The Pool:About
From The Pool
The Pool is a repository of projects from past and present students created during the course of their studies at SFU Surrey. The goal is to share these projects with the world - with employers, colleagues, friends and family. It is to provide inspiration, to act as a showcase for student work, to encourage diversity in projects, and to record the history of the school.
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Inspiration
Sometimes it is difficult to come up with new and innovative projects, which is why seeing what has been achieved by students in the past can be useful to the average student. Knowing what others have accomplished in the same time frame may give one an idea of how to narrow or expand their scope in order to create better and more innovative projects than their predecessors. If the competition in your class doesn't inspire you, perhaps the virtual competition of thousands of past students will.
Promotion
When looking for a job, or applying to another school, many students fail to realize exactly how much they have done during the course of their studies - be that one year, or ten. Maintaining a portfolio of each project as it happens can be a valuable marketing tool for the individual, and can help generate interest for the university in general.
Diversity
Knowing what projects have been attempted in the past can help to ensure that students choose to explore new ideas, and avoid accidental plagiarism. By looking up the projects for a particular class or by a particular student, similarities and connections can be drawn. Students who might otherwise 'borrow' a project idea will be reluctant to post something that seems too similar to an existing project, saving themselves potential accusations of plagiarism.
History
Given that SFU Surrey, especially SIAT, is in a state of perpetual evolution, The Pool also serves as an archival documentation of what once was. As programs are phased out and new ones ushered in, the work of classes that no longer exist will not be lost. To new students, The Pool is a looking glass into the history of the school - an important perspective considering the pace of technological development we're experiencing. To older students, The Pool acts as a portfolio, and a memory.
Why The Pool?
Years ago when SFU Surrey was still TechBC, most rooms in the campus were given a unique and usually technologically-inspired name. There was The Matrix, The Hub, The Link... but probably the most famous was The Pool which served as a foyer, and de facto meeting place for students. We thought the metaphor with its history was particularly suiting - a 'pool' of student work (plus, we just love a good pun.)
