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UCL Industry Exchange Network: transforming how universities engage with industry

UCL Computer Science is offering a trailblazing programme, where students can gain customised industry experience and companies get to fast track innovation.

People talking at a table and looking at a prototype.

5 November 2021

Since launching in 2011, Computer Science students on UCL’s Industry Exchange Network (UCL IXN) programme have got to collaborate with companies like IBM, Google, Facebook and Amazon. They’ve worked with international banks, helped the NHS transform digital healthcare and brought technical advances to charities. 

It’s all part of a unique Industry Exchange Network pedagogical approach, established by UCL Professors Dean Mohamedally and Graham Roberts. The model, which enables students to work with partners to solve real-life problems, has been endorsed as best practice by the UK government.  

Professor Dean Mohamedally, UCL Computer Science, who heads up the programme, explains, “Other universities might run capstone programmes, where students have a single industry project experience, usually in their final year. But on UCL IXN, our undergraduates get to work on industry projects in multiple years of their degree. Master's students can also take part in paid summer and winter internships over the holidays.” 

Partners gain significant benefits, too. UCL IXN allows them to innovate with low risk. Creating proof of concepts and prototypes with the students, they can explore ideas quickly with minimal costs and disruption to their business. 

Santander UK is one of many organisations who’ve taken part. Dr Peter Mitic, Head of Operational Risk Methodology UK, said: “We regard the IXN programme as a 'win-win' situation. UCL wins because the students gain industrial experience of a 'real problem'. We win because the students can explore (and sometimes solve) a problem that is relevant to what we do. Both sides can benefit from what we think of as a three-month long interview.”  

Find out more about the UCL IXN programme. 

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  • Credit: James Tye/UCL.

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