Published:
Alister George Luiz, a fourth year student of BSc Hons Computer Sciences (Data Sciences), was recently awarded the first prize in the GreenIT 2020 competition held by BCS (British Computer Society), The Chartered Institute for IT. The prestigious annual competition provides a platform to students and professionals to present their ideas and arguments on a given topic relevant to the IT industry.
BCS is a professional body and a learned society that represents those working in IT and computer science, in the UK and globally. The Institute seeks to promote professional practice tuned to the demands of business through continuing professional development and a series of esteemed IT qualifications. It fosters links between experts from industry, academia and business to promote new thinking, education and knowledge sharing, and provides practical support and information services to its members and volunteer communities around the world.
Participating students were challenged to prepare a visual poster tackling this year’s theme: ‘How Computing Could Assist the Environment in the Future and Be Good for Society.’ Alister prepared his winning poster ‘The Dawn of Environmental Data Science’ with the objective of improving the process of urban planning and resource allocation.
In his poster, Alister argues that environmental data science can help urban planners gain deeper insights into key issues such as traffic, in turn helping them make more informed decisions. He also stresses on the need for integration of data between information technologists, geographers, logistics and urban planners is necessary.
Margaret Ross MBE, FBCS, Hon FBCS, Emeritus Professor of Software Quality at Southampton Solent University who is also a member of the BCS Council and the GreenIT Committee, congratulated Alister and acknowledged Heriot-Watt’s role in encouraging student participation in such competitions.
Reflecting on his win, Alister Luiz said, “It’s a great honour to receive this award, and I’m glad I participated in this competition as it was truly an enriching experience and a great opportunity to apply our classroom knowledge to a real-world problem with a solution-focused approach.”