Simon Powers, a Lecturer in the School of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment joined ENU in January 2016.
Simon shares his career story in this Q&A
Simon's top tip for career success is:
“Take on different roles in your work area when they become available to you – if there aren’t different roles it might be different projects and pieces of work – as this lets you see the work from a variety of perspectives and helps you understand the roles you enjoy the most and where you can add the most value.”
Tell us a bit about your career to date?
I studied Computer Science for my undergraduate degree at the University of Birmingham, where I also went on to do an MSc in Natural Computation, exploring the link between computer science and biology. I carried on exploring this area by doing a PhD at the University of Southampton, followed by a postdoc in computational biology at the University of Lausanne, where I lived from 2011-2015. I still think Edinburgh is the best city though! I then joined Edinburgh Napier as a lecturer in Computer Science in 2016
What prompted you to join Edinburgh Napier?
My career path has been influenced by some really inspirational lectures in my first year of undergraduate studies, and that made me think that I would like the chance to work at a university and help inspire the next generation of students. In the summer of my second year of undergrad I was also lucky to get to work on a research project. This showed me that I also really enjoyed doing research and reading papers, and confirmed that I would really like a career as a university lecturer in both teaching and research.
What is the best thing about your role?
For me, the best thing about working at Edinburgh Napier University is the friendliness and informality of the University. I also really like the way that we’re able to mentor students from a wide variety of backgrounds.
What difference has working at Edinburgh Napier made to your career?
Personal Development Tutors are doing great work across the University to support our students. By being a first point of contact and a friendly face they can really help our students throughout their university journey.
What difference have you made at Edinburgh Napier that you are more proud of?
Being a Personal Development Tutor means I can play a part in the supporting our students by being a first point of contact and a friendly face. This is a role that can really help our students throughout their university journey.
What has helped you in your career?
Since being at Edinburgh Napier I’ve taken on a variety of roles within the School, including Programme Leadership of our BEng/MEng Software Engineering degree, School Lead for Personal Development Tutoring, and most recently the Lead for Student Recruitment in the Computer Science subject group.
Away from work, what do you do in your free time?
When I’m not working, I really enjoy running and try to get out and do this as much as I can. I have the 13km Kilomathon in Edinburgh coming up next month. I also enjoy watching a range of sports from golf to sports entertainment, and I play the odd video game as well!