STUDENTS at the University of Aberdeen are being encouraged to enter a series of open innovation challenges set by global businesses, that seek to harness the collective brainpower of the two million students in UK higher education.
The exclusive challenges, run by innovation scale-up Wazoku and Jisc, allow students to gain experience, win up to £5,000 in cash, and even get hired by the participating companies by submitting their ideas in response to each challenge.
Simon Hill, CEO, Wazoku, commented: “Open innovation – the crowdsourcing of ideas from a wider community – is a way for organisations to look beyond their own boundaries for ideas and inspiration and to access a much broader skill set, experience and expertise. This is a unique opportunity for the companies involved to tap into the brainpower of UK students and for the students to gain invaluable experience. I can’t wait to see what students in Aberdeen come up with.”
The organisations and challenges involved are as follows:
- National Nuclear Laboratory – the NNL is looking for student perspectives on the barriers that deter students away from trades-based careers and how it can overcome those and entice young talent to enter trades-based career paths.
- Thales – global technology firm Thales is looking for actionable solutions that will help increase its efforts in maintaining rich biodiversity on its sites, six of which are in the UK.
- Thales – seeking to recruit student talent to understand better how AI can be used as part of the modern military defence equation.
- Thales – in a world drowning in data, Thales is looking for ideas around how humans engage with AI and use it to find specific data in an instant.
- New Zealand Defence Force – NZDF is looking to promote safety and productivity of their ship bearing arrangement by sourcing new ways to minimize hands-on activity
“This initiative is designed to help students improve their employability. It’s a great opportunity for UK students in further and higher education to enhance their CV and make valuable contacts at major employers. At the same time, they can make a difference by trying to solve important problems that could have a real impact on the future of work,” said Andy McGregor, Director of EdTech at Jisc.
University of Aberdeen students interested in participating can do so individually or as part of a team. To get started they must register and complete their solver profile.
