Ashley Moran participated in several InGenious challenges as a student at UiS. Now she is returning to the university with challenges from the companies Sklls and Herlige Hus.
“For me, these challenges were the best part of going to university. It is a wonderful opportunity for the community to use the students, and for the students to learn in a more concrete way”.
Ashley is a business developer and strategy manager at the holding company More Headroom AS. Two of their subsidiaries, Sklls and Herlige Hus, with lead architect Bjørn Høyland, will present challenges to the students participating in the InGenious programme this autumn.
One of the companies, Sklls, uses artificial intelligence to train new emergency operators. As a start-up with growth plans, there is no shortage of tasks the students can undertake.
“In a new company, there is a very fast pace and many questions and challenges. There is always room for more hands. We have questions that might be interesting to get input on from the students”, she says.
“Real issues from working life”
For several years, the InGenious program has been a link between working life and students, and with great success. This autumn, the program is being expanded so that students on five of the subjects at the Faculty of Science and Technology and Business School at UiS can participate.
“By working with real cases from working life, students gain new skills and a solid understanding of the outside world. It is a fantastic opportunity for the students to build a network with the industry they are going into”, says programme manager for InGenious, Nelly Narges Karimi.
Director of Innovation at UiS, Troels Gyde Jacobsen, believes that such collaborations between academia and companies are necessary.
“The green transition and regional development are not possible without close cooperation between university and industry”.
"Speed dating" with the students
The semester starts with a kind of "speed dating" between the companies and the students, where the company gets to present its challenges and answer questions. Due to a limited number of places, the students with the best grades are allowed to join the challenges.
"It is important for us to tailor the challenges to the subjects, so that they meet both the lecturer's and the company's expectations”, says Narges Karimi.
In addition to Sklls and Herlige Hus, there are challenges from the companies Skretting, Agri-e and Via Cluster.