offer at the University.

Experienced lecturers and clinical staff will be available to give
advice on the various academic and career pathways open to those with an
interest in nursing or midwifery.

"The career opportunities for nurses and midwives are greater now than
ever before," said Heather Marr, Acting Dean of the School of Nursing
and Midwifery.

"Nursing is a very attractive option for people of all ages and appeals
to many seeking a change of career."

The School of Nursing and Midwifery has campuses in both Dundee and
Kirkcaldy and offers a wide variety of flexible programmes to assist
students in achieving their goal.

The Open Day takes place in the Clinical Skills Centre at Ninewells
Hospital on Saturday 19th May 2007 from 11 am to 3 pm. It is open to
anyone keen to find out about careers in nursing and midwifery.

Licensed Practical Nurses
Registered Nurses
Nursing Aides and Psychiatric Aides

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Book Now! - Leicestershire Student and Graduate Fair 2007

Leicestershire Student and Graduate Fair 2007

Wednesday 7th November 2007 11.00am – 3.30pm

http://www.le.ac.uk/careers/lsgf.html

We are pleased to announce that the University of Leicester and De Montfort University will be jointly running the Leicestershire Student and Graduate Fair again this year on Wednesday 7^th November 2007 from 11.00am – 3.30pm in the purpose built conference centre at Leicester City Football Club. We would like to invite you to apply for a stand at the event.

“Whole event v. well organised. Good venue, good to have Leicester and DMU together” College of Law “Very well organised” Baker Tilly “Very good. Going to be hard to improve further.” NHS 90 % of the employers who attended last years fair rated it as Excellent.

The Leicestershire Student and Graduate Fair is one of the largest graduate fairs outside of London and the biggest recruitment event in the East Midlands. Over a half of the employers attending last year spoke to over 150 visitors each. The fair is a very economical and efficient way of recruiting staff and raising your company profile amongst the student and graduate population. This will be a widely publicised event, reaching students from De Montfort University, the University of Leicester, associate colleges and other universities. There will be publicity on the web, in the local, regional and national press and through the universities’ networks. In total we anticipate over 100 employers will participate and more than 3,000 students and graduates will attend. http://www.le.ac.uk/careers/lsgf.html

Students who attended last year’s Leicestershire Student and Graduate Fair commented:

"I now have a more solid idea of how to go about getting started"

“Very friendly and professional." “Highly excellent and brilliant work”

There are ample opportunities to sponsor the event publicity through having your logo on the brochure, flyers, posters or Finalist email. You can also sponsor an A4 advert in the fair brochure.

To reserve your exhibition space and notify us of your sponsorship requirements, please fill out the online booking form which can be found at http://www.le.ac.uk/careers/lsgfbookingform.html by 28th May 2007. Please note that your booking is not confirmed until you receive a booking confirmation from the Leicestershire Student and Graduate Fair management team. If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact us.

Please note, priority will be give to those organisations offering paid graduate employment or paid work experience opportunities. Both Universities host their own community and voluntary fairs later in the academic year.

IT Careers Fair

STUDENTS GIVEN CAREER BOOST

More than 200 IT students, graduates and business leaders attended a careers event at the University of Wolverhampton.

The IT Careers Fair gave major businesses the opportunity to promote their job vacancies and allowed students and graduates to attend workshops led by the exhibitors.

Regional, national and international companies at the event included Halifax, E.ON, Capgemini, EDS UK Plc, ADECS Ltd and Games Media Ltd.

University departments such as the School of Computing, the Innovation Centre and IT Futures were also present at the event.

Students and graduates were able to liaise with the firms and find out what their recruitment needs were and exhibitors benefited from promoting their company.

Kam Atwal, Employer Liaison Officer at The Workplace, said: "Feedback from clients has been excellent and companies have stated that the event was beneficial. A lot of graduates have applied and been short-listed for jobs as a result of the IT Fair so we are hoping that this will lead to graduates gaining successful employment."

The event was organised by The Workplace, Careers and Employment Services and the Employability and Placements Unit, which is part of the School of Computing and IT. The IT Careers Fair took place in April in the University's Millennium City Building.

The Workplace is a recruitment shop at the University's City Campus site to help graduates and students find work.