Alastair Revell, June 2009

The South West Branch of the British Computer Society (BCS), the chartered body for the IT profession, is celebrating the end of a successful programme of events held during 2008/2009.

The society holds a variety of events each year, usually alternating between Exeter and Plymouth, for both its members and the general public in Devon and Cornwall.

The talk by Tim Machin, of Lorien Engineering Solutions based in Lichfield, on "How Not to get Bits in Your Beer!", held at the renowned Bridge Inn in Topsham (near Exeter) on 10th March 2009, was particularly well received. It combined a serious presentation by a leading expert and master brewer on how automation has changed the brewing industry over the last twenty years; with an opportunity to network and socialise, while sampling some of the best kept beers in the region!


The AGM Lecture on 13th May 2009 at the University of Plymouth was given by John Gallehawk of The Bletchley Park Trust on "The Second World War Code Breaking Centre at Bletchley Park". Bletchley Park, in Buckinghamshire, is the birth-place of modern computing. The work done there during World War II to crack the secret German Enigma Code was vital to the allied victory in 1945 and to the development of computing. The lecture included a hands-on session that saw IT professionals learning how to use an Enigma machine to encode and decrypt messages.


Other events held during the year ranged from formal lectures and technical workshops to informal social events that allowed members of the IT profession from across the region to meet and network with each other.

The formal AGM re-elected Professor Steven Furnell as Branch Chairman for 2009/2010 as well as existing members of the committee, who will now put together next year's programme, which will start in the autumn. The new programme will shortly be published on the branch's web site.