IEP and Careers teams join forces for successful IEP minors student-industry event

On March 7th engineering undergraduate students from all years and departments met with representatives from companies as part of the IEP Drinks with Industry evening.

This annual event gives a chance for current IEP students to network with invited guests and find out how the IEP Minor that they study as part of the Integrated Engineering Programme (IEP) sets them apart from the competition. The event was particularly focusing on how the different IEP Minor pathways are relevant to the specific industries, while also emphasizing the transferable skills developed throughout the student’s IEP studies.

Guests represented companies of all different sizes and from a broad range of sectors and industries: global multinationals such as Cisco, Accenture and VISA; SMEs and start-ups such as BMT Fluid Mechanics, and education; and government with the Civil Service Fast Stream and Teach First, among others. They shared their experience of commercial and public sector work with students, including what makes potential graduate employees stand out.

“There was a fantastic atmosphere and it was great to see our students networking with enthusiasm. It was good to see the students learning how their IEP minor might relate to their future careers and getting insider information from the companies present. Big thank you to all the employers for giving up their time and sharing their experience with our students”, says Amy Lourenço, Engineering Team Leader at UCL Careers.

Dr Kate Roach and Amy Lourenço at the IEP Drinks with Industry in March 2019

The IEP Minor is unique in UK engineering education. IEP Minor pathways are a set of three modules that students take during their second and third year which allows students to customise their engineering programme. It also provides them with a chance to come across new ideas, study a topic they are passionate about and gain insight into specific engineering sectors. This experience will ensure that IEP students stand out compared to other students in the job market. IEP Minor topics are subject to change, but they currently cover a broad range of topics, from Intelligent Systems to Ocean Engineering, Public Policy, Regenerative Medicines, Modern Foreign Languages and even Applications Programming for Data Science.

Dr Kate Roach, Principal Teaching Fellow for the IEP, describes the event as “a really good night had by all. It was good to see so many students keeping our industry colleagues busy. Great buzz. Big thanks to all involved”.

This yearly event followed the IEP Minors Fair. The IEP Minors Fair, is an informative faculty event that aims to support first-year students when choosing their IEP Minor Pathway. Exhibitions of each IEP Minor presented in a trade fair style, with each presenting information on a specific IEP Minor pathway so that students currently studying the IEP Minor can answer questions from first-year students. The IEP Drinks with Industry then allows students to explore how their potential choices could match them with employers in their future.