I'm Ricky Clarkson, a Research Assistant at the University of Salford, where I write a Network simulator that the students use to learn with, and to be assessed with. I've been programming since I was smaller than Ronnie Corbett, and have been using Java since 1999, almost exclusively for desktop applications.
My email address is ricky.clarkson@gmail.com, my phone number is 07813 828559, and I don't use any instant messengers often, except GMail chat.
You're probably already a little familiar with Java, and probably either Netbeans or JCreator. You're about to get more familiar with Java, and then write your assignment in it. These first 8 weeks or so will be about getting more comfortable with Java, and time permitting, taking a look around the University.
Some handy resources: