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I know of only one bird - the parrot - that talks; and it cant fly very high.

Personal History

What the MBTI test says about me:
ENTP - 'Inventor'. Enthusiastic interest in everything and always sensitive to possibilities. Non-conformist and innovative. 3.2% of the total population.
And what I say about me:
Nicholas Martin Paul Hardman is my full name and I was born in 1983 in Bury (Lancashire, England). As a child, I received a Mechano set for Christmas and when I made the motor move slightly, I showed my dad and he taught me how to make it spin properly. I was amazed.

I went to Bury C of E High School where a friend showed me how to input and output text. Through trial and error, I taught myself very limited graphics and made songs using the beep command. I had started to wonder what else I could make a computer do. I met a friend called Andrew Brown who shared an interest in computers and his father helped me build my first PC.

At 16, I went on to Holy Cross College to study Physics, Maths and Computing. I have a real interest in technology and question how everything works.

In September 2001, I moved 200 miles away from home to study BSc Artificial Intelligence at the University of Luton. I learned a variety of computational techniques for optimisation, search strategies and control techniques. I successfully graduated the first and second year of the course, working towards the grade of 2:1.

In June 2003 I transfered to the University of Bradford to study BSc Cybernetics with Virtual Worlds. I learned a wide range of skills including software and hardware which developed my skills previoually studdied.

I joined the Ski and Snowboarding society and joined the club every tuesday evening for 3 years to practice at a dry slope in Halifax. In January 2006, I joined the club on the annual holiday to Tignes, a ski resort in france which was awesome!

I completed a 12 month placement making educational software at Interactive Learning, for which I was awarded best placement student of the academic year.

During my final year, I worked part time as a freelance web developer, which later turned into a partnership business called Striped Monkey Web Design. As self employed income is not regular, I took a part time job developing database and call handling software for a call centre based in bradford. In July 2006, I graduated from Cybernetics with a First class degree with honours.

After graduating from my degree, I was awarded a fees paid scholarship for MSc Nano Electronics with Nano Mechanics, a course split between the Physics department of the University of Sheffield and the Electrical department of the Univeristy of Leeds. Post graduate level physics hit me like a ton of bricks, but through persistance and general interest I graduated with a Masters with Merit. I completed a research project regaurding the feasibility of using Ionic Polymer Metal Composite as a base material for a nano scale robotic fish.

Whilst living in leeds towards the end of the course, I took a job as a technical analyst working with O2 to diagnose broadband related issues with customers.

Within a week of graduating from Leeds University, I moved to Arbroath, Scotland to take a job at AGR Automation working as a Software Engineer - developing control software (allen bradley PLC code) for industrial machinary along with database software to log and report on machine parameters (using SQL Server and Reporting Services). Despite such a varied academic background, working within the automation industry provided a steep learning curve when faced with challenges on a scale not previousally imagined.

Since moving to Scotland, my partner and I have joined a kickboxing class to keep fit, make friends and increase coordination and self defence skills.