YSD / Industry & innovation

Industry & innovation

Work on real problems with our students: set a project brief, offer a placement or become an industry mentor.

01 / Ways to partner

Ways to partner

Set a project brief
Bring a real problem; a student team researches it over a semester and presents its proposal to you.
Offer a placement
Host a higher diploma student for eight to twelve weeks; we help with matching and follow-up.
Mentor a student
Meet a student once a month to share your experience and give feedback on their portfolio or project.
Advise on programmes
Join a department advisory panel and help us keep programmes in step with the skills employers need.

02 / Applied learning examples

A neighbourhood bakery rebrand
Design students redesigned the packaging and shop signs for a neighbourhood bakery, testing how easily older customers could read them.
Monitoring building energy
Engineering students installed sensors in an industrial building, found where energy was wasted at night and proposed fixes.
A smoother hotel check-in
Hospitality students observed a boutique hotel’s busiest check-in hour and reorganised front-office tasks to cut waiting times.