A GREENOCK graduate has been named Young Software Engineer of Year and received £2,500 prize money.

Stuart Adams, who has a degree in computer games technology, claimed the prestigious award at a ceremony in Edinburgh.

The 22-year-old's innovative university undergraduate project was hailed as the best in the country.

Stuart, who studied at the University of the West of Scotland, said: "It was a very big surprise but I am very happy.

"I was put forward for the award by a project supervisor.

"No-one had been nominated from our university before."

Stuart works as a programmer for Codeplay Software Ltd in Edinburgh.

He is a former pupil at Greenock Academy and latterly Clydeview Academy in Gourock.

Stuart is originally from Greenock but his parents Gillian and Craig live in Blaeberry Drive in Inverkip.

He said: "They are very happy about the award win."

The awards were organised by digital technology industry body, ScotlandIS, with prizes given to the best undergraduate software projects from students studying computing science and software engineering.

Stuart's describes the mathematical theory behind modern photorealistic rendering and the 'practical implementation of a real-time physically based rendering system'.

He describes this as 'a project for implementing computer graphics', adding: "It looks at what makes modern video games realistic, what technology can be used and how to do it."

The judges described Stuart as an 'exceptional student' and as well as prize money he also received a trophy.