How students showcased their tech innovations after working with north-east organisations

Students at the University of Sunderland had the chance to share their work with employers in this year’s Digital Showcase to help boost their employability.

The event gives Computer Science students the opportunity to present their projects to the employers they have been working with over the course of this year, giving them the skills that will help them in the workplace.

Third year students also had the chance to share their dissertations not just with their supervisors, but also the public.

Raphael Kokkalis, a final year Web and Mobile Development student, said:

“The Showcase has built skills like presentation skills but it has also been a celebration.

“It’s the end of the year, and all this hard work that you have put in, you are showing it and you’re proud of it. It’s a different feeling than just showing it to your supervisor. It’s more like I did this.”

Klaudia Kinga Plaza, who studies Networking and Cyber Security, said: “It was pretty exciting, stressful of course for me, but everything was fine. I presented my work to my supervisor and to other students and I’m so proud of that.”

Raphael added:

“It’s a proud moment for every student.”

Over the year, students have worked with different employers as part of their studies.

The showcase saw judges pick winning teams who worked with these employers that saw to better integrate technology into their processes and training initiatives.

One of the winning teams, Triple 8, worked with third party logistics (3PL) service providers Vantec Europe Limited, where they created an immersive training experience focusing on health and safety.

Martin Kendall, MD at Vantec said:

“Working with students from the University provided a valuable skills showcase and knowledge transfer between education and industry.”

Vantec has developed immersive technology deployed within the UK and Japan and being able to work with the students has also given the students a practical demonstration of where their skill set can be used within our industry.

Martin added:

“The students have created some exciting and intuitive projects through the latest in educational immersive technology. We wish them every luck in the future and look forward to seeing their work continue.”

Students were able to innovate by integrating VR into the process, providing potential trainees with an immersive educational experience.

Paul Graham, Interim Associate Head of Computing, said:

“The digital showcase event is really important for students as it gives them a chance to show off and demonstrate their work to a number of employers that we invite in.

“In the past this has led to students finding internships and further projects with industry and at our event we had a number of final year students invited to interview once they graduate in a few weeks time.

“It is really nice for myself and the other staff within the faculty to see all their hard work and the students celebrate the end of term and in some cases the end of their academic journey with us as they graduate and enter the world of work.”