MEng Computer Science

Scott Fear

University of Southampton · MEng Computer Science · Seeking Scientific Research Opportunities

Second-year MEng Computer Science student at the University of Southampton, with two years of industry experience processing and analysing large-scale real-world datasets. First-class average in year one. CompTIA Security+ certified. Seeking a data-focused internship, with a long-term goal of pursuing a PhD within the fields of computational biology, AI, or cybersecurity.

Languages
Python SQL Bash C Java Haskell Perl R HTML / CSS
Technical Skills
Linux CLI Shell Scripting Regex OSINT Database Management Data Cleaning & Processing GitHub Sensitive Data Handling
Python · R · C · Java · Haskell · Bash · Perl · SQL · HTML / CSS · Python · R · C · Java · Haskell · Bash · Perl · SQL · HTML / CSS · 

Projects

ChemResolver
Personal Project · Python
↗ GitHub

Lightweight fuzzy search engine for chemical and pharmaceutical name resolution. Resolves misspellings, phonetic confusions, and transcription errors (e.g., siprofloxasin -> ciprofloxacin). Built from scratch using a character n-gram inverted index with TF-IDF weighted scoring. Achieves 99.6% exact-match accuracy on 4,003 queries against a 4,005-word drug index.

  • Python
  • Inverted Index
  • TF-IDF
  • Levenshtein
  • String Similarity
  • Fuzzing
  • Benchmarking
Maze Solver
University Project · Python
University

A* pathfinding implementation developed as part of university coursework.

  • Python
  • Pathfinding
  • Algorithms
Data Cleaning, Normalisation & Relational Database Project
University Project · Bash & SQLite
University

Converted messy XML data into structured CSV files using Bash, normalised it into relational tables, and built an SQLite database with queries for analysis.

  • Bash
  • SQLite
  • Normalisation
  • Relational Databases
  • Structured Data
  • Data Cleaning
5x5 Mini-Chess Engine
University Project · Python
University

A 5×5 chess engine implementing alpha-beta pruning with iterative deepening, quiescence search, and Zobrist hashing for transposition detection. Move ordering via MVV-LVA captures, killer moves, and history heuristic.

  • Python
  • Alpha-Beta Pruning
  • Algorithms
  • AI

Certifications

CompTIA Security+
Certified 2023
Expired 2026 · View credential ↗
Covers network security, cryptography, threats, identity management, and risk mitigation.

Experience

Product Associate
Crossword Cybersecurity
Nov 2021 – Aug 2023

Processed and cleaned millions of records from raw database dumps using SQL, Bash, and regular expressions, before parsing with a custom Perl pipeline. Conducted OSINT research to identify and categorise affected domains from breach datasets. Supported internal product administration and collaborated using GitHub.

  • Python
  • SQL
  • Bash
  • Perl
  • Regex
  • OSINT
  • GitHub
  • Sensitive Data

Education

University of Southampton
MEng Computer Science · 2023–2028
First Class Year 1

Key Modules:

  • Data Management · 93%
  • Artificial Intelligence · 75%
  • Programming I (Python & C) · 80%
  • Mathematics I · 78%
  • Computer Systems I · 80%
  • Programming II (Java) · 79%
  • Programming III (Haskell) · 69%
  • Mathematics II · 84%
  • Networks & Security · 79%
Torquay Boys' Grammar School
International Baccalaureate · 2017–2019
42 / 45 · A*A*A
Higher Level (HL)Standard Level (SL)
Biology · 7Chemistry · 7
Philosophy · 7Mathematics · 6
English · 6Japanese · 6

Volunteering

Hospitality Volunteer
Rowcroft Hospice · Palliative Care
Nov 2017 – Apr 2019

Provided hospitality services to hospice residents and visiting families, ensuring dietary requirements and infection-control procedures were followed. Worked closely with nursing staff to support residents.