The first CS-ARC event was hosted in the Ramphal building on March 22nd, seeing alumni from all across the country (and the world, in some cases) coming together to catch up on the latest Department news and share their own journeys since leaving Warwick.

Over 70 alumni joined us for the day, which included talks, student presentations and an evening meal, giving everyone plenty of time to reminisce and forge new bonds.

Starting off the day were talks from Professor Till Bretschneider and Dr. Long Tran-Thanh, highlighting the direction of both teaching and research within the department - sparking some lively debate and a variety of questions. Many of our guests enjoyed seeing what had changed within the department, and what stayed the same, giving plenty to discuss as we went to lunch.

At lunch, the spotlight fell upon our undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Luana Georgescu and Sam Dagnall presented their third year projects, joined by Krister Hughes, presenting his winning submission to the recent Departmental game jam!

Furthermore, PhD candidates Daniela Valdes, Saif Anwar and Zhihao Dai presented some of their recent research during a poster presentation session.

The afternoon then played host to our keynote talks, from Warwick alumni.

Ruth King and Chris Hughes gave an in-depth discussion around the development environment inside Google, which both have called home for many years. The talk presented the key lessons learned by the Google development team, alongside what makes working in such a large environment unique.

Following this, Dr. Peter Coeztee presented the recent projects by Polygeist, a start-up founded by himself and a number of his colleagues who believe in utilising research into actionable results. Peter's talk challenged the notion of the 'ivory tower' academic and showcased some of the amazing results his team have produced!

After these talks, which included a nice discussion around the ethical use of some CS research, the day was wrapped up with a short closing talk by Dr. James Archbold, before moving onto a fine evening meal hosted in the Chancellor's Suite!

Overall, it was a great chance for the Department to catch up with a wide variety of students and to see how their careers have bloomed since leaving Warwick! Based on the feedback received, it seems to have also been a popular day with the alumni themselves, with many requesting to be invited back for another.

So, if another CS-ARC does happen, we hope to see you there!