UCL Industry Exchange Network (IXN)
At UCL Computer Science, we collaborate closely with industry and external partners to help prepare you for your future career.
What is UCL IXN?
The UCL Industry Exchange Network (IXN) gives UCL Computer Science students hands-on experience of software development with external partners as part of their degree. Projects are run in collaboration with a wide range of organisations in addition to those in the commercial world. For example, in the health/medical/NHS area (IXN for the NHS), plus charities and NGOs (IXN for Good).
Through UCL IXN, thousands of students have worked on technologies that address real-world problems. The UCL Computer Science department is uniquely allied with over 300 organisations that enable students to apply their academic knowledge to practical challenges.
Our partners are tech corporations, including:
- Microsoft
- IBM
- NTT DATA
- Intel
- HP
- Cisco
- Avanade
- Other external partners include:
- international banks
- cutting-edge small businesses
- gaming companies
- the NHS
- global charities.
Benefits of UCL IXN
You are equipped for the world of work
The industry experience gives you a competitive advantage in the job market. It helps you develop your technical abilities and softer skills, such as teamwork and communication skills.
Access to industry leaders in computer science
The programme links you with inspirational mentors and speakers who guide and support you alongside your academic teachers and are important connections for future jobs.
Projects that make a difference
Through working with an external partner, you will see the impact of your work on a business, health care, education, or influencing societal change.
The IXN methodology
The IXN pedagogy focuses on problem-based learning. We provide you with mentors, materials, data, and methods to achieve success with projects that complement your taught modules.
The exclusive motivation-tracking approach captures your interests and long-term plans to match you to suitable projects.
Established by Professor Dean Mohamedally and Professor Graham Roberts in 2011, the IXN programme has been endorsed as best practice by the UK government.
How UCL IXN works
All UCL IXN projects are assessed as part of core modules, and every company has a technology mentor collaborating with the UCL supervisor.
Undergraduate students
Most UCL Computer Science undergraduates spend 25% of their second year on IXN projects (MEng Mathematical Computation students do not), with many also opting for an IXN project as their Final Year Project. The project allocation process is based on several factors, including merit and capability. Please note that industry-linked projects do not constitute a paid internship. All final-year Computer Science and Mathematical Computation students have the option of an IXN final-year project.
Master's students
As part of their degree programme, many of our MSc courses offer opportunities to work with industry and external organisations on real-world projects. The process for project allocation is specifically tailored for each of our courses based on a number of factors, including merit and capability.
What projects could I work on?
IXN projects are at the forefront of innovation. You will work on proof of concept solutions to problems organisations want to solve. Many have a ‘tech for good’ angle. However, you will not be producing production-ready software (with a few exceptions).
IXN projects can give you great benefits for your future careers, for example, making contacts outside academia, publications and real-world experience for your CV.
These examples show the breadth of the IXN projects:
UCL MotionInput is a touchless computing software package developed over successive years by students, academics, Intel, Microsoft, IBM, and the NHS. MotionInput revolutionises computer use for people with mobility issues and is publicly available worldwide.
Franklin Immersive Social Engagement (FISE) experiments were established with IBM during the Covid pandemic. The project looked at how technologies can reduce social isolation.
An animal conservation project with Microsoft tracked elephants to keep them away from poachers.
Archi-Lens: Blockchain and Physical Digital Reality is a proof of concept that uses blockchain and augmented reality to drive continuous improvement in the construction industry. The partner, consultancy firm Avanade, developed it into a smart engineering product.
UCL spinout Odin Vision uses artificial intelligence to improve traditional colonoscopy methods increasing cancer detection rates. UCL Master's students helped the company investigate new areas of machine learning.
Can artificial intelligence be used to predict financial risk? Santander has worked with UCL Master's students for over six years exploring this topic.
What our students say
"UCL IXN allowed me to meet the very top people in my fields of study. To have people in such high positions review my work was amazing. I think this is something you would only get from an IXN project.
I not only learned skills that were so useful for the world of work, but it also helped me identify the sort of computing job that I wanted to do.
I received so much assurance from UCL and the partners that I felt empowered to do the role."
Sinead Tattan, Computer Science BSc (2019-2022)
"I gained invaluable knowledge and skills. I increased my technical understanding and developed my leadership abilities. My confidence and ambition have grown thanks to my role and the support of the teaching team."
Anelia Gaydardzhieva, Computer Science MSc (2019-2023)
What our partners say
"UCL was part of the founding story of KI Insurance – working alongside the Ki team, Brit Insurance, and Google. The IXN programme provides an ongoing opportunity for UCL and Ki minds to work together on core problems at the interface of financial services, data, machine learning and computer science. Now in its 5th year of operation, UCL and KI have run over 20 IXN thesis projects, and several IXN alumni have gone on to join the Ki team."
Dr Ben Postance, Head of Data Science, KI Insurance
"The UCL IXN students are invariably excellent. They are a rare mix of dedication, effort, hard work, and talent. And they seem to have all these things in abundance. I expect it's the ethos of the teaching at UCL that instils this in the students."
Professor John McNamara, IBM Master Inventor, and UK University Programs Lead
"We really love working with the UCL IXN programme because it's the best of its kind. It is unique in the academic-industrial outreach space."
Tom Winstanley, CTO & Head of New Ventures at NTT DATA UK & I
"The students strive to enhance or improve the world around them and are not afraid of tackling big problems. Helping the teams lean in and develop solutions using Intel technology to drive positive change is a real joy."
Professor Pippa Chick, Sales Director: Energy, Retail, Transportation, Health & Life Sciences: EMEA
"GOSH DRIVE is delighted to collaborate with the UCL IXN programme. The programme allows us to engage with talented and enthusiastic computer science students who are keen to develop technology that has the potential to change lives."
Professor Neil Sebire, Chief Research Information Officer and DRIVE Managing Director
Further information
Touchless computing: UCL MotionInput
IXN projects for the NHS: Book of Abstracts (PDF)
