MEMORIES OF COMPUTING AND TECHNOLOGY AT RGS THROUGH THE DECADES

Some work involved analysis of consumer choices; limited in scope compared with today, but it shows there’s seldom anything really new.

Charles Alexander ‘Sandy’ Christie (50-61)

IIn my era there was no computing at school, nor was it seen as a career for mathematicians. I carried on in the hope that good maths training would be a sound basis for something, and after university joined the Committee for Economic and Industrial Research. The work was interesting and diverse –systems for oil refinery planning, ship scheduling, econometric models, and the DVLA.

I followed some former directors to Logica, which aimed at the nascent data communications sector in the telex era; feasibility and design of the Swift banking network was an early project. I was there over 20 years from start-up to FTSE 500, then moved to a partner who handled the Italian government’s IT including finance, taxes, purchasing and health, developing new capabilities such as Video on Demand and something called ‘the Internet’. Now I’m more or less retired but still pay attention. I question whether “AI” is truly intelligent. The idea of driverless cars in a world of hackers fills me with terror!

If there’s one recurring lesson from my career it’s that the error handling, the problems, are the hard part – basic function is easy and makes you think you’re nearly there. There’s lots of technology still to develop, and a range of related careers. I’m sure RGS will give many pupils a flying start in the industry.

Chris Swan (82-87)

Istarted at RGS just after the win of BBC Young Scientist of the Year with a Commodore PET-controlled theatre lighting system. ‘Stig’, who’d been part of that team, often supervised the computer club. Before long he was embroiled in a copyright suit over his version of Monopoly that had been published in a computer magazine! The club was the only place I wanted to be outside lessons, and a geeky social scene formed there. Geoff Swindon (Staff to 96) wasn’t always around to supervise, so we dashed into town and cut our own set of keys for the lab. Both the cleaners and Dr Swindon were confused at finding us in the lab without supervision, but so far as I can tell this remained secret…until now.

Computing as a business started with bulk-buying floppy disks and selling them from my locker. I had programs published in computing magazines, then odd jobs setting up software for local businesses on Amstrad PCs. The military had the coolest kit, so I joined the Navy as a Weapons Engineer (CCF being one of the few things able to coax me away from computer club), and as a University Cadet studied Electronics. The Navy didn’t keep up with technology, so I left during the .com boom for a more ITfocused career that's had me bouncing between start-ups and global enterprises. I still write code and playing with retro systems in recent years has brought back fond memories of huddling over a BBC Micro in the computer room on Eskdale Terrace.

I did not do well academically in Sixth Form, however made up for those mistakes by earning qualifications later whilst gaining work experience; if you work hard at what you enjoy and are good at both inside and outside the classroom, your days at school can provide the basis for a meaningful career in the tech sector or elsewhere.

Jim DeLaHunt (75-78)

Ilearned to program with the RGS Computer Society. Books on FORTRAN from the Plender Library progressed to treks to the University with access to HP-3000 and IBM/360 systems. We learned BASIC, PL/1, and fed in decks of punch cards, eagerly awaiting the printer to grace us with results minutes, or hours later. Many metres of teletype were expended on a Star Trek game! The late Howard Burchell (Staff 66-99) later set up a Commodore PET computer in his classroom which allowed freedom of access, and better understanding of how computers worked.

Thus followed a lifetime in software. After university in California in 1980 followed a career in Silicon Valley, in which I joined a Japanese start-up called Adobe Systems and stayed for 16 years as it grew into a software powerhouse.

RGS education echoed throughout in surprising ways. School taught me not just maths but languages and cultures, equations and essays, reading Thucydides, and entire Shakespeare plays. I found my passion where technology and human cultural expression overlapped: multilingual text, fonts, Japanese typography. RGS gave me an advantage as a software engineer, bettering peers at writing and communicating technical subjects and their relation to business goals.

Daniel Hoggan (95-05)

Rhys Harrison (55-65)

I‘backed into’ the tech sector when working as a materials manager with a need to develop a new computer system. As a key user, I was on the development team and ended up moving to a larger company as a computer analyst. A few years later I was leading a large team developing integrated systems. The tech world then was very different to now, but it soon became apparent that the education I received at RGS, especially its broad scope, enabled me to work in several different areas and companies. I fared well as a generalist and was happy that I had not specialized too early in life. It has been very important to be flexible and embrace change.

Learning to work with people of different backgrounds, professions and abilities, especially in project teams, was hard but critically important. At school the academic work you do in groups, the sports teams, the extra-curricular hobbies, trips and camps all provide opportunities to build interpersonal skills. You will need them for sure in the tech sector!

Looking back, my journey within tech most likely started when I was asked to support digital marketing initiatives for a family business. Having just left RGS, I was studying Marketing at the University of Newcastle at the time and, it’s fair to say, few people really understood digital technology or its future value. Fast forward to today, I’m the CTO at Mediaworks. Having grown from four people to 200 in the last 14 years, we support enterprise brands from Johnson & Johnson to Puma and Metro Bank, and we’re very proud to have been recently named one of the North’s Top 5 digital agencies.

On reflection, a key factor in my future career was the foundations I received from my education at the RGS. My A-Level studies in Art developed my creativity, and Economics built up my commercial awareness, both core within any technology-driven role. Supporting others’ learning and development in the tech sector, I co-founded Digital Knowledge Lab, a market-leader in the creation and delivery of online learning. We work in collaboration with York St John University to share digital and data analytics knowledge through free short courses and Higher degree programmes.