“Make sure you love your problem” advise tech entrepreneurs at the Tech Industry Gold Spring Event

 

“Make sure you love your problem” was just one of the great pieces of advice from tech entrepreneurs to students at today’s Tech Industry Gold Student / Employer event.

“Focus on finding solutions to problems you really care about” was the message from Dan Hubert, founder of the parking solutions platform company AppyWay, while Project Stealth Tech founder Beren Kayali demonstrated the power of tech as an enabler for their biotech business, and Post Carbon Lab’s Dian-Jen Lin promoted the sustainability theme of the day with their work on textile coatings that enable fashion to actively reduce carbon footprint.

Degree students and degree apprentices from universities across the UK, including Anglia Ruskin, Aston, Chichester, Greenwich, Hertfordshire, Lancaster, Loughborough, Manchester Metropolitan, Northumbria, Oxford Brookes, Queen Mary University of London, Ravensbourne, Roehampton, University of the West of England and the University of West London came together for the Tech Industry Gold Spring 2021 event, the common ground being that they are all on industry-accredited Tech Industry Gold programmes. 

Designed to give students unique insights and connections with different companies, these twice-yearly student / employer gatherings are a core part of the Tech Industry Gold student experience and a direct contributor to outstanding employment results. 

Also speaking at the event was Andy Stanford-Clark, IBM’s Chief Technology Officer, Distinguished Engineer and Master Inventor, showcasing new applications of AI in ocean research with the Mayflower Autonomous Ship’s electronic tongue, the cable of analysing the composition of seawater, and hydrophones to listen to the songs of whales and other ocean creatures. 

Wiktoria Kulik of Fujitsu gave everyone pause for thought with her insights into cloud-based computing and sustainability, while Cecile Babour and Serena Greco of TCS described their use of agile design processes to create added value services for Chief Sustainability Officers. “I am really motivated because with data we can change the world” was Cecile’s memorable message. 

Before every student / employer event, student teams are invited to enter a national competition, with panels of judges from different employers coming together to provide helpful feedback to participants. Sharing their presentations at the event were the winners of Hertfordshire University’s thoughtful Future of City Transport concept and Loughborough University’s innovative Village Green application. Runners up from UWE, Chichester, and another Loughborough team were also applauded, along with individual prize winners Will Wright (University of Hertfordshire), Ian Barton (University of Chichester), Christabel Quarshie (Loughborough University), and Toby Oates (Loughborough University). 

Students had many opportunities to meet employers, with breakout sessions including Adapt, Automation Anywhere, Bank of America, Capco, Capgemini, Computacentre, Fiserve, Global, GSK, and Tecflair as well as the keynote speakers. A number of the employers were themselves Tech Industry Gold alumni who had graduated up to 10 years earlier and are now in senior positions in companies of all types and sizes. 

The popular ‘company cuppa’ prizes were again on offer by employers to students who made a mark during the afternoon, with the opportunity for an informal one-on-one chat in the coming weeks, and some employers even posted about current graduate job opportunities in the online chat running throughout the event.

With our thanks as always to the employers generously giving their time, the course directors for encouraging their students to participate, and of course the students themselves for making the most of their opportunities, we look forward to the next event in November! 

 

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