Justice Akpan
MRes/PhD Management Science 2006
Country of origin: Nigeria
After my Masters degree in Software Development at Leeds University, I took a job as a Software Systems Developer in the USA. It was an opportunity I found difficult to resist and meant delaying the start of my PhD research, which I embarked upon a year later when I returned to the UK in 2001 and enrolled at Lancaster University.
The highly rated Lancaster University Management School offered me the best programme, which was in the department of Management Science. Given that I had not done any previous studies in Computer Simulation, I was offered PhD admission under the MRes route, in order to spend my first year on general OR/Consulting and Simulation Studies. This provided me with a sound intellectual grounding in the subject of Computer Simulation and other OR (operational research) concepts, as well as the time to develop an acceptable research proposal.
My research was in the Application of Virtual Reality in Computer Simulation. I benefited greatly from modern research facilities and high-quality supervision and was therefore able to complete my PhD studies on schedule.
I am currently working as a Virtual Environment Developer but my long term career plan lies in academia/research, with a focus on the applications of Computer Simulation and Virtual reality. I thereby hope to be able to share what I learnt during my studies at LUMS.
